HEALING FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY ~ (Hosea 3:1-4) 

The healing of the broken relationship between Hosea and his wife Gomer will serve as an illustration of the reconciliation that is promised for the people of Israel with their God. 

The factors involved in repairing the breakdown in Hosea’s family can be identified in this chapter of his book. There are principles here which are relevant for couples in any generation who wish for reconciliation and the restoration of the relationship they once enjoyed. Firstly, and perhaps the most obvious, is that … 

Someone Needs To Make The First Move 

In Hosea’s family it was Hosea who took the first step. After much personal struggle he yielded to the prompting of the Lord. He tells us how the Lord had been speaking to him. 

   Then the LORD said to me, “Go and get your wife again. Bring her back to you and love her, even though she loves adultery.” (vs. 1a) 

To Hosea, the situation may have seemed hopeless. No signals were coming from Gomer to indicate that she was interested in reconciliation. But he followed the leading of the Lord and made his move in faith. He went to Gomer and declared his love for her. In assuring her of his love he was at the same time offering his forgiveness for her unfaithfulness. These were not enough however, to effect the mending of the relationship. Also needed was … 

A Redemptive Payment 

The reason something had to be paid for Gomer was that in her adulterous life style she had entered into some kind of relationship in which she became the property of another person. Robert Chisholm[1] draws our attention to several possibilities. She may have become caught up in a foreign religious cult and found herself trapped as a temple prostitute. Or perhaps she found that she was unable to support herself and fell into the sticky web of prostitution. In that case she may have been employed by a person who hired her out as a prostitute. 

In order for Gomer to be set free an agreed price had to be paid to the person she had sold herself to. She needed to be redeemed. Once the price was paid she could be released to her redeemer. Hosea tells us that he did just that. 

   “So I bought her back for fifteen pieces of silver and about five bushels of barley and a measure of wine.” (vs. 2). 

Kidner[2] tells us that the total value of the cash payment and the grain would have been about thirty shekels of silver. This would be the equivalent today of about an average day’s wages. 

In any relationship, to admit to being in the wrong can be costly. There is a price to pay in humbly asking for the forgiveness of the hurt made. It is the price of surrendering the perception that we are in the right and the other person is in the wrong. 

But also in Gomer’s redemption, we see a wonderful picture of the redemption which is possible for all people. The price paid is the sacrificial death of Christ. Paul draws our attention to this redemption. 

   So we praise God for the wonderful kindness he has poured out on us because we belong to his dearly beloved son. He is so rich in kindness that he purchased our freedom through the blood of his Son and our sins are forgiven. (Ephesians 1:6-7). 

Peter also reminds us of  this redemption. 

   For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And the ransom he paid was not mere gold or silver. He paid for you with the precious life blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God.” (1 Peter 1:18-19) 

Another element in the mending of a broken relationship is the need for there to be … 

A Letting Go Of The Past 

For Hosea it meant letting go of any bitterness or disappointment or anger or resentment or any other negative emotions he may have been experiencing. His forgiveness needed to be total. For Gomer it required a clean break  from the sinful network she had become part of. Hosea put the challenge before her. 

   Then I said to her, “You must live in my house for many days and stop your prostitution, and I will live with you.” (vs. 3)

A further part of the mending process to be recognised is that … 

The Enabling Is From The Lord 

It would not have been easy for Hosea to do as the Lord had asked him, “Bring her back to you and love her, even though she loves adultery.” (vs. 1a). He could not do it on his own. His love for Gomer may have cooled somewhat. But he found that with the Lord’s leading came his enabling. As he thought about God’s love for his people, he found his love for Gomer returning. Kidner[3] writes, 

   It would have been impressive enough had Hosea found that in spite of everything he still loved his wife, and had then perceived that God’s love must be like that too. But in fact it was the other way about. It was God’s love that rekindled Hosea’s. 

Hosea’s rekindled love for Gomer was to be offered to her regardless of what she had done. 

Gomer also would not have found it easy to respond to Hosea. Could she be confident that his forgiveness was genuine? Would things be different this time round? What about the children? Would they accept her again? 

As with Hosea, Gomer and the children would find their enabling with the Lord. As the love of God became real in each of their lives they would find their love for each other returning. God’s love would fan the smouldering embers of their own love into flame once more. 

The love that Hosea extended to Gomer pictures the love that God has for his people. They had been unfaithful to him but his love for them remained constant. We learn more of this in our next lesson.

   For the LORD still loves Israel even though the people have turned to other gods, offering them choice gifts. (vs. 1b)

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