My Husband
Scripture Reading: Hosea 2:16-20
A YouTube channel I subscribe to is run by Rick Beato. He makes videos where he discusses music, mostly classic rock. Recently, I watched one where he gave us his top 20 acoustic guitar song intros. Rick is a skilled musician, so he doesn’t just talk about these songs, he plays them (with one exception and you will have to watch to find out what song). I admire his talent and skill.
I would like to be able to play an instrument like he can. Of course, in one sense, I am free to do so. I am free to pick a guitar and a pick and go at it. Nothing is stopping me. But I am not free in the way Rick Beato is because I’m not able to play within the rules of music. I can’t make my fingers go on the frets in the right places and when I get them in position my right hand doesn’t pick and strum the strings in a way that produces a pleasant sound.
The point is freedom is not just doing anything we like. Freedom, true freedom, is living life within the boundaries of God’s creative design. I am free to play, but my playing will be a discordant noise that is neither beautiful nor good. To experience the kind of freedom that produces that which is beautiful and good I must learn the basics first. I must learn proper finger placement, rhythm, cords, and notes. The better I become at these, the freer I am to create beautiful music.
Take a minute and listen to Rick’s “Top 20,” and notice how distinct and beautiful each of those song intros is. Anyone who has a basic knowledge of that era of music will immediately recognize the songs he picked. They were written by people who knew “musical freedom” because they colored within the lines of musical law.
In Hosea 2:16, God proclaimed a day in which His people would call Him, “My Husband,” and no longer “My Master.” Most English translations are consistent in their translation of the first word which is “Ishi” in Hebrew. It is translated as “husband.” But the second finds differences in the way it is translated into English. The word in Hebrew is “Baali.” We recognize it as the name of a persistent idol of that ancient world. So, translations like the ESV simply use “Baal” as the translation. The NKJV, for instance, instead uses the word “master.” It reads, “You will call me, ‘My Husband,’ and no longer call me, ‘My Master.’”
The ESV is a better literal translation. It just uses the word from Hebrew. The NKJV is a better interpretation, or at least helps us understand the point better. Why would God’s people call the LORD Baal? They wouldn’t, at least not in the sense that they were equating God with Baal. They were idolatrous, but not stupid. The word Baal is used here more in a way that points to the kind of god Baal was. That is what was being equated. They were saying that God is a God like Baal in the way He rules over His people. He is a harsh taskmaster. J
The point isn’t that the title “Master” is wrong when used of the Lord. Jesus told the disciples that they were right to call Him that. This is where combining the two ideas of “Baal” and “Master” are helpful. Jesus is a Master over us, but not in the way that Satan (Baal) is. Under the dominion of Satan, we are ruled by evil that results in that which is chaotic, ugly, and bad. We aren’t playing the music of life within the rules or boundaries set by the Creator God. Satan is a master in a cruel, harsh, unloving sense.
Jesus is a Master differently. Jesus is a Master who sets us free, not to live without boundaries that result in chaos, but to live according to His creation design, whereby we play the way we were meant to play. That results in that which is ordered, good, and beautiful. Jesus is a Master who is kind, good, and loving. We are His bride. He is our Husband. He rules, but we are free in the truest sense of the word.
We could translate Hosea 2:16 in an amplified way to make it clearer and say, “We now call him, “My Husband,” and no longer call Him a Master like Baal. His glory and our good are not opposed to each other. We discover our good freedom when we live for His great glory. We are most free when we submit to Him as our Husband.