BOOK OF HOSEA - CHAPTER 3
Hosea Returns to his Wife
1 Then the Lord said to me again, 'Go and show your love to your wife again. You must love her although another man loves her. You must love her although she is a woman of adultery. And you must continue to love her. You must love her in the same way that the Lord loves the people of Israel. But they continue to worship other gods. And they like to offer special fruit cakes to these gods'. 2 So I bought the woman with 15 pieces of silver and nine amounts of barley.
3 Then I told her, 'You must stay at home with me for a long time. You must not be like a prostitute. You must not be too friendly with another man. And I will live with you.' 4 In the same way, the people of Israel will continue for a long time without a king or leader. They will not have sacrifices, or special stones to help them to remember God. They will not have any ephods or gods in their homes. 5 In the time to come the people of Israel will come back. Then they will look up to the Lord their God and David their king. They will come with great respect to the Lord and will receive his blessings.
COMMENTARY
VERSES 1-2
The Lord speaks to Hosea again. He tells him to "Go and show your love to your wife again." He gives Hosea instructions on how to show his love to his wife. So, Hosea bought back his own wife with 15 pieces of silver because that was the going rate for a female at that time.
Remember, Joseph was sold to the Midianite traders for 20 pieces of silver (Genesis 37:28). Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus to the religious authorities for 30 pieces of silver (Matthew 26:15). There is a valid explanation for the different prices. Those were the going rates for slaves at those times. Also, the price of a male slave was more than for females. That's why Hosea could buy back his wife for only 15 pieces of silver.
VERSES 3
Hosea bought back his wife, but not a prostitute. God does not buy back the same old Israel. He wants a new Israel. Hosea tells her that she must stay with him for a long time. She must not become a prostitute again. Hosea also says that he will not have sex with her. Hosea wants to keep his wife safe. But he also wants to change her into something that is better.
VERSE 4
Hosea starts to speak to Israel. Israel will have no king. Another country, perhaps Assyria, will rule Israel. The 'stone' was a place where Israel made sacrifices. These sacrifices were made to another god.
Ephods were special clothes that a priest wore. This was part of a sacrifice that God liked. But, in the future, God will take away both kinds of sacrifices. Israel will return to God. They will return to worship God in a true way. They will do this after they have learned much. The name 'David' means that there will be only one leader in the future. He will be like the future king.
So there are three important ideas in this chapter:
---1. Gomer does not deserve Hosea's love. In the same way, Israel does not deserve God's love.
---2. Israel would have a period when they were true to God in a special way (they would not be able to offer sacrifices).
---3. Then they would look for God. This would be a sign that they wanted to repent in a true way.
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