Hosea 3
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Then said the Lord unto me, Go yet, love a woman beloved of her friend, yet an adulteress, according to the love of the Lord toward the children of Israel, who look to other gods, and love flagons of wine.
2 So I bought her to me for fifteen pieces of silver, and for an homer of barley, and an half homer of barley:
3 And I said unto her, Thou shalt abide for me many days; thou shalt not play the harlot, and thou shalt not be for another man: so will I also be for thee.
4 For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim:
5 Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the Lord their God, and David their king; and shall fear the Lord and his goodness in the latter days.
Public Domain KJV text from Wordproject.org
Hosea 3:1-5
Hosea Redeems His Wife
1And the Lord said to me, “Go again, love a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress, even as the Lord loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love cakes of raisins.” 2So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and a homer and a lethech of barley. 3And I said to her, “You must dwell as mine for many days. You shall not play the whore, or belong to another man; so will I also be to you.” 4For the children of Israel shall dwell many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or pillar, without ephod or household gods. 5Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the Lord their God, and David their king, and they shall come in fear to the Lord and to his goodness in the latter days.
ESV Bible text displayed through the American Bible Society's Global Bible Widget
Hosea 3:1-5
Hosea’s Reconciliation With His Wife
1The Lord said to me, “Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another man and is an adulteress. Love her as the Lord loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes.”
2So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and about a homer and a lethek of barley. 3Then I told her, “You are to live with me many days; you must not be a prostitute or be intimate with any man, and I will behave the same way toward you.”
4For the Israelites will live many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred stones, without ephod or household gods. 5Afterward the Israelites will return and seek the Lord their God and David their king. They will come trembling to the Lord and to his blessings in the last days.
NIV Bible text displayed through the American Bible Society's Global Bible Widget
Commentary
The intimate relationship between spouses is a way of understanding the relationship between the persons in the Godhead. God is one echad and so are the man and the woman in marriage. When infidelity occurs, it breaks that unity; when it occurs on an ongoing basis it destroys the relationship unless the faithful spouse chooses to love the unfaithful spouse more than oneself.
God had been regularly forsaken by Israel. God compares this with adultery. God is the forsaken spouse who has been left aside for others. Israel is wrong and God has every right to divorce her. She is so far gone that she has been trafficked among many lovers. She is in sexual slavery. But God chooses not to abandon her. He loves her too much to let her go and so He buys her and takes her back.
We are God’s and He is ours. Sin is spiritual adultery and habitual sin is slavery (John 8:34). But like Hosea bought back his enslaved unfaithful wife, God bought us back through the blood of Jesus (1 Corinthians 6:19,20). As such we are His again and we have a renewed relationship with the One who loved us so.
William Davis
Associate Director, Public Affairs and Religious Liberty, Pacific Union of Seventh-day Adventists USA (as of this writing)
