“Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you” Jeremiah 31:3.

“In that day,” declares the Lord, “you will call me ‘my husband’; you will no longer call me ‘my master.” Hosea 2:16

Words are important to most of us. And when people speak kind, loving words to us, the sentiments behind those words  mean a lot. It even hurts when kind-sounding words are clearly spoken only to manipulate us–but clear words of affirmation grip most people’s hearts. God knows this. In fact, we are made in His image so we can revel in the idea that God is that way, too.

The Lord directs us to look in His face and to enjoy His favor. That is what it means to seek His face (Ps 27:8). There is no Hebrew word for ‘presence’ (i.e., the “presence” of God), only the word ‘face’. That is what it means to have his face “shine upon us” (Num 6:25). It’s His presence and His favor.

God communicates all this to us through His Spirit, alluring us (Hos 2:14), speaking tenderly to us…making our “Valley of Achor (trouble) into a doorway of hope” (v.15), admitting us to new and greater mercies. The door may appear shut, things may seem distressing — but the Holy Spirit brings the key, and will open the door, and introduce us to deliverance at the best moment.

The Spirit takes us into the closest possible union with God, and indulges us with the purest views of His love. He goes on to say, “It shall be, says the Lord, that you shall call me Ishi, and shall call me no more Baali” (v.16).

There is a difference between ‘Ishi’ and ‘Baali’. ‘Baali,’ means, ‘my Lord’ or ‘my Master’. It conveys the idea of ownership, and superiority— and He is that. But apparently the Spirit is telling us that God has a name He prefers—a name He wants to earn in our lives.

‘Ishi’ means ‘my Man’. It’s conveying the idea of my Lover, my Husband, my Protector— it’s all about the familiarity we have with the Almighty. The contrast is between Ruler and Lover.