A Prophet And A Prostitute: The Greatest Love Story Ever Told

I am a lover of love and romantic movies are my favorites. 

I have also read a great number of love stories and some of my favorites are from the Bible. 

The story of Abraham and Sarah, Queen Esther and King Ahasuerus, Ruth and Boaz are all time favorites but that of Jacob and Rachel was undisputably the best for me until today when I read a love story from the chronicles of the Old Testament - a story that is hardly ever told even though it depicts grace and love that is enduring, reckless and shameless.

This is the story of a Prophet and a Prostitute - Hosea and Gomer.

I am sure you are wondering how such a union can work and even I was taken aback when I tried to picture the scenario. I mean they are unequally yoked, obviously from different social strata, one 'Responsible, Respected, Godly and Of high standing' and the other 'Dirty, Unclean, Cheap, Irresponsible and a WHORE'.

Now let me tell you the story.

God had instructed the young Prophet Hosea to pick a Prostitute named Gomer as his wife because God wanted to demonstrate his everlasting and shameless love for his people through Hosea's marriage to a prostitute.

I imagine that Hosea had different plans for his life. He must have kept himself pure for his very special bride. A maiden whom other men may have tried to woo but couldn't get. She would be a beautiful woman of virtue. A role model for his daughters, a mentor for other girls, a Proverbs 31 woman and befitting of his status as a Prophet. She would be a solid 10.

Isn't God supposed to grant him his heart's desire? 

So why is he being instructed to marry a prostitute? How would he even approach her? On the street corner as she bargained with her customers? What can be Holy about such matrimony? 

Again I imagine Hosea thinking "Oh God this must be my mind playing tricks on me" but it was God who spoke.

Hosea obeyed God, went to seek Gomer and when he saw her, he fell in love with her. God put a passion in his heart for this prostitute and he loved her in a way that defied logic and common sense.

And so it was that Hosea married Gomer the prostitute.

He relocated her, brought her into a neighborhood that she previously wouldn't have been allowed into, gave her his name, bequeathed to her his property and gave her the benefit of his legacy.

Hosea made a lady out of a Prostitute.

All was well for a while until Gomer went back to her old ways. She committed adultery and when she bore children none of them looked like Hosea rather they looked like other men in the city. Hosea still loved and cared for them but one day he returned home and Gomer wasn't there. He thought it was her usual way of going out till late and he waited till late in the night hoping that she would return after she may have entertained her customers but she did not. 

He went out to the streets late in the night in search of his wife and when he saw her, she was dirty and lay naked on the slave table in the middle of town. Men jeered at her and poked her. A sale was going on and it was Gomer that was being auctioned to the highest bidder - what a shameful sight for a Prophet's wife. 

Hosea must have felt hurt and humiliated but his love was greater than what he felt and heard. As the Men jeered on, he reached into his pockets, emptied his purse and gave his all to reclaim his wife.

He loved her shamelessly beyond her past, forgave her present sins and even paid for her future. What a love!

I imagine Gomer must have drooped her head in shame and probably begged Hosea to let her be as she was unworthy of his love but while everyone including Gomer herself saw a prostitute, Hosea saw the one that made his heart beat, a woman who deserved his all and that was what he gave to her.

This is the story of a Prophet's shameless love that redeemed a Prostitute, proof that even broken hearts can give unbroken love.

It depicts the kind of love God has for us, a love that just wouldn't let go and it is to me THE GREATEST LOVE STORY EVER TOLD.