Hosea 3

Prophets sometimes do strange things. For three years, Isaiah embarrassed people by walking the streets dressed like a prisoner of war. For several months, Jeremiah carried a yoke on his shoulders. The prophet Ezekiel acted like a little boy and

Israel’s unfaithfulness described “played war,” and once he used a haircut as a theological object lesson. When his wife suddenly died, Ezekiel even turned that painful experience into a sermon.

Why did these men do these peculiar things?

“These peculiar things” were really acts of mercy. The people of God had become deaf to God’s voice and were no longer paying attention to His covenant. The Lord called His servants to do these strange things—these “action sermons”—in hopes that the people would wake up and listen to what they had to say. Only then could the nation escape divine discipline and judgment.

But no prophet preached a more painful “action sermon” than Hosea. He was instructed to marry a prostitute named Gomer, who subsequently bore him three children, and he wasn’t even sure the last two children were fathered by him. Then Gomer left him for another man, and Hosea had the humiliating responsibility of buying back his own wife.

What was this all about? It was a vivid picture of what the people of Israel had done to their God by prostituting themselves to idols and committing “spiritual adultery.” Since God’s people today face the same temptation (James 4:4), we need to heed what Hosea wrote for his people. Each of the persons in this drama—Hosea, Gomer, and the three children—teach us important spiritual lessons about the God whom Israel was disobeying and grieving.

The three children have taught us about the grace of God, and Gomer has taught us about the holiness of God. Now Hosea will teach us about the love of God.

“Hosea takes his place among the greatest lovers of all the ages,” wrote Kyle M. Yates. “His love was so strong that the vilest behavior could not dull it. … Gomer broke his heart but she made it possible for him to give to the world a picture of the heart of the divine Lover.”

God’s love promised (vv. 14–23). The repeated “I will” statements in these verses assure us that God has a wonderful future planned for the Jewish people. Let’s note His promises.

He begins with “I will allure” (v. 14). God doesn’t try to force His people to love him. Instead, He “allures” (woos) them as a lover woos his beloved, seeking her hand in marriage. Certainly God spoke tenderly to His people through His Word and through the manifold blessings He bestowed on them in their land. Just as He led her through the wilderness and “married” her at Sinai, so God will meet His beloved in the wilderness in the last days and lead her into her land and her glorious kingdom.

The next promise is “I will give” (v. 15) as the Lord guarantees a return to their land and a restoration of their prosperity. Once again, the Lord changes the meaning of a name, this time, “the Valley of Achor.” To Israel, the Valley of Achor (“trouble”) was the place where Achan stole from God and brought shameful defeat to Israel’s army (Josh. 7), but that memory would be erased from their minds. The valley would become a “door of hope” through which Israel would enter into a new life. The experience would produce singing, as when Israel escaped from Egypt and saw her enemies defeated before their very eyes (Ex. 14–15). “And Sharon shall be a fold of flocks, and the valley of Achor a place for the herds to lie down in, for my people that have sought me” (Isa. 65:10). This is an Old Testament version of Romans 8:28, for only the Lord can take defeat and shame and turn it into victory and glory.

God’s third promise is “I will take away” (Hos. 2:16–17). God declares an end to idolatry among His people. They would have a new vocabulary and the “baals” would never be named again. “Ishi” means “my husband” in Hebrew and “Baali” means “my master.” Both terms were used by Jewish wives when addressing their husbands, but in the future kingdom, every Jew will call God "my Husband,” for the divine marriage relationship will be restored. Israel will no longer prostitute herself before idols, but will love and serve the true living God.

God’s fourth promise is “I will betroth” (vv. 18–20). God’s wooing of Israel will result in her yielding to Him and entering into a covenant relationship that would never end. This new covenant will include a restored creation (see Gen. 9:1–10; Rom. 8:18–22) and peace among the nations. Among the “wedding gifts” will be such blessings as righteousness, justice, love, compassion, and faithfulness—everything that Israel had lacked during her years of separation from her Husband, Jehovah God.

The fifth promise is “I will respond” (Hos. 2:21–22 niv), (kjv, “I will hear”). These two verses describe a tremendous cosmic conversation in which the Lord speaks to the heavens and the earth and they respond to each other and bring blessings to God’s people. The heavens send the rain, the earth brings forth the produce, and the Lord sends His rich blessings. It’s the picture of a restored universe where sin and death no longer reign (Rom. 5:12–21).

The final promise in this text is “I will plant” (Hos. 2: niv). The word Jezreel means “God sows.” The image is that of God sowing His people in their land the way a farmer sows seed. He says to them, “You are my people.” They respond, “You are my God” (niv). This relates back to the names of the children that God in His grace had changed.

God’s love pictured (3:1–5). This is another “action sermon” as Hosea reclaims his estranged wife and brings her home to himself. Gomer had left Hosea and was living with a lover, another picture of the way Israel had treated the Lord. Hosea had to buy her back at a cost of fifteen pieces of silver (half the price of a slave, Ex. 21:32) and about ten bushels of barley. This was not an exorbitant price, but she had cheapened herself by her sins. We need to remember that God has purchased us at the tremendous cost of the precious blood of His only Son (1 Peter 1:18–19).

Hosea 3: suggests that Hosea didn’t immediately enter into intimate relations with Gomer, but waited awhile to make sure she would be true to him. It’s also possible that he wanted to make sure she wasn’t pregnant with another man’s child. But even this has a spiritual message attached to it: Israel today, though purchased by their Messiah (John 11:47–52; Isa. 53:8), has not yet returned to the Lord.

Israel today is without a king because she rejected her King and therefore has no kingdom. “We will not have this man to reign over us” (Luke 19:14). “We have no king but Caesar” (John 19:15). She has no prince because there is no reigning dynasty in Israel. All the records were destroyed when the Romans captured Jerusalem in AD 70, and nobody can prove to which tribe he or she belongs.

The Israelites have no sacrifice because they have no temple, altar, or priesthood. They don’t have a pillar (image) or a household god (teraphim), because idolatry was purged from their culture during the Babylonian captivity. (Like the Gentiles, they may have other kinds of idols in their hearts!) They lack an ephod (Ex. 28:1–14) because they have no high priest. The only High Priest God will acknowledge is the interceding Son of God in heaven.

But there is an “afterword”! Israel won’t stay “without,” for she will see her Messiah, repent of her sins, and say, “You are my God.” They will enter into that blessed relationship in which the Lord says, “You are My people.” This will occur in “the latter days” when the messianic King sits on David’s throne and judges righteously (Matt. 19:28; Luke 1:32–33).

The key word is return (Hos. 3:5), a word that’s used twenty-two times in Hosea’s prophecy. When Israel repents and returns to the Lord, then the Lord will return to bless Israel (2:7–8). God has returned to His place and left Israel to herself (5:15) until she seeks Him and says, “Come, and let us return to the Lord” (6: nkjv).

This is Hosea’s message: “O Israel, return to the Lord thy God.… Take with you words, and turn to the Lord: say unto Him, ‘Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously’” (14:1–2).

That prayer is good for any sinner, Jew or Gentile. To summarize:

God is gracious, and no matter what “name” our birth has given to us, He can change it and give us a new beginning. Even the “valley of trouble” can become a “door of hope.”

God is holy and He must deal with sin. The essence of idolatry is enjoying the gifts but not honoring the Giver. To live for the world is to break God’s heart and commit “spiritual adultery.”

God is love and promises to forgive and restore all who repent and return to Him. He promises to bless all who trust him.