After King David’s death, his son Solomon married hundreds of wives from the surrounding cultures. His harem included 700 wives and 300 concubines. Words fail us here. Of course, they all came with baggage, including their false gods. This was probably the catalyst for the idol worship that began to grow throughout Israel. By the time of Hosea, about 200 years later, idol worship was commonplace.
When God brought the Israelites out of Egypt, he established a covenant relationship, promising to bless and protect them if they remained faithful and avoided worshipping idols. It was the first of the Ten Commandments.
In Genesis, God had instituted the marriage covenant – a lifelong commitment between a man and a woman in which they would be faithful and always ready to help each other. God intended for marriage to symbolize the faithfulness he offered us and expected in return. In the Old Testament, God often compared his relationship with Israel to that of a husband. Isaiah 54:5 says that our Maker is our husband. And in Jeremiah 31:32 God says he was husband to the people of Jerusalem, but they broke that covenant.
Hosea was a prophet in Israel during the 8th century BC over a period of 38 years. God used Hosea to warn his people of the dangers of breaking the covenant by worshipping idols. When the Lord called Hosea, he immediately told him to marry a prostitute. God had a message for Israel about faithfulness, and at the same time, he would use Hosea’s life and marriage as a living parable of redemption.
When the LORD first began speaking to Israel through Hosea, he said to him, “Go and marry a prostitute, so that some of her children will be conceived in prostitution. This will illustrate how Israel has acted like a prostitute by turning against the LORD and worshiping other gods.”
Hosea 1:2 NLT
Hosea took Gomer, a prostitute, as his wife, but Gomer wasn’t content with just one husband and kept wandering off looking for new lovers. Each time she was unfaithful, the Lord told Hosea to go find her and bring her back home.
Hosea and Gomer served as a picture of the status of God’s covenant relationship with Israel. They were to have no other gods in their life, but they constantly rebelled against God and chased after idols. Their history was filled with unfaithfulness.
In the same way, Gomer kept cheating on Hosea, committing adultery again and again. Even so, the Lord told Hosea to remain faithful to Gomer.
Then the LORD said to me, “Go and love your wife again, even though she commits adultery with another lover. This will illustrate that the LORD still loves Israel, even though the people have turned to other gods and love to worship them.” So I bought her back for fifteen pieces of silver and five bushels of barley and a measure of wine.
Hosea 3:1-2 NLT
Not only was Hosea asked to stay in an unloving and unfaithful marriage, he even had to buy Gomer back, to serve as her Kinsman Redeemer. We aren’t told the circumstances. Apparently Gomer was being sold as a slave, but was redeemed by the relentless love of her husband. Hosea was asked to be a picture of God’s love and faithfulness to a group of people who often made no effort to return that faithfulness.
The picture of redemption is this: God is the faithful lover of our souls, while we are often faithless, rebellious, and prone to wander. Yet even though we wander from God, he comes to buy us back.
Facets of Redemption Found in this Picture:
- God’s love for humanity isn’t contingent on our faithfulness.
- God will redeem us even though we’ve done nothing to deserve it.
- Redemption won’t be the result of anyone’s virtuous life. It is God’s gracious will to redeem in spite of our sin.