2 So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and a homer and a lethech of barley.
This verse takes my breath away every time I read it. The starkness of the loss of dignity is heartbreaking. Hosea had married Gomer in obedience to God, knowing she would leave him for a life of wantonness ending in slavery. He redeemed her in a similar act of obedience, all to illustrate the unfaithfulness of Israel to her husband, the Lord. Imagine being traded for grain and pocket change! The going rate for a slave was 30 shekels so this tells us that Gomer was a discounted bag of bones. Israel ran from the Lord to other gods and Hosea was called to warn them of calamity which befell them when the Assyrians attacked in 722 BC. They needed a redeemer.
I own a 200 year old family Bible of an Alabama plantation family. Inside is a legal document listing the property of the owner, including 8 slaves; human beings! This is followed by a gray horse with a speckled rump and bushels of corn. This also takes my breath away every time I look at it. It is a worse loss of human dignity than what Gomer suffered because they did nothing to deserve it. As image bearers of God, we all have inherent dignity, but we are slaves to our own sin. We need a redeemer. Revelation 1:5 says,
“Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth.
To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood.”
Dear Lord, you paid much more than 15 shekels and a bag of barley. Thank you for sending your Son. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Pastor Brad Boyer
Cape Community Church