On this Monday we’re in the book of Hosea.  And honestly, it’s hard to make it past verse two.  I’m sitting here trying to imagine what it would be like if the Lord told me to go and marry an adulterous wife.  That’s not what you hope for as a young man.  That’s not the kind of marriage you plan for or dream about.  Who says to themselves...I sure wish I could marry a filthy prostitute?  This ranks right up there among the craziest things people have done in scripture.  But, Hosea loves the Lord and obeys Him by taking Gomer as his wife.  They get married and it’s not too long before she is back to her old ways.  She strays away from him to run back to her life of prostitution.  Does Hosea leave her in that pit?  No.  He runs to her and takes her back again (Hos. 3:1-3).  In fact, scripture says he buys her back. He has to pay the people who are prostituting her to have her back as his wife.  This says a lot for Hosea.  He was a man of integrity.  He was a man of honor.  He was a man who loved unconditionally.

The truth of this story is so much bigger than Hosea and Gomer.  Hosea is teaching us through his love for Gomer about the Lord’s love for His people.  We are just like Gomer, “For you have been unfaithful to your God.” (Hos. 9:1)  The Lord himself tells us exactly why he had Hosea marry Gomer.  It’s back in the second verse of chapter one that I struggled with so much.  The Lord tells Hosea to take Gomer because, “…the land is guilty of the vilest adultery in departing from the Lord.” (Hos. 1:2b)  As crazy as it might sound for a prophet of God to take a prostitute as a wife, imagine how much crazier it is for Christ to take us as His bride.  We are filthy.  We are unholy.  We serve other gods on a daily basis.  Were it not for the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross we would all be lost. We would continue to be that adulterous wife if he had not paid our ransom.  Praise the Lord for his unfailing love and compassion on us.  We’ve been bought at a high price, brought home and washed clean of the life we once lived.