by:
11/02/2024
0
Israel, in spite of God’s love and faithfulness to her, was insistently unfaithful to God -- tantamount to a wife’s being openly and brazenly unfaithful to her husband (2:1-7). She only returned to God when she had needs (v7). God determined to punish her according to her sins. She despised every act of kindness, selling herself to the highest bidder, yet God determined to redeem her. Hosea’s marriage was a mirror of Israel’s behavior; his wife had sold herself. Yet God, to show his determination to redeem Israel, told Hosea to go and buy back his wife (3:1,2).
Peter reminds us that we were bought (1 Peter 1:17-24) at a price that only God would give, “precious blood of a lamb… the blood of Christ.” Never doubt God’s love, and never take it for granted.