A Simple Life

Why is it we make things harder than they really are? Are we incapable of reading:

For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings. (Hosea 6:6 KJV)

I’m reading YouVersion’s chronological Bible reading plan and now I’m reading Hosea.  Admittedly, I’ve read little of this particular book. As with comments on Jeremiah yesterday, this book is God-breathed:

The word of the LORD that came unto Hosea, the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel. (Hosea 1:1 KJV)

He became a living example in a way few people could have done:

The beginning of the word of the LORD by Hosea. And the LORD said to Hosea, Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms: for the land hath committed great whoredom, departing from the LORD. So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim; which conceived, and bare him a son. (Hosea 1:2-3 KJV)

In order for this prophet to tell Israel how they had left their God, how they had turned to others instead of remaining faithful to the One who had chosen them to bless all nations, he lived the example. Rather then run from God’s words, tell Him “I can’t do this!”, or complain about having to live with such a woman, Hosea took Gomer for his wife. We do not know how she saw the marriage.  We do know they had sons who were named as messages of God’s prophecy.

God’s requirements for prophecy accuracy were laid out in Deuteronomy 18:18-22. Inaccuracy was punishable by death, so it was very important for a prophet to be believed. Hosea could describe in detail how an unfaithful partner destroyed their lives together, yet he bought her back and brought her home.

What a beautiful portrait of the Lord, our God, purchasing our salvation. Confirmed by Paul centuries later:

For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's. (1 Corinthians 6:20 KJV)

There are verses in chapter 2 that remind me of the prodigal:

And she shall follow after her lovers, but she shall not overtake them; and she shall seek them, but shall not find them: then shall she say, I will go and return to my first husband; for then was it better with me than now. (Hosea 2:7 KJV)

The time came for both the prodigal and for Gomer when they understood how much worse their lives were than when they were with family. A time of reflection, of their lives of selfishness compared with what they had spurned.

When we do that comparison in our own lives, we can appreciate that He has always been there, He will always be there and He always has been our salvation.

Yet I am the LORD thy God from the land of Egypt, and thou shalt know no god but me: for there is no saviour beside me. (Hosea 13:4 KJV)