Hosea
Wikimedia Commons
In many ways, Hosea’s marriage to Gomer prefigures Christ’s marriage to His church. Gomer was a harlot with many lovers, yet the prophet Hosea married her at God’s request. Gomer would be unfaithful, leaving Hosea for her former lovers, yet Hosea would take her back.
At the request of His Father, Christ wedded us sinners through His passion and death. Like Gomer, we stray from our marital relationship, replacing our love of Christ for our love of wealth, earthly pleasures, or self. When Gomer strayed, Hosea took her back, and when we stray, Christ welcomes us back.
The fruits of Gomer’s and Hosea’s marriage were three children named “scattered”, later re-named “sow”, “no pity”, later re-named “pity”, and “not my child”, later re-named “my child.”
What will the fruits of our marriage to Christ be? Will the seeds of His passionate love for us be “scattered” on a rock-hardened heart where they are unable to take root, or will they be “sown” in a fertile heart were they can take root and produce a thousand fold. Will we humbly seek and partake of His infinite mercy or self-righteously reject it? Will we completely unite ourselves with Christ in words and actions by loving others as He loves us, or will our union to Him be only by the words of our mouth and not by our imitation of His loving actions for others?
To Love and Truth 
Loved reading and thinking about this. Reminded me of Rom.5::8 : “in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” Hosea’s renaming of his and Gomer’s children reminded me that God has a new name on a white stone for each of His children that only He knows. When He calls us by that name we will truly realize who we have been called to be from all eternity.
Thank You Lioness. Good point about Romans 5:8, that Christ’s love for us can transcend our sinfulness.