Hosea and Gomer
READ Hosea 1:2
Why would God command a prophet to marry a harlot
(prostitute)?
Who of us is sinless?
“Don’t judge me because I
choose to sin differently from you” – we are all less than the dust of the
earth compared to the Lord’s righteousness, which is where we NEED to be, to be
saved (see LoF 7:9, 16).
READ QUOTE:
“The eminent Bible
commentators Keil and Delitzsch reject the literal nature of the marriage for
two main reasons. First, such a marriage would undermine the prophetic example
and teaching of Hosea, and second, God would not command a prophet to sin or do
anything at odds with the laws of God. "That by such a command and the
prophet's obedience on his first entering upon his office, all the beneficial
effects of that office would inevitably be frustrated. For if it were a
well-known fact, that the woman whom the prophet married had hitherto been
leading a profligate life, and if the prophet declared freely and openly that
he had taken her as his wife for that very reason, and with this intention,
according to the command of God; the marriage, the shame of which the prophet
had taken upon himself in obedience to the command of God . . . would be a
practical and constant sermon to the nation” . . .. Dr. Sidney B. Sperry,
respected Latter-day Saint scholar, said "I cannot believe the marriage to
be a literal one, for, as those who have taken it as an allegory or parable
have always pointed out, to do so would be imputing to God a command inconsistent
with His holy character. Furthermore, for Hosea to marry a woman with a
questionable past would make it impossible for him to preach to his people and
expose their sexual immoralities. They could point the finger of scorn at him
and say, 'You are as guilty as we are; don't preach to us.'” (Brent Top, “The
Marriage of Hosea and Gomer” from 1989 Sperry Symposium at BYU)
What is wrong with the arguments these scholars are
making?
They presume to know the mind
of God, which they do not – His ways are not our ways, and we cannot even
obtain His ways unless He chooses to reveal them, and we cannot then understand
them unless we are filled with enough light to do so (our minds are darkened,
i.e. not quickened).
They are talking like the
public relations department of a large corporate organization: it’s all about
image with the public and authority over the employees (i.e. church members);
God doesn’t care for these things and He doesn’t work this way – He wishes that
we all were prophets AND He knows that we are all sinners.
They are mistaking virtue for
righteousness – we are saved by adopting His ways and following His will, not
the virtues we interpret as His will, which are based on the fragments of His
word that we have received in the past, but are seen through the lens of our
own cultural mores.
They are missing the fact that
Christ was made “guilty” of all our sins, that He descended below all things,
that He loves us despite our faithlessness toward Him, even in the face of all
He has done for us; they are missing the fact that Hosea is a type of Christ
and Gomer is each of us – but in real life.
READ Hosea 1:3, 6, 8
Was Gomer faithful to Hosea?
Yes, for a time, at least.
She has borne him 3 children.
They were a family.
READ Hosea 2:2
What has Gomer done that Hosea is no longer her
husband?
She has betrayed him.
She has gone back to her
immoral lifestyle.
Why is Hosea asking Gomer’s children to plead with her?
He still loves her.
He wants her to repent.
By implication, she won’t
listen to him but perhaps she’ll listen to her children (who are still young?).
READ Hosea 2:5
Why was Gomer unfaithful to Hosea?
Her other lovers gave her
material gifts – her livelihood.
In her mind, that livelihood
meant more to her than her relationship with Hosea.
It doesn’t say that she
stopped loving Hosea or how she felt about what she had done.
READ Hosea 3:1
What is the Lord commanding Hosea to do next?
Remarry Gomer.
What does “yet an adulteress” imply?
She is still an adulteress.
She has not repented or if she
has confessed, she has not forsaken her sins.
READ Hosea 3:2
What does the fact that Hosea bought her for 15 pieces
of silver imply?
She had become a slave.
READ Hosea 3:3
What is the arrangement Hosea proposes to Gomer?
You be faithful to me.
You abide with me – be one.
I will be faithful to you,
despite all of your betrayals – I will forgive you.
Christ and Israel
Going back to chapter 1…
Explain the analogy of likening Jehovah’s covenant with Israel (or us) to a marriage?
Both are covenants (binding
two-way agreements, involving short term and long term obligations and rewards).
Both center around
unconditional love, giving/creating life and self-sacrifice.
Both revolve around the
principle of complete faithfulness to the other person – without which the
trust and relationship is destroyed.
This level of faithfulness is
required if the two are to become one, which is the ultimate goal of both
covenants.
In this analogy, who is the bride and who is the
bride-groom?
Bride = Israel, the Church,
each of us individually.
Bride groom = Christ.
READ Genesis 2:18
What does “not good” in this context mean?
