Reasonable expectations -- they’re implicit in these scripture texts. Most reasonable of all is the overarching reconciliation that God seeks and achieves. In the Hosea passage, and indeed throughout this prophetic work, a case is made that humanity has failed in keeping up its end of the bargain. We have strayed to the point where God has renamed us “Not My People!” But the reasonable expectation that God will give up on us gives way to God’s declaration that despite the alienation we have caused we are still God’s children, and God’s love will avert disaster. God cannot deny us.
