Again, for the very first time

So last night at youth group, I presented the story of Hosea. When I began to research this for the students, I went into it with my average amount of effort. Not that I don't use great effort when preparing, but Hosea wasn't something that I was particularly passionate about. As I began to read and dive into the story, it was as if I were reading it for the first time. I experienced many emotions that I had never had when reading this story. Anger, sorrow, joy, everything.  So at the beginning, God comes to His prophet Hosea and I imagine that conversation was troublesome for him. Maybe his thoughts went something like this, "I have committed my life to you, Lord. Why are you wanting to have me experience this? Why must I experience this emotional pain?" I feel that when we read stories from the Bible like this, we forget that these people were not only smart, but had emotions like us! Hosea was not dumb, he knew what a intimate relationship with a woman like Gomer would be like and would possibly end. So The Lord asked Hosea to go choose a prostitute for a wife. One thing that I never realized until I read our study guide for that night was that if you look at the language of Hosea when his children are being named. If you look closely, only one of the three children that Gomer has are said to have been born to Hosea. Gomer had two illegitimate children while with Hosea. I can't imagine the pain and devastation that Hosea felt when these two pregnancies. Not only did this happen, but he went on to raise these children.

So at this point Hosea must be wondering why God has put him in this position. He has married a prostitute, who has had two children that were not with him. Surely, this must be it? Not quite. After some time, Gomer falls back into the life of prostitution. Not only is she a prostitute, but the Bible says she is in slavery. In short, she is a sex slave. What must have Hosea been thinking when he realized one day that Gomer had left him? Maybe he felt relief. He could finally put this nightmare behind him, raise his children, and continue to reveal messages from God to the people. Once again, God steps in and tells him to go buy her back. He must now face a woman who has cheated on him, probably humiliated him in front of the community because of this, and has left him. Now he must spend his own income to buy her back from slavery. Before fingers are pointed (mine included) saying, "Wait, wait, wait, That isn't fair!" Neither is our salvation. Hosea goes and faces Gomer, buys her back, and brings her home.

At this point, I leaned back in my chair and felt this enormous weight on my chest, probably more on my heart to be exact. I am Gomer. Christ takes me in from the streets, feeds me, clothes me in His Grace and welcomes me. In exchange, I cheat on Him, humiliate him, and run back to my vices. Christ as every right to walk away and never look back, but he pays the price on my soul that the chains of my sin has set, and what a heavy price it is! Not only is the story of Hosea a vision of God's feelings towards Israel, but it is a vision of our relationship with Christ. I had to bow my head at the computer and thank God for his forgiveness mercy for my unfaithfulness. Today, go read this story and view it in the light of you being Gomer and Christ being Hosea. You will never view this story the same way again. Replace Gomer's struggles with your struggles. What do you run to?