Hosea 1:2 When the Lord began to speak through Hosea, the Lord said to him, “Go, marry a promiscuous woman and have children with her, for like an adulterous wife this land is guilty of unfaithfulness to the Lord.”
I recently wrote a devo reflection for my church based on Luke 9:15, and today’s chapter reminds me of it. In that reflection, I talk about the story of the loaves and fish, of feeding the 5000, of the grumbling at Jesus’s impossible ask and the fact that when the disciples did as asked, Jesus worked a miracle.
Hosea 1:3 So he married Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.
In Hosea 1, God again seems to ask the impossible—marry a prostitute (who will be unfaithful), have children, name them really difficult names (Jezreel, “Not Loved,” “Not My People,”) live the story of Israel so that through your story I can show the power of redemption. Hosea obeys without hesitation.
Hosea 1:4 Then the Lord said to Hosea, “Call him Jezreel, because I will soon punish the house of Jehu for the massacre at Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of Israel.
Lord, Forgive me when I balk and grumble and drag my feet when You call me to act in ways that make no sense to me. Help me to get over myself, to obey like Hosea—without grumbling or needless questioning. Lord, Help me to humble myself in You so that I can shine Your light for all. Amen.
Hosea 1:6 Gomer conceived again and gave birth to a daughter. Then the Lord said to Hosea, “Call her Lo-Ruhamah (which means “not loved”), for I will no longer show love to Israel, that I should at all forgive them
Have a blessed day.