Hosea 1

Hosea’s Obedience

Today we begin Hosea. Hosea contains the story and prophesies of the prophet of Hosea. Hosea was the last prophet before the northern kingdom was fell to Assyria in about 722 B. C.

In the 2nd verse God tells Hosea to marry a wife of “whoredom.” This means that she was either a prostitute or a woman that had many sexual partners. Not only that but God commands Hosea to have children with this woman. Think about the position that Hosea was placed in. Typically you would try and  find someone that has been faithful and has remained pure when you look for someone to marry, not someone who has lived a lifestyle of impurity. This was for sure not Hosea’s ideal situation.

In  the very next verse Hosea chooses a woman named Gomer to be his wife. Hosea was obedient to the Lord even though God called him to do something that was not easy or pleasant. What if God called you to do something as difficult as this? What if God called you to do something that was going to hurt later on in life? Would you do it? Hosea did and it cost him dearly. But in the end God was glorified and Hosea was blessed.

Gomer’s disobedience

Not only did they get married but they had children as well. Notice  that in verse 4 it says “she bore him a son.” That is the only time it says those words about Gomer. In verse 6 and 8 it does not say that she bore him(Hosea) a son but that she bore a(no father mentioned) a daughter and a son. Gomer went right back into her old ways. She committed adultery and had 2 children because of it. Gomer’s infidelity is going to have it’s consequences(chapter 2) but no sin, no matter how bad, can seperate us from the love our father.

God is uses this story as an example of Israel’s unfaithfulness to God and God’s love and mercy toward His people. In those days Hosea had the right to have Gomer killed for her unfaithfulness to him. But he did not exercise that right. He loved her. He cared for her. In the next chapter he even has to show her some very tough love but he NEVER gave up on her. The same is true for us and God. When we sin, when we turn our backs on God, we are committing adultery against God. God has the right to let us die in our sin but He doesn’t. He peruses us. He chases us and He NEVER gives up on us.

I hope you are excited to see the story of Hosea unfold. It is a beautiful story for us to learn from.