The Best & Worst of Times

Hosea 1:1–11 ESV

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. 2 When the Lord first spoke through Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea, “Go, take to yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom, for the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the Lord.” 3 So he went and took Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son. 4 And the Lord said to him, “Call his name Jezreel, for in just a little while I will punish the house of Jehu for the blood of Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel. 5 And on that day I will break the bow of Israel in the Valley of Jezreel.” 6 She conceived again and bore a daughter. And the Lord said to him, “Call her name No Mercy, for I will no more have mercy on the house of Israel, to forgive them at all. 7 But I will have mercy on the house of Judah, and I will save them by the Lord their God. I will not save them by bow or by sword or by war or by horses or by horsemen.” 8 When she had weaned No Mercy, she conceived and bore a son. 9 And the Lord said, “Call his name Not My People, for you are not my people, and I am not your God.” 10 Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or numbered. And in the place where it was said to them, “You are not my people,” it shall be said to them, “Children of the living God.” 11 And the children of Judah and the children of Israel shall be gathered together, and they shall appoint for themselves one head. And they shall go up from the land, for great shall be the day of Jezreel.

Historical Setting (1)

The Office of Hosea

Hosea received the word of the Lord

Hosea is not explicitly described as a prophet, but is described as one the recipient of God’s word.

The Lord initiated communication with Hosea.

The Times of Hosea

The best of times and the worst of times

The people of God enjoyed a time of abundance and peace

the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash were days of of prosperity and strength

Hosea was called to preach the end of these days of prosperity.

Historical Rewind

During the reign of David and Solomon, the kingdom of Israel flourished (10th century B.C.)

Solomon’s son Rehoboam became king in 931 B.C., the ten northern tribes broke away under the leadership of Jeroboam I. God gave Jeroboam a chance to establish his own line with long blessing. Jeroboam envied the kingship of David and rebelled against God.

1 Kings 12:25-33.

1 Kings 12:25–33 ESV

25 Then Jeroboam built Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim and lived there. And he went out from there and built Penuel. 26 And Jeroboam said in his heart, “Now the kingdom will turn back to the house of David. 27 If this people go up to offer sacrifices in the temple of the Lord at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will turn again to their lord, to Rehoboam king of Judah, and they will kill me and return to Rehoboam king of Judah.” 28 So the king took counsel and made two calves of gold. And he said to the people, “You have gone up to Jerusalem long enough. Behold your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.” 29 And he set one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan. 30 Then this thing became a sin, for the people went as far as Dan to be before one. 31 He also made temples on high places and appointed priests from among all the people, who were not of the Levites. 32 And Jeroboam appointed a feast on the fifteenth day of the eighth month like the feast that was in Judah, and he offered sacrifices on the altar. So he did in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves that he made. And he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places that he had made. 33 He went up to the altar that he had made in Bethel on the fifteenth day in the eighth month, in the month that he had devised from his own heart. And he instituted a feast for the people of Israel and went up to the altar to make offerings.

God responds to this by displacing the house of Jeroboam in the ninth century B.C. and raised up the house of Omri (880 B.C.)

1 Kings 16:23.

1 Kings 16:23 ESV

23 In the thirty-first year of Asa king of Judah, Omri began to reign over Israel, and he reigned for twelve years; six years he reigned in Tirzah.

Omri’s son was the wicked king Ahab. Ahab married Jezebel and together they opposed the prophet Elijah.

Jehu rose to power in 841, and he was also given the chance to receive blessing for faithfulness.

Jeroboam II, the king during the early part of Hosea’s ministry was Jehu’s great-grandson, reigning over Israel forty one years.

2 Kings 14:23.

2 Kings 14:23 ESV

23 In the fifteenth year of Amaziah the son of Joash, king of Judah, Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel, began to reign in Samaria, and he reigned forty-one years.

Following the death of Jeroboam II, the kingdom deteriorated under the reign of several corrupt kings, most of whom usurped the throne with violence.

Out of love for God and His people, Hosea preached the need to repent from idolatry.

