Hosea; love tangled

Hosea; Love Tangled

 The book of Hosea gives a practical example of our relationship with God.
God decided to use Hosea's life as an open book for everyone to read and understand this relationship.
 Picture Hosea, a young vibrant christian who is dedicated to serving God but when it comes to getting married to "the one" God points out Gomer to him.
You can call her an "ashawo" or a runs girl, prostitute or whatever term that defines a woman who sells her body off to different men for money. Not a befitting bride for someone that spiritual and dedicated to God Right?
Hosea sees Gomer and falls hopelessly in love with her; Hopeless because who in his normal senses will fall for a prostitute, he waits for night time when she takes her place at the beginning of work hours and he stands across the corner watching her. He knows this woman is hated by the society and isn't befitting to be his wife; "for Pete's sake what happened to all the Christain sisters in church? What is it about this woman that makes his heart beat at this pace?" He thinks to himself.
 He neglects all the warnings from his family and friends and even his enemies; yes they too advised him against this marriage, he ignores the saying " you can't turn a whore into a housewife" and goes on with marrying Gomer.
     
       Hosea takes her from the ghetto and street life she is use to, gives her a home, gives her a wardrobe upgrade with decent clothes, and shows her love beyond her past. Time passes and she begins to bear children; the paternity of these children are questionable but he accepts them as his.
 One will think we learn from our mistakes and we should try to go far away from our pasts when we have been given a new life but Gomer returns back to her past life and each time she creeps in back at odd hours of the night rather than meet an angry and disappointed husband, Hosea embraces her with love and forgives her, he looks her in the eyes and says " baby, I understand it has become an addiction but it will take a while and you will eventually stop". Hosea means "deliverance" and Gomer means "complete" so when you call out her name Mrs. Gomer Hosea  one will be saying Mrs. Completely delivered but was she? She was complete doing what she did, she never asked to be delivered or  to be loved beyond her flaws, she can't seem to understand why he loves her this much, she is uncomfortable with the adoration and the constant praises from her husband, when she knows deep inside she is filth and undeserving of this kind of love.
 Gomer runs back to the life she has always  known, Hosea comes home after a trip to find the kids at home with no knowledge of their mother's whereabouts; she's taken off again, this is the 10th time in a short time she's gone like this.
At first he is furious and he begins to talk though on his way out " I am no longer her husband, tell your mother to stop prostituting, if she doesn't stop I will strip her naked, I will block her road with thorns, I will build a wall around her so she no longer goes to meet her lovers then she will realize that life with me is better " (Hos.2:2-9)
Frustrated Hosea goes out in search of his wife he loves her way too much to let  this lifestyle win her over again, this time he will love her even more, he will cloth her with goodness, love and mercy.
   He walks this familiar road to the whore house, he's been on this road too many times but his love for this woman doesn't seem to run out, he is entangled in this strange type of love. As he gets in he see his precious wife laid on a table clothed with shame and is being priced like a goat about to be sold  off in a bid. Hosea runs to the table and offers an outrageous amount, other men laugh and call him foolish for overpaying for such cheap service.(Hos.3:2-3).
He takes her back home, loves this woman even more than he did initially.
    But the story keeps replaying Gomer keeps going back. We are like Gomer who God loves regardless of all our unfaithfulness, he accepted the consequences and results of our unfaithfulness just they way Hosea accepted children from her affairs and betrayal of their marriage. But this time he says "... I will go back to my place, until they admit they are guilty, until they come looking for me.." (Hos.5:15)
     God forgives all our countless unfaithfulness and he shows us his love without limits,he promises to make us blossom like the lily and to grow us like the cedar trees of Lebanon, he promises us his protection and his blessings  but only if we go back to him. He has constantly chased after us and brought us back from our mistakes and has loved us beyond our pasts and mistakes that he even went through all the trouble of coming to us in flesh and being beaten,wounded,embarrassed, spat on and nailed to a cross just to show us how much he loves us.
 But a man that has to constantly chase after his unfaithful lover and drag her home doesn't fully derive the satisfaction of being loved back unless the coming back to him is voluntary. Drop the Gomer act and  accept the completely delivered, loved and treasured package God is offering to you.
His love for you is unconditional


"But the time will come when the people of Israel will once again turn to the LORD their God, and to a descendant of David their king. Then they will fear the LORD and will receive his good gifts."
Hosea 3:5 GNB