GOD’S PRACTICAL LOVE FOR MAN After the divine inspiration had demonstrated the fruits of matrimonial betrayal or those of breaking the covenant between God and man, it again confirms God’s love for man and His longing for uniting with him after sanctifying him. 1. Marriage to a harlot 1. 2. Buying the harlot 2. 3. Sanctifying the harlot 3-4. 4. A return to the Groom 5. 1. MARRIAGE TO A HARLOT: The scholars refuse to consider what came here as a second marriage, different than the one mentioned in the first chapter. So, why is the repetition of the episode of marrying a harlot? First: Some scholars believe that the prophet’s wife Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim, deserted the house of matrimony, sold herself to corruption and became a slave. However, the prophet bought her back for himself as his wife (Hosea 3: 2). Second: Other scholars believe that what came here in this chapter is the same like in the first chapter. They believe that what came in the first chapter was a command from God to the prophet to marry a harlot. On the other hand, they believe that in this chapter we are told about the real story that the prophet has experienced himself. Third: A few scholars believe that the first talk was directed to the northern kingdom (Israel), whereas here it is directed to the southern kingdom (Judah) despite saying “the Israelites” (Hosea 3: 1). That is because the first kingdom was divorced and captivated, while the second kingdom remained another century and then, it was divorced and captivated as well. Fourth: Some others believe that what came here is nothing but a repetition of what came in the first chapter, as a conformation of the love of God for His fallen bride and as giving her more than one chance to consider the love of her first man. In the first chapter, God said to Hosea: “Go, take a wanton for your wife” whereas here, He says to him: “Go again and love a woman loved by another man, an adulteress”. He is commanded by the Lord not only to marry her, but also to love her despite his knowledge that she is loved by another and is a harlot. By that, God intended for Hosea to enter into the fellowship of love toward His people, despite what they did, “love her as I, the Lord, love the Israelites although they resort to other gods and love the raisin-cakes offered to their idols” (Hosea 3: 1). 2. BUYING A HARLOT: “So I bought her for fifteen pieces of silver, a homer of barely and a measure of wine” (Hosea 3: 2). This woman has sold herself to the account of evil, became a humble slave for the price of fifteen shekels of silver, which is less than the regular price of a slave. The lusts of her heart let her run after her lovers and dedicate her life to them, and so she became worthless of any price. She has lost her honor, her glory and the image in which her God created her, through which she used to resemble Him. 38 Anyway, as Hosea is a symbol of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, buying a harlot refers to Jesus Christ who purchased us by His precious blood, and saved us from the bondage, under which we captivated ourselves by ourselves. Hosea says, “I bought her” for Himself. He did as our Lord Jesus has acquired us to Him as a bride to dedicate all her energies to His account, and not to the account of the world or the devil. As to the price paid by Hosea for that woman, it was very modest: fifteen shekels of silver, which is less than the price of a slave (Exodus 21: 22). In addition, he paid one and one-half homers1, not of wheat (Psalm 81: 16), but of barley, the food of the poor or of the beasts. In his eyes and the world’s eyes, she is not worth more than that. Our Lord Jesus Christ acquired us, not for gold or silver, nor for wheat or barley, but for His precious blood. The apostle said regarding to that: “Well you know that it was no perishable stuff, like gold or silver that bought your freedom from the empty folly of your traditional ways. The price was paid in precious blood, as it were of a lamb without mark or blemish – the blood of Christ” (1 Peter 1: 18, 19). 3. SANCTIFYING THE HARLOT: God, with His great love for the harlot humanity, seeks and redeems it with His blood. He does that to sanctify it and prepare it for the heavenly wedding: “And I said to her, ‘Many a long day you shall live in my house and not play the wanton, and have no intercourse with a man, nor I will you’” (Hosea 3: 3). The Holy Son of God dedicated His life to the account of this wedding, saying, “I will also be toward you”. More clearly, He said, “For their sake I now consecrate myself, that they too may be consecrated in truth” (John 17: 19). The Holy Son sanctified His life and dedicated it for our salvation. He did that to sanctify us by Him, and so we would present our lives to Him through the sanctification by His blood through His Holy Spirit. It is remarkable that the spiritual matrimony of the soul to God not only takes away its defilement or its spiritual harlotry, but also grants it “virginity”. St. John Chrysostom said, “The church is called a virgin, although it was before a harlot. This is the miracle done by the groom: He took the church as a harlot and turned it into a virgin! What an amazing and new thing! By marriage, we loose our virginity, whereas by marriage, God gives virginity back to the church… When we hear these things, we shall not carnally conceive them, but shall consider them thoughtfully, as the church that we live, is spiritual and not material. 2” The prophet goes on to say, “For the Israelites shall live many a long day without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar, without image or household gods” (Hosea 3: 4). This is a reference to the period of captivity, during which the people were deprived of the freedom to worship God, of all their privileges and of every appearance of being a nation or a church. God probably allowed that to happen, as a preparatory period for them to be able to receive the true worship, especially after their deprivation of it because of their evils. God, in His glory, may sometimes deny man the blessings, for a certain time, to receive them in a greater and more pure way. 4. A RETURN TO THE GROOM: 229 لت اً ر، أما اللثك فحوالي ، 1 "الحومر" مكیال عبري یعني "حمل حمار" أو مئة عمر أو لتكان أو عشر إیفات ویسمى أیضًا ك اً ر، وكان یساوي 113 نصف الحومر. .50 ، 2 الكنیسة تحبك، ص 46 39 God ends His talk about receiving the harlot with matrimonial love by the return of the Jewish people to the knowledge of God. The scholar Origen believes that the period of deprivation does not only refer to the period of captivity, but also to the rejection of the Messiah by the Jews. However, at the end of time they will receive faith and join as members in the body of Christ to enjoy salvation: “But after that they will again seek the Lord their God and David their king, and turn anxiously to the Lord for his bounty in days to come” (Hosea 3: 5). At the end of time they will come ‘in fear’ or ‘trembling’ to the Lord. Why does he say “turn anxiously to the Lord”? Probably, because they would realize what sin has done to their king David, namely to the Lord Christ who is “the scion and offspring of David” (Revelation 22: 16). They will hasten to Him to consummate their salvation “in fear and trembling” (Philippians 2: 12).
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