THROUGH THE BIBLE STUDY

HOSEA 1-2

I come from a family of all boys. I have three sons of my

own. I never even thought of having a little girl. The possibility
literally, never even crossed my mind.
That’s why when Natalie was born it was a surprise.
In retrospect, if I had not had a little girl I would have missed
out on a lot of life. I love my three sons, but there’s something
sweet and special and splendid about a little girl. Little girls
are daring and delicate, charming and challenging all at the
same time.

Let me read you Alan Beck's description of a little girl. If

you've got one, better get your hanky ready!
"Little girls are the nicest things that happen to people. They
are born with a little bit of angel-shine about them and though
it wears thin sometimes, there is always enough left to lasso
your heart - even when they are sitting in the mud, or crying
temperamental tears, or parading up the street in mom's best
clothes.
A little girl can be sweeter (and badder) oftener than anyone
else in the world. She can jitter around, and stomp, and make
funny noises, and frazzle your nerves, yet just when you open
your mouth, she stands there demure with that special look in
her eyes.
A little girl is innocence playing in the mud, beauty standing
on its head, and motherhood dragging a doll by a foot. God
borrows from many creatures to make a little girl. He uses the
song of a bird, the squeal of a pig, the stubbornness of a
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mule, the antics of a monkey, the spryness of a grasshopper,
the curiosity of a cat, the slyness of a fox, the softness of a
kitten. And to top it off, He adds the mysterious mind of a
woman.
A little girl likes new shoes, party dresses, small animals,
dolls, make-believe, ice cream, make-up, going visiting, tea
parties, and one boy. She doesn't care so much for visitors,
boys in general, large dogs, hand-me-downs, straight chairs,
vegetables, or staying in the front yard. She is loudest when
you are thinking, prettiest when she has provoked you,
busiest at bedtime, quietest when you want to show her off to
the grandparents, and most adorable when she absolutely
must not get the best of you again.
She can muss up your home, your hair, and your dignity -
spend your money, your time, and your temper; then just
when your patience is ready to crack, her sunshine peeks
through and you've lost again.
Yes, she is a nerve-racking nuisance, just a noisy bundle of
mischief. But when your dreams tumble down and the world
is a mess, when it seems you are pretty much the fool after
all, she can make you a king when she climbs on your knee
and whispers, 'I love you best of all!’" And that’s what this
father would’ve missed had he not been blessed with a
daughter.

Little girls are so precious it's a tragedy when they grow up

astray. It saddens our heart and moistens our eyes to see
sweetness turn sour, softness turn hard.

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 To watch what made a little girl cute now make her cunning.
When sinful ambitions become armed with charm - a woman
gone wrong is a pathetic figure.
Hosea is the story of two little girls who grew up into wicked
women. Little girls who were loved and considered precious
by the men in their lives, yet they sinned against that love
and went their own way.
One of those little girls was named, “Gomer," and the other
was named, “Israel." Both are a lesson for a third little girl,
“the Church,” the bride of Christ, you and me.

Hosea begins, verse 1, “The word of the Lord that came to

Hosea the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz,
and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam
the son of Joash, king of Israel.”
Notice, two nations are mentioned: Judah and Israel.
By the time of the Minor Prophets, the once united empire of
David and Solomon had divided. The ten norther tribes
formed the kingdom of “Israel.” The two southernmost tribes
took the name of the largest tribe, “Judah.” The Hebrew
nation split, north and south.

Hosea ministered primarily to the northern kingdom. He

dates his ministry from the reign of Jeroboam II.
He served from 760-710 BC. Hosea lived in the shadow of 5
kings, and logged 50 years of faithfulness.
He was the contemporary of two other biblical writers, Micah
and Isaiah. They prophesied primarily in the South while
Hosea focused his efforts on Israel.

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 All three prophets had difficulties… but it’s hard to imagine a
tougher row to hoe than the call of Hosea.

