I will betroth you to Me

Hosea 2:19-20

“I will betroth you to Me forever; Yes, I will betroth you to Me In righteousness and justice, In lovingkindness and mercy;

I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness, And you shall know the LORD.”

For a wounded bride, wandering around lost and hopeless because of the betrayal of her first-love husband, reading these words must sound too good to be true. She, who had laid her whole heart down at the feet of her once-loving partner, only to have it trampled upon and shattered to pieces, must by now be shaking her head in disbelief and asking:  How can it be? Is there such love to be found?

There surely is! These words were said by our Heavenly Father in connection to His wife Israel. She who had trampled on His heart, shattering it to pieces by her idolatrous practices, time after time following after other gods instead of Him, their One True God. And yet – with a love too great for us to comprehend - He is once more wooing her back to Him, promising a betrothal that will last forever, that is grounded in righteousness and justice, in lovingkindness and mercy, and promising everlasting faithfulness.

And in the last days she will find her way back to Him, her First Love, as many prophets declared.  We read in Hosea 3:5:

Afterward the sons of Israel will return [in deep repentance] and seek the LORD their God and [seek from the line of] David their king [the King of kings—the Messiah]; and they will come trembling to the LORD and to His goodness and blessing in the last days.

Just as Israel will return to her Husband through their Messiah Jesus one day, so our loving Heavenly Father made it possible for us Gentiles (non-Jews) to also be included and invited to the marriage of the Lamb as the Bride of Christ (Revelation 19:7). And He extends to us who accept Jesus the same promises of righteousness, justice, lovingkindness, mercy and everlasting faithfulness, even though we prove ourselves to be shamefully unfaithful most of the time. What an amazing love is to be found in our God!

Points to ponder

If you have wandered off, deserting your First Love Jesus, will you not return to Him right now and receive His complete and utter forgiveness and acceptance? Experience that love that will not hold your desertion against you, but that will enfold you once again with everlasting faithfulness!

I betroth you to Me