Bought Out of Slavery – Hosea 3
Hosea’s wife had done the unthinkable. She had become a prostitute, giving herself away to many other men, and, no doubt, breaking her husband’s heart in the process.
Now she is in some kind of situation, like slavery, where she is the property of another. So God tells Hosea to go and love her despite her gross sin. He pays the price for her and brings her home to him, where he tells her that she will no longer be for other men.
What a sad picture of the brokenness and bondage sin causes. Sin ensnares and then enslaves. But what a picture of God’s grace and love! Even when we are enslaved, broken sinners, God comes to us, like Hosea, and buys us back with His own blood. He pays the price to redeem us and set us free!
Israel had gone as low as you could go. So had Gomer, Hosea’s wife. And so have we. We don’t deserve love, forgiveness, or grace. Yet Jesus, God the Son, loved us and gave himself for us, even while we were yet sinners. What grace!