Bible Passage: Hosea 3

A very short chapter today with only 5 verses. A simple yet moving chapter. God instructs Hosea to love his wife again.

Why did God command Hosea to go back to his unfaithful wife?

Not only for the sake of Hosea and his wife, but the restoration of the adulterous wife represents the restoration of an adulterous nation.

The love of God for the children of Israel runs so deep that He is willing to look past their spiritual adultery. Verse 1 mentions that the children of Israel “loves the raisin cakes of the pagans”. The Chinese bible says they love 葡萄饼. According to my research this just refers to raisins that have been pressed together into cakes and offered to the idols. We see the folly of Israel’s idolatry which they choose to pursue, yet they neglect the persistent faithfulness of the Almighty God.

We may not worship other gods, but do our behaviour cause God to grief? Do we love “raisin cakes” in the form of worldly possessions or status? Similarly for us today, God still loves us deeply despite our errant ways. This reminds me of the hymn “He looked beyond my faults”. God’s love is faithful.

Another lesson for us is that God commanded Hosea to love his unfaithful wife. When we think about God’s love for us, it should make us more loving and merciful to others. Others may do us great wrong and we want to have nothing to do with them, but if we examine ourselves, we have done even greater wrong to our Lord. If God could love us despite our faults, should we not emulate His love as well for people who do us wrong?

May God lead us to be more compassionate and kind to others.