“All your life you’ve dreamed of the wonderful person you would one day marry. Oh, maybe the details aren’t clear, but you know the person will share your love for the Lord and your passion to serve him. Together, the two of you will raise beautiful children, whom you will teach to honor and love God.
Then a clear message comes from God. “You must marry an adulterous person,” God commands. “Your children will be born from affairs with others.” (Wow! That would be hard to take!)
What? You think. Could this possibly be what God wants me to do?
That is exactly what God told Hosea the prophet to do. Why? Because Hosea’s adulterous, unfaithful wife would be a living object lesson for the adulterous, unfaithful nation to whom Hosea must minister.
Hosea’s messages were directed toward Israel (the northern kingdom). The people had become unfaithful, chasing after other gods. These people were like Hosea’s wife, Gomer, who chased after other lovers and made adultery a way of life. God was faithful to his people, but his people were unfaithful to him. As a husband or wife expects faithfulness from a spouse, so God expects and longs for faithfulness from his people.
Hosea’s great love for his unfaithful wife is a powerful illustration of God’s great love for his people, despite their unfaithfulness. When Gomer, Hosea’s wife, hit bottom, she became a slave. Hosea bought her back and brought her home to reconcile her to himself. Lifewise, when we hit bottom, deep in sin, Jesus bought us back and reconciled us to God. Jesus paid for us not with money but with his own life. (Yes, Lord!)
If the whole concept of Hosea and his unfaithful wife stirs disgust, think of the many ways in which we are unfaithful to God. Just as Gomer lost interest in Hosea and ran after other lovers, we, too, can easily lose interest in our special relationship with God and pursue dreams and goals that do not include him. When we love anything or anyone more than we love God, we are being unfaithful, like Gomer chasing after another lover. If we worship our job and neglect God, if we worship money and forget our provider, if we worship ourselves and ignore our maker, we are playing the same adulterous game that Gomer played. (Wow!)
As you read hosea, try to feel Hosea’s pain in knowing that his wife was being unfaithful; then try to understand God’s pain when we are unfaithful to him. Ask yourself if you’ve lost your desire to know God – to really love him and please him. Rededicate yourself to faithfulness: to God and to your family. Discover the great love and tenderness of God, a love that will not let us go, no matter what.” (Touch Point Bible)
Lord, thank you for your Word today! Lord, give us the desire to rededicate ourselves to serving, honoring, and loving you! Help us place you first over everything in our lives. And, Lord, thank you for allowing us to study another one of your wonderful books; use it to shape our behavior and lives in a way that pleases you. Lord, we love you!
May the Lord bless you and protect you. May the Lord smile on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord show you his favor and give you his peace.” (Numbers 6:24-26)
….AND MAY WE ALL PRACTICE THIS WITH ONE ANOTHER.