The book of Hosea marks a division from Major Prophets to Minor Prophets. Hosea’s name means “Salvation” and he was a prophet to the 10 northern tribes during the reigns of Jeroboam to Joash in Israel and from Uzziah to Hezekiah in Judah. The message of Hosea combined with Hosea’s personal experience gives us a unique understanding of how God views sin which is the makeup of the threefold message of this book.
•God hates sin as it destroys fellowship
•Sin separates a loving God from sinful man and bring about consequences
•God continues to love and desire mankind even after he has chosen to cheat on Him time and again and still desires to restore the relationship
The first three chapters not only set up Hosea’s prophetic word to Israeland provide an intimate view upon God’s heart towards those He loves who have chosen to love other things. They also serve to give insight into the seemingly unnecessary heart ache we believers are often led to live. Hosea tells the story of God telling him to marry a wife of Harlotry first, but I wonder if it happened the other way around?
Like most of you fellows he may have been excited at the prospect of marriage. Then he hears who he is to marry, Gomer, now we who know the story and don’t much care for her name but that is not how Hosea would have understood her name. You see her name means “finished, complete or perfect”! Oh my Hosea must have thought not only am I getting married I’m marrying the best looking gal in all of Israel. Then God says there is a downside to this: your beautiful perfect wife will be a prostitute but I want you to marry her anyway.
How difficult would this have been for Hosea as he would speak of the moral failings and spiritual harlotry of Israel? I can only imagine how this would have been thrown back in his face, “Hey Hosea, why don’t you put your own house in order before you go around telling us what is wrong with ours?”
Saints, God often allows and in this case even directs into situations and heartaches that seem to be for no purpose and only wounds our hearts. A.W. Tozer wrote “Whom God uses mightily He often wounds deeply!”
But here we are able to peel back the mystery and reveal that such wounds give us a rare privilege of understanding, and even communion on a higher level with God’s heart. Hosea was willing to go through what others would not if it brought him closer to the Lord. His prophetic words of pending doom upon an idolatrous nation are covered in the broken hearted tears of a man who loved his wife even while she loved others. There is an interesting parallel in that spiritual adultery always precedes a nation’s physical immorality!