But Hosea stopped her. He would not even listen to words of explanation from her whom he loved. He knew that she must have suffered much, that she was unhappy. It was sufficient now that she was sorry, that she had repented. Hosea did not want to cause her the pain of a recital of her sorrows. That is the way people who love truly do. They forgive and forget, quickly and without causing pain. Hosea had the children removed to the home of a friend for several months. During that time Gomer quickly recovered from her trials and returned to health and beauty. Then he brought the children back and restored them to their real mother. Once, after the reunited family had spent a very happy evening, a tremendous truth came home to Hosea. Here they were all happy, as if trouble had never entered to disturb the sweetness and beauty of their lives! Why had sorrow and suffering come upon them at all? Then and there Hosea realized that there was a purpose in his home tragedy. He understood better than ever before that God had selected him to be a prophet to his people; that God had taught him through sorrow and suffering, the lesson he was to teach to Israel. Israel had become faithless to God and had left His law; even as Gomer had left her husband. God grieved for the sins of Israel; even as he had grieved for Gomer who had strayed from him. God loved His people, nevertheless; even as he loved Gomer, continually. God was prepared to take Israel back under His guiding and loving care, when Israel would repent of its backsliding and sinning; even as he did with Gomer. From that day on Hosea's preaching took on a different form. He no longer scolded and condemned, but entreated and pleaded with his people: "Return, O Israel, to the Lord thy God, For thou hast stumbled through thine iniquity. Take words with thee And return to God. Say to Him, 'Pardon Thou wholly iniquity And receive (us) with favor. Assyria will not save us, We will not ride upon horses (to Egypt); We will no more say to the work of our hands, "Ye are our god."'" And, in the fervor of his poetic soul, the prophet hears God's answer to repenting and returning Israel: "I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely, For my anger is turned away from them. I will be as dew to Israel; He shall blossom as the lily And strike his roots deep as Lebanon. His saplings shall spread out, And his beauty shall be as the olive tree. They shall return and dwell in my shadow, They shall live well-watered like a garden, They shall flourish like a vine, Their renown shall be like that of the wine of Lebanon." But such hopefulness and promise of divine love had no more effect upon the doomed people than did the attacks upon their sinfulness and wrongdoing.