And I will betroth you unto me forever; yea, I will betroth you unto me in righteousness, and in justice, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies.
All Commentaries on Hosea 2:19 Go To Hosea 2
Ambrose of Milan
AD 397
You have made a wise decision to seek an answer to the question whether there is some difference in God’s love of those who have had faith since childhood and of those who believed in the course of youth or later years. Holy Scripture has not failed to note this problem, nor has it left your matter untouched. Indeed, the Lord our God said meaningfully to the prophet Joel, “Lament with me over my spouse in sackcloth and for the husband of her youth,” while he wept either for the synagogue that formerly, in her virginity, had been espoused to the Word of God, or perhaps for a soul that had fallen from grace. Her offense had led her into serious crimes so that she became hated. And, having been cast aside because of her stain of impurity and the foul marks of wickedness and the stains of unbelief, she became an object of pity and a person despised, far removed from the grace of that spouse who had been worthy to hear the words “I will espouse thee to me in faith and justice and mercy.”
