The adulteress is redeemed, bought back. Jesus paid the ransom to pay for the life of Israel, including those who turned astray after other loves.

The prophesy is that the children of Israel will live many days without a king but also without sacrifice or household gods. They seem to have nothing.

They become a people without direction, without an object of worship, other than self.

That seems to be a description of many in these last days. One New Testament description of the latter days is that people will be lovers of self. We live in a day of selfies. We love ourselves.

The description of not having a king is interesting. The exiled Israelites will be under other kings, but they won’t have a king of their own.

To have Jesus as your Savior, you must have Him as your king. Salvation means being transferred into God’s kingdom. Kingdoms have kings. He must be your king. You obey His rule if you want to live in His kingdom.

The description includes not having gods or an ephod. They had nothing to turn to. They had to take counsel in their own minds, which is also what we do today. Every how-to book in the Christian store is man taking counsel within himself and from each other.

We must look to God for our direction and our help. Certainly any self-help book is not what any Christian should be reading! God is our help and our salvation!

But there is a promise of a return, a repentance, where Israel will seek their God. They will come in fear to the Lord. That is the beginning. The beginning of knowing and understanding anything is the fear of the Lord. Ask for it. Ask God to teach you the fear of the Lord. You need it!

The final promise in this chapter is that Israel will come to God’s goodness. He is good. Coming to His goodness is knowing Him and dwelling with Him.