f the Old Testament is the identity of God's annointed one. In Psalm 8:1 the psalmist addresses God as "O Lord, our Sovereign." In Psalm 2:1 the "nations conspire. . . and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and his anointed." Thus, the anointed one of God, the Messiah, is seen as separate from God Himself. However, the Messiah revealed as Jesus of Nazareth is described, amongst other things, as the "Husband of the church" (Revelation 21:2, 2 Corinthians 11:2). This provides an interpretation of Hosea 2. In chapter 11 God is their Father (v. 1 "when Israel was a child I loved him" and v. 3 "it was I who taught Ephraim to walk") but in ch. 2 He is their husband, as he says "On that day, says the Lord, you will call me "My husband," and no longer will you call me, "My Baal" (2:16). Whereas God had enjoyed the fellowship with His creatures of Master and servant, which in some cases even became as close as Father and child, He yet desired the closer fellowship of husband and wife. His prophecy that this would someday happen is then seen to be fulfilled in the church who is the "bride of Christ" (Revelation 21:9). However, since it is God who desires this fellowship, and the anointed sovereign who obtains it, one has the paradox of the relationship between the Messiah Who is, and the "Father" who desired to be, more than a parent to His people.
The importance of this paradox was to counteract the lies of the polytheistic world into which God moved His people Israel. From at least the time of Abraham, mankind was concocting many different notions of what sort of god he must answer to, and all of them were based on what sort of person he was instead of what sort of person God revealed Himself to be. Hence, when the angel of the Lord appears at Bochim in Judges 2, He is chastising the people for breaking covenant with Him. He says "I said, 'I will never break my covenant with you'" (2:1). Then He adds "For your part, do not ...