What man, if his wife were to abandon him for another lover, would not only forgive her, but invite her back home to live with him?

 

What man, if his wife were to abandon him for another lover, would not only forgive her, but invite her back home to live with him?

Hosea was a prophet sent to Israel to demonstrate both how greatly God loves his people and how God’s people do not reciprocate this love.  2,800 years ago, in the 8th century BC, Hosea acts out God’s love for his people by marrying an adulterous woman named Gomer.

The Book of Hosea starts off very directly:

When the Lord began to speak through Hosea, the Lord said to him,

“Go, marry a promiscuous woman and have children with her, for like an adulterous wife this land is guilty of unfaithfulness to the Lord.”

So he married Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.

 

Then the Lord said to Hosea,

“Call him Jezreel, because I will soon punish the house of Jehu for the massacre at Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of Israel.

In that day I will break Israel’s bow in the Valley of Jezreel.”

Gomer conceived again and gave birth to a daughter.

Then the Lord said to Hosea,

“Call her Lo-Ruhamah (which means “not loved”), for I will no longer show love to Israel, that I should at all forgive them.

Yet I will show love to Judah;

and I will save them—

not by bow, sword or battle, or by horses and horsemen,

but I, the Lord their God, will save them.”

After she had weaned Lo-Ruhamah, Gomer had another son.

Then the Lord said,

“Call him Lo-Ammi (which means “not my people”), for you are not my people, and I am not your God.  (Hos 1:1-9) 

Hosea’s wife Gomer then abandons him, necessitating action on the part of her husband Hosea: 

The Lord said to me,

“Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another man and is an adulteress.  Love her as the Lord loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes.” 

So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and about a homer and a lethek of barley. Then I told her, “You are to live with me many days; you must not be a prostitute or be intimate with any man, and I will behave the same way toward you.” (Hos 3:1-3) 

The adulterous Gomer had forgotten her husband Hosea as the children of Israel had forgotten God (Hos 2:13).  However, Hosea had not forgotten his wife Gomer, and God had not forgotten the children of Israel. 

God is so longsuffering and merciful, gracious and compassionate that even when His people commit adultery against him by worshipping other gods and making idols and worshipping Him in a way He did not command, He does not divorce them. 

The failure of the children of Israel to worship God did not just demonstrate itself in false worship, but in other sins including cursing, lying, murder, stealing, adultery, deceit, theft, corruption, and fraud (Hos 4:1-2, 7:1, 9:9, 12:7). 

The proper response to Hosea was to plead guilty, but that response was not forthcoming. We are often not humble enough to accept negative feedback from anyone, let alone from God who is holy, perfect and without sin.  Half a century after Hosea’s ministry, the King of Assyria came and exiled the children of Israel forever, giving rise to the legend of the Ten Lost Tribes.

Even though most of us aren’t descendants of Israel and therefore God’s covenant with Israel may not apply to us, we can still apply Hosea to our own lives by realizing that by sinning we do not follow God’s laws and we are rebels against God and therefore deserving of judgement.  However, God can be longsuffering and merciful and gracious and compassionate to us as Hosea was with his wife Gomer.

800 years after Hosea, a common complaint lodged by the religious authorities against Jesus Christ was, “Jesus, why are you hanging out with all these prostitutes and tax collectors?  What’s wrong with you?” 

Jesus Christ answered by citing Hosea: 

“It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
(Mt 9:12b-13, cf. Hos 6:6) 

Also 800 years after Hosea, the apostle Paul, in his first letter to the church at Corinth, cites Hosea as further support that at death the adherents in Corinth will not face annihilation or go down to the grave.  Paul cites: 

“I will deliver this people from the power of the grave;

    I will redeem them from death.

Where, O death, are your plagues?

Where, O grave, is your destruction?

(Hos 13:14, cf. 1 Cor 15.55)

The book of Hosea ends with the following statement: 

Who is wise? Let them realize these things.

    Who is discerning? Let them understand.

The ways of the Lord are right;

    the righteous walk in them,

    but the rebellious stumble in them. (Hos 14:9)