It’s often said that marriage between a man and a woman is a picture of the relationship between Christ and the Church.  It’s believed that some of that imagery begins here in the book of Hosea.  Hosea is asked by God to marry a prostitute.  An unkind, but fitting term for the woman he is asked to marry is “whore.”  Imagine being a godly man like Hosea and hearing God ask you to take a wife like Gomer.  God told Hosea, “Go, take yourself an adulterous wife…” (Hosea 1:2)  God’s purpose in all of this was to help Hosea and the people understand better the relationship that God had with the people.  The people had become adulterous and unclean in relationship to the Lord.  They had sold themselves out and prostituted themselves to foreign gods.  The most beautiful section of this scripture today is Hosea 3.  At this point Hosea has already married Gomer and the have children together.  At some point Gomer goes off again and returns to her life of prostitution.  Then God tells Hosea to go after her and bring her back.  So, Hosea goes out and buys back his wife and loves her in spite of his hurt and in spite of her actions.  What a wonderful picture of grace, love, and marriage vows.