Hosea 3:1-5

3:1-2 | Hosea responded to God’s urging to go again to his adulterous wife, buy her out of slavery, and restore her as his wife. This is what God would also do for His people. Raisin cakes were eaten on special occasions (2 Sam. 6:19). They were also used in idol worship. The people preferred these dry cakes to the abundance of riches found in the Lord, symbolizing Israel’s rejection of the one true God for other gods.

3:3-5 | These verses describe the time of exile for God’s people – a time when they would be without most of the things that mattered to them, including their nationhood. After this time, however, the children of Israel would return and seek the LORD. God often uses times of deprivation to urge His wayward children to return to Him.