Meanest Women of the Bible – Pursuing the Promiscuous Prostitute

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Category: Group Study

Thread: Meanest Women of the Bible

Post Topic: Gomer and Hosea

Post in Thread: #6

Scripture: Hosea 3:1-5

Key Verse:
The Lord said to me, “Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another man and is an adulteress. Love her as the Lord loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes.
Hosea 3:1

Observations

Context

Hosea was one of the minor prophets who lived during the time of the Assyrian empire.
At the beginning of the book of Hosea, in Hosea 1:2-3, God told Hosea to marry a promiscuous woman, probably a prostitute.
He married Gomer, who bore him several children.

Events

God told Hosea to warn Israel of impending judgment because of their unfaithfulness.
Gomer was meant to symbolize the Israelites unfaithfulness to God.
Gomer left Hosea’s house for a relationship with another man.
God commanded Hosea to rescue Gomer from the consequences of her unfaithfulness.
Hosea urged Gomer to remain faithful to him as he would be to her.
Verse 2 says Hosea brought her back for 15 silver shekels and some barley.

Discussion

Why did God tell a good man like Hosea to marry a woman of ill repute?
Gomer didn’t kill anyone like Jezebel. Do you agree with classifying her under the category of one of the “meanest” women of the Bible?
- What would cause her to leave the stable home and love of Hosea?
- What excuses might she have spewed when he chastised her unfaithfulness?
Why did Hosea have to buy Gomer back if she was already his wife and had bore him children? Who was he buying her back from?

Interpretation

Setting

The physical setting was the northern kingdom of Israel.
The spiritual setting revealed they had broken their covenant with God.
- Sin ran rampant: Baal and Asherah worship, murder, lying, sexual sin, theft.

Genre/Author

Hosea is mostly poetry, but chapters 1 and 3 that tell the story of Gomer are Hosea’s historical narrative.

Takeaways – a vivid picture of the Gospel message

Rejection
- Gomer rejected Hosea’s love and sought other men.
- Israel rejected God for false gods.
- We reject God for worldly desires.
Pursuit
- Hosea pursued Gomer. He actively sought her out.
- God pursued Israel through his prophets, many of whom paid a price for their devotion.
- God pursues us through his Holy Spirit, who actively seeks us out, wanting to draw us back to God.
Redemption at a price
- Hosea purchased Gomer’s freedom from her handlers – a price he shouldn’t have had to pay. With the barley, it likely amounted to 30 pieces of silver.
- God purchased our freedom from sin on the cross – a price he shouldn’t have had to pay. Judas betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver.
Repentence
- Hosea instructs Gomer to change and to live a faithful life.
- Hosea tells Israel that they’ll experience hard times, but will turn to God in the last days.
- We are instructed to keep our hearts faithful to God.

Discussion

Anyone want to share how they pursued a woman? Did it work, or did you crash and burn?
- How difficult would it have been if she hadn’t been worthy, like Gomer?

Correlation

Proverbs 22:14 – The mouth of an adulterous woman is a deep pit.

Discussion

Hosea understood the deep pit, but God asked him to step into it, so he obeyed. How can we avoid falling into such pits?

Application

Generic Applications

This passage is an instance where we need to understand the context of Scripture when applying to our lives.
- God specifically asked Hosea to marry Gomer.
- Just because God asked this of his prophet doesn’t mean he’s asking this of us.
- In fact, most of scripture warns against falling in with adulterous women or unbelievers.
- Correlation is an important tool in our Scripture study – is there anywhere else where the Bible tells us to pursue such women? (Clearly not, I’m not meaning to gaslight – just using this as an obvious example)
We (the church) are called the bride of Christ in Scripture. Let’s not be a Gomer.
Let’s not take God’s love for granted. There are consequences for our unfaithfulness.
- God pursued Israel and Judah, but there were consequences for their unbelief – they were overrun and exiled by the Assyrians and Babylonians.
- Hosea pursued Gomer, but there were consequences for her unfaithfulness. Imagine the strain it put on their relationship. What effect did the turmoil have on their children?

Group Discussion

Hosea, along with Amos, repeatedly warned Israel that disaster was imminent. They said that Israel “had ears but didn’t hear.”
- Do we have “ears that do hear” the truth about our own sins and the sins of our culture?
Faithfulness to our spouses and the nuclear family is under attack. How can we encourage each other to remain faithful to our spouses (current or future)?

Bible study methodology adapted from Searching the Scriptures with permission from Tyndale House:

Swindoll, Charles, Searching the Scriptures. Tyndale House Publishers, 2016.

Daniel P Warner