The Gospel of Hosea, Ch. 3: Redeemed and Restored
The Gospel of Hosea, Ch. 3: Redeemed and Restored.
The prophetic drama continues in this short chapter, and it packs quite a wallop… Betrayal, unfaithfulness, forgiveness, redemption, purification, eventual restoration, and hints of the coming Messiah. All in five verses!
“And Yahweh said to me, ‘Go again to your wife, love her and show affection for her even though she is unfaithful and is now being affectionate with another lover. Love this adulteress with the same love that, I, Yahweh, have for unfaithful Israel, even though they turn to other gods and love to give offerings to their idols.” (Hosea 3:1).
Once Again A Living Object Lesson. Yahweh does not at all let Hosea off the hook at his role of being His visual aid to Israel, His flesh-and-blood illustration to them of God’s forgiveness and mercy. Gomer evidently had betrayed Hosea her husband to the extent that she ran away and resorted to the sex trade to support herself. Some scholars think she joined the local Baal shrine and became a cult prostitute. Others think she joined the sex trade with the local pimp. Still others claim that she had no choice but to become a paid mistress or concubine in a wealthy master’s harem. Gomer seemed helpless in her predicament after leaving Hosea, and it’s interesting that she at no time ever expressed regret or repentance. But with Hosea, that didn’t even matter in the slightest.
“So I bought her for myself for the price of a slave… 6 ounces of silver, a few bushels of barley, and a bottle of wine. I successfully negotiated for her release back to me.” (Hosea 3:2).
Hosea’s Obedience to Yahweh. In his unquestioning belief that the Lord knows what He’s doing, and his unwavering faithfulness to his unfaithful wife, Hosea decided to buy Gomer out of whatever sexual arrangement she had become immersed in. He made some kind of trade with whomever was Gomer’s current lover, and brought her back into his house. Surprisingly, Gomer didn’t object as he renewed their marriage. In fact, we have no idea how she even responded to Hosea’s amazing patience and forgiveness. In this brief drama, could we find a better picture of the gospel of Redemption? This central reality in the Christian faith deserves a closer look…
Redeemer (Hebrew, Go’el), a term that early in Biblical history meant Kinsman-Redeemer and evolved into God-Redeemer. To redeem means to buy back; to restore; to recover by purchase; to perform the obligation of the next of kin; to put something back into its original condition; to repay a debt; to advocate for a relative if wrongly accused; the blood relative who will do what is needed for the kin if that person is unable to do it for himself. The term Go’el was used more generally to mean to rescue from captivity, to deliver from some type of confinement; to ransom from slavery; to bring justice to a loved one’s unjust situation.
The Kinsman-Redeemer was obligated in the Hebrew community, among other responsibilities, to purchase a family member’s freedom if serving as a “slave” or an indentured servant. If this relative was in dire poverty and hired himself out to a master as a working servant for an extended time, the Go’el was obligated to buy his brother back from the master’s employment to release him from his obligations.
Father God was considered a Redeemer throughout Hebrew Scripture, a divine Go’el. Jacob was the first Patriarch to use the word Go’el, in Genesis 48:16, during his blessing of Joseph. Jacob spoke of God as “the Redeemer who rescued and delivered him continually from all harm and from all evil.” Job was the next biblical character to speak of a divine Go’el, in Job 19:25-27: “I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end He will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see Him with my own eyes. How my heart yearns within me!” We also see that in Proverbs 13:11, the Go’el was understood to be the advocate who will powerfully plead the case of the orphan.
Redeemer, A Household Name for God in Isaiah. The most extensive use of Go’el in the Hebrew Bible is in Isaiah, where the divine Redeemer is highlighted at least thirteen times: The Redeemer will rescue the helpless (41:14); wreak vengeance on Babylon (43:14); remain as King of Israel (47:4); direct and teach the way to go (48:17); be their Savior (49:26 and 60:16); be their husband (54:5); show compassion (54:8); be their Father forever (63:16). Isaiah had an expansive view of how God was a Redeemer, and his heightened vision of the Lord as Israel’s Redeemer is unequaled.
Redeemer-God. How did Redeemer become such an important title for the Lord God?
(1.) Father God redeemed His children the Israelites from oppression in Egypt. As their Father, God was the closest relative to His Chosen People, He was united with them by a blood covenant, and therefore was the first in line to redeem His children, rescuing them from tyranny and slavery. “This is what Yahweh says: Israel is my firstborn son, and I told you, ‘Let my son go, so he may worship me.” (Ex. 4:22). And then the Lord followed that up with, “I am the Lord Yahweh and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them and will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God.” (Ex. 6:6-7).
(2.) Jewish believers developed the meaning of redeemer to include Yahweh as they understood the parallels between deliverance from Egypt and God’s continual rescue mission of each of them from evil and destruction. What was once a kinsman-redeemer evolved into a God-Redeemer.
(3.) The Father sent the Son to forgive our indebtedness to God because of our sin; to redeem mankind: to deliver us from evil; to rescue us from our captivity to our fallen nature; to remove the penalties of sin in our lives; to save us from our slavery to sin; to regain mankind’s innocence; to avenge the evil done to mankind through judgment of Satan and his demons; to wipe the slate clean and offer eternal life in God’s presence.
