“Go and find her!” One of the most confusing and mind-blowing statements in the Bible.
God’s telling Hosea to look for and find his wife. Now Hosea is a Godly man. In fact, he’s a prophet who fears and serves God. This might seem like a perfectly fine thing for God to ask Hosea to do except for 1 thing… his wife, Gomer, is a prostitute.
Hosea is still coming to terms with the fact that his wife-to-be had one-night-stands with hundreds of men in the past. Imagine them as a young married couple, walking hand in hand down the main street of town. “Hey Gomer. Are you available tonight?” Guys… this is my wife. She’s not available to any man ever again!”
For a while, Mr and Mrs Hosea are doing well. They now have 3 beautiful children and their family is complete. One morning Hosea wakes up ready to start the day having a coffee with Gomer. Gomer! Gomer! Where are you beautiful? The children are playing in the backyard, but Gomer was nowhere. Gomer is gone. He heads to the market. Maybe we’ve run out of milk. Walking past a few people, He could feel that they knew something he didn’t. It was the type of town that, if you didn’t know what was happening in your life, you didn’t need to worry too much because everyone else knew. They knew something about Gomer that he didn’t, and it was freaking him out. The thoughts of the love of his life in another man’s arms was too much to deal with. He doesn’t deserve to be treated like that. She doesn’t deserve to be taken back. And now God is telling him to go and buy her back from a pimp when he was thinking he was going to walk back with her from the market and maybe have a coffee on the way home. Coffee helps in many situations but it’s not going to help him today.
The humiliation Hosea must be going through, walking the streets of his hometown. “Have you seen my wife?”
“I spent time with her last night but haven’t seen her since. Are you still married. I’m sorry man. If I knew…” “It’s okay – I just need to find her. If you see her, please tell her I love her, and I am looking for her.” “Are you sure you want her back? She’s been cheating on you and an adulterous must be stoned to death.”
“No. I’ll pay whatever it costs to get her back” There must have been a tug-o-war going on between Hosea’s head and his heart. You’re embarrassing yourself. She has made you look like a fool. She treats you like garbage. She prefers to sleep around than to commit to you. She doesn’t deserve you! I know all of that – but I love her. It’s not about what I’m going through, it’s about her and what’s best for her. She doesn’t yet realise it, but she needs me more than she needs that sinful life. I’m going to find her, pay the price and wipe out her past. We might even renew our vows and she must wear white – her past doesn’t matter anymore.
When Jesus chose … He chose… to die on that cross, He was paying the cost it would take to get us back. You see, God created us in the first place. We belong to Him anyway. But, like Gomer, we have the freedom to have a relationship with Him, or spend our time gratifying our own needs. Jesus knows that when you love someone, you cannot force that love. Jesus chose to love us, and we chose to walk away from Him. And during the time we choose to reject Him, He gently lifts us up, buys us back and carries us home – if we let Him.
Mark Davidson
