Hosea 3:1-5

God instructs Hosea to go love his wife who has gone back into harlotry.  It must have been hard for him to marry her in the first place, but when she was unfaithful it must have been even harder to take her back and restore her as his wife.  This is all an illustration of God’s love for His people.  God wants us to learn to love the way that He loves.  Too often our love is conditional and self-seeking instead of sacrificial. 

GOD’S LOVE IS STEADFAST: God’s love is unchanging and strong.  He does not love based upon our loveliness.  Rather, He loves based on His character.  Gomer, Hosea’s wife had been taken out of prostitution in order to become a wife and mother.  This was representative of Israel being freed from slavery and the idolatry of Egypt.  However, Gomer returned as an adulteress to her former life just as Israel turned from worshiping the Lord who set them free to the worship of idols.  In spite of this God’s love remains steadfast and He restores Israel to Himself just as Hosea is to bring Gomer back as his wife.  God’s forgiveness is truly astounding and a great blessing in our lives.


GOD’S LOVE IS SANCTIFYING:  When Gomer comes back to Hosea; it is with a clear understanding that she will be faithful to him and him to her.  God does not save us so that we can continue to live in the same way we were living before.  Sin has consequences and when God saves us He sets us free from sin.  There may be linger consequences of our sin, but we are not to linger in sin.  When Israel was restored from captivity there was a period of time where the nation still did not have its own king or even a temple in which to offer sacrifices.  Forgiveness does not erase all the scars of sins from the past, but it does set us free to be able to obey in the future. 

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