"When the Lord began to speak through the Hosea, the Lord said to him, ‘Go take to yourself an adulterous wife and children of unfaithfulness, because the land is guilty of the vilest adultery in departing from the Lord.’”
Hosea 1:2
For centuries marriage has been understood as a relational partnership between one man and one woman. Furthermore, it has been historically defined as a covenantal bond that incorporates such aspects as love, respect, admiration, trust, and fidelity. And while this biblically-based characterization is under attack from many facets of society today, facets that seek to pull the culture away from a God-centered worldview, marriage is the foremost expression of a relational union outside a personal connection to God Himself. This critical concept is the literary framework upon which the book of Hosea is constructed. The Lord chose to utilize the real-life perspective of a flawed marriage in order to underscore the importance of cultivating, and maintaining, a genuine allegiance exhibited by the created to the Creator.
The book of Hosea opens with a rather shocking pronouncement: God commanded the prophet Hosea to seek out and marry an adulterous woman. Under normal circumstances advanced knowledge of a potential spouse’s affinity for promiscuity would have been justification to circumvent matrimony. And yet God deemed this to be the primary requirement for Hosea’s future bride. Hosea obeyed the Lord and married a woman named Gomer, who soon bore Hosea a son (Jezreel). Thereafter, Gomer gave birth to a daughter (Lo-Ruhamah) and another son (Lo-Ammi). One wonders what must have gone through Hosea’s mind during this time. Did he understand the forthcoming holistic message of God? Did he perceive what greater holy application would soon be made known?
Regardless, the text in Hosea reads like a stern lecture. God, the Holy One, conveyed impactful, penetrating words for Israel. He took them to task for their overall wicked conduct. Verse after verse pointedly called attention to the examples of the Hebrew peoples’ thievery, betrayal, and spiritual deadness. One might expect the closing chapters to contain a severance of God’s favor for Israel. But God concluded His reprimand in Hosea with a plea for Israel to return to an allegiance-based relationship. Even in reproof the Lord extends love, hope, grace, and a desire to restore us to a right association with Him. Truly God is divine for His mercy is above human behavior and understanding. It longs to be expressed in our moments of utter weakness and depravity.
God employed Hosea’s unhealthy marriage to articulate how unwholesome and dissatisfying a hollow reverence for the Lord on the part of man really is. It may seem like a trivial thing to flirt with worldly allures and trappings, but if we allow earthly treasures or teachings to replace our allegiance to God then we have willingly chosen to commit spiritual adultery. God deserves our complete focus and faith. After all, He daily gives us the best of Himself so why would we choose to surrender anything less? The sharp rebuke the Lord relayed to Israel was generated in the fact that they had broken faith. The Hebrew people had put lust, laziness, and lewdness above God. They had put idolatry, idleness, and impurity above God. They sacrificed service for selfishness. Though some apparently were still observing the religious celebrations (Hosea 2:11), God discerned the collective heart of Israel and found it wanting. The displays of worship were largely hollow and empty. The Lord saw right through the façade. He evaluated His intentions of His followers and determined they were in serious need of repentance and revival.
In short, the great challenge before humanity is holding fast in our allegiance to God. Every generation of believer has struggled to embrace the correct attitude and approach to the Lord. Sure we are infatuated with the idea of God being pleased with us, but how often are we enraptured by the notion of us pleasing God? Many proclaim to cherish God and yet exhibit some of the most horrendous, destructive lifestyles. May the Lord break us for the things that break Him. May He move us for the things that move Him. May He help us to remain true and practice an authentic allegiance, rather than an artificial allegiance.
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