“Who can explain the sanity of true love? Love is of God, and it is infinite. Love is sovereign. Love is apart from reason; love exists for its own reasons. Love is not according to logic; love is according to love. Thus it was with Hosea, for he was playing the part that God has played with you, all of your life, and with me” (Donald Grey Barnhouse). Hosea 2 provides a vivid picture of the pursuing love of God. It must have been a terrible shock to Hosea that first night he came home to find his three children crying and unfed. Gomer was gone! Hosea’s heart was broken, even as God grieves when we wander from Him. Yet God does not give up on us. As the jilted “husband,” God has the right to repudiate His covenant bond with Israel. But the marriage has not ended; the covenant contains provision for restoration. So Israel is called to repent and return to the LORD. If she will not, He will strip the land of all its resources and agricultural produce, until it is a dry and desolate wilderness. She had thought that competing gods would give her what she really wanted, making her secure and wealthy (v 2-5). So acting in holy love for her, the LORD will frustrate her efforts and prevent her from gaining anything. Maybe then she will recognize that life was much better with her “first husband,” who had lavished so many good gifts upon her. Sadly, Israel failed to see the true source of all her blessings. In her folly, she left the true God, using His gifts to pursue a counterfeit god (v 6-8). God delights to give good gifts, but He will not be dismissed and taken for granted. By taking away her provisions, God will prove to His adulterous bride that He is the Creator of all things and all things belong to Him. He will reveal her shame before her “lovers” (the gods she has worshiped), putting a stop to all her celebrations of false religion. Her vineyards and orchards will produce nothing of value, since she thought that Baal had made her fruitful (v 9-13). But a time of restoration is coming. Israel’s relationship with God began in the wilderness when He rescued her from slavery in Egypt. Now He will take her back to those honeymoon days and start afresh. He will “speak tenderly to her,” gently coaxing Israel back to Himself (v 14). The restoration will be all-encompassing. The land will again be productive and the people will be transformed into a faithful bride. Finally, the names of Hosea’s children will be reversed; and according to New Testament writers, this applies to us! If God can make rebellious Israelites His people once again, then He can also call believers from all nations and make them His people as well (v 15-23). For further meditation: