Adulterer - Hosea 1

Adultery.

That one word raises a whole host of emotions in certain people.

For some, it brings back painful memories.

For some, it causes feelings of great guilt and regret.

For others, it is a word that they fight to avoid every day of their life.

The reason for this is we use the word in a one-dimensional way. We look at the word only as a sexual treason one can make in the confines of marriage. If a spouse has relations with someone other than the person they are married to, we say they committed “adultery.”

And that is true. The person did. It is a sin. It needs to be dealt with. It needs to be repented of.

But what if adultery is something deeper, as well? What if it is more than merely cheating on a spouse?

When God speaks to Hosea, He tells Hosea to “take yourself a wife of harlotry and children of harlotry.” (harlotry=adultery) Why would He tell Hosea to do such a weird and painful thing?

God gives the answer: “For the land has committed great harlotry by departing from the Lord.”

This relationship that God calls Hosea into is one that represents Israel’s relationship with God, of course. But there is a deeper message for you and me as well. It represents our relationship with God.

Each one of us at one time or another have departed from the ways of the Lord to our own desires. We have lied, cheated, lusted, and perhaps even murdered in our heart. We have “cheated” on God. We have broken our vows to Him. We have committed adultery against Him.

But the story of Hosea has great hope for us as well. For as we read the book together we will see that because of his great love, Hosea is willing to take his wife Gomer back despite the adultery.

At this point we learn that God is willing to take US back despite our adultery.

And that my friends is what we call hope. That is what we call true love. That is what we call faithfulness.

Even when we commit adultery against God, He loves us anyway and is willing to take us back.

Thank you Lord for this story of Love. Thank you for this story of hope. Thank you for loving this adulterer.