I just began the book of Hosea (since forever, it has been my favourite book) and three chapters in, I was reminded of the verse above. It is this exact measure of boundless, selfless love that is the profound theme in the first three chapters of this beautiful book. It is a book that depicts the relationship between God and His people through the troubled marriage of the prophet Hosea and his adulterous wife, Gomer. Gomer’s whoredom and dishonour of her union with Hosea, is an allegory to show Israel’s spiritual adultery.
Chapter 3, where Hosea is commanded to seek out and redeem Gomer, who had sunk to the pits, is my highlight so far. This moment of redemption, purchased with 15 shekels of silver and an homer and a lethech (unit of dry volume, equivalent to half an homer) of barley, acts as a profound shadow of the costly love that Christ demonstrates for us who like Gomer, were rebels to His will and lost in darkness. Additionally, the sacrifice and love portrayed by Hosea towards Gomer, his betrothed, reveals a staggering truth: If the Lord had not sought us, if He had not loved us first, we would still be drowning in the miry clay, in our sinfulness.
Now, for context, the price paid for Gomer, the silver and the barley, equates to roughly thirty shekels of silver. My mining engineering thoughts kicked in immediately silver came into the picture, and I tried to contextualize the weight of Hosea’s sacrifice then. A biblical shekel, specifically a standard Jewish shekel from that era, is widely estimated to be about 11.5 grams (g) of pure silver.
Total Weight: 30 shekels × 11.5 g/shekel = 345 grams
Conversion to Troy Ounces (the standard for precious metal trading): 345 g / 31.1035 g/troy ounce = 11.09 Troy Ounces. Now, based on the latest market data, the spot price for silver is approximately $50.30 per Troy Ounce. Therefore, the current monetary value of the silver metal itself would be:
11.09 Troy Ounces × $50.30/Troy Ounce = $557.77 equivalent to about KES 71,000
It is important to keep in mind that this dollar figure only reflects the silver’s value today. The value of silver and gold during ancient times was significantly higher in terms of its purchasing power relative to goods and labour compared to today, and 30 shekels then was equivalent to an ordinary labourer's wages for about six months. Therefore, this was far from a cheap transaction for Hosea. And though we aren’t told of his personal wealth, dedicating six months of financial resources that could pay someone to work for you, to buy back an unfaithful wife whom the Law of Moses would permit him to cast off was such a great deal!
Now, if Hosea’s six months of income was a great price, how about the laying down of the very life of the Son of God for wretched people like you and me? That is definitely a cost that even mining engineers can’t quantify🙆🏾♀️!! Gomer’s status definitely mirrors our spiritual condition. We are bound to our sin unable to unshackle ourselves, and our salvation solely depends on the Lord paying the ultimate price for us, His life, and granting us forgiveness.
This great forgiveness culminates in the eternal covenant of love, where the Lord promises the once rebel heart, as He spoke through Hosea 2:19–20: “And I will betroth you to me forever. I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. I will betroth you to me in faithfulness. And you shall know the Lord.”
What a great promise that is now fulfilled in Christ! Our redeemed hearts are now wholly bound to His and continually being conformed to the image of Christ.
HALLELUJAH🥳