Bible Story: Hosea (The Book of Hosea)

Today, I would like to share with you the story of Hosea. Do you know him? I got interested to know him when I watched the Amazing Love Movie. After  I watched the movie, I read the bible and checked the book of Hosea. Prophet Hosea lived in northern kingdom of Israel. So this is before Israel fell to the Assyrians in 722 BC. So while he was still single, our God spoke to him and told him “Go and get married. Your wife will be unfaithful, and your children will be like her. In the same way, my people have left me and become unfaithful.” Hosea followed God’s will.  He married a woman named Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim. What can we say about this woman? She is beautiful and attractive lady. Most likely, she has a lot of suitors even before she got married. She is also materialistic and can easily be swayed by rich men. Hosea and Gomer had 3 children. The children names are Jezreel, unloved, and not-my-people. The names of the children came from God.  For Hosea first son, The Lord said to Hosea, name him Jezreel because it will not be long before I punish the king of Israel for the murders that his ancestor Jehu committed at Jezreel. Jezeel was a city where Jehu assassinated the king of Israel and the rest of the royal family. For the second child- a daughter, the Lord said to Hosea, Name her unloved because I will no longer show love to the people of Israel or forgive them. But to the people of Judah, I will show love. I, the Lord their God, will save them, but I will not do it by war. The last child – a son, the Lord said to Hosea Name him Not-my-people because the people of Israel are not my people and I am not their God.

So Gomer left Hosea for another man. For sure her affair was a talk of the town and her ending wasn’t good.  You can imagine how painful it was for prophet Hosea.

So The Lord said to Hosea, “Go again and show your love for a woman who is committing adultery with a lover.” You must love her just as I still love the people of Israel even though they turn to other gods and like to take offerings of raisins to idols. So Hosea paid 15 pieces of silver and 7 bushels of barley to buy her.

The Lord says, Israel and Judah, what am I going to do with you? Your love for me disappears as quickly as morning mist; it is like a dew that vanishes early in the day. That is why I have sent my prophets to you with my message of Judgement and destruction. What I want from you is plain and clear. I want your constant love, not your animal sacrifices. I would rather have my people know me than burn offerings to me.

God wants a sincere repentance. What we learn from this story is that God’s loves us even when we are sinning and he is very patient with us and is always waiting for us. Another lesson that I learned is that we need to be merciful and loving with one another.