little rock bible study week 5

[prismaticbleed]

"By using betrayal in a marriage as an analogy for our relationship with God, Hosea draws upon one of the deepest violations in human experience. He does this to insist that God's Love can overcome such violation.
The love of God that Hosea presents is profoundly complex. Within these few verses, it is both fury and attraction, both exasperation and sexual beguilement. Hosea asserts that even in God's anger, an erotic allurement remains. God is still attracted to the prostitute and still desires her. No matter how deeply we may have violated our relationship, Hosea wants us to know that God still burns with the desire to love us.
This analogy is perhaps the most daring in the Scriptures. God, of course, is not sexually attracted to us. But Hosea uses erotic language to speak analogously about God's paradoxical love. The prophet defiantly describes a divine love that is beyond any category of human love and is ultimately hidden in the mystery of God's Own Being. Anger, attraction, correction, and allurement are presented as multiple sparks from a fire we cannot see. With frail words drawn from human experience, Hosea dares us to catch a glimpse of God's scandalous love for us."
IS THIS INFI'S "NEW" TRUE ROLE??



1. According to Deuteronomy 7:6-11, why did God choose Israel to be "a people specially His Own"? Why is this surprising or inexplicable?
He LOVED them. THAT'S IT. And that's honestly the ONLY POSSIBLE REASON for God. God can't HELP but love us-- ALL of us. BUT if we go by B.A.C.E., Abraham was of the ONLY lineage on earth that was CAPABLE of RECEIVING that love-- he was from the HOLY LINEAGE of Shem, whereas the OTHER nations-- Ham & Japheth's descendants-- had FALLEN INTO SIN to the extent that they FORGOT GOD and therefore CLOSED THEMSELVES OFF to His Love!! But God STILL LOVES THEM. So He chose Abraham to become the father of a Covenant people, carriers of the Edenic Promise, a nation that would ultimately birth the long-awaited Messiah Who would, in Himself, embrace all nations in God's Arms once again. 

2. Reflect on Psalm 136. Which verse or image resonates with you the most from this psalm about God's "chesed"? Why?
I read this in the Divine Office often and the entire Exodus recap blows my mind every time. God slew kings & firstborn "BECAUSE His MERCY endures forever." And it DOES. The two are only apparently dissonant-- God's mercy INCLUDES His Justice.

3. Because we cannot accurately say what God IS, we use analogies to say what God is LIKE. Write your own analogy about God beginning, "God is like..." What aspect of God does your analogy capture? How is it limited?
Oh man we have ENTIRE ENTRIES written about this. But... honestly, if I'm being gutwrenchingly, heartbreakingly honest... God is like what System love feels like. God is like the hearts of our Cor(e)s. God is like what the Spheres sing about. THOSE contexts were, and arguably STILL ARE, HOW I knew & recognized God when when I didn't know His religion.  

4. Though any analogy fails to capture the full truth about God, Hosea's analogy is inspired Scripture. How does this scandalous analogy speak to you as you witness God's Love for you, for others, and for our world?
Honestly, as a sexually traumatized "aroace" who is Very Queer, I struggle with it as much as I'm fascinated by it... and it gives me this insane hope and consolation. I've BEEN a whore. I've been LITERAL SCUM. And God STILL SAYS, "I will take you back," BECAUSE HE CANNOT NOT LOVE ME. And that applies to EVERY SINGLE SOUL.

5a. Why doesn't Jonah want to preach repentance to the people of Nineveh (Jonah 1:1-3, 3:10-4:2)?
They were Jonah's enemies, and he wanted to see them annihilated. He didn't (couldn't) see them as PEOPLE-- I wonder how he viewed the very possibility of their repentance? If he saw them as "evil" & wanted them dead, yet STILL realized that they COULD CHANGE, that's significant-- it means that he fled because he KNEW God's Word was EFFECTIVE, and Jonah DIDN'T WANT TO FORGIVE. And yet he couldn't deny the moral dissonance? If GOD had mercy on them, then Jonah HAD to do the same.

5b. Have you ever fled "away from the LORD" (Jonah 1:3) when God asked you to show compassion to someone that you felt did not deserve it? How did you come to accept and do God's Will in that situation?
...Immediately after SLC & CNC, we were in that position. I think we were with mom & Viral, too. 

6. What does it mean to say that God's Love has become "incarnate" in Jesus (John 1:1-18)?
"God can and does now love us IN PERSON."

7. What insight(s) about God's love do you gain from the way Jesus talks about His relationship with the Father and with believers in His High Priestly Prayer (John 17:20-26)?
It stuns me. It's ALL ABOUT UNITY, THROUGH LOVE. And apparently it's POSSIBLE, and GOD WANTS IT.

8. We tend to take for granted the statement: "God is love" (1 John 4:16). How have you experienced this profound reality in an incarnate, "in-person" way?
...Once again, this is the story of our System. But actually, in physical life, I've only glimpsed this in "small acts of charity." The woman who gave me her bag at the food drive when mine broke, the woman who fed me at her own house in SLC, the times people paid for my groceries when they saw me counting pennies in tears... those count. Those count so much. So do all the notes I got from fellow EDU patients, which I have on my wall and read every day. But really, even with how precious all those things are, it's still a rare & dim & foggy reflection compared to the absolute shot to the heart of headspace/ heartspace. And God I WANT SO BADLY to BE A CONDUIT OF GOD'S LOVE FOR OTHERS. 

9. What insight about God's love can you share with your group after studying and reflecting on the Scripture texts explored in this lesson?
---

Group discussion notes:
"What are you going to do, to come OUT of this situation BETTER than you were when you went INTO it?"
(CHOOSE mercy, compassion, integrity, charity, etc.)

"The message we preach (of Christ) HAS to lead TO THE CROSS"
(NO PRIDE; combats "charisma" misdirection)