Bought.

Inspired by Hosea 3:1-5

Early on in my Christian journey, I did the best I could to avoid reading out of the Old Testament. I always thought it was full of rules, crazy stories, and it was just plain hard to read at times. I didn’t see the value in it. A few years ago, I was chatting with a friend about this and they said something along the lines of, “Have you ever thought about the fact that every single word in the Old Testament is not only God’s written word, but also sets up the context for and points to the coming of Christ?”.

Whoa. Lightbulb.

Ever since then, I’ve actually spent more time digging into the Old Testament than into the New Testament. I was right - it is difficult to read at times and it takes me much longer to dig in and understand what I am reading. It is not always the easiest content and it doesn’t always make sense to me, but it’s oh so good. More often than not, I stumble across a complete gem in scripture that changes my perspective on everything.

I started reading the book of Hosea last week, and I could not help but stop in my tracks after reading the first 3 chapters.

In chapter 1, God tells Hosea to go and marry an adulterous wife and have kids with her. Yep, I said that correctly. It sounds just completely crazy, but it says right there in chapter 1, verses 2-3: When the Lord began to speak through Hosea, the Lord said to him, “Go, marry a promiscuous woman and have children with her, for like an adulterous wife this land is guilty of unfaithfulness to the Lord.” So he married Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son. First of all, can we just marvel at Hosea’s obedience here? Hosea went into this marriage knowing his wife would be unfaithful to him because God told him to do it. It seems crazy to me, but what is also so cool is the fact that this is a beautiful demonstration that parallels how God actively pursues His people. He fully knows that His people are sinful and broken, often running in the opposite direction towards other idols, yet He pursues anyways. He knows I will screw up, He knows I am not perfect, yet He pursues me anyways. What a great, merciful, forgiving, compassionate God we have.

After Hosea and Gomer have a few children, Gomer leaves Hosea for other men. She was unfaithful, as God says she would be. Chapter 3 describes the restoration of Hosea and Gomer’s marriage.

Hosea 3:1-5

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.” So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and about a homer and a lethek of barley. 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.” For the Israelites will live many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred stones, without ephod or household gods. 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.

God commands Hosea to pursue his unfaithful wife, even though she broke the covenant of marriage. Hosea’s response is beautiful. Hosea doesn’t just approach her and say she has to come home to him because she is his wife, but He buys her back. He pays a price for her to come back home to him after she left him to be unfaithful.

I cannot help but see the fingerprints of JESUS and the GOSPEL all over this story. It really does parallel God’s pursuit of His people through Jesus Christ. God created us. We were His from the beginning, created in His image (Genesis 1:27) and created to bring glory to Him. When Adam and Eve first sinned in the garden, we were fractured to our core and became a broken people living within a broken world. Gone was the perfect harmony and face to face relationship between God and His people. Just like Gomer leaving Hosea to be with other men, we began to put other things before God as we pursued the things of this world, temporary and sinful pleasures. Despite us turning our backs on Him and pursuing other things, God had a different plan to bring restoration and glory to His name. He sent His only son, Jesus Christ, to live a perfect life here on earth only to spend His last few days on earth being beaten, flogged, mocked, tortured, and eventually left to die as He was hanging from three nails on a wooden cross. He deserved none of it, yet He willingly took it. He bore the punishment for all of our past, present, and future sins, so that access to our Lord God could be restored and God’s children could enter back into relationship with Him, all for His glory. But the story doesn’t end there. Three days later, Jesus rose to life, claiming victory over sin and death, making the hope of the cross complete. That is the gospel, the truth, and it SAVES. Again, we deserve none of it. We are born fractured to our very core because of the devastating effects of sin, and we are incapable of living a perfect life as Christ did.

Our tendency is to do exactly what Gomer did to Hosea – pursue the world over pursuing God. Yet, God paid the price to buy His people back through the blood of Christ, just as Hosea paid the price to buy his wife back. The bible makes it clear that, in order for the law to be fulfilled and for the people to be forgiven, blood must be offered as a sacrifice (Hebrews 9:22), and it was the blood of Christ which was sacrificed in order for His people to enter into eternity with Him (Hebrews 9:12, Hebrews 9:14). Just as Hosea bought his wife back, We were bought with the blood of Christ, willingly spilled as a miraculous display of His love, mercy, and compassion for His people. My God, all the praise and glory to you.

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Scripture References:

Hosea 1:2-3

When the Lord began to speak through Hosea, the Lord said to him, “Go, marry a promiscuous woman and have children with her, for like an adulterous wife this land is guilty of unfaithfulness to the Lord.” So he married Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.

Hosea 3:1-5

The Lord aid 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.” So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and about a homer and a lethek of barley. 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.” For the Israelites will live many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred stones, without ephod or household gods. 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.

Genesis 1:27

So God created mankind in His own image,

In the image of God He created them;

Male and female He created them.

Hebrews 9:22

In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.

Hebrews 9:12

He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but He entered the Most Holy Place once for all by His own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption.

Hebrews 9:14

How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit offered Himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God