to the exercise of grace God is mentor to us all. Four interpretative guidelines underlie our reading of these three chapters. Guideline one: The account of Hosea’s experiences is literal not allegorical. We seem not to be dealing with a made-up illustration like a parable, but with actual episodes in the life of the prophet. Granted that the three children are given symbolic names and that Gomer and Hosea represent Israel and Yahweh respectively, however, there are present other details in the story