The LORD said to me, “Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another and is an adulteress. Love her as the LORD loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes." (NIV)

It’s funny, when we first started this series on Forgiveness, I was confident that I had a good handle on it and that this was an area I excelled in. I WAS WRONG. As we dive deeper and deeper into what it means to forgive and be forgiven, I have realized that forgiveness is rather nuanced and complicated (at least it can be).  

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Then, enter my scripture passage for this week, and I’m derailed. God asks Hosea to marry a wife who is either a prostitute or at least notoriously promiscuous. “Go, take to yourself an adulterous wife and children of unfaithfulness, because the land is guilty of the vilest adultery in departing from the LORD” (Hosea 1:2b). Why would God call one of his own to defile himself in that way?  

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And even worse, when this adulteress wife, after having children with him, strays again to other men, God calls Hosea to “Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another…” What is that all about? I mean, Hosea brought her into his home, loved her, had children with her, and she took off. Why would God have him chase after her? And not only that, but he had to PAY to get her back. He had to pay her debt and remove her from her situation. How could God ask such a thing? How could Hosea obey such a command?

When I first started studying this passage, I was trying to place myself in Hosea’s shoes. I was trying to imagine what it would take to forgive Gomer and take her back again. And then it hit me: I’m not Hosea. I’M Gomer!

You see, the story here is that we, like the Israelites, tend to wander from God and turn to worldly things that catch our attention. We turn away from God and run after wealth, power, popularity, pleasure - all at the expense of our relationship with our loving Father. And like the Israelites, we have a choice to make.  

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Hosea 6:1 says, “Come, let us return to the LORD. He has torn us to pieces, but he will heal us; he has injured us but he will bind up our wounds. After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will restore us, that we may live in his presence.”  

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Do you see how beautiful this is? In the midst of living in a generation of continual sin and idol worship, married to a woman who runs from him to other men, Hosea does not complain about his lot or curse God for his misfortune. Instead, he calls for the Israelites to repent and return to the LORD.  

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In this story, Hosea foreshadows Jesus, while Gomer represents the wandering Israelites, and ultimately, the wandering us. We often wander and search for satisfaction in false gods and things of the world, while God pursues us repeatedly to bring us to something better. Like the price that Hosea had to pay for Gomer, our Savior had a price to pay for us. We had a debt we couldn’t possibly pay, so Jesus came to forgive us – over and over and over again – so that we may live in his presence.  

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This truth should derail us. We are nothing and yet the God of the universe says we are everything to him. And no matter how many times we stray away, he will continue to come after us.  

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If God calls you to forgive – like he called Hosea – more times than you think others deserve, remember first that Christ did that for you – for all your past, present, and future sins. May we be like Christ with those around us and forgive as often and mercifully as Christ has and will for us. Is there someone who continues to hurt or disappoint you that God is calling you to forgive again? As you go, remember all our Lord and Savior has done, is doing, and will do for you.

God, would you give us a heart of forgiveness? Remind us how many times you have forgiven us and the price you paid to cancel our debt against you. God, let your sacrifice, your mercy, your grace, and your love wash over and infuse us. Let us be sensitive to the Holy Spirit when he calls us to forgive. Thank you for first forgiving us. In Jesus’ name ~ AMEN!