"So I bought her to me for fifteen pieces of silver, and for an homer of barley, and an half homer of barley" (Hosea 3:2).

The prophet Hosea, sent to the Northern Kingdom of Israel, was advised by the Lord to explain to Israel the spiritual whoredom that she had committed. She had sought other gods (lovers), committing spiritual adultery while the wife of the Lord. Punishment must come! But the Lord was not willing to dispose of her, and purchased her back.

Frequently, a prophet's message included a visual reminder or example of the broader truth being taught. Accordingly, Hosea was told by God to "take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms: for the land hath committed great whoredom, departing from the LORD" (Hosea 1:2). Later, this same wife returned to her practice of prostitution and eventually was taken into slavery. Hosea was then told to "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" (Hosea 3:1). As our text tells us, Hosea had to repurchase her at the slave market. The analogies in this story are obvious.

Frequently, even we who have been so purchased find ourselves going after other gods--entertainment, children, vacation, freedom--only to be awakened by the fact that we have been set aside. Fortunately, God loves us and has demonstrated His love by His own actions toward us, as foreshadowed in the analogy acted out by Hosea. He will not forever abandon us, just as Hosea would not abandon his unfaithful wife, or the Lord His people Israel, or the Creator His creation.

Just as for Hosea, the story will have a good ending: "Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the LORD their God . . . and shall fear the LORD and His goodness in the latter days" (Hosea 3:5). KBC