Realize, the first Jeroboam led the northern tribes in revolt

against the southern tribes and the politico-religious
establishment headquartered in Jerusalem.
The civil war created a divided kingdom. Rather than
reconcile, Jeroboam I worked to solidify the division. He set
up a rival religious system to eliminate any reason for the
northern Hebrews to look southward.
Jeroboam created his own priesthood, sacrifices, and holy
places. He sat up golden calves in Bethel and Dan - worship
stations. Initially, the golden calves were to represent God,
but ultimately they replaced Him.
From the beginning God considered Jeroboam’s religion a
form of idolatry. It was a worship of convenience - man-made
not God-directed. Jeroboam devised his own way to worship
God, rather than worship God in the way God desired to be
worshipped.

And this is the attitude among Americans today. Folks have

concocted their own eclectic religion.
They've pulled from pagan beliefs, and borrowed from
populous wisdom to invent a worship that's convenient and
tailor-made to their own self interests.
It reminds me of the cartoon - a church marquee reads,
"The Lite (L-i-t-e) Church, 24% fewer commitments, home of
the 7.5% tithe, 15-minute sermons, and 45-minute worship
services. We have only eight commandments - your choose.
We have just 3 spiritual laws and an 800 year Millennium.
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 Everything you've wanted in a church, and less!”

And God has always seen this attitude for what it is, idolatry!
For 200 years the northern kingdom continued in this sin.
Though prophets like Elijah, Elisha, Jonah, and Amos warned
them, they turned a deaf ear.
Israel had 19 kings and every last one followed in the sin of
their wicked predecessor, Jeroboam I.
Finally, God sent Hosea to forecast their judgment. God was
about to wipe out Israel at the hands of the Assyrians. Hosea
delivered the warning - then lived to see his warnings fulfilled.
In 722 BC the savage Assyrians invaded and sacked the
capitol of Samaria.

God gave the Prophet Hosea a tough assignment, but what

made it even more difficult was the method of communication
he was to use to deliver his message…
Verse 2, “When the Lord began to speak by Hosea, the Lord
said to Hosea: “Go, take yourself a wife of harlotry and
children of harlotry, for the land has committed great harlotry
by departing from the Lord.”
God tells Hosea to marry a harlot, and raise kids that aren’t
his own. Hosea the pastor marries a prostitute.

I'm surprised Hollywood hasn't turned Hosea’s story into a

movie. Imagine the potential titles: "The Minister and the
Madam," "Man of the Cloth and Lady of the Night," “The
Street Preacher and Streetwalker,” "His Light, Red Light," and
here’s my favorite, “Ho, Hosea.”

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 This is the kind of show networks save for sweeps week.
Here’s a drama that would jack-up ratings.

Yet realize this wasn’t pretend. This was real life, and what a
shock it was to Hosea’s spiritual and moral sensibilities. The
Law of Moses required prostitutes to be stoned, not courted.
What was God doing?
I’m sure he thought, “My ministry, what church wants a
prostitute for a pastor’s wife? A leprosy wouldn’t have been
more damaging to Hosea than this marriage.
All Hosea wanted for himself was a happy home - a good
woman to raise his kids. A wife who shared his love for God…
instead he has to share her shame.
Hosea must’ve thought this was all... a trick!

Remember though, throughout the OT when the people

refused to hear God’s straightforward truth, the prophets
would paint the picture with a parable or skit.
Later, 12:10 God tells Hosea, “I have given symbols through
the witness of the prophets.” And He had…
Isaiah declared the bare facts about Judah’s sin by walking
naked among them… Jeremiah showed the nation they were
about to be grounded by God when he buried a sash
underground next to the Euphrates…
Ezekiel declared that the city of Jerusalem would be
invaded by digging a hole in the wall of his house and
seemingly “escaping” for work every morning…

And here, God tells Hosea to marry a prostitute.

