S&H Green Stamps

A series on the book of Hosea
(Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Hosea 3 

[The story about Hosea is a story about the relentless love of God. Hosea was a prophet who spoke out against the idolatry of the Israelites as they pursued the pagan gods of Baal and Asherah. His life became an allegory about the unfaithfulness of Israel and the relentless love of God.]

  

During the 50’s and 60’s, when my Mom went grocery shopping at the A&P, she earned S&H Green stamps with every purchase. As she collected them, she would lick the sticky reverse side and place them in her collector’s book. When enough books were filled, she would redeem them to get household items.

 

My wife had a more hands on experience. Her Mom would pay her a nickel for every full page that she glued into her collector’s book. From those stamps, her Mom got a complete set of silverware, a coffee percolator and some baby dolls for her daughter. It’s not surprising that many mom’s during that time collected S&H Green stamps.

 

The main theme of Hosea is the relentless love of God.

 

¹ Then the Lord said to me, “Go and love your wife again, even though she commits adultery with another lover. This will illustrate that the Lord still loves Israel, even though the people have turned to other gods and love to worship them.”  NLT

 

But, Hosea is also about redemption. Hosea obeyed the Lord‘s command to, “Go and love your wife again”. However, Gomer was now a slave to the man she lived with. As a result, Hosea had to buy her back. He had to redeem her.

 

² So I bought her back for fifteen pieces of silver and five bushels of barley and a measure of wine.          NLT

 

Because of Hosea’s love for his unfaithful wife, she was able to return to him; to live with him as his wife, not as a slave. Hosea’s love for Gomer illustrates God’s love for an unfaithful Israel. God provided a way for Israel to be able to return to Him and to receive His blessings.

 

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.           NIV

 

Paul wrote the following to the Galatian church.

 

¹³ But Christ has rescued us (redeemed us) from the curse pronounced by the law. When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing. For it is written in the Scriptures, “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.”      NLT             Galatians 3

 

Redemption…

 

For moms in the 50’s and 60’s, it meant redeeming S&H Green stamps. For Gomer, it meant her loving husband rescued her from bondage. For us, it means that Jesus paid the ultimate price in order to bring us home to our Heavenly Father.

 

The relentless, redeeming love of God will never let you go.

 

Copyright 2023 Joseph B Williams

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