No More Special Treatment

Scripture: Hosea 10:11 – “Ephraim was a trained heifer that loved to thresh, and I spared her fair neck, but I will make Ephraim break the ground; Judah must plow; Jacob must harrow for himself.” (NRSVUE)

There is a saying that pops around the internet from time to time: “When you’re accustomed to privilege, equality feels like oppression.” It is often applied to questions of rights, where if someone gains more civil rights, that means someone else has lost their civil rights in some way. But I think it is true in a lot of different ways. For example, when you are used to being treated as special and suddenly you are grouped in with everyone else, you feel like you are being punished or abused.

That is what happened to the people of Israel, at least from the point of view of the prophet Hosea. Hosea prophesied to the northern Kingdom of Israel, also called Samaria or Ephraim, during a time when it was divided from the southern Kingdom of Judah. Israel believed they were God’s chosen people and that they would always have special treatment. God would bless them even if they weren’t trying as hard as other people. They thought that just being from Israel meant they were more moral and righteous than others, regardless of what they actually did.

Hosea described Ephraim as “a trained heifer that loved to thresh,” whose fair neck was “spared” the rough labor of plowing with a yoke. Threshing is a much easier job for cattle than plowing; a special job for a special cow. But Hosea said that now Ephraim would have to break the ground, that is tear up dry and heavy soil with a plow, to prove their righteousness. No more easygoing. No more preferential treatment. He continues, “Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap steadfast love; break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the Lord, that he may come and rain righteousness upon you.” In other words, it was time to stop expecting special favors. If you wanted the fruits of righteousness, you had to be righteous, not just be part of the right group.

Too many people think that if they fall into the right group, that they deserve an easier life. That people will think highly of them no matter what they do. But God says that what we do matters more than who people say we are. And when the time comes when that special status no longer protects us, having to work out our righteousness just like everyone else can feel like oppression.

But realizing that you are just the same as everyone else can be liberating. Thinking you are special can isolate you not just from the difficulties but also the joys of human life. Hosea believed that even though Israel faced annihilation in its arrogance, in the end it would have a better sense of what actually walking through life with God actually meant on the other side.

I think that even the most humble of us has something about us we think is more special than other people, even if it is how humble we are. Pray about what that one thing might be for you and how you might need to let go of your special treatment and get down in the dirt with other people if you really want to serve God and make a difference in the world. It might seem like oppression at first, but with the right frame of mind, it can be salvation.

Prayer: Lord, help me to put away the things that divide me from you and other people so that I might live out your righteousness in all I do. Amen.