Gomer: unlimited forgiveness and redemption

       First things first. Gomer was a prostitute. Not a born-and-raised, dedicated follower of God: a prostitute. Without even going into her story that one fact speaks volumes about the people God chooses and the sheer depth of His love for us! God commanded Hosea – a man so important in the Lord’s plan that he has a whole book of the Bible named after him – to ‘Go, marry a promiscuous woman and have children with her.’ (Hosea 1:2; NIV). I don’t imagine many men would be ecstatic about that – especially in a culture which so heavily shunned such women and valued a respectable marriage as a measure of a man’s success – but Hosea trusted in God, and as such Gomer was given the one thing she never thought she deserved: a loving, holy husband to help put her back on the right track.

        So, Gomer was given the perfect man despite the many others there had been; a good life despite her avoidance of God’s plan for her until that point; and an optimistic future despite her sinful past. And yet she messed up. Again. We are told that she ‘is loved by another man and is an adulteress’ (Hosea 3:1; NIV). She couldn’t give up her old life completely, and the sense of unworthiness of her new life dragged her back into her old habits. Yet once again God commanded Hosea to ‘love her as the Lord loves the Israelites, though they turn to another god.’ (Hosea 3:1; NIV). In other words, Hosea forgave her sin against him and accepted her just as she was. There are three main things we can take from this. One is that God will NEVER give up on us! He will forgive us more than ‘70x7’ times for our shortfalls (Matthew 18:22; NIV), and His love will remain unfailing throughout. There’s nothing we can do that will shock God or ‘put him off’ – remember as creator of the whole world He has seen it all before. No matter how far we stray from the path He set out for us, there is always a way back; and when we do eventually make it back, He will be there waiting for us as if we never left.

        The second vital message in Gomer’s story is that even the best man in the world is not enough to make us happy. For single women it is so easy to put so much weight on the search for the perfect husband that sometimes that longing rises above our quest for a deeper relationship with God. At a camp recently I wrote down a phrase from God which has stuck with me ever since: ‘I will be a bride of Christ before I am a bride of Man’. The world tempts us into thinking a good man will give meaning and satisfaction to our lives. But the truth is, we cannot find that satisfaction anywhere but in the blood of Jesus which leads us to eternal life with our Father in Heaven. A man sent by God will enhance the life you have, but no man can offer what Jesus can. Until we learn to hold Christ at the forefront of everything, we cannot know the fulfilment and worth that our hearts long for.

        Finally, Gomer’s story is one of sexual healing and redemption. It shows us that giving in once does not mean you’re tainted forever. As with any sin, if you turn to Jesus and repent, He will make it like it never happened. Because that is how much your Father loves you. It is not a case of having one shot in life. At any point you can decide to give up those relationships in favour of the ultimately more fulfilling relationship with God. Like the lost sheep that the shepherd left the flock to find, or the prodigal son who was welcomed by his father with open arms, God is always calling you back to Him, and He wants you to live the wonderful life He has made for you to the full without being held back by guilt or shame. Your worth in God’s eyes has never decreased, and will remain the same as it ever was. Like Gomer returned to Hosea, you can return to God.

Tamar: Self-assertion, self-esteem and belief in justice

        In terms of modern-day feminism (which, I assure you, is not the focus of this blog!) Tamar is about as close as you’re going to get. A woman wronged and out to defend her rights is not something we often come across in the Bible, particularly in the patriarchal society of the Old Testament (wronged, maybe, but certainly not fighting back). Yet rather than being an annoying, naïve girl jumping on the band-wagon of the ideal world with no real idea of how to achieve it, Tamar comes across as a strong, independent woman who knows her own mind and is willing to actually do something in order to stand up for what is right!

        How many of us bear grudges for the wrongs done to us and yet can’t seem to find the voice to speak out or explain ourselves. It’s so easy to let ourselves be stamped into submission by people we see as superior to us (more often than not simply because we are told so, rather than by any real merit) – I’m as guilty as anyone of suffering in silence because I am too afraid or feel too insignificant to defend myself. 

        The law of the time stated that if a man should die without any children then his brother must marry his wife in order to provide children to carry on the first brother’s name. Having been sent away from her family home to marry Er, the eldest son of Judah, at around 13 years old, Tamar had to deal with the death of not one but two husbands – the second being his brother Onan. She put up with two husbands who refused to give her children by practising contraception, and by the time it came to the third of their brothers she would have been utterly humiliated by the fact that she had not had the chance to carry out the one role of a Jewish woman in a society which viewed childlessness as a punishment from God. To add to that humiliation, rather than give her his final son in marriage (which was her right under Levirate law), Judah sent her home to ‘live as a widow in your father’s household until my son Shelah grows up’ (Genesis 38:11, NIV). Once married, a woman was no longer part of her own family but belonged to that of her husband. To be turned away from that family was the ultimate degradation.

