"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....." (Hosea 1:2)
"John was a thoughtful, kind young man, affectionate, with a frank and open manner. He sincerely tried to obey the Lord's commandments and found honest contentment in the joys of family life. Gayle, his wife, was young, attractive, high-spirited, but inclined toward more worldly interests and activities. The society in which they lived was, in general, one of affluence and materialism. People seemed preoccupied with temporal gain, social status, entertainment, and self-gratification. Religious leaders were concerned about the apparent breakdown in family life and moral standards.
In the early years of their marriage, John and Gayle were blessed with children, first a boy and then a girl; but Gayle seemed uninterested in her domestic responsibilities. She longed for glamour and excitement in her life and was frequently away from home at parties and entertainments, not always with her husband. In her vanity, Gayle encouraged and responded to the attentions of other men until eventually she was unfaithful to her marriage vows.
Throughout, John encouraged Gayle to appreciate the joys of family life and experience the rewards of observing the laws of God. He was patient and kind, but to no avail. Shortly after the birth of a third child, a son, Gayle deserted her husband and children and joined her worldly friends in a life of self-indulgence and immorality. John, thus rejected, was humiliated and brokenhearted.
Soon, however, the glamour and excitement that had attracted Gayle turned to ashes. Her so-called friends tired of her and abandoned her. Then each successive step was downward, her life becoming more and more degraded. Eventually she recognized her mistakes and realized what she had lost, but could see no way back. Certainly John could not possibly love her still. She felt completely unworthy of his love and undeserving of her home and family.
Then one day, passing through the streets, John recognized Gayle. Surely he would have been justified in turning away, but he didn't. As he observed the effect of her recent life, all too evident, a feeling of compassion came over him - a desire to reach out to her. Learning that Gayle had incurred substantial debts, John repaid them and then took her home.
Soon John realized, at first with amazement, that he still loved Gayle. Out of his love for her and her willingness to change and begin anew, there grew in John's heart a feeling of merciful forgiveness, a desire to help Gayle overcome her past and to accept her again fully as his wife.
Through his personal experience there arose in John another profound awareness, a realization of the nature of God's love for us, his children. Though we disregard his counsel, break his commandments, and reject him, when we recognize our mistakes and desire to repent, he wants us to seek him out and he will accept us. (Elder Ronald E. Poelman, "God's Love For Us Transcends Our Transgressions", Ensign May 1982, pp 27-28)
John and Gayle's story is a modern day version of the story of Hosea and his wife Gomer. It is a story of betrayal but the greatest love story found in all the scriptures. There is great debate amongst scholars as to whether this story is a pure metaphor or whether it was in fact true. Whether Hosea was in reality commanded of the Lord to marry a harlot is of lesser importance than the message of his story. The story might appear problematic but the message is one of simplicity and great importance to us as God's children.
The story of Hosea and his wife is symbolic of God's great love, mercy and forgiveness. The story is set during Hosea's ministry from about 755 B.C. to 725 B.C., at the height of Israel's idolatry. Through the story of Hosea and Gomer, his wife, the Lord uses the medium of marriage as a symbolism of covenant of love and faithfulness between him and the nation of Israel that has spiritually destroyed itself and is without doubt to be scattered. Israel, represented by Gomer, the bride, who has forsaken the covenant of her marriage, has turned to other gods. Hosea, the faithful husband, represents the God of Israel, who through his loving kindness seeks to entice his wife back to the safety of the covenant. Pained by the betrayal of his bride, Israel, whom he has loved and nurtured and protected, the Lord laments: "O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself; but in me is thine help" (Hosea 13:9). It is hard to imagine with what heaviness of heart the Lord uttered these words. It is just as difficult to imagine his unfailing willingness to extend mercy through forgiveness. Some form of the word mercy in the book of Hosea appears 12 times. The word justice does not appear once. The Lord would have us know always that his mercy can meet the demands of justice when we have strayed from his loving kindness and that in the last days He will gather the scattered Israel to once again be her God: "And I will sow her unto me in the earth; and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy....." (Hosea 2:23) and "...I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness and in mercies. I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the Lord" (Hosea 2:19-20)
Gomer, the unfaithful wife, is an exact portrayal of both ancient and modern Israel. After she has entered into the marriage covenant, she leaves her husband and 'turns back to her adulteries because of the two governing sins she refuses to forsake: lust for riches and sexual immorality' (Breck England, Old Testament Lesson 34, "I Will Betroth Thee Unto Me in Righteousness", Meridian Magazine). These two sins are the prevalent, corroding forces of the moral fibre of our society. Consider the demoralizing practice of prostitution that encompasses both sex and money. The pursuit of both riches and sexual immorality presents itself as a cankering threat to the institution and covenant of marriage, as it more often than not results in crime, addiction, disease, infidelity, homosexuality, divorce, abuse, pride, adultery, fraud, and the list goes on. I have just recently finished reading a book which represented with shocking accuracy the society of this 21st century that we live in. Within one family of five could be seen effects of sexual abuse, lesbianism, alcoholism, divorce, sexual promiscuity and murder. It sounds over the top but the story of this modern day family makes it absolutely plausible and leaves the reader wondering if things could get any worse. In our attempt to emancipate ourselves from God and his laws we have shot ourselves in the foot. We have become a society who has no desire to know God and is instead investing all its energy in self-gratification which is corroding the spiritual nature of our existence and our purpose here as children of God.
Yet the God of Israel will not forsake us and leave us to utter destruction. He has provided the way, He has given hope. The steps have been taken, the Gospel restored, the instructions given and the law of the harvest begun: "If you sow seeds of righteousness, you will harvest righteousness. If you sow thorns and corruption, you will reap thorns and corruption. A prophet of the Lord said, 'For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind' (Hosea 8:7). If you sow seeds of purity, you will harvest purity. If you sow seeds of petting, immorality, and promiscuity, you will harvest destruction to your godlike attributes. If you sow seeds of pure love, you will receive pure love. If you love God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind, you will reap God's love. If you would obtain celestial glory, you must plant into your heart and character God's heavenly ways. Jesus admonished in these words: 'For if you will that I give unto you a place in the celestial world, you must prepare yourselves by doing the things which I have commanded you and required of you' (D&C 78:7). If you want a celestial life, you will have to plant celestial seeds. Pure religion comes from God. If you want pure religion in your life, you must plant the gospel of Jesus Christ in your heart. Remember, 'As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he'. If you think as a celestial being, you will be a celestial being. If you think as a child of God should think, you will be a member of his celestial family." (Elder Bernard P. Brockbank, "Be Worthy of Celestial Exaltation", BYU Speeches of the Year, 1974, pp 386-87)
We are modern day Israel the Lord is continually enticing back into His arms. He seeks us from all corners of the world, desiring to bring us back to the safety of the fold. We are the lost sheep and He the ever loving Shepherd. To those who hear his voice and repent, the Lord guarantees mercy and the exalting blessings of Abraham. In the day of gathering, Israel shall become the sons of the living God for the promise is this: "Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God" (Hosea 1:10)
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