Opening Prayer
Thank you, gracious Lord, that you have forgiven my past, are at work in my present, and have promised me an eternal future with you.
Read HOSEA 2:14–3:5
“Therefore I am now going to allure her;
I will lead her into the wilderness
and speak tenderly to her.
15 There I will give her back her vineyards,
and will make the Valley of Achor[a] a door of hope.
There she will respond[b] as in the days of her youth,
as in the day she came up out of Egypt.
16 “In that day,” declares the Lord,
“you will call me ‘my husband’;
you will no longer call me ‘my master.[c]’
17 I will remove the names of the Baals from her lips;
no longer will their names be invoked.
18 In that day I will make a covenant for them
with the beasts of the field, the birds in the sky
and the creatures that move along the ground.
Bow and sword and battle
I will abolish from the land,
so that all may lie down in safety.
19 I will betroth you to me forever;
I will betroth you in[d] righteousness and justice,
in[e] love and compassion.
20 I will betroth you in[f] faithfulness,
and you will acknowledge the Lord.
21 “In that day I will respond,”
declares the Lord—
“I will respond to the skies,
and they will respond to the earth;
22 and the earth will respond to the grain,
the new wine and the olive oil,
and they will respond to Jezreel.[g]
23 I will plant her for myself in the land;
I will show my love to the one I called ‘Not my loved one.[h]’
I will say to those called ‘Not my people,[i]’ ‘You are my people’;
and they will say, ‘You are my God.’”
Hosea’s Reconciliation With His Wife
3 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[j] of silver and about a homer and a lethek[k] 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.
Footnotes
- Hosea 2:15 Achor means trouble.
- Hosea 2:15 Or sing
- Hosea 2:16 Hebrew baal
- Hosea 2:19 Or with
- Hosea 2:19 Or with
- Hosea 2:20 Or with
- Hosea 2:22 Jezreel means God plants.
- Hosea 2:23 Hebrew Lo-Ruhamah (see 1:6)
- Hosea 2:23 Hebrew Lo-Ammi (see 1:9)
- Hosea 3:2 That is, about 6 ounces or about 170 grams
- Hosea 3:2 A homer and a lethek possibly weighed about 430 pounds or about 195 kilograms.
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Meditate
Open your eyes to the blessings God has for you this day. Walk in openness before God.
Think Further
God’s message through Hosea in this passage reminds us of the great restoration that God has for the whole world. Hosea demonstrated this love and grace by buying back his unfaithful wife, restoring her into a loving marriage. It is almost unfathomable to imagine a pure and holy God having such grace toward sinners, and yet that is the gospel. Despite Gomer’s lack of voice here (we don’t know how repentant she was), God’s grace is restorative: through Jesus all who are repentant find grace and mercy.
My memories of when I first became a Christian are filled with exciting times of corporate worship, expectant prayer meetings, and instructive Bible teaching. I was eager and open to God. Many years on, I am challenged to remain eager and open to all that God has for me, but I am mature enough now to know that my Christian walk goes through seasons, some of which bring considerable challenge, whereas others offer time to rest and restore.
As Paul reminds us, Hosea’s message refers to the whole world, not just the Jews.1 God’s love for the Israelites, despite their frequent sins, is a foretaste of the grace we find in Jesus. Jesus has sought us and bought us, we are invited back into a family of love, into a place where we are accepted despite our past, into a place where we are included and where we matter. The love of God restores us to something more than we had. We now have a God-given hope: we are not just given a new start—we are given eternal life, a life hidden in Christ. God has done so much for us to live in this restoration. Let’s enter more fully into that each day.
Apply
Be comforted and encouraged by the good news we have received. Accept with faith and thanksgiving the restoration he offers.
Closing prayer
O God, you sought me, you bought me, and made me your own. Indeed, your mercy is beyond measure. Thank you for my redemption in Jesus, undeserved but paid for at a great price.
Last Updated on February 19, 2024 by kingstar
