Hosea - Part II - The Mirror

Hosea and Gomer

The life of a prophet is not an easy one. He might be reviled or he might be lionized. He might be taken up into heaven or swallowed by a fish. He might have his head cut off at someone’s party. The prophet Hosea’s life was no exception.

God told Hosea that his life must mirror God’s own relationship with Israel. Hosea's family would be a micro version of God's family. Hosea would marry a prostitute and have children with her. Furthermore he was to name these children names of disgrace: Jezreel to remind him of the bloodshed in that valley, Lo-ruhamah, which means “not pitied” and finally Lo-ammi, which means “not my people.”

The wife, Gomer, would later return to her “lovers” in the belief that it is they who provide for her, and she will be made 

…like a wilderness,
and turn her into a parched land,
and kill her with thirst.
Upon her children I will have no pity
because they are children of whoredom. 2:3-4

I will lay waste her vines and her fig trees, of which she said, “These are my pay which my lovers have given me.” 2:12

There will be further punishment:

I will punish her for the festival days of the Baals,
when she offered incense to them, 
and decked herself with her ring
and jewelry
and went after her lovers
and forgot me, says the Lord. 2:13

Finally, God intervenes. He removes the names of the Baals from her mouth. He makes a covenant with all of creation and abolishes the bow and the sword and makes her lie down in safety.

On that day I will answer, says the Lord,
I will answer the heavens
and they shall answer the earth;
and the earth shall answer the grain,
and the wine, and the oil,
and they shall answer Jezreel;
and I will sow him for myself in the land.
And I will have pity on Lo-ruhamah (which means no pity)
and I will say to Lo-ammi (which means not my people)
 “You are my people”*
and he shall say “You are my God.” 2:17-20

Even after this forgiveness, Hosea must again love a woman who is an adulteress. He must tell her that she is to remain chaste for many days, just as the Israelites must remain in captivity for many days without  leaders or the trappings of their worship. Chapter 3

The key thing for me in these first three chapters is that Israel (Gomer) was tainted from the beginning. She was never worthy. She had no righteousness in her. Putting her trust in emptiness came easily to her.  Caring about finery and flummery was her stock in trade. This is not some specific character in a story; this is Israel, God’s chosen people.

Yet God’s love cannot be withheld. With no action on Gomer’s (Israel’s) part, God puts everything to right. Israel (Gomer) is reclaimed in love and mercy and the children are renamed and redirected. For me, this is the astonishing thing. Israel only repents when directed by God. In fact, God forces the issue. God's hand is in everything. It's in the set up, the fated marriage; it's in the children disgraced even before birth; and it's in the redemption that they didn't even realize they needed.

I know this can happen. I have experienced repentance that I did not seek, mercy that I not only did not deserve but that I didn't even want. 

Is this the way with God? Did Jesus let Peter deny him three times so that he could then pronounce his love to Jesus three times? "Lord you know everything, you know that I love you." John 21:15-19 

Does God let us go astray in order to bring us back? The Bible tells me so.

*Many scholars believe that Lo-ammi was actually not Hosea’s biological child. If that is so, the case for God’s mercy on people beyond the nation of Israel is well attested here.