But, Hosea’s call was not an easy one.

Adulterous Israel (2-9)

A wife of whoredom (2-3)

This woman was know to be a whore. Not necessarily a prostitute, but a loose woman. If a woman had this reputation, she would likely never marry. Women who never married often and no way to provide for themselves and would therefore often prostitute themselves.

This wedding would have invited significant public attention. This marriage was a message to the people of Israel:

Hosea 1:2 ESV

2 When the Lord first spoke through Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea, “Go, take to yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom, for the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the Lord.”

The people would have been talking about Hosea and his wife behind their backs, maybe in front of their backs as well. But the people’s insults and condescension would be turned back on them. Like adulterers invalidate their marriages, so the Israelites through their idolatry disqualified themselves from being God’s people.

A word about the use of the word land in verse 2. The people were guilty of idolatry, but what are we to understand by the use of the word land? The land included the institutions and the exploitation of the poor (we will see later). The kings promoted the worship of false gods and shed innocent blood. The land, which was God’s promised inheritance to His people had been corrupted by Israel’s idolatry. They were just like the bride that Hosea was called to marry.

Prophetic children (4-9)

What is meant by children of whoredom?

The children shared the hame of their mother. They bore the stigma of adultery and immorality.

And the people of Israel were like their mother Israel; they were promiscuous and guilty of adultery.

A son named “Bloodshed” (4-5)

Jezreel was a town in nothern Israel and the name of a valley in which a number of significant events took place (Gideon defeated the Midianites Judges 6:33, The righteous man Naboth had his vineyard stolen and ordered killed by Jezebel 1 Kings 21:1-16). This was a place of bloodshed and violence.

When the Lord anointed Jehu, who was head over Israel’s dynasty, he was commanded to go to Jezreel and put Jezebel to death. Jehu also killed seventy sons of Ahab and brought their heads to Jezreel. He then killed all who remained in the house of Ahab in Jezreel. It became known as a place of bloodshed.

We should note that Jehu was commanded to do this and was praised by God for doing it. So why this pronouncement of judgement.

God also commanded Jehu to suppress and destroy all idols which he did not do.

2 Kings 10:29–31 ESV

29 But Jehu did not turn aside from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin—that is, the golden calves that were in Bethel and in Dan. 30 And the Lord said to Jehu, “Because you have done well in carrying out what is right in my eyes, and have done to the house of Ahab according to all that was in my heart, your sons of the fourth generation shall sit on the throne of Israel.” 31 But Jehu was not careful to walk in the law of the Lord, the God of Israel, with all his heart. He did not turn from the sins of Jeroboam, which he made Israel to sin.

Hosea would prophesy until the end of the northern kingdom (see verses 4-5). The Assyrian military would invade and reduce the northern kingdom over the next twenty five years and eventually wipe it out.

A daughter named “No Mercy” (6-7)

Might be best translated has not received mercy

Again, not about the child but about the people of Israel.

The people around Hosea at the time might have assumed that the child was the product of infidelity on the part of Gomer. They however, we the children of a harlot nation.

They were given this name. They would not be rescued from the coming trouble. When the Assyrians attack, and they cry to God for help, He will not answer…. at first. He would not prevent His people from being taken captive and forced into slavery and exile. No mercy.

But notice that God would have mercy on Judah (7). They would be miraculously saved the Lord, but not by bow or by sword or by war or by horsemen.

Isaiah 37:36 ESV

36 And the angel of the Lord went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. And when people arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies.

Why save Judah and not Israel?

Israel worshiped false gods starting with the golden calves of Jeroboam I through their worship of Baal.

Judah, during this same time, worshipped the true God at the true temple with the Ark of the Covenant. the Levitical Priests and the kings of the line of David. They approached God through the atoning blood that He had appointed, ultimately pointing to Christ.

A son named “Not My People” (8-9)

Why not my people?

you are not my people

I am not your God

The blessings of their covenant relationship with their God would be suspended.