“Go, take to yourself an adulterous wife…”

In one word the prophecies of Hosea are about Love. In two words they are about “True Love”. Each one of us has a desire to be loved. We yearn to have what so few can give- -true, sincere, unconditional love. When it comes to loving others we are confronted with the choice of whom to love. Holding a baby in our arms may evoke an outpouring of love. But when it comes to loving someone who has hurt us deeply, love isn’t our first response.

Have you ever wondered how much God loves you? If we did know and understand God’s love for us, would we keep doing what is wrong? God in an effort to describe and explain his love for human kind gave Hosea this special message for the Israelites.

Historical Setting

It is about 750 years before Christ. Hosea lives during a time of rapid political change. After Jeroboam’s fall from power there was a quick succession of kings ruling the northern kingdom of Israel (King Shallum for a quick term of only one month!). There was rampant idolatry and worship of Baal. Many people probably mixed the worship of God with sacrifices at the asherah poles. Other prophets had been around. Just before Hosea’s time, Amos brought God’s message to the northern kingdom. In the southern kingdom of Judah, both Isaiah and Micah shared their prophecies as contemporaries of Hosea. Assyria is the world power at the time and they threaten to take over the northern kingdom where Hosea lives and, in fact, do so later in his life. At the time of the capture of Israel, many people will be taken prisoner and carried off to foreign lands.

Throughout the Old Testament, there is a continual downward spiral of turning to God and then falling away again. Each “fall” seems to get worse. Hosea speaks for God by stating that Israel was “guilty of the vilest adultery” and that “A spirit of prostitution is in their heart”.

So what does God have Hosea do? No, his prophecies are not enough. He must live out God’s love for an adulterous generation by marrying a prostitute. This is not your happy love story. This is a story of a man and a God who continually go back to their adulterous lovers.

Hosea’s Impact

There is so much we can learn from Hosea. Let’s put ourselves in his shoes as we consider these questions:
1. What went through Hosea’s mind when God asked him to marry “an adulterous wife”?
2. What did Hosea feel when he had to buy her back for himself? (Chapter 3)
3. If you were in Hosea’s shoes, what would be your understanding of God’s love?

When we take time to look inside at our response to these questions, we surely find our emotions stirred. For those that have had adultery explode in their marriage, rage and anger and pain may be the result. For those that have been witnesses to adultery in other people’s lives, deep sadness and dismay share the choke hold on our soul. The main question that can be heard in the aftermath of adultery is: WHY?

God seems to ask the same question. God let’s us see how our sin affects him by using the extremely hurtful episodes of repeated adultery. It wasn’t enough that Gomer, Hosea’s wife, cheated on him once. God kept sending Hosea after Gomer, time after time.

Could anything hurt as bad as repeated adultery? “Certainly”, God says. In his attempt to draw us close to him, God sent us Jesus and through him we have forgiveness of our sins. When we repeatedly reject the offer of redemption with our sin and hard hearts, God seems to feel deep sorrow and anger. So how do we keep our relationship with God keep from getting this way? Do we not all still struggle with sin? Hosea in his last chapter offers this sense of God’s grace to our repentance:

“I will heal their waywardness and love them freely, for my anger has turned away from them.” Hosea 14:4 (NIV)

God is a jealous lover. His hurt and pain are seen throughout Hosea. But what makes God different is the fact that he continues pursuing his “wife” despite what she has done. God is constantly courting his “bride”. God persistently allures and speaks tenderly to his “one and only.” In this love story, God shows that he is faithfulness.

Questions for Deeper Reflection

1. What are two things we can specifically do as a response to God’s faithfulness and love?
2. What does Hosea’s message about pursuing his wife mean for us as we lead others toward God?
3. What can Hosea teach us about forgiveness?
4. As a church, how should we respond to those who keep “falling away” in light of Hosea?

Final Thought

Even after studying Hosea it is hard to understand or fathom how God’s love works. We should pray that God would continue to reveal his Love. The apostle Paul prayed for the Christians at Ephesus (maybe after they studied Hosea?) : “And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge ” Ephesians 3:17-19 (NIV).

- Jeremy Smith

(Jeremy Smith is the newest member of our missionary staff. He has a Masters Degree in Marriage and Family Therapy from Harding University. He and his wife, Martha, and son, Luke, are on a team of six families going to do a church planting work among the Makua people of Mozambique, Africa.)