Marry a what?

How would you like to receive this command from God? "Go and marry a cheating wife."

This is exactly what God told the prophet Hosea to do.

The word of the LORD that came to Hosea...the LORD said to him, "Go, take to yourself an adulterous wife

Hosea 1:1-2

Why would God ask him to do such a thing? Did God want to ruin his life?

Although this was a great sacrifice to ask of his prophet, God wanted to make a point, and a BIG one: That He loves us even though we act like a cheating wife.

After Hosea marries Gomer (her name alone should have kept every man away from her) she sells herself into prostitution. And not just any common prostitution, but a shrine prostitute - one who has sex as a worship ritual to other gods (idols). This relationship should have ended right there. But God had other plans.

The LORD said to me, "Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another and is an adulteress. Love her as the LORD loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes." 2 So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and about a homer and a lethek of barley.

Hosea 3:1-2

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How humiliating this must have been to Hosea - to buy back his own wife from some pagan priest. But Hosea's humbling was our blessing. All this in order for God to show the extant of His love for us.

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We (mankind) belonged to God by creation. He created us to have a beautiful relationship with us. But we sinned and sold ourselves to sin and Satan. But God's love for us remained strong and true. So just like Hosea bought back his wife, so God bought us back but at a much greater cost - the blood of His own Son Jesus Christ.

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So Hosea's pain was our gain. Through his story we are inspired to worship and praise the God who gave it all to bring us back to Himself.

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