1. Hosea 1:2 (ESV)
  2. Exposition

In what respect does Hosea resemble his God?

Hosea 1:2 (ESV)

2 When the LORD first spoke through Hosea, the LORD said to Hosea, “Go, take to yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom, for the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the LORD.”

God commands Hosea to marry an adulterous woman. Here one must not think of a real prostitute, but of a woman who easily commits adultery. The emphasis is on the fact that Hosea has to marry her. The emphasis is not on what the woman does but on what Hosea does: marrying an adulterous woman. By doing so he is, in fact, no different from his God, who gives love to an unfaithful wife, Israel. He resembles a God who has made a covenant with a people that tries to find other husbands (idols) again and again.