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In my daily reading I’ve just finished Hosea, and it’s interesting to keep it in perspective with the rest of the reading that we have done this far. It’s much easier to figure out just what’s going on when you’re immersed daily in a chronological type style.
In Hosea, we’re near the end of the Israel’s existence as its own nation. God is trying to display His love for His people, and he uses a man’s love for his wife to do it. In case you’re not familiar with the story, God tells Hosea to marry a woman that will cheat on him, and eventually end up in prostitution. He does, and has a child, and then there’s some question if the next two children are his or by some other man. Each are given a name with a meaning. Eventually God tells Hosea to go find “Gomer” his wife and buy her back.
Here we have an interesting set of circumstances and things to learn about God:
| Hosea | God |
|---|---|
| Loved Gomer and married her | Loved Israel and made a covenant with them |
| Let her go hoping she would still love him | Let Israel follow after Baal, knowing what it would do and wishing they would still love Him. |
| Paid the price to buy her back | Sent His Son to pay the price to buy us back. |
| Renewed his vows with her. | Washes us clean and makes us His bride. |
It’s amazing that when marriage is now made up of “love”, we fail to realize that true love bought back a wayward wife and redeemed her. In the age of no-fault divorce, and even Christians believing that God blesses certain divorces, God takes the ultimate case and says, I love you even more– and we’re to be like Him.
Think on these things.
A good reminder MIn!