chad mcilvenna

The Background stuff:
In the book of Hosea in the Old Testament God uses, as an example Hosea’s unfaithful wife to illustrate the unfaithfulness of Israel. It is quite a sad story in the beginning because it is all about Hosea rescuing his wife Gomer (what a name!) from a life of promiscuity and prostitution. Hosea gave Gomer everything she could ever want as far stability and her needs were concerned. Yet, she still returned to her promiscuity and became unfaithful to Hosea even after he fathered and raised her children.

The Good Stuff:
The good news is that the story does not end there and the illustration of God’s love for his people did not end there either. God said to Hosea, “Go and love your wife again, even though she commits adultery with another lover. This will illustrate that the Lord still loves Israel even though the people have turned to other gods and love to worship them” His words not mine… From a mere human perspective this would be hard for me to do. If I were Hosea and I had done all I had done to give Gomer a wonderful life and she did what she did…hit the road Gomer!!! But, the Lord told Hosea from the beginning this would happen and because Hosea knew that this relationship illustrated the love God has for his people he was willing to go through this heartache with his unfaithful wife.
The take away form this story for me comes from chapter 2, verse 15. Even after all I can do to be unfaithful to God, HE is still faithful and loves me even in the light of my unfaithfulness. The verse says (God speaking to Israel) “ I will return her vineyards to her and transform the Valley of Trouble into a gateway of hope.” Remarkable! It does not matter what I did in my past or how I have turned my back on God, HE still loves me and you and can transform even the darkest of valleys into gateways of HOPE!