A Story Of Rebellion – Love And Reconciliation – To Be Continued
Have you had anyone hate you for no reason ?
Do you feel and think that you are unworthy and irrelevant ?
Do you go to bed and wake up and wonder why and whats the point ?
Do you feel as though nobody loves you or that nobody likes you ?
Do you feel worthless or irrelevant ?
Do you think everyone hates you and wants nothing to do with you ?
Do you believe you are unworthy ?
Im sure as many of us have had someone we have loved with all our heart, but that man or woman did not return the same feelings towards you, or they infact hated you without a reason ?
As Im sure many – if not most or all men have experienced that they have been in love with a woman with all their heart and would have done anything for them, and only wanted to make them happy and feel loved and cherished and wanted. But that woman wanted nothing to do with you.
Rejection. Feeling unwanted or unneeded. What to do about it ?
You have said and done everything you can, both in words and in deeds, but still no matter how kind and loving and generous and caring and empathetic and giving you have been, the other person still wants nothing to do with you. Infact even worse, they do all they can to make you stay away from them, or worse still, make false accusations against you which ends up ruining your life.
Or maybe you were brought up without inspiration and with a hard life, without a Dad or a Mum. Or abused as a child, mocked or abuse, or told or made to feel as though not important or irrelevant. A life of worthless meaningless existence and without hope.
Unfortunately this story is true for so many. Possibly even you who are reading this, Especially if you are still reading down this far – But what has that to do with the love story of Hosea and Gomer ?
Good Question.
Hosea, son of Beeri in the book of Hosea ( title of the book same name ) – 28th book of the Christian Bible. Hosea took for his wife Gomer who was a whore ( prostitute ) who she herself was a daughter of Dibliam who was also a whore ( prostitute ).
A whore / prostitute back in those days was not a well respected member of the community. It was more a badge of shame and disgrace. Although people used them and paid these people for their own gratification. The industry and people in that industry were not looked on by the community and nation with any respect or pride. Quite the opposite – with shame and disgrace. Imagine what it would be to daily work in that industry daily displaying yourself to onlookers and passing travellers as you solicited for their attention looking for a client, or even more humiliating – you were born into the industry and that is all you have ever known and seen from the day of your birth. To live daily as a life of shame and disrespect and flirtation and lewdness. And dealing with many many men daily only using your Mum for their self gratification, and yourself also when you became of appropriate age.
Hosea had to go to a different place. A place typically one would think a true man of God would not go to. But here in scripture Hosea a man of God went to what one could say a foreign land / place ( brothel ? ) to get for himself a wife. To marry a woman and to become her husband. To devote his life to this woman from a vastly different background – and to take her home to be his wife for ever more. A whore to symbolize Israel’s relationship with their God..
Y–U / God loved and adored Israel so very much, and done so much for her, and redeemed her at a great price from a foreign land. And daily provided for her needs. Yet still Israel was unappreciative, and rebelled. Continually seeking her own ways.
Israel was continually turning away from Y–U / God and like a whore went to prostrate herself to other gods and deities and assimilate herself with many other pagan traditions, like a whore going from lover to lover to lover – she would go to many different gods and traditions. Forsaking her true husband who nourished her, the true Y–U / God / Elohim. (a new word for you to look up if you do not know what it means ).
Y–U / Elohim /God still loved and cherished Israel very much, and faithful to His promise. He seeked time and time again to redeem Israel from her backsliding promiscuous ways.
Gomer conceived a son to Hosea and instructed by God to call this child Jezreel. Gomer then conceived a daughter which again God instructed to call this child Loruhamah. No sooner was Loruhamah weaned that Gomer conceived and bore another son which again God instructed to call him Loammi.
Imagine this image, Husband with his wife who bore him 3 children thus far. A family Husband & Wife / Dad & Mum & 3 children in their care.
A story of how Israel departed from God “Y–U” and started calling on what back then was called “Lord” ( modern translations “Baal” ). God calls his people had gone whoring after Lord / Baal and Y–U was going to seduce Israel and to lure her – Israel” back to himself, as Israel started turning to other deities an serving them and getting gain from it, in whoredom. Likewise to show how terrible it was, Y–U / God instructed Hosea to take a whore for a wife. Then Hosea took a whore ( Gomer ) for his wife ( as instructed by Y–U ), and bore him children, yet the wife of God – Israel left God for another god which was no god, ( likewise Gomer to Hosea ) – God / Y–U being the jealous God longed to be in a loving relationship with his wife – Israel. Likewise how Hosea took a whore as a wife and loved her so much, mother of his children. Just as God loved Israel, Hosea loved Gomer, as Israel kept on leaving God and God had to continually woo Israel back to himself, Hosea had to also likewise woo Gomer back to himself.
WHY ? Gomer remember was brought up as a prostitute / whore, daughter of a whore, friends with whores. raised up as men are only after woman for their pleasure. Pregnancy was just a trait of being a whore, being a prostitute in those days means of course your going to get pregnant and bare children. So when she went to be as wife with Hosea, it would have been just another man and doing the thing to “get his rocks off” sort of thing so to say according to Gomer’s thinking. More than likely she never really had a father figure, or seen a husband figure, therefore not understanding what a father or husband figure would look like.
But mainly men are just customers who want to fulfil their needs and she just roll playing for him. Never knowing what true love is, never knowing what commitment and devotion means. Not feeling or believing as though he loved her or truly committed to her, a foreign concept to her, therefore not truly invested into any real relationship with him. Therefore would think nothing of just going back to her old life of being a whore / prostitute to get more clients and get more gifts and money from her customers / clients / lovers who hire her services. Just as Israel did to God by rejecting his blessings he gave to her and went whoring after other gods and other deities and participating in other debauchery rituals.
