A romance based on the book of Hosea - with a good man being told by God to love a prostitute, and all that comes from that. The man, named Michael Hosea, is known by all as someone who lives what he believes every day. The woman, named Angel by the first man who used her for himself, hides behind a thick wall because she has nowhere else to go. She is a high commodity, and people bribe the Duchess to get half an hour with her. Michael begins to pursue her hand in marriage, and gets laughed at and scorned many times -- both by her and others. Angel has no hope and this man comes to offer true Hope, but things always get worse for her so she can't let his promise of hope affect her.
Michael does not push her to accept God or even believe in God, but he continues to trust God himself, obey God, and pray for his new wife. He does not fit into any of her categories, and he slowly breaks down her walls so that she starts to feel and remember and hurt about evil things that happened to her.
Names are significant in the Bible, and in this story they are as well. The man's last name is Hosea, like the prophet who heard God and obeyed contrary to all that may have seemed right. The woman is named Angel at eight by the man who owns her, and she never tells anyone her real name. Michael calls her different names -- Amanda as a general name instead of Angel, saying that part of her is dead. He calls her Tirzah, to mean that he desires her and loves her and wants to be with her. He calls her Mara at first because she is so bitter. After she is fully healed by the love of Christ, she is finally able to share the part of her that she has shared with nobody before.
This book is full of pictures of God's love. As humans, we think that we know best, even though God offers so much. God loves us before we know what love is and calls us to live with Him and to know His love -- but we run away in fear and sometimes because we think it is better for God that way, that He doesn't have to love us. But God knows where we have come from and how we are hurt, and he wants us to go back to that pain and let Him show His power to heal and to conquer evil. Angel must go back and deal with Duke, the evil man from her childhood -- and by listening to the Spirit she does something neither of them would expect and is able to ruin him in front of all his clients, as well as learn what it means to be Free. God's love is the only thing that can redeem us and bring us new life -- and give us the chance to be free to choose Him each and every day. Thank you God for this book that reminds us of that.
| Title: | Redeeming Love |
|---|---|
| Author: | Francine Rivers |
| Date published: | 1997 |
| Genre: | Romance, Christian |
| Number of pages: | 464 |
| Notes: | Recommended by Rikki |
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