“Will you be faithful?” As the wedding date approaches, the soon-to-be bride and groom wait in anticipation. But sometimes the question lingers: how do I know he or she will be faithful?


The image of a husband-wife relationship pointing to God and His people is underscored in the book of Hosea. Israel’s infidelity is shown when God calls the prophet to marry a prostitute named Gomer. God has saved His people and provided for them. But Israel immediately links themselves to the “gods” of the surrounding nations as if they delivered and cared for them. And what is the Lord’s response, played out by Hosea’s faithful love and pursuit of Gomer?


Instead of the judgment they deserve, God pursues them with a relentless grace. How can this be? Through Jesus! The judgment the unfaithful wife deserved falls on the Substitute – their Husband. Christ can invite us, His unfaithful Bride (the Church), to the wedding supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19:9) because while we were still pursuing other husbands, He loved us.