Hosea and Gomer
Hosea was a prophet in the Old Testament and he lived in the 8th century BC. There are 17 books in the Bible written by prophets, and Hosea is the first of the 12 “Minor Prophets.” Hosea lived in the Northern Kingdom of Israel, and he was the prophet set aside to speak for God during the reign of King Jeroboam when the Assyrians came in and absolutely decimated Israel.
Hosea 1:2-3 NIV
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.” 3 So he married Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.
When Hosea started to hear prophecy from God, we see him told by God to marry a promiscuous woman.
Hosea 1:2 ESV
2 When the Lord first spoke through Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea, “Go, take to yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom, for the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the Lord.”
I’m SURE that Hosea had a plan for his own life, but God called an audible on Hosea’s plan and substituted his own.
In the rest of Hosea chapter 1 they have 3 kids, who God directly names:
- Jezreel
which is the name of a nearby valley
, to remind Israel that they would get destroyed in Jezreel
.
- Lo-Ruhamah
which means “not loved,”
to remind Northern Israel that God was removing His love from them
and giving it to Judah
.
- Lo-Ammi
which means “not my people,”
to remind Israel that He’s going to disown them.
2 chapters later, we’re told that Hosea’s wife, Gomer, left him to sleep around as a prostitute, and God tells him to go buy her back.
Hosea 3:1-3
1 The Lord said to me, “Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another man and is an adulteress. Love her as the Lord loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes.” 2 So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and about a homer and a lethek of barley. 3 Then I told her, “You are to live with me many days; you must not be a prostitute or be intimate with any man, and I will behave the same way toward you.”
That’s just what Hosea’s life was. He was called to be a prophet, and I have to imagine that he had expected a different outcome than what his life ended up being. But, God used his story to turn the entire nation around. God knew what he was doing!
We need to care more about the big picture than what we get out of it.
Letting God call an audible on our plans has to come with the prerequisites of: trust, selflessness, and being okay not seeing the big picture.
Disciples Leaving to Follow Jesus
Matthew 4:18-22
18 As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 19 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” 20 At once they left their nets and followed him. 21 Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, 22 and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.
Peter, Andrew, James, and John are all fishermen, and Jesus asks them to leave that life, and go live a new one with Him. Them deciding to drop their nets and follow Jesus, wasn’t just shifting what they were doing at the moment it changed their entire lives.
Matthew 8:14
14 When Jesus came into Peter’s house, he saw Peter’s mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever.
So, Peter deciding to follow Jesus, didn’t just take him on a different path than he expected, it actually took him away from his wife.
Imagine what Peter is enduring: I’m sure that he’s not only missing his wife because she’s not there on the day to day… He’s also missing a huge chunk of her life. He’s seriously sacrificing his own comfort, and his own happiness, to follow God’s plan for his life. But it payed off in huge ways!
If you want to allow God to be the LORD of your life and actually use you for something greater, you need to die to your plans, and be willing to let God call an audible.
