Daily Thoughts

In the Old Testament I read about how the Lord commanded Hosea to take a wife who was a prostitute. It seems pretty strange for the Lord to command a prophet to marry an immoral woman. Scholars differ in their interpretation of this. Some believe that Hosea was asked to do this because the marriage served as an object lesson to call Israel's attention to their carnal state. Others feel that Hosea never did actually contract a marriage like this. Sidney B. Sperry says: "The Lord's call to Hosea was to take a harlotrous woman to wife represents the prophet's call to the ministry--a ministry to an apostate and covenant-braking people. The children of this apparent union represent the coming of the jdgments of the Lord upon Israel, warning of which was to be carried to the people by the prophet. The figure of the harlotros wife and children would, I believe, b e readily understood at the time by the Nebrew people without reflecting on Hosea's own wife, of, if he was unmarried, on himself." Elder Henry B. Eyring commented on his experience of teaching Hosea to early morning seminary classes: "The book of Hosea, like the writing of Isaiah, uses what seem to me almost poetic images. The symbols in Hosea are a husband, his bride, her betrayal, and a test of marriage covenants almost beyond comprehension. Here are fierce words of the husband, spoken after his wife has betrayed him in adultery (Hosea 2:6-7). He goes on (through verse 13) to describe the punishment she deserves, and then comes a remarkable change in the verse that follows (Hosea 2:14-15, 19-23). At that early point in the story in just two chapters, even my yongest students knew that the hsband was a metaphor for Jehovah, Jesus Christ. And they knew that the wife represented his covenant people, Israel, who ahd gone after strange gods. They understood that the Lord was teaching them, through this metaphor, an important principle. Even though those with whom he has covenanted may be horrible unfaithful to him, he would not divorce them if they would only turn back to him with full purpose of heart. I knew that too, but even more than that, I felt something. I had a new feeling about what it means to make a covenant with the Lord. All my life I had heard explanations of covenants as being like a contract, an agreement where one person agrees to do something and the other agrees to do something else in return. For more reasons than I can explain, during those days teaching Hosea, I felt something new, something more powerful. This was not a story about a business deal between partners, nor a bout business law. This was a love story. This was a story of a marriage covenant bound by love, by steadfast love. What I felt then, and it has increased over the years, was that the Lord, with whom I am blessed to have made covenants, loves me, and you with a steadfastness about which I continually marvel and which I want with all my heart to emulate." Hosea 1: 2-3; 2: 6-7, 14-15, 19-23 "The beginning of the word of the Lord by Hosea. And the Lord said to Hosea, Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms: for the land hath committed great whoredom, departing from the Lord. So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim; which conceived, and bare him a son. Therefore, behold, I will hedge up thy way with thorns, and make a wall, that she shall not find her paths. And she shall follow after her lovers, but she shall not overtake them; and she shall seek them, but shall not find them: then shall she say, I will go and return to my first husband; for then was it better with me than now. Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her.5 And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope: and she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt. And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies. I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the Lord. And it shall come to pass in that day, I will hear, saith the Lord, I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth; And the earth shall hear the corn, and the wine, and the oil; and they shall hear Jezreel. And I will sow her unto me in the earth; and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to them which were not my people, Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God."

In the D&C I read about the wonderful blessings that attend keeping the Word of Wisdom, the Lord's law of health. We'll not only receive the physical blessings of better health and strength, but we'll also receive the spiritual blessings of wisdom and treasures of knowledge. D&C 89: 18-21 "And all saints who remember to keep and do these sayings, walking in obedience to the commandments, shall receive health in their navel and marrow to their bones; And shall find wisdom and great treasures of knowledge, even hidden treasures; And shall run and not be weary, and shall walk and not faint. And I, the Lord, give unto them a promise, that the destroying angel shall pass by them, as the children of Israel, and not slay them. Amen."

Some scriptures with a thought booklet tell us that we will be blessed if we keep the commandments and keep ourselves undelifed. We need to seek the Lord with our whole hearts and diligently walk in the ways of the Lord. Sometimes when we're doing something wrong, we temporarily think we're happy. But it doesn't last. Sooner or later we experience disappointment, guilt, and pain for doing wrong. Wickedness never was happiness! Only by obeying the commandments and doing what's right will we be able to enjoy a fruitful and joyous life. Ps. 119: 1-4 "Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord. Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart. They also do no iniquity: they walk in his ways. Thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently."
***By the way, a monster storm is approaching so if Daily Thoughts are delayed tomorrow or the next day it is probably because I have no power.
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