We were just talking about the book of Hosea in my Old Testament Survey class the other day. It is the "second most important story in the Bible" according to my teacher.
Hosea documents the magnitude of the great romance between God and His people. Simply defined, "while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." This was the first thing I thought of when my teacher was talking about Hosea. I had actually started reading through this book on my own before we got to it in class. And I'm glad I did. I wouldn't have understand all of the implications of what my professor was saying otherwise.
A word used numerous times throughout the entire book is adultery. Sometimes also said as 'prostitution.' This is the picture of how we treat our God.
Some people think of Hosea as an allegory for our relationship to God, not as a true story. But I believe it to be real. They also say that Hosea couldn't have married his wife Gomer while she was a prostitute, that she must have become one after their marriage. This is because marriage to a prostitute went against the religious laws at the time. But honestly, when has God played by man's rules? It's easy to say that Gomer turning to prostitution after her marriage more accurately represents our relationship to God - we don't want to believe ourselves so sinful as to have started out that way. But in real life, the sequence of God's grace doesnt' go [loving relationship --> our sin --> broken marriage] it goes [our sin --> His love --> continued sin --> broken marriage]. Perhaps that's too simplified. But it makes the point.
Hosea married Gomer while she was still a prostitute. He took her out of her pattern of a life. In the same way that God loves us while we still sin, before we repent.
One of the main points my teacher made in class was that the greatest pain a person can feel isn't the loss of a spouse to death, but the loss of a spouse to infidelity. This is the kind of pain that God endures on a daily basis. It's the kind of rejection and betrayal felt by someone in a broken marriage - but to a much greater extent than any human mind can begin to comprehend.
Chapter 11 of this book discusses how God has shown grace to his people throughout their relationship with Him. He led them through numerous trials, provided a way for them into the promised land, and all the while forgave the sins they committed against Him. Yet somehow they forgot and moved on with their lives, leaving God behind.
We do exactly the same thing today. We forget. We use God for a while and then leave Him. How can we be so ungrateful? How can we be so blind? Who are we, that we should continue in this pattern and yet still be loved by the One who created all things?
This small glimpse of God's glory and majesty as displayed in His irrational love for us should bring nations to their knees. This is why Hosea is the second greatest story in the Bible (the first being that of Jesus Christ) - it is a tangible picture of God's all forgiving, grace filled, completely irrational love for us.
