Today, I read the most amazing retelling of Hosea by the late E.K. Bailey. What a powerful voice Bailey had, what a powerful sermon as it is one that fits to our today's culture, struggle with sin, and a message that directly steers us toward understand our relationship with God.
Below is not the excerpt from Bailey's sermon but an interpretation of Hosea and the basic summary of E.K. Bailey's sermon.
In Hosea 1:2
we read, “The LORD said to Hosea, ‘Go, take to yourself a wife of
whoredom and have children of whoredom.’” Hosea obeyed, marrying a woman
named Gomer, who was unfaithful to him. Why did God tell Hosea to marry
a prostitute?
To begin with, it is important to realize this command could be
understood two different ways. First, and more likely, this command
could be one of anticipation. In other words, God may have instructed
Hosea to marry a woman who would later become unfaithful to him. The other possibility is that the command was for Hosea to marry someone already known as a prostitute.
In either case, the reason for this unusual directive is specified in
the latter half of the same verse: “For the land commits great whoredom
by forsaking the LORD.” God wanted to provide an illustration of His
relationship with the people of Israel, who had been unfaithful to Him
by practicing idolatry. This theme is carried through the remainder of
the prophecies in chapter 1 and the discussion of Israel’s
unfaithfulness in chapter 2.
In Hosea 3:1,
after Gomer had left Hosea and was living in immorality, the Lord
commanded Hosea to find her and buy her back. God was continuing His
illustration, except now He wanted to show the greatness of His grace:
“Even as the LORD loves the children of Israel, though they turn to
other gods.” Hosea’s faithful love of Gomer was an illustration of God’s
faithfulness to wayward Israel. Just as Gomer had been unfaithful to
her husband and had to be redeemed, Israel needed God’s initiative to
restore their relationship.
The prophet Hosea was commanded to marry an unfaithful wife, and this
set up a model of Israel’s broken relationship with God. Israel had been
chosen and loved by God yet had been unfaithful to Him by way of
idolatry. Just as Hosea redeemed his estranged wife and sought to
continue his relationship with her, God promised to redeem Israel and
renew their relationship with Him. The story of Hosea and Gomer is an
unforgettable picture of God’s strong, unending love for His covenant
people.
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