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 For too long, Israel was suppose to be God’s wife, yet the
nation followed idols. They’d broken their vow to God and
were unfaithful. Here God wants Hosea to feel and reveal this
message to His people. Hosea’s home was to be a reflection
of the house of Israel.
Being a disciple of Jesus would be easy if our job were just
to declare God’s truth. But proclaiming, revealing, is only part
of our job description. As important as revealing a truth, is us
feeling that truth.
This is the kind of fellowship God desires with us. He brings
us into His heart and allows us to feel what He feels. As Paul
said to the Philippians, “That I may know (Christ) and the
power of HIs resurrection, and the fellowship of His
sufferings.” The deepest intimacy with God is sharing in his
heartaches, not just His triumphs.

God’s command to Hosea was strange, unsavory, difficult,

yet verse 3 tells us he obeyed. “So he went and took Gomer
the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a
son. Then the Lord said to him: “Call his name Jezreel, for in
a little while I will avenge the bloodshed of Jezreel on the
house of Jehu, and bring an end to the kingdom of the house
of Israel.
It shall come to pass in that day that I will break the bow of
Israel in the Valley of Jezreel.” God names the couple’s first
child, “Jezreel.” It was a famous valley. I t w a s t h e s i t e
where the descendants of the wicked king Ahab were
slaughtered by the warrior Jehu. The new king, Jehu, brought
judgment on Ahab's house.

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 With his hands Jehu obeyed God, but apparently, in his
heart he went too far. Jehu grew bloodthirsty. The best we
can tell, this man did the will of God while ignoring the love of
God… always a big mistake.

Jeroboam II, the king at the time of Hosea, was a

descendant of Jehu. Here, Hosea’s son was a warning that
God would bring judgment on Jeroboam, and the house of
Jehu, and all Israel - in the valley of Jezreel.
And Hosea is actually referring to two events…
In 722 BC Assryia’s General Shalmaneser invaded and
defeated Israel. It was the immediate fulfillment.
But there’s also a long-range, future fulfillment. Hosea is
also speaking of the end times, and a final battle in this Valley
of Jezreel - for the valley has another name. It’s also called,
Valley of Armageddon.

The word "Jezreel" means “scattered." It’s a Hebrew word

for a backhanded toss, what you would do if you wanted to
throw a handful of confetti into the wind! Hosea is saying
Israel will one day be scattered.
This happened in 722 BC at the hands of Assyria.
It happened again in 70 AD when the Romans invaded
Israel. For the last 1900 years the Hebrew people have been
scattered to the ends of the earth.
And in the last days, a future dispersion will occur. Israel will
again be scattered to the ends of the earth.

Verse 6, “And she (that is, Gomer) conceived again and

bore a daughter. Then God said to him: “Call her name Lo-
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Ruhamah, for I will no longer have mercy on the house of
Israel, but I will utterly take them away.”
Realize, the story of Hosea plays a divine name game.
You’ve heard the phrase, “what’s in a name?” Well, in the
book of Hosea the answer is plenty!
Once, I heard of a doctor whose last name was “Hurt.”
“Doctor Hurt” - his name can’t possibly be good for business.
Who goes to “Doctor Hurt” to get healed?
Here’s a list of other real names that complement their
holder’s occupation. "Mike Sellers is a distribution manager.
Ralph Bible is a minister. One Mr. Planke is a carpenter. A
Mr. Hand is a physical therapist. Mike Cash works in finance.
Richard Pye is a chef. Mr. Hookem is director of advertising.
William Love is a cardiologist. He works on hearts. There’s a
doctor who removes dead tissue from wounds, named Dr.
Skinner. And of course, Dr. Mohler is a dentist…”

In Hosea, God uses the names of his kids to convey

prophetic messages to His people. Donald Barnhouse wrote,
“Never has so much been said in so few words.”
Hosea and Gomer have a second child, a daughter. She
was named "Lo-Ruhamah" - it means “unpitied.”
And there comes a time when God will withdraw His pity
and His mercy from a people. Before the flood God told Noah,
“My Spirit shall not strive with man forever.”
In other words, God’s patience has limits.

