The God Who Still Loves the Unfaithful

Hosea 1–3

There are some books of the Bible that are difficult because they are hard to understand. Hosea is difficult for a completely different reason. Hosea is difficult because once you understand what God is saying, it gets painfully personal.

Hosea was a prophet sent to the Northern Kingdom of Israel. God gave him one of the strangest and most heartbreaking assignments in all of Scripture. God told Hosea to marry a woman named Gomer, knowing that she would be unfaithful to him.

This was not simply about Hosea's marriage. God was turning Hosea's life into a picture of His relationship with His people. Israel belonged to God. God had loved them, provided for them, protected them, and pursued them. Yet instead of loving Him in return, they continually gave their hearts to other gods.

Hosea shows us something about sin that we desperately need to understand. Sin is more than breaking God's rules. Sin is betraying God's love.

Sin Is Spiritual Adultery

One of the strongest pictures Scripture gives us for sin is adultery. That language is uncomfortable, but it is supposed to be. Adultery is devastating because it is a betrayal of love. It is giving to someone else what belongs within the covenant of marriage.

That is exactly what Israel had done to God.

God was supposed to be their joy, their confidence, their security, and their hope. But when Israel became afraid, they looked to other nations for protection. When they wanted prosperity, they looked to idols. When they wanted satisfaction, they searched for it everywhere except in the God who had already given them everything.

Before we become too critical of Israel, we need to ask ourselves the same question: Where do I turn when I am worried?

Where do you turn when you are stressed? Where do you look for security? What do you believe you must have before you can be happy? What do you run toward when life begins falling apart?

It could be money. It could be a relationship. It could be success, approval, your career, your children, entertainment, possessions, or even your own ability to control your future.

The problem is not simply that we love bad things. Sometimes the greatest idols in our lives are good things that we have asked to do something only God can do.

God was supposed to be Israel's joy, delight, confidence, and trust. Instead, they searched for those things somewhere else.

And so do we.

Our Sin Breaks the Heart of God

Sometimes we think about sin only in terms of punishment. We ask, "What happens if I do this?" or "How far can I go before this becomes wrong?" Hosea forces us to see sin differently.

Sin is personal because God is personal.

God did not merely give Israel commandments. He gave them Himself. He rescued them. He provided for them. He entered into covenant with them. He loved them.

Yet they continually ran after other gods.

God told Hosea to marry Gomer so that Hosea would experience something of that heartbreak. Hosea loved her. He built a life with her. Yet Gomer returned to her old ways and pursued other lovers.

Eventually, she left Hosea altogether.

Hosea gives us a picture of what our rebellion against God really looks like. Every time we look to something else for what only God can provide, we are giving another love the place in our hearts that belongs to Him.

That is why idolatry is so serious. God does not merely want a place somewhere in our lives. He deserves our hearts.

God Pursues the People Who Run From Him

If Hosea ended with Gomer walking away, it would already be a powerful picture of our sin. But that is not where the story ends.

Gomer's pursuit of other lovers eventually destroyed her. The people she thought would satisfy her could not give her what she was searching for. Eventually, she found herself in a place of humiliation and bondage.

Then God gave Hosea another command.

"Go again, love a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress, even as the LORD loves the children of Israel." (Hosea 3:1)

Go again.

Those may be two of the most beautiful words in the entire book.

Hosea had already loved her. She had already betrayed him. She had already humiliated him. She had already walked away.

And God said, "Go again."

That is grace.

Grace is not God pretending our sin does not matter. Grace is God pursuing sinners who have no right to expect Him to come after them again.

Some of us imagine that God loves the cleaned up version of us. We think He loves us when we are faithful, obedient, praying, serving, giving, and doing everything we are supposed to do.

But Hosea shows us a God who pursues His people even when they have been unfaithful.

You may have wandered farther than you ever thought you would. You may have returned to a sin you promised God you would never touch again. You may have spent years searching for satisfaction in things that could never satisfy you.

Hosea's message is not that your sin is small.

It is that God's pursuing love is greater.

Hosea Bought Back What Already Belonged to Him

Hosea did not simply find Gomer and tell her to come home. Hosea had to pay a price to bring her back.

Think about that.

She was his wife. She had betrayed him. She had walked away from him. And now Hosea had to pay to redeem the woman who already belonged to him.

Hosea 3:2 says that he bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and a homer and a lethech of barley.

The betrayed husband paid the price.

The faithful one paid for the unfaithful one.

And suddenly Hosea is pointing us beyond himself.

Jesus Is the Greater Hosea

Hosea went after Gomer, but there is a greater Hosea.

Jesus came after us.

We were the unfaithful ones. We were the ones who wandered. We were the ones who took the love, gifts, breath, possessions, and blessings God gave us and used them to pursue other things.

Yet God did not abandon us.

Jesus stepped out of heaven and came looking for His bride.

Like Gomer, we were in bondage and unable to purchase our own freedom. But Jesus did not redeem us with silver or barley. He redeemed us with His own blood.

1 Peter 1:18–19 says that we were not ransomed with perishable things such as silver or gold, "but with the precious blood of Christ."

That is the Gospel.

The faithful One paid the price for the unfaithful.

Jesus took our sin upon Himself. He went to the cross in our place. He endured the judgment we deserved. He died, was buried, and on the third day He walked out of the grave.

God did not save us because we finally became worthy of His love. He saved us because His grace is greater than our rebellion.

Hosea went to bring Gomer home.

Jesus came to bring sinners home to God.

Stop Running to Lesser Lovers

Hosea leaves every one of us with a question: What are you asking to take the place of God in your life?

What do you run toward when you are afraid? What gives you your identity? What makes you feel secure? What do you believe you cannot live without?

Whatever your answer is, if it is anything other than God, it will eventually disappoint you.

The idols we chase always promise more than they can deliver. Money cannot save you. Success cannot satisfy you. Another relationship cannot complete you. Approval cannot give you an identity strong enough to survive rejection. Comfort cannot give your life eternal meaning.

Only Jesus can.

The message of Hosea is not simply, "Stop being unfaithful."

The message is: Look at the God who has been faithful to you.

Look at the cross.

Look at the price He paid.

Look at the Savior who came after you when you were running from Him.

And come home.

Next Steps

1. Identify the lesser loves in your life. Ask yourself where you run for comfort, security, identity, and satisfaction before you run to God.
2. Stop minimizing sin. Sin is not merely breaking a rule. It is giving something else the place in your heart that belongs to God.
3. Remember how Jesus pursued you. You were not rescued because you deserved it. Jesus paid the price to redeem you and bring you home.
4. Pursue someone who is far from God. The Gospel that pursued us should send us after others. Pray for someone who is running from God and look for an opportunity to point them to Jesus.

Hosea's story is heartbreaking, but it is also beautiful because it tells our story.

We wandered.

God pursued.

We were unfaithful.

God remained faithful.

We could not redeem ourselves.

Jesus paid the price.

There is a greater Hosea, and His name is Jesus.