Hosea was to show Gomer a true new form of love and devotion she had never experienced or accepted or known or believed in before.
Gomer – she never took to heart or realized that Hosea truly did loved and cherish her, her life was much blessed through Hosea. She would be use to men taking women and having children by their clients, but not having ever seeing or experienced true love and devotion, when Hosea came along, she never knew or realized herself that this is different.
Hosea would stand by her and support her and help and encourage and bless her. However Gomer would again and again return to her former life with her former lovers as a whore. Not appreciating that her life was blessed through Hosea.
The same relationship Gomer to Hosea was Israel to their Deity. They did not pay respect or homage towards Him or respect or give homage towards him. But rather seeked to do their own will. Rejecting the source where their greatest blessing came from and seeked self gratification in other areas from other people and in many cases acted quite evil. Denying truth and justice. And sacrificed holy things to demons, and in some cases even their own children in much in the same way many do in todays world.
Unfortunately these days there are many like Gomer, not seeing love or marriage or commitment as anything to take seriously, and like Gomer, when someone does come along who truly does love and cherish her, who deep in his heart wants to be with her and yearns for her. This is a new concept for Gomer and people like Gomer, who only see men ( or as in our modern times men / women ) only as objects to use and abuse in order to get what they want. They do not see value in the other person or in their words or actions. They do not have the comprehension of true and total love and devotion and commitment from one person to another, therefore at any opportunistic moment will inflict pain and suffering onto them without a 2nd thought or without any thoughts of consequences. Even to the extent of divorce. But Y–U / God / Elohim does not permanently divorce Israel.
However Hosea just like God wants to be in that loving relationship, although the “wife” / “Israel” wasn’t wanting or willing to be involved in that relationship, like we spoke about earlier, one person may with all their heart love someone, but the other person does not return / have that same feeling / response back to the other, where the person that they love wants nothing to do with them.
That can be the most hardest and heart breaking thing to loose the one you love. The one who is in love with the other person would do absolutely anything to be with the one they love, and to woo them back to share in the love that they have for them. But is the other is in rebellion – such as the case was with Israel, in many times their rejection leads to terrible consequences, by going after other lovers and other gods, not realizing that the blessings that Israel received was from Gods own hand. The blessings from God came to Gomer through Hosea.
Can you remember a time when you loved and cherished someone who did not love or respect you back ?
Can you remember a time when someone loved and cherished you but you did not love or respect them back ?
Often the one who does not return the love will be very harsh to the one who loves them and who is trying only to bless them, such is the case in Luke 19:14
However with much gifts & kindness – love and compassion, the loving partner provides to the runaway partner such as in Hosea 3:2 to woo the runaway wife / nation back to her husband Hosea / God. The betrothed returns to her husband of her youth. However unfortunately more times than not this does not happen in the western world. Where 53 % of first marriages ends in divorce – of which 75 % of divorces initiated and carried out are done by the women. And more than half of the abuse is done by the men.
Similarly majority of the time its Gods people who break up the relations between God and his people – the bride initiates, yet the bridegroom trys to build the bridges.
However here with Gomer when Hosea comes to tell and show Gomer what true love is and what it looks like, she is taken back, not realizing such a thing exist, not realizing that he loves her, validating her and giving her real value. Not seen as a whore, but seeing her as his wife, someone of great value and importance, someone he is committed to, the mother of his children, a woman of GREAT value. This opens Gomer’s eyes to see and realize something she had not ever experienced before. Instead of men are just someone to provide sexual favours for, in order to get gifts and money and so forth. But to truly see her as someone of great treasure an value, and that’s why Hosea married her, and that’s why Hosea is seeking her out time and time again, to be with her, have her by his side. Because she is important to him, she is loved and special to him. Something she had never truly experienced or noticed or appreciated before in her previous life.
You could be that Gomer. There is someone who truly does love you and is devoted to you more than you could possibly think or imagine, but you are not locked in. You are never forced. Just like Israel and Gomer, you are never forced to to love or obey, you are always free to leave. You will not be stopped, nor will you be forced to stay. Yet still Hosea loved Gomer so much just as God loved Israel, you are loved very much and a great price has been paid for you that you may not even be aware of. Some cost involve financial losses, some is in respect / status / position / some maybe physical cost on physical injury, or in some case all 3 as in what God has done for you and I can have a mutual loving relation with God and with each other.
Have you ever thought of yourself as a Gomer where you are going about your own thing in your own way when you have a beloved husband who truly devoted to you, who truly loves you and genuinely wants to be with you in a loving relation and has many great plans and thoughts to prosper and bless you – to give you the desires of your heart- if you are willing to truly devote yourself to him and cherish and respect and honour and uplift him, for you know he has many great plans to bless you – if you are truly willing to commit your entire self to him regardless whatever trials and tribulations come your way.
Such is the love and devotion Y–U God has for you as Hosea has for Gomer
I have come to give you life in abundance John 10:10
My thoughts are to give you hope ang good future, Jeremiah 29:11
Most men love and cherish their wife and children, so much so they would in a heart beat lay down their very own life for their wife and children to ensure their well being. Fight to keep them out of harms way, and let them go when they leave the house to make it on their own without them. So much is the love of God to Israel, so much is the love of Hosea to Gomer.
Will you be just as faithful to your first love, your true husband – whether you are a Hosea or Gomer, know you truly are a wondrous creation of God perfectly knitted together in your Mum’s womb, Psalms 139:13-14
For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works;, my soul knows it very well
Hosea loved his wife as God loves you and would sacrifice life and kingdom for your love, would you be willing to trust your life in his hands ?
Do you see / hear yourself resisting / fighting the call of Y–U / God / Elohim on your life ?
The proverbial alter call into this love and relation is always there, 24 – 7 – 52. Don’t let it be too late for you.
TBC…