God spoke to Hosea again. He told him to love his wife again, even though she had been unfaithful and had left him for someone else. This was a picture of how God still loved Israel, even though Israel had run after other gods and worthless idols. God's love did not stop even when Israel walked away.
Hosea obeyed. He went and bought Gomer back. He paid fifteen pieces of silver and some barley, probably because she had ended up in slavery or had been sold. He brought her home. Then Hosea told her she needed to stay with him and not go after other men. He would stay faithful to her too.
Hosea then explained what this meant for Israel. The people of Israel would go through a long period with no king, no priest, and no proper worship. They would be without many things they were used to. But after this time of waiting, the people would come back and look for God. They would seek the Lord their God and a king from David's line. They would come back with fear and with thankfulness in the days to come.
Historical Context
This is one of the shortest chapters in the whole Bible, just five verses. But it carries a big message. In ancient times, a husband could divorce his wife, and a woman who was cast away might end up with nothing, or even sold into slavery. The fact that Hosea paid money to buy her back shows that getting her back cost him something real.
The price Hosea paid, fifteen shekels of silver and some barley, may have been the price of a slave at the time. This parallels the idea that God's love for his people is costly. In the New Testament, the apostle Paul says that we were also "bought at a price", pointing to what Jesus did. The short story of Hosea and Gomer in chapter 3 is a preview of a much bigger story about God's love.
