I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Hosea 1-7.

    I always feel bad for the prophet Hosea because God had him marry a woman (Gomer) who would not be faithful to him. Of course, my next thought is that perhaps God chose Hosea as a prophet because of his poor choice in a wife. Then I feel bad for Gomer’s daughter and second son because of the names God had Hosea give them. I want to note that before the end of the first chapter, Hosea foreshadows changing their names from negative names to positive names. Gomer left Hosea to pursue sexual relations with other men, which Hosea uses as a metaphor for the people of Israel worshiping other gods. Rather than acknowledge the good things in her life that came from her husband, Gomer pursued gifts from other men. This reflects how we so often overlook the good things which God has given us and commit sin in pursuit of pleasure. When we turn from God to pursue the pleasures of sin there is a very real risk that God will stop giving us the good things which He had previously given us. If that happens God will attempt to woo us back to Him and show us how much His love can truly mean to us.

    Hosea tells us that no one should accuse others. We are all sinners. Men who visit prostitutes have no moral authority to condemn women for being prostitutes. Men who are having adulterous affair are in no position to condemn women for adultery. It goes further than that. Christians today find themselves in a society which wallows in sexual sins. Yet, that is partly a result of those very same Christians getting caught up in the desire for wealth and comfort. We failed to discipline ourselves when we found ourselves worshiping material things, so we lost our ability to provide a moral compass to the society around us.