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| Photo by Jim Tracy |
1 Then said the I AM to me, "Go again, love a woman beloved of her friend, yet an adulteress, just like the love of the I AM toward the children of Israel, who look to other gods, and love bottles of wine."
Hosea had every right by any standard to divorce Gomer. But he still loved her and on God’s command he bought her back from her life of prostitution that she had sold herself into. This is how God treated Israel.
2 So I bought her to me for fifteen pieces of silver, and for an homer of barley, and an half homer of barley:
It would have taken the average man about 2 months to earn 15 shekels of silver in Hosea's time, so he paid 2 month's salary, or about $7000.
A homer is about sixty gallons, so Hosea paid about 90 gallons of barley, also, enough to feed a slave for a year.
God also bought back His wayward wife. He paid at Calvary.
3 And I said to her, Thou will live with me for many days. Thou will not be a prostitute, and thou will not sleep with another man, and will I also stay faithful to thee.
Hosea just wants a faithful wife to keep to himself. This is all God wants too; a people for Himself.
4 For the children of Israel shall live many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without sacred stone pillars, and without a priest, and without idols:
God is still going to punish Israel for her unfaithfulness and she won’t have all the trappings she is so proud of until Christ comes. Then He will be Israel’s King, Prince, Sacrifice, and Priest. Meanwhile, it will be seventy years between the destruction of Jerusalem by Babylon and the ending or the daily sacrifices, and the return and resumption of all the ceremonies.
5 Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the I AM their God, and David their king, and shall fear the I AM and His goodness in the later days.
After the captivity, Israel did seek God, but, unfortunately, in a self-righteous manner. They were still into self-worship.
At the time of Christ however, tens of thousands of Jews sought and found God by recognizing their King, the Son of David, Jesus.
The “later days” are the last days of the Jewish nation, the first century AD.