Unconditional, Unstoppable Love

Hosea is by far my most favorite book in the Bible. I have neither studied it in depth, nor poured over its passages. Perhaps I should!

So what makes it my favorite? If you haven't noticed, I talk about love. A lot. Love and pain, and sometimes both! They are constant wells of thought for me, similar to how I know some of you find wells of thought in other topics! And Hosea is a book of perfect love, so beautiful its beyond compare. And sometimes I wonder what it would be like to be Hosea.

Hosea, a minor prophet, has dedicated his life to the work of the Lord. Then, one day, the word of the Lord comes to Him and God says: "Go and marry a promiscuous wife and have children of promiscuity, for the whole land has been promiscuous by abandoning the Lord" (Hosea 1:2). Imagine his reaction! Marrying a prostitute already sounds like a bad idea, but to have children by her? And THEN God rationalizes the whole ordeal by saying that Israel has been promiscuous. Because that clears things up.

However, despite whatever Hosea may have been feeling, he remained FAITHFUL. And his faithfulness is shown throughout the book, by raising children that weren't even his own! In addition, he gives Gomer (his wife) gifts and presents to win her affection, though she seeks the company of other men. This faithfulness is astounding, and his faithfulness is mirrored by God's faithfulness to Israel, and the passage switches back and forth between God's overarching story and Hosea's specific example of unredeemable love. 

Hosea is told to call his last son Lo-ammi, which means Not My People. Wow. His other children had bad names, but this one hurts the most. He called his son "Not My People". And the reason is because it was not Hosea's son, but rather Gomer's son. Despite Hosea's attempts to win Gomer's affection, she still went off and slept with other men. Application for us today? God parallels Hosea's plight to His own, in that the Israelites had disregarded His laws and covenants, and produced idol worship and sinfulness that ran rampant throughout the land. These things were not of God, but of Israel. Now that we serve our Heavenly Father, and we are betrothed to His Son, let us be careful lest we act promiscuously. 

What did God say He'd do to Israel after their sin? Check it out: "Therefore, I am going to persuade her, lead her to the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her. ... There she will respond as in the days of her youth, as in the day she came out of the land of Egypt. In that day - the Lord's declaration - you will call Me: My Husband..." (Hosea 2:14, 15b, 16a). Wow. Instead of acting out in anger and wrath, God promises to lead us back to the wilderness, a quiet place with no distractions, and speak TENDERLY to us! That picture of love is amazing! Undeniable! 

The grace extended to us is so great! When God puts us in hard times, its usually to guide us to the wilderness, where He can renew our lives in His embrace. He does not like to see our brokenness, but breaks us nonetheless so that His love may be displayed in the most sweetest of light. Then we will respond as in the day God rescued us, with great rejoicing and ecstasy. We will call God our husband, for He is our betrothed! He is the one we have been waiting for anxiously, and we have sought for Him in other places, but all of these have fallen short. So He will remind us of His everlasting love in the wilderness!

God is patient with us, and has nothing but grace and love to offer. He feels anger, but does not act in its fullest extent, graciously saving us from death! "I will not vent the full fury of My anger; I will not turn back to destroy Ephraim. For I am God and not man, the Holy One among you; I will not come in a rage" (Hosea 11:9). He sent His Son to die for us, so that we would not need to face death! How wonderful is it that God is NOT man! For a man would act in rage at His unfaithful wife and divorce... it happens every day. But He is a GOD, far above the silly notions and swaying of human emotion! He loves us so so much, that He will take the price of our sin so that He could spend eternity with us! How wonderful!

Our God is truly amazing, and although we are prone to stray, we should emulate His love back to Him as best as we can. He is ready to comfort those who have left His flock, and rejoices with us when we discover His love boundless and anew!