3 So he (Hosea) married Gomer daughter of Diblaim…
Hosea 1:3a (NIV)
I like sin. That’s my problem. It’s your problem too. Sin is fun. And it comes so natural to us. In fact, sinlessness takes work…God’s work in us. If sin wasn’t fun we wouldn’t be into it. Let’s be honest, if broccoli wasn’t good for you, who’d eat it (and any other vegetable for that matter)? We eat it because we must. Why can’t Ding Dongs and Ho Hos be good for us? Why is it that the stuff that tastes good rarely is good for you? Such is the nature of sin; it tastes good but is deadly.
Gomer is the daughter of Diblaim. That’s what we read today. Two odd names (especially for a woman…Gomer?) that have important meanings: Gomer- “completion” and Diblaim- “a double lump of figs” which are a figure of sweetness. What could these names mean? It could mean that the sweetness of sin is the parent of complete destruction or that Israel or mankind had completely forsaken God, and were children of corrupting pleasure.
Ding Dongs and Ho Hos are purposefully good. They’re supposed to be sweet. Why? The people from Hostess want you to buy them. The same is true with sin. Satan has purposefully manufactured sin, packaged sin so that you want it. Like cheese on a mousetrap: delicious and deadly. Or like the worm on a hook: tasty (for fish at least) yet lethal. Satan is a master marketer. What hope do we have? Some of us can’t even stand against the temptation of Ding Dongs and Ho Hos, how do we stand a chance against something more dangerous…the temptation of sin?
To see these thoughts considered in scripture and to see where the hope is found read Romans 7:15-25.
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