Stuart1 argues that by taking Gomer from the extremes of adultery and prostitution into a defined period of sexless marriage, God is communicating the radically different life that lies ahead of Israel, in exile. This becomes more apparent in Hosea 3:4, where God promises a period of privation and judgment. This is a limited period of discipline, in which God will remove both negative and positive aspects of Israel’s life.2
However, God’s withdrawal from his people, like Hosea’s from his wife, sexually anticipates that they will eventually come together again for the full joys of marriage.
3 So Hwang4 writes: the prophet envisions a temporary separation that paves the way for the certain reunion of God with his people. The necessity of chastening as a precursor to reconciliation applies both to Hosea’s marriage and YHWH’s covenant with Israel.
3 And I said to her, “You must dwell as mine for many days. You shall not play the whore, or belong to another man; so will I also be to you.”