(4.) To redeem mankind, God the Son was required to be a divine Go’el and buy back the human race from sin and sin’s master. In order for this redemption to occur, Jesus purchased our spiritual freedom by offering His own blood as a worthy sacrifice. Jesus saw we were on the slave block, and He ransomed us, giving up His life in the process. We were not able to regain our own salvation from the guilt of sin, we were not able to restore our own innocence by our own efforts, so in the role of God-Redeemer, Jesus rescued us because of His unfathomable love for us.
(5.) Among Jesus’ parting words before His Ascension, He declared that His God was our God, and His Father was our Father. So we have the same Father as Jesus, which makes us brothers and sisters with Him. Who was the first relative obligated to redeem a blood relative? The brother. Jesus was our Go’el, our kinsman-redeemer, the brother coming to the rescue.
Everyday Redemption. There is a mysterious thread of redemption woven into our lives. Somehow, a person who has had a difficult time of rebellion and disobedience actually becomes a stronger person after turning that part of his life around had he never had that time of rebellion. Something bad transformed into something that is even better than if that bad had never existed. Mistakes made has the potential to mature a person even deeper than if he had never made those mistakes in the first place. So don’t be afraid to make mistakes, because the truth is Redeemer-God wants to transform those mistakes into something better than if those mistakes had never happened. God doesn’t waste mistakes, there will be no such thing as lost time. God redeems bad mistakes and lost time to make things even better had they never happened. Sometimes we see redemption, in the cases of healing, deliverance, rescue, restoration, the opportunity to start over. And sometimes we don’t see redemption, in the cases of chronic pain, fatal illness, ongoing suffering, and tragic death. Only our good God has the Big Picture on how redemption fits into a world that is not fully redeemed, freed from the shackles of sin and its consequences. There are no easy answers, of course, and Christians should be careful about blithely throwing around Bible verses when in difficult circumstances with someone who suffers. Some thoughts on everyday redemption:
(1.) The Bottom Line: We are not capable of understanding how the world works, or even how God works. So it comes down sooner or later to trusting in God’s mercy, regardless of the situation. Trust that God is good and knows best, that He wants what is good even if we don’t see the redemption in the situation. Believe that we will for certain see the fullness of redemption in the next life in God’s kingdom… “I hope in God’s mercy, I trust in God’s faithfulness, forever and ever and unto ages of ages.” (Psalm 52:8).
(2.) Redeemer-God wants to restore and renew us, if not now, then certainly in the next life. In order to see our redemption from suffering, some of us might have to wait. Isaiah 61:1-4 reveals His plan of what has been called “the Great Exchange.” This passage reveals the redemptive plans God has for us, sooner or later. Isaiah declares the word of the Lord as he shouts God’s message, proclaiming spiritual liberty to the captives and freedom to the prisoners… A clear picture of redemption, for sure. Isaiah goes on to say that God wants to redeem our situation by exchanging our ashes of grief scattered on our heads with a royal crown of utter beauty. God wants to take our spirit of mourning and replace it with a spirit of festive joy. God wants to redeem us by exchanging our burdened spirit of hopelessness with a bright-colored garment of splendor that expresses hope in our Redeemer. The Lord wants to take the difficult things in our life and redeem them by exchanging good things in their place.
(3.) Just like Hosea with Gomer and Yahweh with Israel, Jesus redeemed something that was thought to be irredeemable. His Resurrection was a profound act of redemption, by taking our pain, misery and death and turning it into abundant and everlasting life. He took something that was essentially hopeless and gave it new life, which is the ultimate redemption story. He can give us life in the midst of deathly turmoil as well. His blood paid our debts. We were purchased by the Redeemer at the price of His life.
Hosea, Gomer and Abstinence. The first thing Hosea demanded of Gomer in verse 3 is that she abstain from any sex until further notice. Hosea promised his faithfulness to Gomer during this time, with the implied purpose that this time of temporary abstinence would be a time of purification, rededication to each other as husband and wife, renewal of their marriage, and to prove their loyalty to each other after her extended time of unfaithfulness. Once again, Yahweh planned that this time in Hosea’s marriage would be another picture of how, during Israel’s exile to the Assyrians, the Israelites would be deprived of a chance to worship the Lord. This time of exile and deprivation of the Holy will eventually lead the people of Israel back to Yahweh…
“Afterward, the children of Israel will return and seek Yahweh their covenant God and for a David-like king. They will all thrill over Yahweh, trembling in awe back to Him, and rediscover God’s goodness and beauty and bountiful gifts in the last days.” (Hosea 3:5).
Messianic. It’s clear that Hosea 1:11 has clear messianic overtones as Yahweh predicts that His chosen people will one day choose “one leader, one head” to unite the people and enable them to flourish as God’s planting in the world. Jerusalem and Samaria will unite together, as well as Jew and Gentile. This messianic reference is confirmed here in Hosea 3:5 as Hosea refers to a David-like king. This reference to David might have had some of the Israelites scratching their head, since in their Northern Kingdom of Israel they had rejected David’s kingship over 200 years earlier. So Hosea is referring here to a David-like king, a just ruler in the lineage of David, consistent with Yahweh’s covenant with David before God’s chosen people had split into the North (Israel) and the South (Judah). Jewish tradition has interpreted this passage as a messianic prophecy, and even names this person as “the king Messiah.” As the “one head” and the “David-like king” underlined in Hosea’s prophecy, many of us believe that Jesus Christ is the anointed messiah in the line of David who both unifies and reconciles in His forgiveness and redemption. We believe that the “latter days” or the “last days” that formed the final words of this prophetic chapter was indeed the messianic age that we all look forward to in what St. Peter called the “Universal Restoration.” (Acts 3:21).