The “therefores” in Scripture always intrigue me. They are a signal that there is a natural conclusion to the words that just came before the therefore, so it’s important to look at both sides.
The prophet Hosea opens his book with these words: “…the land is guilty of the vilest adultery in departing from the Lord” (Hosea 1:2). The picture is painted of God’s people acting like a wife that has not only abandoned her husband, but turned to prostitution as well. So the list of things that follow God’s therefore are what we might expect—
- I will block your path
- I will take away My grain
- I will take back My wool
- I will expose your lewdness
- I will stop your celebrations
- I will ruin your vineyards
- I will punish you (Hosea 2:6-13)
Then here is what I find almost inconceivable: the very next word of the very next verse is therefore again, and God says things that, in my mind, are completely unexpected—
- I will allure you and speak tenderly to you
- I will restore our marriage
- I will remove your stains
- I will obliterate the past
- I will betroth you to Me forever
- I will answer your prayers
- I will restore your crops
- I will establish you forever
- I will cancel your divorce
- I will call you Mine (2:14-23)
This kind of love is mind-blowingly incomprehensible to me. It is so unexpected, so lavish, so overwhelming! This is absolutely the last thing I would have expected God to say, and yet His love is furious and relentless and boundless!
How could I ever slight such a love?!
Craig T. Owens 
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