seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Hosea 3:1
The 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.”
2 So I bought her for fifteen shekels[a] of silver and about a homer and a lethek[b] of barley. 3 Then 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.”
4 For the Israelites will live many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred stones, without ephod or household gods. 5 Afterward 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.
a. Hosea 3:2 That is, about 6 ounces or about 170 grams
b. Hosea 3:2 A homer and a lethek possibly weighed about 430 pounds or about 195 kilograms
I'm going to start with bible-studys.org.
Hosea responded to God’s urging to go again to his adulterous wife, buy her out of slavery, and restore her as his wife. This is what God would also do for His people.
“Raison cakes” were eaten on special occasions (2 Sam. 6:19). They were also used in idol worship. The people preferred these dry cakes to the abundance of riches found in the Lord, symbolizing Israel’s rejection of the one true God for other gods.
Hosea is instructed to love this unlovable wife of his, as God loves Israel. God loves with unconditional love. While we were yet in sin, God sent His Son to save us. Man loves because of some reason, or the other. God loves in spite of, not because of. His love is Agape love. The greatest love shown ever is spoken of in John.
Most husbands love their wives, because they are faithful to them, and because they see them as being beautiful. Israel was unfaithful to God, and yet He loved them in spite of their unfaithfulness. As far as the natural man could look, Israel was worthless. God loved them anyway. Remember, the prophet experiences in the physical the same thing that is happening in the spirit with his people. Hosea must love her, in spite of her unfaithfulness and heavy wine drinking.
These verses describe the time of exile for God’s people, a time when they would be “without” most of the things that mattered to them, including their nationhood. After this time, however, “the children of Israel” would “return and seek the Lord.” God often uses times of deprivation to urge His wayward children to return to Him.
Gomer would not be allowed conjugal relations for “many days,” with any man, including Hosea. As a further element of the picture of God’s dealings with His covenant people during the present age, Israel would exist without her existing political and religious (both true and false), relations until Messiah returns at the Second Advent to set up His millennial reign (Ezek. Chapters 40- 48; Zech. Chapters 12 to 14).
“Without” occurs five times in the Hebrew text. Israel actually will be without three things:
(1) The monarchy, she will have neither reigning monarch nor anyone in line to become one. Ultimately, a king must come as promised to David and Israel (in 2 Samuel 7).
(2) A sacrifice, she will not observe a God-appointed sacrificial system during this long period, though during it the Messiah will in fact come and be the supreme Sacrifice.
(3) Idolatry, even though she will not observe a true religious system, she will forsake idolatry and all its trappings.
“Israel return:” In God’s appointed time Israel will come to its senses and will have a national regeneration (Jer. 31:31-34).
This is from the easy English site.The word ‘love’ can mean different things in the Hebrew (verse 1). It includes a love from God. It also means a love between a man and a woman. This love will mean that a man will want to look after his wife. He will want to do good things for her. God does not think about himself when he loves Israel. The things that Israel needs are important. These things must come first. The ‘fruit’ was given to Baal as a sacrifice. This was when the people took their crops in. Hosea did not return to Gomer because he loved her. He returned to her because God sent him. Hosea began to love her again in the same way that he loved her before. It was a parable. God was always going to love Israel.
Gomer was probably a slave and Hosea was buying her back. But God does not buy back the same old Israel. He wants a new Israel. Hosea does not give much money for Gomer. But he now owns her. 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. It is possible that this is what verse 3 means. Hosea wants to keep his wife safe. But he also wants to change her into something that is better.
In 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. This perhaps means that they will return after the exile. But it also means 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:
· Gomer does not deserve Hosea’s love. In the same way, Israel does not deserve God’s love. (This is the true Bible meaning of the word ‘love’.)
· Israel would have a period when they were true to God in a special way (they would not be able to offer sacrifices).
· Then they would look for God. This would be a sign that they wanted to repent in a true way.
This is from Bibletrack.org.In this chapter, the sin of Israel's embracing false gods is once again the theme. Verse 1 sets the tone for the chapter, "Hear the word of the LORD, ye children of Israel: for the LORD hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land." Again, let me remind you, from their first king, Jeroboam, they never served God. He immediately erected two calves for worship, and that became their form of basic worship in the Northern Kingdom. When they wandered away from the base religion to Baal, Molech and others, they would from time to time come back to their basic worship, the two calves. They were unfaithful to the one true God from their very beginning. Even their two-calf priests are given dishonorable mention in verses 4-11. Their culpability is identified here.
We see in verses 12-14 that the people of Israel were worshiping and looking for leadership from false gods rather than from their own true God. Judah is mentioned in verse 15. They had their problems of going after other gods as well, but their base religion was the worship of the one true God. When they went back to basics, that's where they went. The prophets often identify the deviation from serving Jehovah as spiritual harlotry. Ephraim is mentioned in verse 17 as the most influential of the tribes comprising the Northern Kingdom.
IMHO..... we are the whores bought and paid for. Jesus gave His life to pay for us..... God gave His Son to pay for us. In verse 3 it says that Hosea told Gomer that she was out of business.... on top of that..... she would be going without sex with any man..... not her johns..... or her husband.... she had to take a break.
No one has ever mentioned that verse to me. I read right over it when I was reading straight through. I know that being a whore is addicting. I know there is a craving to be "held". Being a hooker might be profitable.... but being a whore is a way of life. A whore doesn't even like herself at times. A whore is a second class citizen.... looked down on..... "just a whore". When Hosea married Gomer..... it wasn't because he loved her.... God led him to Gomer and told him to marry her.... and have kids..... once again.... it's the kids of Hosea and Gomer that come to mind.... what was life like for them? What was life like for the children of Israel..... children of a whore..... second class of the second class.
We are bought and paid for..... God paid with His Only Begotten Son..... His Son paid on the cross..... I have tried to stay away from "other men" [meaning other gods.... fake gods],
