Hosea the Prophet
Hosea was a prophet who lived and prophesied just before the destruction of Israel in 722 BC. He preached to the northern kingdom. Throughout the book you will see that he refers to Israel and Ephraim. Ephraim was the largest tribe in Israel and sometimes the whole nation was referred to as Ephraim.
Hosea's Marriage (1:2-3:5)
Hosea was commanded to take a wife who would become a prostitute as an example of God's relationship with Israel. Hosea was to manifest God's patience and love. Some wonder if Gomer was already a prostitute when they got married or if she became unfaithful later. They think that it presents a moral dilemma. Would God really command his prophet to marry someone that, according to Deuteronomy 22:20 was supposed to be stoned?
Deuteronomy 22:20 “But if this charge is true, that the girl was not found a virgin, 22:21 then they shall bring out the girl to the doorway of her father's house, and the men of her city shall stone her to death because she has committed an act of folly in Israel, by playing the harlot in her father's house; thus you shall purge the evil from among you.”
I have heard the arguments that she became unfaithful after they were married, and they are pretty good too. The phrase “adulterous wife” is similar to the phrase “quarrelsome wife.” You don't typically go out and marry a quarrelsome person. You marry someone whom you think is nice and will make you happy and find out later that they aren't so nice. So it may mean, “Go marry a woman who will prove to be unfaithful.”
But, if I had to cast my vote on the subject, I would say she was already a prostitute for the following two reasons:
I think the most straightforward understanding of the text is that she was a prostitute when Hosea married her. God often asked the prophets to do some difficult things. I think it was Isaiah who had to go around naked for a time to illustrate a point.
I also think Hosea’s marriage is a picture of God’s relationship with Israel. Hosea’s choice of a prostitute was exactly like God’s choice of Abraham. Abraham was just another sinner like the rest of the people in the world. He did not deserve to be chosen. But that isn’t what the Jews thought. They thought Abraham was special because of his own merit and upright character. (cf. Jubilees 11:14f, 12:1f OT Pseudepigrapha vol 2, p. 79-80,Charlesworth) God may be using Hosea’s marriage to a prostitute to make this point. We will see later that the Israelites thought God owed them blessing. Why else would someone think that, unless they thought they were special through some merit of their own.
