2023_09_18 Insight Post- Kim Feld

The story of Hosea and Gomer has always been hard for me. Hosea was a prophet, and God used him and his life to speak and portray a picture of Israel’s disobedience and ultimate restoration to God. Let’s take a look at Hosea chapter 1, verses 1-3:

The Lord gave this message to Hosea son of Beeri during the years when Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah were kings of Judah, and Jeroboam son of Jehoash was king of Israel. ² When the Lord first began speaking to Israel through Hosea, he said to him, “Go and marry a prostitute, so that some of her children will be conceived in prostitution. This will illustrate how Israel has acted like a prostitute by turning against the Lord and worshiping other gods.” ³ So Hosea married Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim, and she became pregnant and gave Hosea a son. 

Because Hosea was a prophet, I picture him as a godly, obedient man. His obedience is undoubtedly played out in following God’s instructions! But my heart breaks for him in what he was asked to do. In reading Hosea and Gomer’s story, I have to believe that he truly loved her – the parallel between God and Israel wouldn’t make sense otherwise. How his heart must have broken over her unfaithfulness!

There seem to be different trains of thought about whether Gomer was a prostitute before they married or if she was chaste before marriage but became unfaithful afterward. If the latter is true, the opening words from God would imply that God was revealing what would happen in the future to Hosea. It is remarkable to me that either way, Hosea obeyed.

In Hosea chapter 3 verse 1, God tells him to go and redeem his wife: Then the Lord said to me, “Go and love your wife again, even though she commits adultery with another lover. This will illustrate that the Lord still loves Israel, even though the people have turned to other gods and love to worship them.” I know chapter 3 is not part of our reading this week. Still, I wanted to bring this out because it is such a beautiful picture. God didn’t tell Hosea to go and claim what was his; God told him to “go and love your wife again.”

As I’ve pondered this story, I have wondered if Hosea ever shared with Gomer how God had used their story. What did she know, and when did she know it? I don’t believe God sees us as disposable or just pawns to be manipulated for His purposes. If that were the case, why would He go to such lengths to redeem us through Jesus? No, I believe His love runs deeper than the deepest part of the ocean for you and me. Because Hosea’s story was to be a tangible picture of God’s love and pursuit, I believe Hosea’s love for Gomer was deep and lasting, too.

God desires our faithfulness just as He did Israel’s. God gives a promise at the end of the book of Hosea that is relevant for us today when we repent from whatever is separating us from Him:

The Lord says,
“Then I will heal you of your faithlessness;
    my love will know no bounds,
    for my anger will be gone forever.

(Hosea 14:4, NLT)

Kim Feld
Executive Director of Education and Outreach