When the Jews pleaded with Pilate to let Christ's blood be

upon their hands and their children's hands they didn't know

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what they were asking. That moment was a turning point in
history, God withdrew His pity…
And for 1,980 years Israel has received no mercy.
Names like Aushwitz, Dachau, Belsin-Bergin send cold
shivers down our spine. Through the centuries, the judgment
on the Jews has been pitiless…
As one Jewish historian facetiously prayed, “Lord, thank you
for choosing us as your chosen people, but how about
choosing someone else for awhile?"

Verse 7, “Yet I will have mercy on the house of Judah, will

save them by the Lord their God, and will not save them by
bow, nor by sword or battle, by horses or horsemen.” The
southern kingdom of Judah was spared and saved from the
Assyrian invasion.
But their deliverance didn’t come by bow, sword, cavalry, or
battle - divine intervention won the day.
According to 2 Kings 19 an angel of the Lord came, and in a
single night slaughtered 185,000 Assyrians.
The enemy’s remaining troops retreated to Nineveh, and
God gave Judah another 120 years to repent.

“Now when she had weaned Lo-Ruhamah, she conceived

and bore a son.” At the time, Hebrew moms would breastfeed
their babies up to two to three years.
It was a couple of years later she born a second son.

“Then God said: “Call his name Lo-Ammi, for you are not My
people, and I will not be your God.” This third child is named,

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"Lo-Ammi" or “not-my-people." If you put it in the singular the
name means “not-my-child.”
The implication in Hosea’s life was that this child was the
fruit of Gomer's renewed harlotry, and not the prophet’s
legitimate son. "Lo-Ammi" was "not-his-child"

And what a strong warning this was to Israel. They would no

longer be God's people! When Israel rejected Jesus as their
Messiah, they were cut from the team - fired. Sent home
without pay - suspended by God.
The Bible tells us God temporarily withdrew Israel’s “favored
nation status.” Soon after their rejection of their promised
Savior, in 70 AD, the Jews were “scattered.” For two
millennium they’ve been “unpitied.” Even today, the Jews are
“not God’s people”

But verse 10, “Yet the number of the children of Israel shall
be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or
numbered. And it shall come to pass in the place where it was
said to them, ‘You are not My people,’ there it shall be said to
them, ‘you are sons of the living God.’ Then the children of
Judah and the children of Israel shall be gathered together,
and appoint for themselves one head; and they shall come up
out of the land, for great will be the day of Jezreel!
Say to your brethren, ‘My people,’ and to your sisters,
‘Mercy is shown.’ In essence, God placed the Hebrews on
injured reserve. In NT times and even today, the Church has
fill their spot on the roster. But here, we’re told the Jews will
get back into the game.

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 Has God abandoned the Jews forever? No way, Hosea(A)!
The Jews will be regathered to their land, reestablished as
a nation, and reintroduced to their Messiah. This is the New
Covenant God promised.
In the end the Jews will be united under one head, Jesus.
Mercy will once again be shown to the Jews!

The awful prophetic names Hosea gave his kids will one day
be given a new twist. In the same place Israel was named
"Lo-Ruhamah" or "unpitied" the negative prefix will be
dropped. They'll be "Ruhamah" or “pitied.”
Likewise, "Lo-Ammi" or "not-my-people" will be changed to
"Ammi" or simply “my-people”… And “Jezreel” or “scattered”
will be gathered as one nation.
In the very same land where the nation was cursed, the
nation will one day be blessed. Paul tells us in Romans 11:26,
that at the time of the end “all Israel will be saved.” When
Jesus returns all Jews alive at the time will embrace Him, and
become Jews For Jesus!
The people who were rejected will be reinstated.

Chapter 2:2, “Bring charges against your mother, bring

charges; for she is not My wife, nor am I her Husband! Let her
put away her harlotries from her sight, and her adulteries from
between her breasts; lest I strip her naked and expose her, as
in the day she was born, and make her like a wilderness, and
set her like a dry land, and slay her with thirst. “I will not have
mercy on her children, for they are the children of harlotry.”
With the birth of Hosea's last son, “Lo-Ammi,” it was
apparent that Gomer had been going out on him.
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 She had reverted back to her harlotries.
Hosea sends his children to talk Gomer into coming back. If
Gomer doesn't return, Hosea will divorce her, publicly
disgrace her, cut her off. He's even going to make life hard on
her kids. She had better return!

