He knew that she would leave his home, his arms, his bed to seek pleasure from other men.
He knew what they would call her. Adulteress. Harlot. Prostitute.
He knew that she would bring him shame. Disgrace. Dishonor.
He knew that people would whisper, that he would become the butt of his neighbor's crude jokes. "There goes that cuckold," they would mutter under their breath. "The husband of an adulteress. He can't even keep his wife in his own bed."
Yet?
He married her anyway.
In Hosea 1:2, God tells Hosea, "Go, take to yourself an adulterous wife and children of unfaithfulness, because the land is guilty of the vilest adultery in departing from the Lord."
And Hosea? He obeys.
He marries a woman named Gomer. Who bears him many children, though some have been fathered by other men. Who leaves Hosea's home to satisfy her lust. Who scorns her husband's kindness so that she might live selfishly. Sinfully.
In her sinfulness, Gomer breaks her vows, disgraces her husband, and shames her family.
Gomer's life? It's a tragedy. But an even more tragic truth lies beneath the surface of the story.
We are Gomer.
Remember Hosea 1:2? God commands Hosea to marry an unfaithful woman because He wants Israel - His chosen people - to acknowledge their own unfaithfulness. You see, the people of Israel have strayed from the Lord: "She [Israel] has not acknowledged that I was the one who gave her the grain, the new wine and oil, who lavished on her the silver and gold - which they used for Baal" (Hosea 2:8).
The people of Israel? They've lost sight of the fact that God is the Giver of blessings. In their selfishness, they have taken the provisions supplied by a generous God and used them to worship Baal, an idol. God's message to the Israelites is very clear: In departing from the Lord - in committing idolatry - you have been found guilty of the vilest adultery.
You and I? We do the same thing.
We chase after the gifts God gives rather than the God who gives the gifts.
We turn our backs on God to pursue the pleasures of the world.
We depart from the Lord.
And that makes us like Gomer. Guilty of the vilest adultery.
It hurts, doesn't it? To be called an adulterer. To be labeled unfaithful. To be capable of such ugliness.
But friends, this is not where the story ends - for Gomer or for us. You see, we serve a God who reclaims, redeems, and restores.
After Gomer leaves Hosea to satisfy her lust, God commands Hosea, "Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another and is an adulteress. Love her as the Lord loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes" (Hosea 3:1).
And Hosea? He obeys. Again.
Hosea writes, "So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and about a homer and a lethek of barley" (Hosea 3:2). Did you catch that? He buys her. Hosea reclaims Gomer from her life as a slave or mistress. He redeems Gomer by removing her from her place of brokenness. He restores Gomer by bringing her back into his home and remaining faithful to his vows in spite of her infidelity.
You see, Hosea did more than simply humble himself by marrying Gomer. He humiliated himself. He knew she would be unfaithful, yet he chose to love her anyway.
Describing Hosea's relationship with Gomer, Philip Yancey writes, "What goes through a man's mind when his wife treats him as Gomer treated Hosea? He wanted to kill her, he wanted to forgive her. He wanted divorce, he wanted reconciliation. She shamed him, she melted him. Absurdly, against all odds, the irresistible power of love won out" (What's So Amazing About Grace? pg. 66).
Friends, that's good news for Gomer, but even better news for us. Because God - the Creator, the Sustainer, the Author, the Perfecter - loves us with the same irresistible love.
You and I? We are Gomer.
Sinful.
Unfaithful.
Idolaters and adulterers.
Breakers of God's heart.
And yet, in spite of our sinfulness, the Almighty God longs to be in a relationship with us.
Let that sink in for a moment.
The Almighty God, the Alpha and Omega, the Deliverer, the King of kings, the Lord of lords longs to be in a relationship with us.
But ... why?
Friends, we have nothing to offer. We are sinful. We are broken. We repeatedly break God's heart.
To put it simply, God does not need us.
And yet - God loves us.
God knows us. He sees our hearts, our intentions, our words, our deeds. He sees the way we turn our backs to Him and yield to the tug of this world.
And yet - He refuses to leave us in our place of brokenness.
Like Hosea, He steps into our darkest moments. He reclaims us as His sons and daughters, though our hearts are black and our heads hang low with shame. He redeems us from the darkness, the brokenness, the disgrace. He restores us with His abundant mercy, compassion, and grace.
Our God? He is like a lovesick husband, desperate to be reunited with his unfaithful wife.
This love story? It puts all others to shame!
Because this is God stooping low.
This is heaven touching earth.
This is God humiliating Himself to love broken, ugly, sinful us.
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