{"id":76685,"date":"2020-06-30T10:58:16","date_gmt":"2020-06-30T07:58:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=76685"},"modified":"2020-06-30T10:58:16","modified_gmt":"2020-06-30T07:58:16","slug":"the-first-step-on-a-slippery-path","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-first-step-on-a-slippery-path\/","title":{"rendered":"The First Step On A Slippery Path"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"entry-content\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[],"acf":{"old_id":"76685","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":49926,"related_cahpter":"514","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"It all starts with admitting you have a problem\r\n\r\n","content":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The book of Hosea concludes with a recipe for repentance. The prophet tells the people (v.2): \u201c\u05e9\u05d5\u05d1\u05d4, <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">shuva<\/span><\/em><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Return!\u201d He doesn\u2019t say, \u201cGod will bring you back\u201d; he says, \u201c<\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">you<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> return, bring yourselves back!\u201d He then tells them how to: \u201ctake words with you\u201d (v.3). Don\u2019t bring sacrifices, don\u2019t bring gifts: the first step is admitting you have a problem, is being prepared to admit your guilt, to bring that admission to God.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The next step is putting their faith totally in God. Once they have done this, we reach the final step: God takes them back. The profundity and completeness of this final step is startling. These people, who have for generations sinned, have for generations worshiped false gods and abused the vulnerable, will not only be accepted again by God, but will be taken back completely and healed with love! The result of assuaging God\u2019s anger is not, like it might be with a human being, a gradual process of renewing a relationship. The result of assuaging God\u2019s anger is immediate and complete love.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The prophet paints a magnificent picture of the flowering of Israel under the care of God\u2019s love. It is a picture of beauty and strength, blossoms and roots, prosperity and health. The prophet concludes this image by telling us that Israel\u2019s healing will heal others. Our own healing, our own repentance, can help bring about the healing and repentance of others.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But it all starts with admitting you have a problem. Hosea, like so many of the prophets, has begged and pleaded with his people to be introspective, to look critically at themselves and their society and see the corruption and flaws within. Hosea knows that people cannot change until they can see that they need to, and that\u2019s why the first step is so important. <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Shuva<\/span><\/em><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">return, he says, not just to God, but to yourselves.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The book concludes by telling us that,\u201c\u2018\u05db\u05bc\u05b4\u05d9\u05be\u05d9\u05b0\u05e9\u05c1\u05b8\u05e8\u05b4\u05d9\u05dd \u05d3\u05bc\u05b7\u05e8\u05b0\u05db\u05b5\u05d9 \u05d4\u201d, the paths of God are <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">yesharim<\/span><\/em><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">,<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (v.10). The root \u05d9.\u05e9.\u05e8, <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">y-sh-r<\/span><\/em><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">,<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> means rightness and righteousness, but also straight and level. The path may be right, but it is not necessarily easy. The JPS translation captures this by translating \u05d9\u05e9\u05e8\u05d9\u05dd <em>yesharim,\u00a0<\/em>as \u201csmooth\u201d: the path may be straight and level, but smooth can be slippery, icy, treacherous. The righteous walk on it, and sinners stumble, concludes the book. But if the prophet has taught us anything, the first step to being righteous, the first step on the slippery path, is admitting you have a problem.<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":76686,"id":76686,"title":"hos14-problem","filename":"hos14-problem.png","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos14-problem.png","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-first-step-on-a-slippery-path\/hos14-problem\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"hos14-problem","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":76685,"date":"2020-06-30 07:58:02","modified":"2020-06-30 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