The Father Redeems His Beloved
3 1 Our Father told me again: Go, love a woman loved by another, an adulterous woman — like your Father loves Israel's children, though they turn to other gods and love raisin cakes. a a v1 Raisin cakes were sweet offerings used in pagan fertility worship; Israel's love for them pictures spiritual unfaithfulness.
2 So I bought her back for myself: fifteen pieces of silver and about nine bushels of barley. b b v2 The silver and grain together came to about the price of a slave; Hosea pays to win back his own unfaithful wife — a picture of our Father redeeming the children who left him. 3 Then I said to her, 'Stay with me many days: don't prostitute yourself, don't belong to another man — and I'll do the same for you.'
4 Israelites will live many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or pillar, without ephod or household idols. c c v4 An ephod was a priestly garment used to seek God's guidance; its absence signals complete loss of access to him. 5 Afterward Israel's people will return, seek their Father and David their king, and come trembling to our Father and his goodness in the last days. d d v5 The promised David who will reign is Jesus, the Son raised up from David's line — the king his returning children come home to.
