Led Zeppelin and the Book of Hosea

The other day as I was working "Hey Hey What Can I Do" by Led Zeppelin came on my MP3 player. As the song played, the lyrics struck me as kind of a parallel of the story of Hosea in the Old Testament.

In the story, Hosea marries a prostitute as a symbol of ancient Israel's rebellion against the laws of God. In the short story, in chapter 3, God tells Hosea to find his wife and bring her home despite her love for adultery.

The Led Zeppelin song tells the story of a man who goes through the town looking for his love who stays in bars and strays with other men. I can imagine Hosea thinking similarly as he looked for his wife, Gomer, in the streets and bars of his day.

In the end, the man in "Hey Hey What Can I Do" packs his bags and moves on. Hosea, however, does not give up on Gomer. This is an illustration that God does not give up on us even when we stray.