I Want to Be a Hosea AND a Gomer
By Keena Cox, State Girl’s Clubs Coordinator, Rocky Mountain Region

Scripture:  Book of Hosea

You want to be a Hosea?  That one I can understand.  But when you say you want to be a Gomer, well that one gives me a problem.  After all, was she not a prostitute, a woman of unreputable reputation?  Was she not a woman who was unfaithful to her husband?  Why would you want to be a Gomer? 

Join with me as we take a deeper look at the book of Hosea, in particular the story of Hosea and Gomer as it applies to our life.  What is it that Hosea has to teach us about being a caregiver?  What does Hosea teach us about redeeming love?  And Gomer . . . is there anything to be learned through Gomer’s life?  Is there a part of Gomer that is already in you and me?

The story of Hosea is a captivating love story to me.  It is not only a love story between a man and a woman, but a parable of a love story between our Father and His people.  We are a people in need of God’s redeeming love.  We have a love story to share with the world—we must first just grab hold of the love that He freely gives us.

Background

Hosea was the first of the “minor” prophets.  He was a young preacher in the nation of Israel.  Hosea had a word in his heart.  He lived, as we know in verse 1, during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah (all kings of Judah), and during the rule of Jeroboam, the son of Joash, the king of Israel.  Jeroboam was a wicked king and thus, the nation of Israel was going through a difficult time when Hosea was preaching.  People were “living it up” and didn’t have much time for God.  Hosea spoke of judgment and of chastisement.  However, similar to when Noah had tried to speak what God had told him, the people did not listen. They continued on with their wicked ways.

So when we meet Hosea, he has just been told something very interesting by God (v. 2).  God has told Hosea to go and marry.  However, he didn’t want him to marry just anybody.  God told Hosea to marry a prostitute.  He even went ahead and told Hosea that she would be unfaithful to him.  God was so detailed in His instructions, that He gave Hosea the names of his children.

Gomer was Hosea’s future wife.  But first, Gomer was the prostitute.  Unfortunately, we do not know a lot about Gomer.  Sadly, we know more about her past than anything else—and that being that she was a prostitute.

The Story

As the faithful servant of the Lord that he was, Hosea goes out into the street and finds Gomer.  They marry and all seems to be well, for a while.  They have their three children, as God had told Hosea.  They name their children, as God has instructed Hosea.  One might think that life for Gomer was grand.  However, as it is today with many people, she began to look back at her past.  Gomer might have thought about what life used to be and in her mind perhaps she thought it was what she wanted and deserved.  So, sadly, Gomer left Hosea and went back to her life of prostitution.  It is unclear how long Gomer led this “new” life of hers.  What we do know is that she was eventually sold into slavery.  It is here that God speaks to Hosea about his wife.  We find in chapter 3 that God is telling Hosea to go and buy Gomer back out of slavery.  In verse 2 of that chapter, we see that Hosea indeed bought Gomer back.  This is the ultimate love.  Despite unfaithfulness and humility, Hosea buys his beloved back.  It is redemption at its finest.

The Application

I wonder what the townspeople thought when the preacher came to buy back his prostituting wife?  I wonder what looks he received as he stood and offered fifteen pieces of silver, five bushels of barley and a measure of wine?  I also wonder what was going through Gomer’s mind.  Was she humiliated?  Deep down did she feel a sense of relief that no matter what she had done, all was now going to be well?  Did she weep with deep sadness over her sins?

When I think of Hosea, I am reminded that he obeyed God when God told him to go and marry a prostitute.  Hosea knew from the beginning that Gomer would not remain faithful.  He knew that even through obeying what his God had told him, he was bringing pain upon himself.  Yet, he remained faithful.  Like Abraham, who agreed to put Isaac on the altar, these two men agreed to obey God with the foreknowledge that pain would be experienced.  Yet, somehow they knew that God had begun a good work in them and somehow and someway would be faithful to complete it in them (Philippians 1:6). 

Hosea was an agent of care.  He was not afraid to touch what was considered unclean in his society.  He was not afraid to get down and dirty his hands so to speak.

Before moving to Colorado with my husband, I was working as a hospital chaplain.  I was often called in to the room where a saint of God was passing away.  The family often wanted a prayer as their loved one went to be with the Lord.  Those kinds of situations did not challenge me.  Those families encouraged me and lifted me up.  To me, those were easy.  You just go in and join with the family.  The situations that challenged me were the rooms where it wasn’t the nice little gentleman or lady who was surrounded by their family and ready to meet their Maker.  The situations that caused me to look deep inside myself were the families that were “messy.”

I remember one situation in particular.  I had been called to minister to a mother who had lost her newborn.  I was so saddened for her.  She was in disbelief.  However, as the story unfolded, the truth was revealed.  The mother had been drinking and passed out on the couch at a party.  She had her newborn on the couch with her.  The young mother had placed her newborn in between her and the couch cushions.  Once she passed out, the baby was no longer able to get air and suffocated laying right there beside his mother.  All of a sudden, I “was a Hosea.”  Suddenly, I had to be an agent of care, even though pain was involved.  This mother was in need of love just like the passing saint of God.  She needed to know about God’s love and forgiving grace.  It was not my place to judge her and condemn her—she would do that for the rest of her life.  My job was to get my hands dirty and place my arms around her during her pain.  As Hosea was to marry Gomer and touch the prostitute, I was to reach out and touch this young mother who everyone else had turned their back on.  I suddenly became the only one willing to sit with this mother.  I was now her agent of care.

Hosea was not only an agent of care, but an agent of redemption.  The story of Hosea and Gomer is a parable to that of Christ’s love for us.  We are all like Gomer.  We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23).  We are all in need of God’s redeeming love.  And like Hosea offered to Gomer, God is willing to offer the same to us.  “Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous” (Romans 3:24, NLT).  This is the good news we have to share.

Another patient I remember vividly was dying of liver cancer.  She was struggling with the fact that she was unable to forgive herself for the things that she had done wrong in her life.  She was convinced that God was unable to forgive her.  One of the greatest days in my chaplaincy ministry was the day I shared Romans 3:23, 24 with this patient.  The peace that came over her was like that of a light being turned on in a dark room.  That is the kind of good news that we have to share with the world.  We have the key to turn on the light in the dark room.  It is life changing.  We have to be willing to be the agent of redemption like Hosea and offer the true redeeming love of Christ to a dark and fallen world.

Gomer was an agent of completion.  God could have used all kinds of endings to this story.  However, he chose to end this story of redeeming love through a woman named Gomer.  The word Gomer actually means “complete.”  The root word is gamar and it is a verb meaning “to perfect or to finish.”  This word is used in Psalm 138:8.  “The Lord will perfect that which concerns me, Your mercy, O Lord, endures forever. . . .”  Gomer’s destiny was to be an agent of completion.  After searching for what she thought would bring her joy and fulfill her, Gomer had to realize that she was complete in Hosea.  In the same way, we are only complete with God.  We are not whole without Him.  Being complete in God is our ultimate goal.  That is what we strive to achieve.  That is what we share with the world that we encounter.

Questions for Our Life

1. Like Hosea, how many of us would do what God told us, even if we knew pain would follow? 
2. What is it that holds you back from being a Hosea and offering everything, even your pride?
3. What is it that holds you back from being a Gomer—from being complete with God?
4. How often have we cheated on God in our hearts, just as Gomer cheated on Hosea?
5. What challenges do you face in becoming an agent of care?
6. Who is it in your life that needs to know about God’s redeeming love?

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