Hosea

Are you ready to get shocked?

If so, then check out what God tells Hosea in

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“Go marry a prostitute.”

Yeah.  That got your attention.  These are the actual words in the ESV: “Go, take to yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom, for the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the Lord.”

You might be asking yourself, “What in the world is going on!?”

Let me explain.

God tells Hosea to marry a harlot named Gomer and instructs him to name his kids nice, friendly names like “No Mercy” and “Not My People.”  All of these shocking instructions are meant to serve as a symbol.  In God’s eyes, his people were acting like a spiritual prostitute.  They had forsaken him to serve whatever foreign god they thought was best.  Like a jealous lover, God sends Hosea to call his people back to him.  This is the picture of the book of Hosea. God sends Hosea to the Northern Kingdom (Israel, but Hosea calls it Ephraim many times is this book) to rebuke them for their unfaithfulness and call them to repentance.

Here are a few other notes to think about as we start reading this book.

Sin is spiritual adultery.  When someone forsakes God for sin, it is like a married person committing adultery.  Now make that personal.  When YOU commit sin, it is like YOU committing adultery against God.  Sin is a very big deal.

God will punish sin.  God may be a jealous lover, but he is not an emotional softie.  He hates sin, and he will punish it!  Hopefully, you caught onto this when you read the names of Hosea’s kids.

God has a plan to restore his people.  In

says, “Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the Lord their God, and David their king, and they shall come in fear to the Lord and to his goodness in the latter days.”  God may be punishing his people but he is not done with them forever.  We know that the way God is going to restore his people is through Jesus Christ.

Repent.  That is the answer.  God wants the Israelites to forsake their sin and return to him.  Likewise God wants people today to leave sin behind and turn to him!

So buckle your seatbelts.  Get ready to learn more about God as we see his jealous love.  Get ready for the idols of your own heart to be exposed.  And get ready to repent.