Pursue – Week 1
In this series we look at the obscure, unlikely story of a Prophet and a prostitute and what that tells us about our world, about us, and most importantly about God.
This series will be walking through the book of Hosea in the Bible. To check out an overview of Hosea check out this video from the Bible Project: https://bibleproject.com/explore/video/hosea/
To read the book of Hosea for yourself, check out the Bible App: https://www.bible.com/bible/111/HOS.1.NIV
2 When the Lord first began speaking to Israel through Hosea, he said to him, “Go and marry a prostitute,[b] so that some of her children will be conceived in prostitution. This will illustrate how Israel has acted like a prostitute by turning against the Lord and worshiping other gods.” 3 So Hosea married Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim, and she became pregnant and gave Hosea a son. Hosea 1:2-3
Then the Lord said to me, “Go and love your wife again, even though she[a] commits adultery with another lover. Hosea 3:1a
Hosea remained faithful, even though Gomer was unfaithful.
The names of Gomer’s children all meant horrible things. A place of tragedy, “not loved”, “not my people”. But it was a story of something bigger than Hosea and Gomer, it was a picture of God and the children of Israel and their unfaithfulness to God.
And I will not love her children, for they were conceived in prostitution. 5 Their mother is a shameless prostitute
and became pregnant in a shameful way. She said, ‘I’ll run after other lovers and sell myself to them for food and water, for clothing of wool and linen, and for olive oil and drinks.’ 6 “For this reason I will fence her in with thornbushes. I will block her path with a wall to make her lose her way. 7 When she runs after her lovers, she won’t be able to catch them. She will search for them but not find them. Then she will think, ‘I might as well return to my husband, for I was better off with him than I am now.’ 8 She doesn’t realize it was I who gave her everything she has— the grain, the new wine, the olive oil; I even gave her silver and gold. But she gave all my gifts to Baal. Hosea 2:4-8
God had been faithful, but the people had been unfaithful. They had played the role of Gomer. But, it’s us too! We play the role of Gomer, unfaithful to God, giving other things credit for what He has given us. Chasing after other things for fulfillment and purpose.
You are NOT “not loved”, you are NOT “not my people – an outsider”. No matter how much you have felt that no matter how much you’ve run from God, you are loved by a God who is pursuing you & will do whatever it takes to win your heart!