Choice B
This is a fascinating and profound question that lies at the heart of one of the most powerful prophetic books in the Old Testament: the Book of Hosea.
Here is a deep spiritual article, formatted as a sermon, exploring why God commanded the prophet Hosea to marry Gomer, a woman described as a “wife of harlotry” (Hosea 1:2), for the website NetChurch.cam.
💔 The Scandal of Divine Love: Why God Commanded Hosea to Marry Gomer
A Sermon on Hosea 1 & 3 for NetChurch.cam
Introduction: The Uncomfortable Command
Brothers and sisters in Christ, peace be with you.
Today, we delve into one of the most challenging and uncomfortable narratives in all of Scripture: the story of the prophet Hosea. We know prophets are asked to do strange things—eat scrolls, lie on their side for months, or walk naked—but nothing is as personally scandalous as the command given to Hosea in chapter one:
“When the Lord began to speak through Hosea, the Lord said to him, ‘Go, take to yourself a wife of harlotry and have children of harlotry, for the land commits great harlotry by forsaking the Lord.’” (Hosea 1:2, NKJV)
Hosea, a righteous man, is told to marry Gomer, a woman whose life was defined by infidelity and promiscuity. Why would a holy God command His servant to enter into a contract of pain and shame? The answer is staggering: Hosea’s marriage was not about his life; it was a living, breathing parable of God’s own relationship with His people, Israel.
I. The Harlotry of Israel: Gomer as a Mirror
The command begins with the reason: “for the land commits great harlotry by forsaking the Lord.”
A. Spiritual Infidelity
In the Old Testament, the relationship between God and Israel is consistently portrayed as a marriage covenant.
God (The Husband): Provided for, protected, and loved Israel, giving them the Law and the land. He was faithful.
Israel (The Wife, represented by Gomer): Committed spiritual adultery by turning away from God to worship other gods (Baal, Asherah), and by trusting in political alliances instead of divine providence. This was not a minor slip-up; it was a wholesale betrayal of the marriage vows.
Gomer’s physical infidelity—her seeking of lovers, her unfaithfulness—was the perfect, agonizing mirror for Israel’s spiritual infidelity. Every time Hosea saw Gomer walk out the door, or every time he had to claim a child that was not his own, he felt the pain God felt watching His chosen people abandon Him for worthless idols.
B. The Cost of Forsaking God
The names of Hosea and Gomer’s children highlight the cost of this betrayal:
Jezreel (a place of bloody slaughter and violence).
Lo-Ruhamah (meaning “No Mercy”).
Lo-Ammi (meaning “Not My People”).
The pain in the home directly translated to the impending judgment upon the nation.
II. The Scandal of Divine Commitment: Hosea as a Prophet
The first command is tough, but the second command, found in chapter 3, is the true heart of the Gospel. After Gomer finally leaves Hosea and sinks into utter degradation—possibly sold into slavery—God tells Hosea to go and find her.
“Then the Lord said to me, ‘Go again, love a woman who is loved by a lover and is committing adultery, just like the love of the Lord for the children of Israel, who look to other gods and love the raisin cakes of the pagans.’” (Hosea 3:1, NKJV)
This is the scandal! God doesn’t say, “Divorce her! Cut her off! She got what she deserved!” He says, “Go again, love her.”
A. Purchased at a Price
Hosea goes and buys Gomer back “for fifteen shekels of silver and one and one-half homers of barley” (Hosea 3:2). He had to pay a price to redeem his own wife from the slave market of sin.
This act of redemptive love is the core reason for the entire tragic arrangement:
The Marriage Demonstrates Love: God does not love us because we are faithful; He loves us in spite of our unfaithfulness.
The Redemption Prefigures the Cross: The price Hosea paid to buy back Gomer from slavery is a powerful foreshadowing of the price Jesus Christ paid to buy back us—the unfaithful, the spiritual adulterers—from the slavery of sin and death. The purchase price was not silver or barley, but His own life.
III. The Gospel Application: Hope for the Unfaithful
We may look at Israel and Gomer and judge them, but let us be honest: we are Gomer.
We are the ones who, though redeemed by Christ, still chase after the “lovers” of the world:
The love of money (materialism) instead of the provision of God.
The pursuit of fame/likes (vanity) instead of the approval of God.
The reliance on our own strength (pride) instead of the power of God.
We forsake the Bridegroom for the worthless raisin cakes of pagan worship.
Yet, what does God say to the New Covenant Gomer (the Church, the individual believer)? He says what he said through Hosea:
“I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely, for My anger has turned away from him.” (Hosea 14:4, NKJV)
The marriage of Hosea and Gomer is the most visceral demonstration of God’s hesed—a Hebrew word meaning steadfast, covenant, loyal love that refuses to let go.
Why did God tell His prophet to marry a prostitute?
To Define Sin: To give a physical, painful example of the spiritual betrayal Israel committed.
To Demonstrate Love: To show the world that God’s love is not based on the worthiness of the object, but on the relentless, self-sacrificing character of the Lover.
To Preach Redemption: To foreshadow that the only way for the harlot to be saved is for the Husband to pay the ultimate price to bring her home.
Conclusion: Our Response
Beloved, if you feel you have wandered too far, if you believe you have committed too many spiritual infidelities, look at the Book of Hosea. Look at Gomer. She was bought back.
Jesus is the ultimate Hosea. He is waiting, not with a divorce decree, but with a payment receipt and an open embrace. Let us turn from our lovers, return to our first love, and live under the banner of the God who loves the unlovely, the God who loved the harlot, the God who first loved us.
Amen.
