He was a man of God. She was raised secular. They were wed and became parents to a little boy. God named the boy "scattered". She came to expect another baby, perhaps by someone other than her husband. This time it was a girl God named "not loved". A third pregnancy shrouded in unknown paternity led to the birth of a second boy. God called him "not mine". The marriage was put to the test, but the man of God loved his wife and the children she bore.
One day the man of God came home to find the children unattended. Their mother had left with no indication of where she was going or when she'd return. The man of God had an idea where she'd be-- off seeking satisfaction outside of their marriage. She had left before but this time she wasn't coming back. The reality of her departure solidified her rejection of her husband and children. She exchanged it for fancy dinners and gifts from the company of untold numbers of men. The man of God still loved his wife; what aching pain he must have felt trying to explain to his children that their family was "scattered, not loved, or not mine" to their mother. What shame he must have felt as his friends began to realize how fitting his children's names were. His grief must have weighed heavily on him.
Across town, the unfaithful wife was beginning to lose her charm. Lovers lost interest and dismissed her. She searched desperately for anyone who would just share a scrap of food in exchange for a place in their bed. Her moral poverty became true poverty.
One day, the man of God heard how his wife was struggling. He risked being rebuffed by her current paramour to take her some food, water, and clothes. Confused by the husband's presence, this lousy lover gladly took the provisions only to pass them off as his own gifts to the wife. And how she praised her lover wrongfully for this kindness as her husband listened in. The true love of the husband had not reached the wife, and he returned home leaving her to her deluded and destructive ways.
The wife soon became so unlucky in love that she could find no man to take her in. As she attempted to just forestall starvation, her debts began to mount. This prodigal wife reflected on how much better off she was in her husband's home saying she will return to him. But for some reason, she doesn't go. Maybe she feels too much guilt. Maybe she can't imagine how she's supposed to go back to being a full-time mother after living only for herself for so long. Maybe she considers that they are better off without her. She stayed put, and her indebtedness reached its nadir.
Her lenders had had enough; something must be done. It was determined that she would be sold as a slave to try to recoup some of their losses. She was taken to the center of the capital, lined up at the auction block with actual slaves, stripped naked, and offered to the highest bidder. Except there was no highest bidder. No old flames came to rescue their damsel in distress. Her utter worthlessness was on full display-- until from out of the crowd she heard a familiar voice. Her husband had come offering fifteen coins and a sack of animal feed for his bride. She was valued at half the price of a common slave. Legally her husband's purchase made him her master and her his property.
How foolish the man of God must have appeared. More degrading that being cheated on and used as a meal ticket by his wife's lovers, he publicly paid for what was already rightfully his. His friends must have thought it a terrible waste of money; after all, she had not indicated that she desired to turn from her wild ways. Yet there he was, ready to love her and rescue her.
The man of God began to restore his wife. At her purchase he clothed her as his wife-- not in the rags a slave would wear. He told her that he was hers and she was his. She must not seek any man besides him anymore. Without condemning her, he required her to turn from her old life and live with him. This is the story of a woman named "complete" who lived in complete depravity before she was made complete in love by her husband. This is also the story of God's man, "the Lord saves", who lived up to the foolishly persistent and pursuing love of God in order to save the one he loved most.
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| Engraving of Hosea and Gomer by Matthäus Merian [source] |
I received a tremendous amount of help from the following resources:
NIV Scofield Study Bible
Believer's Bible Commentary by William MacDonald
The Minor Prophets, Volume 1 by James Montgomery Boice
The Amazing Collection, Set 6: The Early Minor Prophets
