Hosea 1 Commentary
Poor Hosea! You feel for him. A god-fearing man is instructed to marry a prostitute and have children by her. The LORD uses a real marriage as a teaching aid! Hosea marries Gomer and they have children and the LORD instructs the prophet Hosea to give them names that reflect Israel’s unfaithfulness.
What is the moral of the story? No. There is no story! We are talking about a real man with feelings! We are also talking about a real woman! Never mention the shame!
Probably that is the point the LORD makes. Israel’s idolatry is all shame! There is pain on the part of Hosea – the pain that the LORD feels is real. A loved one who takes off with another man demonstrates a lack of sense. There is no love in prostitution. Used. Abused. Abandoned. And in Israel’s case, paid nothing!
The scripture invites the reader to dig deeper into the happenings of Hosea’s marriage and draw out areas of failure in the saint’s walk with Christ. Christ is the gloom who has come and married the prostitute. She doesn’t have to continue her prostitution because there is now love, care, cover, and abundant provisions. But not Gomer!
The scripture makes the point that Israel’s prostitution is needless. Every saint knows: a moment of sin is always a point of shame and thoughtlessness. Why did I do that? So we must ask Gomer the same question.
But Gomer will mend! The saint must ponder his or her position in Christ and consider when the marriage works again. Christ did the impossible by marrying the prostitute! Gomer is cleansed at the cross and the marriage is perfect again! The LORD is happy again and says to them, “You are the children of the living God!”
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