I had the opportunity to spend some time outside this week on one of the beautiful days we had before the rain. I got out of class early, grabbed my Bible and sat in the prayer garden. The breeze was nice, so I shuffled my “calm” playlist.
The book of Hosea begins with God telling Hosea to marry a prostitute. Quite the wake up call if you ask me. Now Hosea doesn’t question or challenge God AT ALL. He obeys completely. So Hosea marries Gomer and they have three children. Something you have to understand about Hosea is that it’s allegorical in the sense that Hosea and Gomer’s relationship is representative of God’s relationship with Israel, which we can catch a glimpse of in Hosea 1:4-10.
Then the Lord said to Hosea, “Call him Jezreel, because I will soon punish the house of Jehu for the massacre at Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of Israel. In that day I will break Israel’s bow in the Valley of Jezreel.” Gomer conceived again and gave birth to a daughter. Then the Lord said to Hosea, “Call her Lo-Ruhamah (which means “not loved”), for I will no longer show love to Israel, that I should at all forgive them. Yet I will show love to Judah; and I will save them—not by bow, sword or battle, or by horses and horsemen, but I, the Lord their God, will save them.” After she had weaned Lo-Ruhamah, Gomer had another son. Then the Lord said, “Call him Lo-Ammi (which means “not my people”), for you are not my people, and I am not your God. “Yet the Israelites will be like the sand on the seashore, which cannot be measured or counted. In the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ they will be called ‘children of the living God.’
That’s just such a great summary of Israel’s history in so few verses. I love it!
Gomer continues to be adulterous (chapter 2). Here’s what God says to Hosea concerning this:
The Lord said to me, “Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another man and is an adulteress. Love her as the Lord loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes.” So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and about a homer and a lethek of barley. Then I told her, “You are to live with me many days; you must not be a prostitute or be intimate with any man, and I will behave the same way toward you.” (3:1-3)
How incredible is that?! And yet that’s exactly what God does for us. He loves us so much that He bought us back and still loves us the same. Most days I have to be reminded over and over of this truth because it’s something I can’t even completely wrap my mind around. God’s love is infinite and there’s nothing I can do to separate myself from Him. So it is at this moment that I actually hear the music from my playlist blasting in my ears. I begin to sing along with Misty Edwards at the chorus of “I Will Waste my Life.”
For I am in love with you,
and there is no cost.
I am in love with you,
and there is no loss.
I am in love with you,
I want to take your name.
I am in love with you,
I want to cling to you, Jesus,
just let me cling to you, Jesus,
I want to cling to you…
This is almost like a conversation between the Father and me. He is telling me that He loves me beyond what I can understand and my response is simply clinging to Him harder than anything else in life. This is the perfect reassurance that a perfect love relationship exists. He loves me perfectly, no matter what I do.
As I continued reading Hosea, my mind still camped on these thoughts. The middle chunk of Hosea is full of rich history and it’s a wonderful and valuable read, but that’s not my focus here. A few more songs played as I began to cry in awe of God’s great love for me. The chorus from “Season” by Will Retherford is the icing on the cake.
I will run towards You
In Your arms I’ll stay
For Your love has changed my heart
You delight in me
And You call me Yours
Oh, Your love has changed my life
And we come to the end of the book of Hosea where God declares, “I will heal their waywardness and love them freely, for my anger has turned away from them.” (14:4)
God, there’s so much hope and so much love in the few pages of Hosea. Your love is prefect. Your love is better than life (Psalm 63:3). In You, I find my satisfaction and my rest.
You won’t relent until You have it all. My heart is Yours.
Morgan Taylor 
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