Key verse:
Hosea 3:1 (NIV) “The Lord said to me, “Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another and is an adulteress. Love her as the Lord loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes.””
Stunning prophecy:
Hosea 3:4-5 (NIV) “For the Israelites will live many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred stones, without ephod or idol. 5 Afterward the Israelites will return and seek the Lord their God and David their king. They will come trembling to the Lord and to his blessings in the last days.”
One attempt at a summary:
Though its words of judgment outnumber its words of restoration, the book of Hosea reveals the Lord as a compassionate father, deeply concerned for the failings of his children. Restoration comes through judgment, and so the nation would endure the curses ordained in the covenant, but their defeat would not be their destruction. The Lord would redeem his wayward wife from the consequences of her prostitution, and he would cleanse her and they would know one another once again.