It is the opposite of God’s
declaration about the creation which was “very good”.
It is an emphatic negative:
the man being alone is the worst possible situation or “not good in any way”.
What are the implications of the man being alone being
“not good in any way”?
In ancient Hebrew, the word
translated as “alone” has connotations of “separation” and even “alienation”.
This state of being alone
destroys God’s objective – which is to create life on the earth.
Life needs male and female to
create, but also without God literally supporting our every breath, we cannot
live either. So being separated or
alienated from God is just as destructive to God’s ultimate plan as the man and
woman being alone.
What is the connection between the command to marry a
harlot and Israel departing from the Lord?
If Hosea is a type of Jehovah,
then the Father has commanded the Son to covenant with a people (Israel) who
have a history of being spiritually unfaithful to their God.
Why is departing from the Lord likened to committing
great whoredom?
It is about being faithful to
covenants that bring two people together into a contractual relationship of
“oneness”.
Whoredom means to be
unfaithful to that relationship because they value something else more; it is
to sell oneself.
READ Hosea 1:3-4, 6, 8-9
What do the names of Gomer’s three children tell us?
Jezreel = The Kingdom of
Israel (north kingdom) will be destroyed soon.
Lo-ru-ham-ah = The people of
Israel will be completely removed (killed or captured).
Lo-am-mi = Israel have
rejected Jehovah, so He is no longer their God.
In this reading of the story,
there is a very specific application to the North Kingdom of Israel but…
What does this story teach us about God’s more general
relationship with Israel?
He knew Israel had adulterous
tendencies because of past actions of worshipping other gods.
He covenanted with her
regardless.
He loved her regardless.
She bore him seed/fruit (see
Moses 1:39) which is His desire (to create as many Sons of God as possible).
She went back to her
adulterous ways by worshipping idols and receiving money/power and apostatized
from the true and living God.
They were divorced – i.e. the
spiritual covenant was severed and Israel was alone again without the blessings
of assistance in this world and eternal life in the next phase.
She became a slave to sin,
death and the ways of the world.
God had to buy her redemption
from slavery at an additional cost to Himself through the Atonement.
God took her back into his
home and marriage – God would not forget Israel but would bring her back into
full fellowship in the Gospel Covenant.
READ D&C 33:17
Does this analogy apply to us today?
Yes, and even more
particularly so, with the call to be ready when the bride groom comes again
(Second Coming).
Christ and Us
If Christ is Hosea and Gomer is Israel, then Gomer is also each of us…
How do you react to being referred to as a “harlot” in this metaphor?
We are less than the dust of
the earth, because the dust obeys God (see Helaman 12:7-8).
We are likely to break our
covenants with God (see Hosea 5:7 and 1 Nephi 20:8).
It should be sobering.
What hope in Christ does it give you to know that He
“proposed” His covenant to you, knowing your “adulterous” or unfaithful past
and tendencies?
All we like sheep have gone
astray (see Mosiah 14:6).
It is by grace we are saved,
after (or despite) all we can do (or have done) (see 2 Nephi 25:23).
It should give us all great
hope; Christ knows us and is still seeking after each of us, if we will but
turn back to Him.
What does it tell you about His love for you?
Greater love hath no man than
this… lay down his life for his friends (see John 15:13).
He loves us without
reciprocation; His love is pure – it does not depend on our behaviors or even
our love for Him.
How does it make you feel to know that Christ will open
His home to you, even after you have betrayed Him – AFTER you have already
covenanted with Him?
Like the prodigal son (see
Luke 15:20, 24).
It should break our hearts;
enabling a mighty change in our hearts when we realize the level of love He is
extending to us and what it cost Him to be able to extend it.
What does this story teach you about the depth of His
love, which is clearly unconditional from him and undeserved by us?
Eye hath not seen…the things
God hath prepared (see 1 Cor 2:9).
Like being in the presence of
His glory unprepared, His love for us in all consuming.
What does our infidelity cost our Lord?
A level of suffering that we
cannot now understand (see D&C 19:16, 18-19).
Plus, a deep, continued
sadness:
·
At our careless
indifference in not coming to Him despite His offer of forgiveness.
·
Or in our
belittling of his sacrifice and power to save by imagining we are beyond His
reach and ability to redeem.
·
Or affronting His
very defining attribute by denying His love for us – being of love that He is.
Given all of this, upon whose agency does this
relationship rest, i.e. who runs from whom?
He stands at the door and
knocks (see Rev 3:20).
He stands with open arms to
receive His ‘chickens under his wings’ (see 3 Nephi 10:4-6).
It is up to us to come to Him
as He calls after us – He will never force us home.
