The confluence between infidelity, judgment, civorce, restoration and Little Debbie cakes in Hosea 3 is fascinating to me.
Maybe confluence is too gentle of a word for how all of these thoughts and images crash together in my head when Hosea shares (again) what God wants him to do.
Today, infidelity is still a marriage wrecker.
About 88% of all divorces cite infidelity as one of the causes if not THE cause of the dissolution–and while that is mostly on the husband cheating, wives cheat at a not small 15-20% rate.
But…60-80% of marriages survive infidelity overall–even though the survival rate is way less for wives who cheat than for husbands who cheat.
So, a marriage can survive infidelity–just not easily.
Many men have been Hosea and many women have been Gomer.
God speaks to Hosea and is quite clear what he is to do in Hosea 3:
Hosea 3:1 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.”
To me, Gomer seems completely unrepentant.
Apparently, she whored around so much and devalued herself to the point where she was SOLD as a slave by the men who were using her and Hosea had to buy her back.
I’m trying to think this through with hypotheticals and I can’t see taking back a wife who has been “in the life” so to speak–hanging out at clubs, selling her body, worshiping Baal, banging lesser and lesser influential men until she is used up and sold as a slave.
I mean…why would I?
Out of a sense of charity?
But God’s command is crystal clear. Take Gomer back even though other men have loved her and she has even bore children from them.
In Experiencing God Day-By-Day, Henry Blackaby explains the painful metaphor of what’s happening in Hosea 3:
“God’s message is clear. When we reject Him and turn our devotion elsewhere, our rejection carries the same pain as an adulterous betrayal. After all God has done for us, it is incomprehensible that we should reject Him. It is even harder to fathom that God could love us even after we have rejected, ignored, and disobeyed Him. Yet God's love is completely different from ours. His love follows us to the depths of our sinfulness until He has reclaimed us.”
And I have to remember that the wisdom of Hosea is operating on two levels–the metaphorical level where God equates Gomer with the people of Israel and the actual level of Gomer being a whore and Hosea being asked to take her back.
As the people of Israel watched, I guess like how we watch tawdry reality TV, Hosea was the living embodiment of what a righteous man should do when confronted with infidelity in his marriage.
Suck. It. Up. Get on with it.
And the people of Israel were amazed when Hosea said that God loved them, even as sinful and lustful and idolatrous as they were, as much as he loved Gomer.
Robin Routledge notes in Hosea:
“The word “love” occurs four times. It refers to God’s love for His people, which is mirrored in Hosea’s love for his wife. This includes commitment, and the willingness to forgive and restore despite infidelity. It is also costly, willing to pay the price of restoration.”
The Israelites were all acting like Gomer and they knew it and I get that.
I recognize when I’m becoming more of the world and less like Jesus and try to pull back when I do–sometimes Karen reels me in, other times, I just feel the Holy Spirit lighting into me and I pause and refocus.
Discernment isn’t natural when we become besotted with the world, like the Israelites were with Baal–we have to work at it. Or I should say, at least I do.
Which brings me to the most fascinating part of Hosea 3:1–the tiny, scrumptious detail at the end about raisin cakes. 🙂
What does God have against Little Debbie cakes?!
Routledge explains:
“Raisin cakes were probably luxury food items. Here, they are linked with the worship of other gods. This may indicate cultic significance, or they may represent the provision that the people saw as gifts from Baal. [Some] suggest that raisin cakes might also have been an aphrodisiac.”
And the amount of raisin cakes our society consumes is staggering. (Over 900 million LIttle Debbie cakes are sold EVERY year).
I don’t think God had it out specifically for raisin cakes, but He did for idolatry and in our case, our comforts in life often far outstrip our willingness to do the hard, righteous thing.
Like taking back a wayward wife (or husband) and loving them as God so loved our world.
Lord, forgive us for the times we’ve turned away, chasing fleeing, worldly desires instead of Your truth.
Lord, strengthen our hearts to pursue reconciliation where there is brokenness and guide us to walk in Your love.
Amen.