Hosea 1:1 The word of the Lord that came to Hosea son of Beeri during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and during the reign of Jeroboam son of Jehoash king of Israel.
The prophet Hosea served the northern kingdom of Israel for at least thirty-eight years, until it was destroyed by the Assyrians in 722 BC. Israel abandoned God for idols, and was characterized by materialism, immorality and injustice. God was deeply offended, and related to Israel like a broken-hearted lover.
Hosea 1:2 When the Lord began to speak through Hosea, the Lord said to him, Go, marry a promiscuous woman and have children with her, for like an adulterous wife this land is guilty of unfaithfulness to the Lord.
Ordinarily a prophet would want to marry a godly woman and, together, bear godly offspring. But Hosea was living in a time of national apostasy, and God wanted to illustrate what it was like to be married to Israel. So God gave Hosea the unusual command to marry a promiscuous woman.
Hosea 1:3 So he married Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.
Hosea was surely delighted to have a son, and certainly wanted the best for him. Perhaps he thought of names like Elijah (meaning The Lord is my God), or Elisha (meaning God is salvation). Then the Lord said to Hosea, Call him Jezreel (Hosea 1:4), which means God scatters. In this way the prophet’s son would reinforce the prophet’s message. The nation of Israel would soon be scattered.
Hosea 1:6 Gomer conceived again and gave birth to a daughter. Then the Lord said to Hosea, Call her Lo-Ruhamah (which means not loved), for I will no longer show love to Israel, that I should at all forgive them.
It was probably difficult for Hosea and Gomer to name their little girl not loved. But Israel had sinned against God so profoundly, and for so long, that he was threatening to remove his love from them. God is loving by nature but, if we reject his love to the end, we’ll become unloved. That is something to think about.
Hosea 1:8-9 After she had weaned Lo-Ruhamah, Gomer had another son. Then the Lord said, Call him Lo-Ammi (which means not my people), for you are not my people, and I am not your God.
Israel strained their relationship with God to the breaking point by turning their backs on him. Some people think we can never lose our relationship with God, but that’s not true. If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God (Hebrews 10:26-27), says Hebrews. God is a real person, and our relationship with him must be cultivated in order for it to flourish.
Hosea 3:1-2 The Lord said to me, Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another man and is an adulteress. . . . So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and about a homer and a lethek of barley.
Gomer had moved out of the house, and left her family behind. Desperate for money, she apparently sold herself to another man as a sexual slave. At God’s command, however, Hosea paid the price to get her back. The biblical word for this is redemption, and reminds us of what Christ did for us. In him we have redemption through his blood (Ephesians 1:7), wrote Paul.
God’s love for sinners is so great that he redeemed us at the highest possible price. This is why no amount of sin can keep us away from him, if we’re willing to return. Like Hosea looking for Gomer, God comes looking for us in order to bring us home. This is good news for Christians who’ve wandered away.
*****
Hosea 4:6 [M]y people are destroyed from lack of knowledge.
The greatest contributing factor to Israel’s apostasy was the people’s lack of interest in God’s word. Their collective memory was short and, because the priests were no longer teaching the Bible, true religion had nearly vanished. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also reject you as my priests (Hosea 4:6b), said God.
Like the nation of Israel, churches are seldom stronger than their knowledge of the Bible. That’s why Paul told Timothy to Preach the word . . . . For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths (2 Timothy 4:2-4).
The tendency of sinners is to turn away from God’s word, never toward it. The minister’s job is not to win people’s approval, by telling them what they want to hear, but to faithfully proclaim God’s word, even when they don’t want to hear it. The further a church strays from God’s word, the further it strays from Christ.
Reflection and Review
Why did God tell Hosea to marry a promiscuous woman?
How is God like a frustrated lover?
What does God do for people who’ve wandered away from him?
The prophet Hosea served the northern kingdom of Israel for at least thirty-eight years, until it was destroyed by the Assyrians in 722 BC. Israel abandoned God for idols, and was characterized by materialism, immorality and injustice. God was deeply offended, and related to Israel like a broken-hearted lover.
Hosea 1:2 When the Lord began to speak through Hosea, the Lord said to him, Go, marry a promiscuous woman and have children with her, for like an adulterous wife this land is guilty of unfaithfulness to the Lord.
Ordinarily a prophet would want to marry a godly woman and, together, bear godly offspring. But Hosea was living in a time of national apostasy, and God wanted to illustrate what it was like to be married to Israel. So God gave Hosea the unusual command to marry a promiscuous woman.
Hosea 1:3 So he married Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.
Hosea was surely delighted to have a son, and certainly wanted the best for him. Perhaps he thought of names like Elijah (meaning The Lord is my God), or Elisha (meaning God is salvation). Then the Lord said to Hosea, Call him Jezreel (Hosea 1:4), which means God scatters. In this way the prophet’s son would reinforce the prophet’s message. The nation of Israel would soon be scattered.
Hosea 1:6 Gomer conceived again and gave birth to a daughter. Then the Lord said to Hosea, Call her Lo-Ruhamah (which means not loved), for I will no longer show love to Israel, that I should at all forgive them.
It was probably difficult for Hosea and Gomer to name their little girl not loved. But Israel had sinned against God so profoundly, and for so long, that he was threatening to remove his love from them. God is loving by nature but, if we reject his love to the end, we’ll become unloved. That is something to think about.
Hosea 1:8-9 After she had weaned Lo-Ruhamah, Gomer had another son. Then the Lord said, Call him Lo-Ammi (which means not my people), for you are not my people, and I am not your God.
Israel strained their relationship with God to the breaking point by turning their backs on him. Some people think we can never lose our relationship with God, but that’s not true. If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God (Hebrews 10:26-27), says Hebrews. God is a real person, and our relationship with him must be cultivated in order for it to flourish.
Hosea 3:1-2 The Lord said to me, Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another man and is an adulteress. . . . So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and about a homer and a lethek of barley.
Gomer had moved out of the house, and left her family behind. Desperate for money, she apparently sold herself to another man as a sexual slave. At God’s command, however, Hosea paid the price to get her back. The biblical word for this is redemption, and reminds us of what Christ did for us. In him we have redemption through his blood (Ephesians 1:7), wrote Paul.
God’s love for sinners is so great that he redeemed us at the highest possible price. This is why no amount of sin can keep us away from him, if we’re willing to return. Like Hosea looking for Gomer, God comes looking for us in order to bring us home. This is good news for Christians who’ve wandered away.
*****
Hosea 4:6 [M]y people are destroyed from lack of knowledge.
The greatest contributing factor to Israel’s apostasy was the people’s lack of interest in God’s word. Their collective memory was short and, because the priests were no longer teaching the Bible, true religion had nearly vanished. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also reject you as my priests (Hosea 4:6b), said God.
Like the nation of Israel, churches are seldom stronger than their knowledge of the Bible. That’s why Paul told Timothy to Preach the word . . . . For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths (2 Timothy 4:2-4).
The tendency of sinners is to turn away from God’s word, never toward it. The minister’s job is not to win people’s approval, by telling them what they want to hear, but to faithfully proclaim God’s word, even when they don’t want to hear it. The further a church strays from God’s word, the further it strays from Christ.
Reflection and Review
Why did God tell Hosea to marry a promiscuous woman?
How is God like a frustrated lover?
What does God do for people who’ve wandered away from him?