Marriage as Prophecy?

Today, I would like to discuss the book of Hosea. In the Old Testament, the book is about a prophet named Hosea, and God told him to use his marriage to represent the Lord's relationship with His people, Israel. If you have read the Old Testament, you know that the people of Israel were often mind-bogglingly rebellious toward God. Reading it today, it's difficult to understand how hard-hearted they had to have been to worship a false god after seeing their God part the sea and lead them by fire and smoke to free them from slavery in Egypt. Even after all of God’s provisions, faithfulness, and communication with His people, they were still constantly in rebellion. Hosea is an incredibly interesting story, and I don’t often hear people talking about it.

It starts with Hosea hearing from the Lord to “Go and marry a woman of promiscuity and have children of promiscuity, for the land is committing blatant acts of promiscuity by abandoning the Lord” – Hosea 1:2. So, Hosea did what God said and married a lady named Gomer who bore him a son that was named Jezreel, meaning “God sows.” Gomer conceived again, and it was a girl who was named Lo-ruhamah, meaning “no compassion,” “For I will no longer have compassion on the house of Israel” – Hosea 1:6. Then Gomer had another son named Lo-ammi, meaning “not my people.” Jezreel signified the fact that judgment was incoming. Lo-ruhamah showed Israel that God had no compassion left for the blatant disobedience. Lo-ammi is significant because it meant the Lord was temporarily suspending the covenant He had with Israel.

There is a bit to unpack here. First, we should applaud Hosea’s obedience. Most men, I imagine, are looking for a good wife and precious children. God describes them as promiscuous, yet Hosea goes and does what he’s told. Second, God using a family as a prophetic metaphor depicts in great depth how much He is in charge. He is the King of kings. That would be like a school principal renaming children to something that means “the school is closing” and “because the teachers smell bad,” to then close the school until the teachers start to take more showers. The teachers and students would know who is in charge. We can see the Lord has power over the entire universe and everything in it. Third, He shows amazing mercy and grace for us in the way He convicts us. He doesn’t just reap destruction out of nowhere. He warns, He judges, and He does what He says He’s going to.

Then, in chapter two, there is a call to repentance, “Rebuke your mother; rebuke her. For she is not my wife and I am not her husband.” – Hosea 2:2. This was their sign to rebuke those living among them promiscuously. As if Israel is a devoted husband whose wife (the ungodly people of Israel) were pursuing adulterous relationships. God says He will shame Israel if they don’t change their ways. He also says something interesting in chapter 2 verse 6: “Therefore, this is what I will do: I will block her way with thorns; I will enclose her with a wall so that she cannot find her paths.” It’s as if God wanted to completely remove the temptations for Israel to sin. He continues in chapter two to say that Israel will be led to the wilderness where they once knew God as the provider and the life. Then He says, “I will take you to be my wife forever. I will take you to be my wife in righteousness, justice, love, and compassion. I will take you to be my wife in faithfulness, and you will know the Lord.” Hosea 2:19-20.

Chapter two gets me thinking about the things in the world today that we would have to rebuke. While we don’t bow to idols in the same way people did in ancient days, there are things we do place on a pedestal when we just need to rely on Jesus as our lifeline. Then I think about how even though we idolize people or things, the Lord desires us to have Him in our hearts. Even though we metaphorically have this great Husband who loves us at an incomprehensible depth, who is loyal to us, who keeps promises He makes, and provides for us everything we need, we still are putting people who have never helped us, don’t do us any good, and often aren’t even real above him. Even though we do that, God accepts our repentance. How many husbands would do that? God says He will take us as His forever, and He will take us righteously and justly, lovingly and with compassion. He says He will show us who He is, that we will know Him. He is the best relationship we will ever have, and we, as a society, need to keep that in our hearts and actions way more than we do.

Now that His relationship is restored and God shows how loving and compassionate He is, He also restores Hosea’s children. Jezreel (God sows) will sprout new wine and fresh oil. God says He will have compassion on Lo-ruhamah (No compassion), and that Lo-ammi (Not my people) will be His people. God calls for Hosea to go back to Gomer and restore her. So Hosea goes and tells her, “You are to live with me many days. You must not be promiscuous or belong to any man, and I will act in the same way toward you.” – Hosea 3:3. We are called to belong to God, one God, the true God. Exactly like how in a covenant marriage, we are called to belong to someone else and do right by them.

The book of Hosea is a beautiful representation of God’s love for His people. Even though they were unfaithful, idolatrous, and behaved wickedly, God redeemed them again. For God to compare His love for us to the love of a marriage is a special revelation into who He is. A marriage isn’t easy; there are ups and downs, good times and bad, all of the vows, yet there is also a desire for reconciliation, which is what is depicted here. God wants us to return to Him even amid our sins. But just like Gomer had to stop being promiscuous, we too need to cut ties with our temptations.