Hosea 1:2-3

When the LORD began to speak by Hosea, the LORD said to Hosea: “Go, take yourself a wife of harlotry And children of harlotry, For the land has committed great harlotry By departing from the LORD. So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.”
Hosea 1:2-3

God is so good at revealing Himself to us, and many times He uses pictures and examples so that we don’t miss the things He wants us to see. Here God will use Hosea’s home, his marriage, and children to show the people of Israel His heart toward those He calls His own. Hosea is told by the Lord, “Go, take yourself a wife of harlotry” who would bear “children out of her harlotry.” He was to marry a woman who would sell herself to others. She would then forsake the one who loves her most. This was a picture of what God’s children were doing.

We aren’t told how Hosea felt about all of this, but we know that when he entered into this marriage, he understood what was ahead. He saw it as a calling and he made the decision to obey the Lord in it. It wouldn’t be easy for him; his home and marriage wouldn’t be a place of comfort or blessing. His heart would be broken again and again, but he went into this knowing that God was with him.

It’s a great picture of how we can and should serve the Lord in whatever place or situation He has sent us. As we rely upon the Lord’s power and the Spirit of God in us, our service will reveal God’s heart of love toward us and to others as well.

Pastor Doug Hardin