The high cost God pays for loving us
Hos 3:1-5
Most of us would have had some experience of someone we trusted, whether a family member, friend or colleague, betray us or cause us harm. In such a situation, we may just want to cut the person who hurt us out of our lives and never see them again. When it comes to adultery, the pain of betrayal must go particularly deep and indeed, even Jesus, with His high view of marriage, allows for divorce as a legitimate option in such a case (Matt 5:32; 19:9). Considering our human feelings, it is even more shocking to see God’s actions towards unfaithful Israel as it is illustrated through Hosea’s life story. In effect, the prophet ‘incarnates’ God by showing us His astonishing love, which we can so much more readily appreciate when we see it through the lens of Hosea’s betrayal and suffering.
The cost of love for Hosea and God
Reconstructing the prophet’s story is impossible from the meagre evidence that Scripture provides, but it is clear from the command to re-start his relationship with his wife (Hos 3:1) that his marriage has broken down and Gomer no longer lives with him.[1] She seems to be with another man (NASB ‘husband’ is misleading; the Hebrew reʿa means a ‘companion, neighbour’, NIV ‘paramour’). The fact that she is called an adulteress (v.1) suggests that she is still married to Hosea. They may have separated or perhaps she ran away and is now living with someone else. Why the prophet pays money to ‘buy’ her back (Hos 3:2) is again unclear. Perhaps she became destitute and ended up in debt-slavery or the lover had to be paid off to release her.[2] Either way, one can imagine the people observing Hosea’s attitude and shaking their heads. How can anyone squander good money on such a bad woman! How humiliating for him and what an utter waste! She is not worth it! Why bother about her? Yet God humiliates Himself in loving His unfaithful people in the same way when they go after other gods (v.1)![3]
The painful remedy
How can a relationship so badly torn apart by unfaithfulness be restored? Hosea’s attitude once again represents how God will deal with Israel. Thus, the prophet’s connection with his wife is re-established – they live in the same household – but she is barred from relationships with other men and even intimacy with Hosea stops for a time (Hos 3:3).[4] This will parallel Israel’s experience in exile without king and officials (the sense of ‘prince’ here) when the normal worship life of the community will not be available (Hos 3:4). Sacrifice is a neutral category that may be offered to the Lord or to other gods, while sacred pillars were pagan worship symbols at this time. Likewise, an ephod was a priestly garment that could be employed to discern God’s will,[5] but it may have been used in pagan divination and worship as well (Judg 8:27; 17:5). Finally, household idols were little statues or images of gods that people kept in their house and used for worship. As this list shows, Israel’s worship of God was so inextricably intertwined with pagan practices that total abstinence and distance was needed for a new start.
Coming to God’s goodness and love
Reflecting on the pain Hosea endured, we can imagine God’s pain when we leave Him, the source of love and life, for worthless things. What humiliation for the prophet, knowing his genuine love for his wife, having to wrangle with a lover and pay good money to buy her back for herself! As Christians, we look to the infinitely greater cost that Jesus paid in leaving His glory and high status to become a lowly human being for our sake. He allowed Himself to be criticised by us, created beings, to be condemned to die a shameful death and pay the price that would set us free. What difference should such love make in how we live? It should shake us to the core and stop us in our tracks when we are tempted to sin knowing that we are hurting the very one who gave His life for us. Like Israel, it should move us to come trembling with awe and recognise God’s goodness (Hos 3:5) that surpasses all understanding. It is this goodness and love that should be our greatest motivator to live for Him.
[1] There is debate among interpreters whether the woman Hosea is commanded to love is even Gomer, as her name is not mentioned. Given the parallel with Israel, however, it makes better sense to understand the woman as Gomer rather than as an entirely new relationship. The point is that God perseveres with His unfaithful ‘wife’, Israel, which Hosea’s story is meant to reflect.
[2] Some interpreters speculate that Hosea paid the value of 30 shekels for Gomer, partly in money (15 shekels) and partly in produce. Since 30 shekels is mentioned as the value of a slave (Exod 21:32), the assumption is that she was in debt slavery. However, the value of the produce is not given, and the quantities are difficult to ascertain, so we have no way of knowing what the total came to. Again, the details are less important than the overall picture.
[3] It is uncertain what the significance of the raisin cakes are in Hosea 3:1. Jeremiah 44:19 mentions cakes (though uses a different Hebrew word from the one in Hosea) made in the image of the Queen of Heaven (perhaps in the shape representing her like a moon or star or with a stylised image of her), so possibly these cakes in Hosea were connected to Israel’s idolatry offered to other gods. In 2 Samuel 6:19 (parallel text in 1 Chron 16:3), David distributes raisin cakes to the people in celebration after he brought the ark to Jerusalem. It is possible that worshipping other gods also involved celebrating with special delicacies in which case the raisin cakes may be seen as the benefits Israel was hoping to get out of their idolatry. There is another mention of cakes in Isaiah 16:7, where Moab is said to wail for the cakes of Kir-hareseth (NASB adds ‘raisin’ in the translation, but the Hebrew just has cakes). Again, the sense of this is uncertain. Finally, Song 2:5 mentions raisin cakes to sustain the bride. There is a suggestion that such cakes functioned as an aphrodisiac.
[4] It should be noted that this is not a general recipe to save badly broken marriages and must not be used as a model for such. While God’s ideal is for marriages to remain intact, but it is recognised that in a broken world, this is not always possible. If anything, it describes the superhuman effort that God demonstrates towards us, unfaithful human beings.
[5] The ephod had a breast piece or pouch attached to it with the Urim and Thummim in it (Exod 28:15, 30). What these were is uncertain, perhaps a set of dice or stones that allowed yes-no questions to be answered (1 Sam 23:9-12).
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