Hosea
1:2-3 The beginning of the word of
the LORD by Hosea. And the LORD said to Hosea, Go, take unto thee a wife of
whoredoms and children of whoredoms: for the land hath committed great
whoredom, departing from the LORD. 3 So he went and took Gomer the
daughter of Diblaim; which conceived, and bare him a son.
Hosea was a man who was willing to
live the message of God’s love before the people of Israel. Many of the prophets were asked to do unusual
things as prophetic demonstrations of the message that God had for His people. Just as today we have television/movies/internet
where we can see and not just hear or read a message, these men were asked to
show the message. Jesus spoke often in
parables using examples of things that the people were actually seeing as they
were their listening to Him.
Hosea’s demonstration of the message
was quite costly personally. He was to take
a woman of “whoredoms and children of whoredoms.” Some have said this was just an allegory and
Hosea really did not marry this woman.
That is not what the scripture says.
It says that he was to take her as his own and then when she went back
to her other lovers, he bought her back when she was being sold into
slavery. Hosea was a living
demonstration of the love of God for His people. He was a living demonstration of God’s heart
for His people Israel and for each one of us personally.
The obedience of Hosea is an example
of a man who was willing to live the message of God no matter the cost. Marrying a prostitute and then buying her
back must have brought tremendous reproach upon him personally. It must have been incredibly painful to obey
God and then be hurt so deeply by the rejection of Gomer. It must have also been costly in the natural
having to pay the price to buy her back.
But Hosea’s love for Gomer, for God, and for his nation caused him to
walk in obedience no matter the cost.
Am I willing to suffer such reproach
and heart pain in obedience to God? Am I
willing to live the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ no matter what it may
cost me? The message Hosea lived demonstrated
the tremendous longsuffering love of God.
It demonstrated God’s heart of compassion for the backslider. Will I live the message by demonstrating God’s
love to the backslider? Will I live the
message in whatever way He asks? These
are question I ask myself as I contemplate the life of Hosea, prophet of God.
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