Hosea 3
1 And Jehovah said unto me, Go again, love a woman beloved of her friend, and an adulteress, even as Jehovah loveth the children of Israel, though they turn unto other gods, and love cakes of raisins.The verb to love means to do acts of love , to prefer , to be loyal, compassionate . Love is a technical, covenantal term for a relationship of loyalty.
2 So I bought her to me for fifteen pieces of silver, and a homer of barley, and a half-homer of barley;
Hosea is buying back Gomer, who at some point has left the home and returned to the house of prostitution. A homer of barley is about 5 bushels. The total price is not very excessive. She doesn t cost much because she is not worth much.
3 and I said unto her, Thou shalt abide for me many days; thou shalt not play the harlot, and thou shalt not be any man's wife: so will I also be toward thee.
Once they return home Hosea sets down the rules of the house. Each instruction more restrictive than the rest. As this serves as an object lesson to Israel, its intention is to teach them that, being purchased by God, they may not return to the false gods they formerly loved so much.
4 For the children of Israel shall abide many days without king, and without prince, and without sacrifice, and without pillar, and without ephod or teraphim:
The ephod was a garment worn by the priest. It had a pocket in which were placed the Urim and the Thummim -- a white cube and a black cube. When the priest was asked a question he would stick his hand in his pocket and pull out a cube. If it was white- the answer was yes -- and it is was black the answer was no.
5 afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek Jehovah their God, and David their king, and shall come with fear unto Jehovah and to his goodness in the latter days.
Once Israel has suffered the punishment to come it will learn a lesson. And then it will return home.