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Hosea 3

Chapter 3 in 30 seconds

The shortest chapter, and maybe the sweetest. God tells Hosea to go love his wife again. Hosea buys her back, and Israel learns it will go many days without a king before coming home to God and David their king.

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In this chapterThe Big Question · Christians disagreeMany Days Without a King · after verse 5

Hosea Redeems His Wife// Zechariah 2:6–13

¹Then Yahweh said to me, “Go show love to your wife again, though she is loved by another and is an adulteress. Love her as Yahweh loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love to offer raisin cakes to idols.”

HOS 3:1[DEMONIC]Israel turns to other gods and loves raisin cakes offered to idols
HOS 3:1[NOTE]GO SHOW LOVE. Love here is a choice, not a feeling. Raisin cakes were festival treats, and here they seem to be part of the feasts for false gods.

²So I bought her for six ounces of silver and nine bushels of barley. ³Then I said to her, “You must live with me for many days; you must not be promiscuous or belong to another, and I will do the same for you.”

HOS 3:2[TEXT]SIX OUNCES OF SILVER AND NINE BUSHELS OF BARLEY. The Hebrew says fifteen pieces of silver and one and a half large measures of barley. Some think the two together made thirty, the price of a slave, Exodus 21:32.
HOS 3:2[NOTE]BOUGHT BACK. Hosea paid to bring his own wife home. Paying to set someone free is what redeem means.

⁴For the Israelites must live many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar, and without ephod or idol. ⁵Afterward, the people of Israel will return and seek Yahweh their God and David their king. They will come trembling to Yahweh and to His goodness in the last days.

HOS 3:4[PROPHECY]The children of Israel shall abide many days without king, prince, sacrifice, sacred pillar, ephod, or teraphim; afterward they shall return and seek David their king → HISTORY: Israel lost its last king when Assyria took Samaria in 722 BC. Rome burned the temple in AD 70, and the sacrifices ended. There has been no temple since. Recorded in Assyrian records and by Josephus.
HOS 3:4[DEMONIC]Israel will live many days without sacred pillar, ephod, or idol
HOS 3:5[NOTE]DAVID THEIR KING. See Many Days Without a King.

The Big Question · Christians disagree

Many Days Without a King

Hosea 3:4 to 5

THE PROPHECY: Israel will live many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar, without ephod or idol. Afterward they will return and seek Yahweh their God and David their king, in the last days, 3:4 to 5.
DAVID THEIR KING: David had been dead for more than 200 years. Most readers say David their king means the promised King from David's line, like Jeremiah 30:9 and Ezekiel 34:23 to 24.

Many Days Without a King · Every View

Jeremiah 30:9 · Ezekiel 34:23 to 24 · Romans 11:25 to 27

VIEW 1: ISRAEL TODAY: Many Christians say the many days are the long years since AD 70, with no temple and no sacrifice, and no king for far longer, and the return is still to come, when Israel turns to Jesus, Romans 11:25 to 27.
VIEW 2: AFTER THE EXILE: Some say it began to come true when the exiles came home, and came true fully when Jews followed Jesus, the Son of David.
VIEW 3: GOD'S PEOPLE IN CHRIST: Others say the return happens all through history, as Jews and Gentiles come to Christ and become one people, Ephesians 2:14.
JEWISH READINGS: The Aramaic Targum reads David their king as the Messiah, the son of David. Many Jews today still wait for that King and a rebuilt temple.
WHAT ALL SIDES AGREE ON: The many days of loss lead to a return, and the return is to God and to David's royal Son.

Hosea 3

Hosea Redeems His Wife// Zechariah 2:6–13

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