If Hosea sounds harsh, understand it’s his hurt that's

speaking. Nothing upsets, or angers a person as much as
discovering their spouse has been guilty of infidelity.
As one woman wrote Dr. Abby, “I was twenty and he was
twenty-six. We had been married two years and I hadn't
dreamed he could be unfaithful. The awful truth was brought
home to me when a young widow from a neighboring farm
came to tell me she was carrying my husband's child. My
world collapsed. I wanted to die. I fought the urge to kill her.
And him.” Defiled, degraded, spit in the face, stabbed in the
back, betrayed and bloodied - these are the feelings caused
by infidelity.
Years ago, a woman in Rio de Janeiro discovered her lover
had been cheating on her. The next time he went to kiss her,
she bit off his tongue. The wounded woman then swallowed it
so it couldn't be reattached.
The man, now unable to talk, wrote his feelings on a piece
of paper, “Now that was a real Judas kiss.”

These kinds of stories illustrate the rage, the pain, the agony
that's caused by the violation of one’s vows.
Hosea was hurting, but so was God! Israel did to God what
Gomer did to Hosea. God has emotions too!

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 It’s amazing to realize that you (tiny, piny, puny you) has the
power to injure the Almighty! Real love always involves
vulnerability - and God in pouring out His love to us makes
Himself vulnerable to our rejection.
When you cling to possessions, pleasures, and pursuits that
take your focus off God, it hurts Him. Fall in love with rival
affections, and it breaks God’s heart.

When I conduct a wedding ceremony I tell the bride and

groom, "God doesn't expect you to be perfect, He knows
better. But He does expect you to be faithful.”
None of us are perfect. God knows there'll be times when
we fail. But God does expect us to be faithful, to keep our
hearts turned to Him, to love Him with all we’ve got, to keep
Him at the center of who we are.

Verse 5, “For their mother has played the harlot; she who
conceived them has behaved shamefully.” Sadly, Gomer
swapped the cul-de-sac for the fast lane.
A husband and three kids were boring, so Gomer went
whoring. Hosea brought home a pastor’s salary, so Gomer
supplemented it by pimping herself out.
Tragically, her own dignity, her commitments, the people in
her life, even her God didn’t factor into her thoughts.
“Shazzam” - this Gomer - was a sell-out.

“For she said, ‘I will go after my lovers, who give me my

bread and my water, my wool and my linen, my oil and my
drink.’ Here's a tragedy. Hosea provided for Gomer’s every

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material need, but she had given credit to her lovers. She
forgot who was paying the bills!
And Israel likewise, had forgotten the source of her bounty
and blessings… Even today modern Israelis are incline to
take credit for their successes.
Rather than give praise to God for their survival, they credit
the “indomitable human spirit.” Rather than thank God for
their achievements it’s “Jewish ingenuity.” Rather than point to
the hand of God for their military prowess they praise their
own "courage and firepower.”
Let's you and I be on guard against taking credit for
successes that in reality flow from the hand of God!

Verse 6, “Therefore, behold, I will hedge up your way with

thorns, and wall her in, so that she cannot find her paths. She
will chase her lovers, but not overtake them; yes, she will
seek them, but not find them.”
Then she will say, ‘I will go and return to my first husband,
for then it was better for me than now.’ For she did not know
that I gave her grain, new wine, and oil, and multiplied her
silver and gold - which they prepared for Baal.” Notice how
Hosea and God handle their wayward brides. They let her go!
Turn her loose!
Hosea let’s the go-go girl go! He doesn't chase after Gomer
- or beg her to stay. He’s willing to let her go, and allow her to
taste the consequences of her sin.
If you try to hold on to a rebellious heart it often bucks even
harder. But let it go and let it drink of the natural
consequences of the path its chosen, often it’ll realize how
good it had it, and come running back.
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 This is good advice for handling a spouse who's been
unfaithful, or a grown child who's been rebelling, or a church
member who's disgruntled and embittered.
When we try to stand in the person’s way, we keep God
from getting their attention and teaching them the lessons
they ultimately need to learn. The sooner we let them go, the
sooner we might get them back.
When I was a young tike I decided my Dad was too mean. I
was running away from home. If I remember correctly, Dad
helped me pack my bag. Mom made me a peanut butter and
jelly sandwich for the trip. I think I made it half way down the
street, before I realized that life in my father’s house wasn’t so
bad after all!
This was what Gomer and Israel needed to learn.

