The first time GOD spoke to Hosea he said: "Find a whore and marry her. Make this whore the mother of your children. And here’s why: This whole country has become a whorehouse, unfaithful to me, GOD." Hosea 1:2 (TM)
I was trying to imagine the reaction Hosea received from his family when he brought Gomer home for the first time. "Son, are you nuts?" How many of Hosea’s relatives stopped talking to him? How many "friends" avoided him in the synogogue? I have to believe that Hosea suddenly became a social outcast and the object of intense ridicule. I’m sure his explanation – "God told me to" – didn’t go far, either. In fact, I can hear the scornful response of well meaning friends and relatives, "God would never tell you to marry a whore!"
Yet, God doesn’t live inside the box of our acceptable religious and social mores. Life is messy, and God often pushes our comfort zone to make His point.
Kudos to Hosea for having the faith to obey, even when it most likely made life very difficult and very messy.