She will chase her lovers, But not overtake them; Yes, she will seek them, but not find them. Then she will say, ‘I will go and return to my first husband, For then it was better for me than now.’ (Hosea 2:7); “And it shall be, in that day,” Says the Lord, “That you will call Me ‘My Husband,’ And no longer call Me ‘My Master,’... (Hosea 2:16)
Biblical Truth
God instructed the prophet Hosea to marry a known prostitute, so that he could experience in his married relationship and be a witness to the Children of Isreal how they had behaved as prostitutes towards Him, their God: When the Lord began to speak by Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea: “Go, take yourself a wife of harlotry And children of harlotry, For the land has committed great harlotry By departing from the Lord.” (Hosea 1:2)
The kings during Hosea's phrophetic life were Uzziah, Jothan, Ahaz and Hezekiah of Judah, and Jeroboam of Isreal. The king of Isreal lead the people of Isreal into all kinds of abominable behavior, false gods worship, and adulterous behavior, by following beliefs and customs of pagan nations around them. Hosea and his wife had a son, whom God instructed Hosea to name "Jezreel", meaning: And the Lord said unto him, Call his name Jezreel; for yet a little while, and I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu, and will cause to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel. And it shall come to pass at that day, that I will break the bow of Israel, in the valley of Jezreel. (Hosea 1:4-5)
The kings of Judah were hit-and-miss, not all were obedient to God, but not all disobedient. Some lead the people into idol worship, but by the time Hezekiah reigned, ...he did what was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father David had done. (II Kings 18:1-3) Hosea and his wife also had a daughter, whom God told him to name "Lo-ruhamah", meaning: “Call her name Lo-Ruhamah, For I will no longer have mercy on the house of Israel, But I will utterly take them away. Yet I will have mercy on the house of Judah, Will save them by the Lord their God,... (Hosea 1:6-7)
Hosea's wife left him and went back to being a prostitute. God said Isreal had done the same towards Him by following after other Gods and the customs of the other nations, but in time they would realize the futility in it all: "She will chase her lovers, But not overtake them; Yes, she will seek them, but not find them. Then she will say, ‘I will go and return to my first husband, For then it was better for me than now.’ "(Hosea 2:7)
Just as God paid a price, through the death of His Son to redeem us from sin (Romans 8:1-4), God instructs Hosea to do the same, by going to get his wife back: So I bought her for myself for fifteen shekels of silver, and one and one-half homers of barley. And I said to her, “You shall stay with me many days; you shall not play the harlot, nor shall you have a man—so, too, will I be toward you.” For the children of Israel shall abide many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar, without ephod or teraphim. Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the Lord their God and David their king. They shall fear the Lord and His goodness in the latter days. (Hosea 3:2-5)
True to the prophetic Word of God, Isreal continued to rebel and worship false gods. (Hosea 4 - 10) Inspite of all they were doing, God still loved them and would keep the promise he made to their forefathers (Genesis 22:15-19; Genesis 32:9-12; Hosea 1:10-11): “When Israel was a child, I loved him, And out of Egypt I called My son. ... “How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel? How can I make you like Admah? How can I set you like Zeboiim? My heart churns within Me; My sympathy is stirred. I will not execute the fierceness of My anger; I will not again destroy Ephraim. For I am God, and not man, The Holy One in your midst; And I will not come with terror. “They shall walk after the Lord. He will roar like a lion. When He roars, Then His sons shall come trembling from the west; They shall come trembling like a bird from Egypt, Like a dove from the land of Assyria. And I will let them dwell in their houses,” Says the Lord. (Hosea 11)
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