Love Never Ends
Yahweh can neither hand them over to death nor can he forget them. But no more can he carry on as if nothing had gone wrong. Two final acts are needed to restore the relationship and so point the way forward for an understanding of the relationship between Hosea and Gomer.
The first is an act of genuine repentance on the part of the people. So crucial is it to Hosea that he virtually writes it for them and it is not clear whether he writes this from the depths of his own feelings for Gomer or whether it is in composing this that he perceives a new depth in his own marriage. Nor does it matter. Better to see them as parallel situations ‘talking’ to each other, bringing enlightenment to each other, whilst at the same time bringing enlightenment to our own situation today. The content of the repentance is clear. Get rid of feelings of guilt, offer the fruit of lips or (v 2) ‘put your action where your mouth is’, acknowledge that the way you were living just wont work (v 3), and rely on God’s mercy as if they were orphans (v 3). The price is high, but it might be worth trying to enter into Yahweh’s and Hosea’s experiences as a means of discovering the price of repentance for us.
The second is an act of genuine forgiveness on the part of Yahweh. Notice the cost of that too. Yahweh also must turn words into actions as he too works at healing and loving, compared to which even ‘turning away anger’ may be relatively easy. Yahweh too must reconcile himself to the idea of these people who have hurt him so much living under his shadow and flourishing. It is not even enough that he tolerates it. He really has to enjoy it for their sake. The price of repentance is high.
Reflect on the imaginary discussions between Yahweh and the people as together they work out their new relationship and then do the same with the conversations which Hosea and Gomer might have had. Try then to imagine what that must have meant for Hosea’s own situation and reflect on it in the light of something similar in your own experience.