I said to Becky, "What if I run out of anything to write about."  She said, "Write about the 'leftover' people.  Everyone knows Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.  Peter, Paul and James--but even James is on the bubble of being left over.  So write about one of the other ones.  You know, Hosea.  Amos. Haggai.  Obidiah.  One of those.  The minor prophets. Nobody knows those guys."

I can always get an answer from Becky.  She and Scott are the funny ones in the family.  Pat, Jon, Ken and I were the serious ones.  I wouldn't have thought of the minor prophets as leftover people!

Hosea had a pretty sad life.  God wanted to give an example to the people of Israel concerning their unfaithfulness.  So who did he choose.  Right.  Hosea.  Seems unfair.  The only good guy around and God picks him for misery.  Becky said, "Hosea wasn't miserable.  He just loved his wife."  Then she stopped, looked up at me and said, "Well, maybe that's what a man's misery is."  And laughed.

God told Hosea to marry a woman who wasn't faithful to him.  A prostitute.  Here Hosea was, a prophet.  Esteemed.  Held high in the eyes of the people.  But he did what God said and married Gomer the harlot.  I bet the town had a lot to talk about.  Can't you just hear them:  "He seemed like such a good guy.  What went wrong with him?  Did you see her?  What was he thinking....etc."

God made an example out of Hosea to show the people what they were like.  Unfaithful.  Hosea represented God.  His wife represented the people of Israel.  God was good.  The people weren't.  Every time God blessed the people, they forsook him.   Every time God forgave them, they were unfaithful.  Basically, whatever God wanted them to do, they didn't.  Just like Hosea's wife.

I hope God never has a plan to make an example out of me that makes me miserable like He did to Hosea.  But if he does, well, I guess I'll just have to get used to it.