And this is also a lesson for us. Backslide from God - walk
away - and God won’t chase you. He hedges your way with
thorns - or in essence, creates obstacles for you. He’ll make
your way hard - he’ll keep you lost, You “cannot find your
paths” - to bring you to your senses.
God doesn’t give up on you. He’s patient. But He lets you
learn the hard way. He knows sometimes we don’t learn to
appreciate what we have until its taken away.

In verse 9 God speaks, “Therefore I will return and take

away My grain in its time and My new wine in its season, and
will take back My wool and My linen, given to cover her
nakedness. Since Israel had not given God credit for her

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blessings - since she was not grateful - God was going to
take those blessings back.
“Now I will uncover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers,
and no one shall deliver her from My hand.
I will also cause all her mirth to cease, her feast days, her
New Moons, her Sabbaths - all her appointed feasts. And I
will destroy her vines and her fig trees, of which she has said,
‘These are my wages that my lovers have given me.’ So I will
make them a forest, and the beasts of the field shall eat them.
I will punish her for the days of the Baals to which she burned
incense. She decked herself with her earrings and jewelry,
and went after her lovers; but Me she forgot,” says the Lord.”
God describes His treatment of His wayward wife, Israel. She
had boasted that her bounty was due to her lovers, the false
gods she served. What painful words the Lord speaks, “but
Me she forgot.”
The story of Hosea teaches us that gratitude is the first
step toward worship. And ingratitude is the first step
toward idolatry. A heart that's full of thanks is ready to
express it. But a heart that's been lulled into taking God’s
grace for granted is slowing pulling away.

Verse 14, “Therefore, behold, I will allure her, will bring her
into the wilderness, and speak comfort to her.” This is a
painful cry! Hosea really loved Gomer despite her harlotries,
and God loves us despite our unfaithfulness. This is what
makes sin so sinister!
It would be one thing if sin were merely turning from God’s
truth, but it’s much more than that, it’s spurning God’s love. As

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the old saying goes, “Sin is not just breaking God’s Law its
breaking God’s heart.”
God’s love makes His feelings vulnerable to our decisions.
We should never trifle with or jilt that love.

Verse 15 tells us, “I will give her her vineyards from there,
and the Valley of Achor as a door of hope; she shall sing
there, as in the days of her youth, as in the day when she
came up from the land of Egypt.”
God is saying once His people have been broken and
humbled; then He'll allure her - He'll woo her with His love.
But God only courts a contrite heart.
Psalm 34:18 declares, “The LORD is near to those who
have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite
spirit.” God sings His love songs to listening ears; plants His
kisses on the back of a bowed neck; strokes the cheeks that
are wet with tears… It’s when I come broken and humble that
God reaches down. He heals a broken heart when we give
him all the pieces.

Notice Hosea predicts the Valley of Achor will be a door of

hope to Israel. "Achor" means “trouble.”
Literally, the valley of trouble will become a door of hope.
God will use Israel's hardships to draw her back.
Innocence and freshness will be restored to this hardened
harlot. Israel will again be like a bubbly, little school girl. And
so can we, if we let our troubles soften our hearts - not
harden our hearts. Humility is our ally.
Israel lost its first love, but through troublesome times still
ahead, God will win back her devotion.
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 These verses also apply to the end times.
When the Antichrist violates his covenant and attacks the
Jews, as Jesus told us in Matthew 24, the Jews flee to the
wilderness. Isaiah 14 identifies their three-and-a-half year
hideout as the rock city of Petra.
We’re heading to Petra this year on our Israel trip.
Hosea may be referring to the last three-and-a-half years of
the Great Tribulation, when he says it’s in the wilderness that
God begins to woo Israel with His love.