        When years went by and Judah did not fulfil his promise to offer her his youngest son, Tamar had every right to want to hide away in shame and crumble under the weight of her rejection. But instead she showed her allegiance to the family which had given her no such courtesy by vowing to still continue her husband’s line. In fulfilling that duty she would also be claiming what was rightfully hers – a child, and a position in the family. Tamar was cunning – when she heard that Judah was on his way to the city of Timnah ‘she took off her widow’s clothes, covered herself with a veil to disguise herself’ (Genesis 38:14, NIV) and tricked him into believing she was a prostitute. She accepted his identity seal as assurance of later payment which she later – once Judah discovered his daughter-in-law was pregnant and ordered her to be burned alive – used as evidence that the child was his.

        Yes, Tamar deceived Judah. But Judah had also deceived her when he promised her his youngest son and didn’t deliver. Tamar stood up for her rights, and God rewarded her by giving her a part in the lineage of Jesus Christ. Life does not have to be lived by a series of strict rules based on what society deems to be acceptable. Sometimes showing initiative and finding your own way can reap the most benefits. Tamar was a woman wronged, but rather than sit back and accept her fate she showed great courage by doing something about it. 

        Tamar was a woman who refused to be a victim. Rather than letting the enemy slip into our heads in the form of rejection and insults from others, we must remind ourselves that God values us infinitely more highly than that, and that fact alone gives us all the permission we need to proudly take our place among the people of God. She was sold to marriage as a commodity, rejected by her new family and humiliated on all levels, and yet Tamar refused see herself as useless despite being told so constantly. God doesn’t want us to lie down and take the beating. He wants us to embrace his love for us and profess it with self-assured confidence rather than conceit. Most of all, He wants us to know that we are His children: each one of us equally as important and valuable as the others.

Hannah - Unfaltering Faith and Determination

        My parents never expected to become my parents. After years of longing for a family they were told by countless doctors that it was simply impossible for them. They prayed time and time again that God would provide them with the children they were so desperate for. There were times when they were angry with Him, there were times when they wanted to walk away from Him completely, but in the midst of those times they never gave up hope. When they finally – by nothing short of a miracle – had their first child aged 38 and 42, after being married for over 10 years, they aptly named her Hannah… 

        Although as a child I always loved to remind my sister that, unlike Esther, she doesn’t have a whole book named after her, Hannah is quite possibly one the most faithful women we are introduced to in the Bible. We only have to read Hannah’s Prayer (1 Samuel 2:1-11) to see just how deep that faith goes, and how much trust she placed in the Lord. She suffered from barrenness for many years, but never once gave up hope that the Lord could provide for her. Instead of giving in to despair and turning her back on her God, she used her time of longing to draw closer to Him through prayer and devotion. So much so that when the priest saw her he was convinced she was drunk! The significance of Hannah, a woman, being shown to have a greater understanding of God’s work than even the priests and elders provides a whole new perspective on the God of the Old Testament. Whereas in many cases He as portrayed as a vengeful God who selected men to do His work and overlooked women, Hannah’s story shows us that in reality it was the corruption of society at the time that gave us that impression, rather than any form of preferential treatment on God’s part!

        ‘Hannah was praying in her heart, and her lips were moving but her voice was not heard. Eli thought she was drunk…’ (1 Samuel 1:13). Hannah teaches us that exalting the Lord doesn’t have to involve loud chants and grand gestures of animal sacrifice as was customary at the time. Hannah didn’t shout her prayers for everyone to hear her sophisticated use of language and correct use of set phrases, she prayed in (and from) her heart: a humble, intimate, personal relationship with God which didn’t require validation from anyone else.

        When I was 5 years old at an Easter camp called Spring Harvest, I learned a song that taught me: ‘There’s nothing I can do or say to make God love me more… There’s nothing I can do or say to make God love me less’ (‘More or Less’, Steve and Kay Morgan-Gurr). In a society that viewed childlessness as the ultimate failure as a woman, Hannah’s rival (her husband’s second wife Peninnah) inevitably lauded her own success in childbearing over Hannah. And yet we are told that when their husband was dishing out the family meal, ‘to Hannah he gave a double portion, because he loved her.’ (1 Samuel 1:5, NIV). Hannah’s husband’s love for her did not falter regardless of her inability to provide him with children. In the same way, our achievements make no difference to God! His love for us is eternally unchanging, no matter what we do or say in this life. 

        At risk of turning this into a walk down memory lane, another lesson I learned at around the same age was that ‘God has 3 answers to prayer: yes, no or wait.’ (‘Auntie Peggy’s Windmill’, Jennifer Rees-Larcombe). Although the waiting was painful for Hannah, God used it to bring her closer to Him than even the local priest, and ultimately produced a blessing out of it! In the times when we feel our prayers are not being answered, it is more important than ever to remain faithful to Him. God knows what is best for us better than we do, and will provide for us when the time is right. Had my parents given up that hope, neither I nor my sister would be here today – so I for one am thoroughly grateful for God’s track record of eventually coming up with the goods!