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Yahweh said to me, 'Go again, love a woman loved by another, and an adulteress, even as Yahweh loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods, and love cakes of raisins.' So I bought her for myself for fifteen pieces of silver and a homer and a half of barley. I said to her, 'You shall stay with me many days. You shall not play the prostitute, and you shall not be with any other man. I will also be so toward you.' Hosea 3:1 WEB

Hosea was a young man when the Lord told him to marry, and he proposed to a woman named Gomer. They married and had three children, though the last two may not have belonged to him. Hosea does not go into detail, but when the third child was born, they divorced, and she took her adultery to the next level by turning pro.

The entire book of Hosea is a picture of God's people cheating on Him and worshipping baal. 'You shall have no other gods before Me' has always been a problem for His people who want what they want, and they want it right now. Some seem to believe that God is a simpleton and does not notice their actions, but then the moment something does not go as planned in their life, they blame Him for it like it is His fault. This is a two way relationship, He first loved us (1 John 4:19), but we are to love Him (Matthew 23:37).

Gomer's own lust created her problems. She wanted to be with Hosea, but with other men as well. Israel wanted to be called God's people, but enjoy other gods as well, whose worship often involved sex with cult prostitutes. It appealed to the flesh.

God told Hosea to take Gomer back again even though she was an adulteress. In the same way, He was giving His people a second chance at being His alone. Hosea gave all the money that he had and made up the rest in barley to buy back his wife, even though she had become a prostitute. God shows mercy to us even when we sin beyond our comprehension of redemption. You are never to far gone but given time, your cheating heart will always tell on you.

After all that she had done, Hosea bought her back. Then he told her that she could no longer live like she had been. This was a fresh start, a new beginning. From now on you do right by me and I will do right by you. Though he gave her another chance on their relationship, he watched her closely to see if she would fall back into her old ways (Hosea 3:3).

Our relationship with God is pictured like a marriage all through the Bible. Ezekiel 16:32 speaks of an adulterous wife who chased after others instead of her own husband, a picture of His people chasing other gods. After all of our cheating is done, the Lord will take us back in, but He will watch us carefully to see if we turn back to our old ways. How will we act when given another chance at the relationship?

No matter what you have done, no matter how bad it is, God gave His Son Jesus to buy you back with His own precious blood. He can wipe out the past, but then it is our move. Gomer could not have her old life and her husband at the same time. Neither can we live our old life and continue to walk with the Lord. The old has been crucified with Christ, do not resurrect them.

Prayer: Father I thank You for giving me another chance when I stumble. I choose You! Lord teach me to love You like You love me. Fill me with Your presence and help me see things like You do, in the name of Jesus Christ I pray.