Who Is This Gomer Chick?

My friend Dan thought it would be helpful if I put an explanation out there to explain who this Gomer chick is that I keep talking about, and I think it's a very good idea. So much of what I'm saying comes back to her, so you need to know her story if you're going to understand mine.

Gomer plays a significant role in the small Biblical book of Hosea. In a nutshell, Hosea is a prophet. He's pure and holy and one of those guys who apparently did a really good job of keeping all the rules. Gomer is the opposite. She's a prostitute.

As the story goes, God tells Hosea to marry Gomer. And don't get all "Pretty Woman" doe-eyed and think about how romantic that is. In those days, Gomer was a prime candidate for stoning. She was a disgrace in the community. Someone like Hosea would have kept as far away from her as possible to avoid being "defiled" by her mere presence. So the command in itself was shocking. However, being a good prophet, Hosea does what God tells him to and marries her. They end up having three children, though there's some speculation among theologians that those children might not all have been Hosea's, if you know what I mean. At any rate, after all that Hosea does for her by giving her a nice home, pretty clothes, good food, and the whole nine yards, Gomer decides to leave him and sell herself back into prostitution. God tells Hosea to go buy her back and take her home again, so Hosea does it. And then God tells Hosea that this is exactly what is going between Himself and His people. God has done everything for them, but for some inexplicable reason, they go back to a life of disgrace, need and shame. In spite of this, God doesn't divorce them or destroy them. He goes after them and does all that He can to win their hearts back.

It's an amazing story, really, and I can't tell you how much I relate to this crazy chick who runs away from the best thing that ever happened to her. I'm living it.