Verse 16, “And it shall be, in that day,” says the Lord, “That
you will call Me ‘My Husband,’ and no longer call Me ‘My
Master’…” God says to His people you'll call me “Ishi” or
“husband,” rather than “Baali” or “master.”
God is our Lord, and as Master we take orders from Him.
We're servants of God, we're His slaves. But hear me
carefully, the priority of our relationship with God is not
serving God, it’s knowing God and loving God.
God says the day is coming when you won't call me
Master, but husband. Remember what Jesus said to His
disciples in John 15:15, “No longer to I call you servants… but
I have called you friends…” In Christ, God wants a personal
heart-felt relationship with us.
It’s easy to fall into the trap of serving Jesus without loving
Him. Its performance without passion - devotion without
emotion - busyness without a beating heart. He wants to
remind us He’s our husband, not just Lord.

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 Verse 17, “Or I will take from her mouth the names of the
Baals, and they shall be remembered by their name no more.
In that day I will make a covenant for them with the beasts of
the field, with the birds of the air, and with the creeping things
of the ground. Bow and sword of battle I will shatter from the
earth, to make them lie down safely.” Apparently, at the time
Israel had become associated with idols, the Baals.
But God will remove that association. Peace will come when
He shatters the bow and sword of battle.
And this is a commentary on current events in Israel.
True peace will come to Israel when God shatters the sword
and bow - not when men lay them down.

“I will betroth you to Me forever; yes, I will betroth you to Me

in righteousness and justice, in lovingkindness and mercy; I
will betroth you to Me in faithfulness, and you shall know the
Lord.” "Betroth" in these verses means to “woo, or court, or
romance.”
We’re told in the end God will romance Israel and the two
will live forever in a loving, faithful relationship.

Verse 21 tells us, “It shall come to pass in that day that I will
answer,” says the Lord; “I will answer the heavens, and they
shall answer the earth.
The earth shall answer with grain, with new wine, and with
oil; they shall answer Jezreel. Then I will sow her for Myself in
the earth, and I will have mercy on her who had not obtained
mercy; then I will say to those who were not My people, ‘You
are My people!’

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 And they shall say, ‘You are my God!’ Here again we should
ask ourselves the question, “what’s in a name?” Again Hosea
draws upon the names of his three kids.
Which reminds me of the newspaper ad, “Lost Dog: walks
on three legs, is missing an eye, has a gnarled left ear, a
broken tail, several scars… goes by the name, “Lucky.” Some
names just don’t fit the person who has them. But not so with
Hosea’s three children.

Remember the name "Jezreel" means "scatter" - it’s that

backhanded toss. But here it’s given a new twist.
The backhanded flip that scatters confetti into the wind is
the same wrist action a farmer uses to sow his seed. What
meant “scatter" can also mean “plant”.
Despite their Diaspora - the Jewish dispersion over the last
two millenniums - God has promised to plant the Jews back in
their land. Today, in Israel we're witnessing the beginning of
what Hosea predicted.

Then he says, “I will have mercy.” “Lo-Ruhammah” meant

“unpitied.” Yet God will change that. He will have mercy on
the nation that had not obtained mercy.
And then Hosea’s third child, “Lo-Ammi” or “You are not My
people” - in the last days God will say, “You are My people.” In
the end God will restore to Israel both His mercy and their
status as His favored people.

This whole ordeal was not easy for Hosea. He let go, but he
never gave up. He kept hoping and praying, and longing for
Gomer’s return. And rewarded his faith.
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 One day he hears that his wife is the slave market.
She’s being auctioned off by her pimp. Used and abused
she’s being sold on the auction block like some cheap
commodity. He rushes in, buys her back, brings her home…
But we’re getting ahead of ourselves…
We’ll tackled more of the story next week.

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