I Will Betroth Thee
In the manual: Come, Follow Me lesson 47, “I Will Love Them Freely,” on Gospel Library
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The Lord told the prophet Hosea to marry a woman named Gomer, and their marriage became a picture of the Lord’s covenant with Israel (Hosea 1:2–3).
Read Together
Gomer broke her marriage promises and went after other men. Israel had done the same to the Lord by worshipping idols (Hosea 2:5; 2:13). The Lord’s covenant with his people was meant to be as close and faithful as a marriage.
14Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her. 15And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope: and she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt.
19And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies. 20I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the Lord.
What It Teaches
After everything Israel had done, the Lord said, “I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her” (Hosea 2:14). To allure is to win someone back with love. He promised to turn the valley of Achor, a name that means trouble, into “a door of hope” (verse 15; Joshua 7:26).
In verses 19 and 20, the Lord says “I will betroth thee unto me” three times. He promises to be faithful “for ever,” in righteousness, lovingkindness, and mercy. The covenants we make with him carry that same promise.
Then the Lord told Hosea to go and love his wife again. Hosea bought her back for fifteen pieces of silver and some barley (Hosea 3:1–2). That is what a redeemer does. Peter wrote that we are bought back at a far higher price, “with the precious blood of Christ” (1 Peter 1:18–19).
Hosea 3:5 looks ahead to “the latter days,” when Israel would “return, and seek the Lord their God.” The gathering of Israel in our day is part of that return.
Talk About It
Why do you think the Lord compares his covenant with us to a marriage? What does a faithful marriage need that a covenant with the Lord also needs?
Take to Church
Hosea brought his wife home with silver and barley. The Lord bought us back at a far greater price, and he keeps his covenant with us even when we stray.