Israel's Unfaithfulness Hosea 2

The Sin and Sinner are Revealed Hosea 2:1- 7

King James Version (Chapter 2)

Say ye unto your brethren, Ammi; And to your sisters, Ru-hamah.

2 Plead with your mother, plead: For she is not my wife, neither am I her husband: Let her therefore put away her whoredoms out of her sight,And her adulteries from between her breasts; 3 Lest I strip her naked, and set her as in the day that she was born, And make her as a wilderness, and set her like a dry land, And slay her with thirst.

4 And I will not have mercy upon her children; For they be the children of whoredoms. 5 For their mother hath played the harlot: She that conceived them hath done shamefully: For she said, I will go after my lovers, That give me my bread and my water, My wool and my flax, mine oil and my drink.

6 Therefore, behold, I will hedge up thy way with thorns. And make a wall, that she shall not find her paths. 7 And she shall follow after her lovers, but she shall not overtake them; And she shall seek them, but shall not find them: Then shall she say, I will go and return to my first husband; For then was it better with me than now.

Background Material in chapter 1

The time span is from King Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah and Jeroboam. There is some righteous kings here but it was dark days spiritually that culminated with the wicked Jeroboam

Hosea is told by God to go to find a wife who is a prostitute because God is going to show the adultery of Israel as they have chased after false gods by this and at the same time let them know that He will always long for their return.

Hosea takes Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim. They have a son, Jezreel whose name is significant to the end of the kingdom of the house of Israel. Jezreel then gets a sister whose name is Lo-Ruhamah or No mercy. She is named that because God is saying I will no more have mercy on the house of Israel.

Despite having this nice two child family with Hosea, Gomer goes back to her old ways of prostitution and ends up in a slave Market. Hosea is instructed to buy his wife back from this slave market of sin and into restoration of her family.

Meanwhile before she hits the slave market and rock bottom, Hosea is told how to pray for his errant wife with a hedge of thorns. The words used to address Hosea’s brethren Jezreel is called “Ammi” which means “My people”. Lo-Ruhamah becomes Ruhamah. Now the child’s name means “I Love Thee.” Hosea is pleading with the nation of Israel to return or she is going to find out the hard way that her adultery is the road to destruction.

In order to draw her away from a life of sin, Hosea is given a form of prayer to use on his wife in this teaching on a hedge of thorns. Let’s go back and look closer:

King James Version (Chapter 2)

6  Therefore, behold, I will hedge up thy way with thorns, And make a wall, that she shall not find her paths.

7  And she shall follow after her lovers, but she shall not overtake them; And she shall seek them, but shall not find them:

Then shall she say, I will go and return to my first husband;

For then was it better with me than now.

The thorns become a wall of protection and a changer of mindsets or heart. Then it says make a wall that makes it impossible for her to go down her old paths, the path of sin. The hedge of thorns are a wall of sorts and then there is a wall itself of prevention and protection. A person in their right mind will not throw themselves into the thorns knowingly. Next, it prevents her from finding old lovers and catch them, no matter how much she tries. She cannot find them, they are lost forever. This results in Gomer or Israel returning home:

she say, I will go and return to my first husband; For then was it better with me than now.

The thorns become a painful reminder that every time they get up close they have no pleasure but rather Hosea is not asked about how he feels about all of this. A spouse with an adulterous husband or wife can have a multitude of feelings that range from betrayal, rage, disgust, anger, and not even the least would be sympathy. Perhaps maybe revenge. So, it takes a person confident in who they are as a child of God to pray this prayer, and someone who has not given up on the one you love. I have prayed this around friends, neighbors, and even family members. Each time I have seen some kind of answer, but not always the answer I wanted. The Lord God loved Israel but hated her pursuit of the many forms of Baal. The pursuit was the religious adultery and idolatry that demanded the prayer and the lesson that Hosea was forming from his own life at God’s request. The perks of corn, wine, oil, silver, gold, wool and flax are no longer attractive because the path lined with thorns is painful and hurts very much.

Some of God’s most compelling stories, involve the most unlikely people. Rahab the Harlot, the prodigal son, the thief on the cross and Gomer, all serve to remind us that every person is a keeper.

How do we pray for the Gomers in our lives?

Illustration of lady who called at FLR.

The Hedge of Protection Job 1:6- 12.

English Standard Version (Chapter 1)

6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them. 7 The LORD said to Satan, “From where have you come?” Satan answered the LORD and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.” 8 And the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?” 9 Then Satan answered the LORD and said, “Does Job fear God for no reason? 10 Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. 11 But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.” 12 And the LORD said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand.” So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD.

Hosea shows the Punishment of Israel’s unfaithfulness

Is this the first time Israel has been unfaithful? See Judges 3:7, Deuteronomy 32:18, and Psalm 106:21

Psalm 106:21 LEB

They forgot God their Savior, who had done great things in Egypt,

This now teaches us loads about life and ministry in general. Some people will not listen to God or us until they have hit rock bottom,

- God uses the Hedges to turn us back or away from danger.

- The way of duty can be hedged about with thorns. The way of sin is hedged up with thorns. Thorns or walls are Gods hedges to turn us from evil paths. Sickness and trials are great blessings if they stop us in a course of sin.

- How is the hedge of thorns and the making of a wall, a spiritual tool for the believer as a prayer initiative?

- Has anyone seen this in action?