Wife of Whoredom Part Four "The Cost of Cheating" Ep. #106

Wife of Whoredom Part Four

“The Cost of Cheating” Ep. #106

There’s a price to be paid for the wrongdoing’s of sin. Redemption requires remuneration. God told Hosea to pay a price to reclaim his cheating wife. Let’s read Hosea 3:1-3,

“THEN SAID the Lord to me, Go again, love [the same] woman [Gomer] who is beloved of a paramour and is an adulteress, even as the Lord loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love cakes of raisins [used in the sacrificial feasts in idol worship]. So I bought her for fifteen pieces of silver and a homer and a half of barley [the price of a slave]. And I said to her, You shall be [betrothed] to me for many days; you shall not play the harlot and you shall not belong to another man. So will I also be to you [until you have proved your loyalty to me and our marital relations may be resumed].” Hosea 3:1-3 AMPC

In Exodus 21:32 we find the value of a slave to be 30 shekels. “If the ox gores a male or female slave, he must give 30 shekels of silver to the slave’s master, and the ox must be stoned.” Exodus 21:32 HCSB

I sat for a few minutes this morning staring off into space. My wife walked in and asked what I was thinking about.I explained to her what I had just read about Gomer’s value being that if a slave that was gored to death. That’s a deep and sad thought.

The value of 30 shekels (30 pieces of silver) is the same as 12 ounces of silver. The price Hosea paid was only 15 shekels (pieces of silver) and the rest in barley. Back in Hosea’s day the 30 shekels would be about half a year’s wages. It’s probable that by only paying 15 that’s all he could afford. He paid the rest in barley, (about 9-12 bushels of grain)

The price of a slave (30 pieces of silver) was the same price the Pharisees paid Judas as the betrayer of Jesus. The point being: sin has a cost. Gomer (and Israel) sinned and a price has to be paid for turning away from God. Israel gladly took the blessings and provisions freely given by God and misused them by worshipping other gods. That’s spiritual adultery, infidelity, unfaithfulness, cheating and betrayal.

We’re not told exactly who Hosea paid to redeem Gomer, but we know by the cost it was the price of a slave. Judas was paid the price of a slave to betray Jesus. Our sins cost the Savior His life. He died to pay the price for our unfaithfulness.

What about the barley? Is there any special significance in paying with barley? I’m glad you asked!

Barley was crushed into flour before it was baked into bread. I can only imagine how crushed someone would be if their spouse continually cheated on them. Our hearts get broken easily by infidelity. Jesus is called the Bread of Life. Jesus was crushed like barley. In the 53rd chapter of Isaiah we read a story similar to that of Hosea. Homer did not value her husband. Israel did not value God. They walked in their own ways of iniquities and evil-doings. Let me read from Isaiah 53:3-7 HCSB,

“He was despised and rejected by men, a man of suffering who knew what sickness was.

He was like someone people turned away from;

He was despised, and we didn’t value Him.

Yet He Himself bore our sicknesses, and He carried our pains; but we in turn regarded Him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. But He was pierced because of our transgressions, crushed because of our iniquities; punishment for our peace was on Him, and we are healed by His wounds.

We all went astray like sheep; we all have turned to our own way; and the Lord has punished Him for the iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed and afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth.

Like a lamb led to the slaughter and like a sheep silent before her shearers,

He did not open His mouth.” Isaiah 53:3-7 HCSB

The cycle of walking with God, walking away from God, walking into the wilderness, crying out to God and returning to God is repeated over and over. Moving away from dependence on God is an example of leaning on your own understanding and willfully refusing to acknowledge and surrender to the ways of God. That’s dangerous folks! Don’t go there, the wilderness is a lonely place full of thorns and probably poison ivy too!

Tune in tomorrow and find out why men are the problem!

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