God asked Hosea to do the strangest thing—he told Hosea to get married. That isn’t the weird part—God told Hosea to look specifically for a wife who is not going to be faithful to him. As a pastor I have had a lot of folks tell me they wish God would tell them what he wants, and maybe if more people read Hosea we would inquire less! This task seems brutal! Why would God put Hosea through such an ordeal? It is because Hosea’s life is a sermon. His experiences and the way God asks him to respond to them are meant to communicate to the people about God’s faithfulness and make a dramatic point about their own unfaithful response to God’s goodness.

Hosea’s life, his marriage, and his fatherhood are symbolic. One of the most common metaphors God uses to describe his relationship with his people is marriage. God commits to us fully, and he is faithful to the vows he made to us. Meanwhile, we have broken the vow we have made. The people of Israel did this by worshiping other gods. They prayed to the true God when it was convenient, but then prayed to another god named Baal as well. The story told about Baal was very different from the story of the true God. While God treats us like a loving spouse, Baal was said to be a master relating to humanity as his slaves. God faithfully gives; Baal cruelly takes. The ancient people were drawn to worshiping Baal for all the same ways that people are drawn to worshiping power and might today. Idolatry takes different forms—we don’t see literal temples with statues of Baal in them, but we worship youth, influence, strength, or money.

God sent Hosea to the people of Israel to impart to them the severity of their betrayal because they just weren’t understanding how badly they were breaking God’s heart. Hosea took Gomer as his wife knowing that she would be unfaithful, and then after she cheated on him he treated her with sheer grace. This sermon illustration is as dramatic as it is unimaginable, and I am certain that it got the attention of Hosea’s contemporaries. Hosea had every right to leave his wife behind, but he didn’t do it. He tells the people that this is exactly the way God relates to them. Hosea 2:16 says:

“In that day,” declares the Lord,
    “You will call me ‘my husband;’
    you will no longer call me ‘my master.’”

The word for “master” in this verse can be translated as “slave owner,” and the word is literally “Baal.” Isn’t it ironic that it is a hope for freedom that turns us away from God, but it is also those things that enslave us?

Lord God, thank you for Hosea’s faithfulness and the lesson it gives me. Thank you all the more for your faithfulness; I can never outrun it. Even when we are faithless you are faithful, because you cannot deny who you are. Amen.

Questions for reflection:

  1. Think about the things you turn to for freedom that ultimately have enslaved you. This could be any sin—maybe it is unforgiveness, or maybe it is an addiction. Maybe you work too much or find your identity in something that draws you from God. How is God calling you to turn back to him?
  2. Like Hosea, your life communicates something about God; whether you realize it or not, your life is a sermon. What story is your life telling?
  3. Hosea isn’t the only prophet who embodied God’s message: Isaiah preached naked to make a point, Jeremiah carried a yoke of iron, and Ezekiel ate bread baked over dung. More than any other, Jesus’ life was a sermon. What are some messages that Jesus didn’t just tell us but lived out with his body?