December 8: Hosea

Hosea 1-3

The story of Hosea is hard to hear (it’s kind of risqué), but it’s incredibly basic to our life as Christians in relationship with a Merciful God.

A metaphor integrates the invisible world with the visible. Metaphors help us see things that are otherwise unseen. For example, what is sin against God? Well, we could say that sin against God is simply sin against God. That’s just what it is.

Or, we could say that sin against God is when a woman is married to a husband who is a good man, a husband who loves her and cares for her, and yet this woman leaves her husband, abandons his love, and she goes to sell her body on the streets…and she does this because…when love and things are weighed in the balance…one is often more tangible, or understandable.

From our couches, dinner tables or beds – wherever we’re reading these devotions, we question Gomer and why she would stray from the comforts Hosea provides. And, then you think about comfort foods…or staying in bed (or just at home) instead of going to worship, and you realize how easy it is to serve a physical god.

So, the metaphor is that people are like Gomer. The teaching is that we’re supposed to be like Hosea – that is, like Christ. the One who is faithful, loving, and merciful. We see in Hosea 3 that, despite the wandering, unfaithful ways of Gomer, Hosea redeems her. He buys her back from the life she thought she wanted…the life she understood. He takes her in, and loves her all the same.

That’s what God does for us. That’s our story, and it’s not a metaphor.


Pastor James Gomez
Prince of Peace Lutheran – Sturgeon Bay



Comments

  1. a studentDecember 9, 2021 at 5:11 AM

    Agreed. Christ not only spoke about the kingdom of God and spoke the words the Father told him to...following God's plan got PERSONAL. He came to preach good news, proclaim freedom and call sinners to repentance AND to redeem those under law, as an atoning sacrifice for our sins, to give his life as a ransom for many. Can the significance of Christ coming to earth be overstated?

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