Letter to the Congregations: 28th September 2024

Our Dear Brethren,

"...Go, take yourself a wife of harlotry and children of harlotry, for the land has committed great harlotry by departing from the Lord" (Hosea 1:2)

These were the instructions that God had given to Hosea. This man must have been chosen by God for his humility and his willingness to trust in God. At least he knew there had to be a reason. There were prophets who God had asked many things of before the time of Hosea. He had seen his nation falling away from their God and knew that if they didn't change then His protection over them would be removed.

Hosea obediently took a wife, no doubt a woman who was well known among his neighbors as a prostitute. This was probably not his first choice. Although we don't know much about her, it seems Gomer wasn't quite the Proverbs 31 wife that every godly young man looks for. She lived a life of fornication and adultery when Hosea found her and was unfaithful to him even after they married and had children together. This definitely wasn't what this humble prophet had in mind when he planned his life.

Reading this book after the fact, we understand that the unfaithfulness of Gomer towards Hosea was representative of the unfaithfulness of the children of Israel towards their God. The nation had entered into a covenant with the Lord their God. This relationship was intended to be like a faithful marriage between a husband and wife, loving and exclusive. But Israel committed spiritual adultery by looking "to other gods" and sought after "the raisin cakes of the pagans" (see Hosea 3:1). They wanted to live like the nations that surrounded them.

Although the entire nation of Israel broke their spiritual marriage covenant with God, He remained faithful to them. Just as Hosea bought back his unfaithful wife and renewed their relationship, so God bought back sinful Israel and made a new covenant with them. Of course this New Covenant isn't just limited to the physical descendants of the nation of Israel. Anyone who answers the calling from God can enter into this New Covenant with Him.

Anyone who enters into this covenant through the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ, and continues in it, is promised life rather than death. And just like Hosea went back for Gomer, Jesus Christ will return for us when the seventh trumpet sounds. "Come, and let us return to the Lord; for He has torn, but He will heal us; He has stricken, but He will bind us up. After two days He will revive us; on the third day He will raise us up, that we may live in His sight. Let us know, let us pursue the knowledge of the Lord. His going forth is established as the morning; He will come to us like the rain, like the latter and former rain to the earth" (Hosea 6:1-3).

Can you imagine the level of patience, humility, love, and complete forgiveness it took Hosea to follow the instructions from God to love Gomer despite her past sins? Can you imagine the level of patience, humility, love, and complete forgiveness it took Jesus Christ to love us and reconcile us to His Father through His sacrifice? This is the level of patience, humility, love, and complete forgiveness we should learn to have for each other so we might imitate Hosea who imitated Jesus Christ and His power of reconciliation.

"For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation" (Romans 5:6-11).

Our love is with you,

Lewis VanAusdle

Pastor, United Church of God

NYC, NJ, CT, Malawi, Zimbabwe