“Beloved”

“Beloved”

Lo-ruhamah

Read: Hosea 1:2-6

This passage from Hosea is hard to interpret. God commanded the prophet Hosea to marry a promiscuous woman who would be unfaithful to him. Their marriage was to symbolize Israel’s unfaithfulness to God when the Israelites turned away from him to worship false gods. When Gomer had a daughter, God chose her name—Lo-ruhamah, which meant “not loved” or “I will no longer show compassion.” The girl’s name represented the point in history when God would remove his mercy and allow the Israelites to be punished for their sins. In a society that placed great importance on a person’s name, this little girl was burdened with a name that carried the message of God’s coming judgment.

The book Dorie: The Girl Nobody Loved tells the true story of someone who lived out the meaning of Lo-ruhamah’s name. Dorie was dropped off at an orphanage as a little girl after being shunned by her mother. She had never been hugged or held. At the orphanage, Dorie experienced further rejection and was beaten every night. Physical, emotional, and sexual abuse continued through a series of foster homes. Finally, Dorie found the home she’d always longed for when she married a godly man and had two children. Today, Dorie Van Stone travels worldwide, offering hope and sharing the message of God’s love and grace.

No matter how the world feels about us, God sees each of us as someone who is worth dying for. Unlike Lo-ruhamah, we live in a period of grace, when Jesus’ sacrifice makes a permanent relationship with God possible. If we accept the gift of salvation and become God’s children, he makes an unbreakable covenant with us. There will be times when he disciplines us and occasions when we must live with the consequences of our sin. But God will never remove his love and compassion from us. Once we become his children, we take the name “Beloved.”

“With everlasting love I will have compassion on you,” says the LORD, your Redeemer.

Isaiah 54:8