In Hosea 2:14-23 we have this amazing picture of the
pursuing God. Gomer (representing Israel
and us!) has gone astray from Hosea (representing God). She has gone after other lovers. She has turned her back on her husband.
In Hosea 2:1-13 we saw God bringing loving, but firm
discipline upon Gomer. He is
surrounding her with thorns and having her hit a wall. This was all designed to be a wake-up call to
her. But there is no response yet.
So what does God do next?
He would have every right to bring total judgment and be done with her. He could turn His back and say, “It is over.” But yet He doesn’t. Instead, He allures her! He comes after her and seeks to romance her
back to Himself. Then He takes her into the
wilderness and “speaks tenderly to her.”
The original Hebrew here means, “speak to her heart.” And this is what God does with us. In the midst of our sin and rebellion, He
wants to speak to our heart. He wants to
go to the very root of why we are doing what we are doing.
Then the passage says three times, “I will betroth you to me”. God initiates restoring the marriage in the
very midst of Gomer’s adultery. What
amazing grace and love. At the very time
we deserve judgment and condemnation, God comes after us to renew the
marriage. And He does this by saying “I
will betroth you to me forever.” Our
marriage with God is eternal and cannot be broken. And it is all because of what Jesus did for
us at the cross.
For more on this amazing love and union with God that occurs
through Jesus, check out my sermon at http://www.livinghopeathens.org/gods-love-song/
