Unconditional Love

Recently, I’ve been reading the book of Hosea. This book is so interesting, particularly in its juxtaposition of Israel, and Hosea’s wife Gomer. Hosea is commanded by God in the book to marry the harlot, Gomer; the rest of the book parallels the relationship between Gomer and Hosea with that of God and the Israelites. We continually see Gomer’s unfaithfulness to Hosea and the Israelites' infidelity to God. This book is so unique because of its clear depiction of God’s love for Israel - showing us that God’s love for us is unconditional, just as Hosea’s was for Gomer in this story.

A few years ago, I read a book by Francine Rivers called “Redeeming Love” which is directly based on Hosea’s story. I used to wonder “What is wrong with Gomer? Doesn’t she realise she has it so good with Hosea? If she isn’t careful he might not give her another chance.” The first thoughts to come to my mind were judgemental and impatient, I couldn’t understand why Gomer would squander such an opportunity for a new start in her life. I would think, “If I was Hosea, I would just let her go.” The problem with this is that I didn’t understand the connection between Hosea’s love and God’s unlimited love.

At this time in the Old Testament, the Israelites had turned away from God. The Bible says, “Woe to them, because they have strayed from me! Destruction to them, because they have rebelled against me! I long to redeem them but they speak about me falsely.” (Hosea 7:13) This shows us the compassionate heart of God and His deep sorrow caused by Israel’s rejection. God showed the prophet, Hosea, only a sliver of the anguish He felt due to His people’s disloyalty through Gomer’s continuous infidelity. His frustration and deep sadness are mirrored in Hosea’s life and this elucidates for Hosea the unfortunate situation the Israelites were in at that time. It enables him to understand, if only a little, how painful the Israelites’ sin was for God.

Many times, when we read these stories we look at them subjectively. We see what we want to see and judge them however seems best to us. But when we ask the Holy Spirit for guidance and revelation, the same texts seem like a completely different story. When I was reading this book I couldn’t help but feel sorry for God. His children, whom He raised, guided, saved and redeemed repeatedly, have rejected Him yet again for temporary idols. They turn to any and everything except Him. This is very similar to the world today; often, we think we are the creators of our destiny, we live by our rules and forget Who created us. We are proud and unrepentant and we refuse to acknowledge the one True God. I realised that the obstinate Gomer, who I was judging so harshly, was a very accurate depiction of myself and Israel’s unfaithfulness was not far from my own.

I cannot count the number of times I’ve fallen down and had to repent, the number of times I’ve gone back to an old sinful habit, a worn-out temptation, a tired transgression, instead of simply looking to God. And every time, God is gracious, God is kind. This book is perhaps the most realistic representation of God’s forgiveness and love for us. No matter how wayward we think we are, how lowly and deceitful and ashamed, God is always, always there to help us. Even if we were to run away from Him a hundred thousand times like Gomer did Hosea, He would look for us. He will never leave, nor forsake us because not only is He our God, He’s our Friend. This revelation is so reassuring because it humbles me even more. It shows me that God is truly perfect in all His ways and absolutely deserving of my reverence and praise. However, it also lets me know that God is so patient and that whenever I have a problem I don’t have to get confused or run away and hide because God sees all. He is omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent - He knows how I feel before I can even articulate it and He’s always there to help me out of my trouble.

Knowing this, I have a completely different outlook on Gomer, I no longer see an unappreciative, stubborn woman, and the Israelites aren’t an ungrateful, foolish people. In fact, they were both chosen by God to serve a purpose. Yes, they made mistakes, as humans do, but it’s important that we learn a lesson from them as we read the book of Hosea. We must learn not to react the way they did to God’s kindness. They promptly forgot all that God had done for them in the past and as soon as they ran into trouble, they looked to the king of Assyria and to their old lifestyles for saving. We must know that only God can save and He’s the only one that can ever truly set us free. When we find ourselves backsliding, slipping into former ruts, that’s when we need to cry out to Him with extra special fervour, believing all the while that He hears us and He saves.

The best part about this story is that it transcends all time. God forgave the Israelites. He forgave Moses and David and Jacob and He forgives us. He loves us and we can rest assured that He will always fight for us. He loves us too much to leave us where we are though, and when we submit to His leading, He will take what we thought was ugly and make it beautiful. As Isaiah 61:3 says “... to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair…” He has the power to change even the bad things, our regrets and sins, and use them for our good. However, He cannot force His way into our hearts, we need to invite Him. We must make sure to renounce our sins and ask God for the grace to truly turn away from them. He knows our shortcomings and He will always lighten our load.

Therefore, the best decision we can ever make is to surrender every facet of our lives to God and believe that He will use us for His glory. God is a master at turning around people’s lives and He is the author of comeback stories. I encourage you to trust Him today, He will never fail you.