Betrayal
The first, is a prostitute. I see that raised eyebrow and wondering glance as you ponder where I’m going with this. Bear with me, it gets good. Gospel in fact. During an Old Testament period, God’s people (Israel), had gone astray. They were worshipping idols and forsaking the God who had brought them out of slavery. So to illustrate the actions of Israel versus the actions of God, He commands His prophet, Hosea, to marry a harlot (a harlot is an old-fashioned word for prostitute). Hosea obeys. He marries Gomer and starts a family. After a time, however, Gomer leaves Hosea and her children to return to her old ways. Just as Israel had betrayed their God by following after idols, Gomer had betrayed her husband by returning to her prostitution.
Instead of having Hosea divorce Gomer, the Lord commands him, “Go again, love a woman who is loved by her husband, yet an adulteress, even as the Lord loves the sons of Israel, though they turn to other gods…” (Hosea 3:1) Gomer had stepped into some trouble and now had to be purchased back. For the price of a slave, Hosea goes and buys Gomer.
Redemption
I imagine Gomer in this scene: There Gomer stands in a line of men and women waiting to be sold. Her clothes are dirty and torn. Her hair is matted, makeup smeared. She stinks and is barefoot - rocks tear at her feet while she walks. Men eye her as they would livestock and she wonders which of these cruel humans would become her master? Then she see’s Hosea in the distance. Gomer hides her face in shame with shackled hands. A familiar voice speaks: “I will purchase her.” Stunned, she lets her hands drop and she looks up into the face of her husband. His eyes bear no accusation, no anger, no bitterness. They are full of compassion and love. “Come home with me, Gomer. Stay with me and let me be a husband to you.” The slave trader unlocks her shackles and Gomer is free once again.
The Princess
In contrast, I would like you to meet Solyma. We move from Hosea to the Song of Solomon and enter into the holiest of God’s books. You will see many references to the Shulamite woman. Another translation of her name is Solyma. She is King Solomon’s lover and wife. The name Solomon can also be translated, Solymo. Solyma is actually the feminine translation of that same name. Just as Solomon means Prince of Peace, Solyma means Princess of Peace. The Bride of Peace. The one made perfect. The treasure. The reward for the Victor. She bears the name of her lover. She is his queen, his joy, the receiver of his affection and the one granted intimacy with him.
Did you know King Solomon in this book is a representation of Jesus? That Solyma is the representation of the church?
What This Means for Us
We are Gomer. We have all forsaken God and gone after other things of this world. We have shunned His love, security, favor, safety, and presence. Instead of destroying us, God would not let us go. As the Lord said in Hosea 11, “How can I give you up… How can I surrender you? … My heart is turned over within Me, all My compassions are kindled. I will not execute My fierce anger…” God purchased us from our sins just as Hosea purchased Gomer. Except unlike Hosea, God paid the price with the blood of His Son. Because of the blood that purchased us, we become “all glorious within”. We become the Princess of Peace - the bride of Christ. We are now able to enter the Holy of Holies whereas before we were kept from the presence of God. He has given us His name and clothed us with grace and righteousness.
No longer are we slaves of sin, like Gomer. Once we come under Christ’s banner of love and forgiveness, we are transformed into Solyma and become one with the King who purchased us.
I am Gomer. It is only because of Christ and what He has done for me that I am now Solyma. I am not worthy to bear His name but I do with joy and trembling because He has bestowed it upon me. That is the story behind the name, Solyma.
“My beloved is mine, and I am his.” (Song of Solomon 2:16)
