Heroes of the Faith: Hosea

Hosea: A Difficult Calling

I want to start this message with a public service announcement. To future parents in our congregation… please do not look to the book of Hosea for ideas on what to name your children! Your future children will thank me for this advice, although they may never know it was said today. Children, thank your parents for not looking to this book for when they named you!

I’ve come across a couple of quotes that will help us set the stage for our dive into the beginning of the book of Hosea.

Hosea is not an easy book.

Duane A. Garrett

Here is another one to help understand the purpose of the book. Hosea is called to do very difficult things as prophesies and it is important to understand Hosea’s role in this. All of it points towards God.

The focus is entirely on the acts and deeds of the prophet, not on his emotional responses. The reason for this seems clear: Hosea’s book is not about Hosea; it is about God.

David A. Hubbard

Hosea’s calling defies the notion that if you are a good person, good things will happen to you. We know that Hosea is a prophet, and we can reasonably understand that he would have been about as "good” of a person as you can humanly get. He listened for the voice of God and passed along messages as God saw fit. But God likes an object lesson thrown in once in a while too, and Hosea was called to live the life of an object lesson.

The difficulty comes when in verse 2, God speaks and tells Hosea to do a hard thing. A question we can quickly ask ourselves is this: where would we draw the line with God? What would we be willing to do for God and what would we not be willing to do?

Secondly, there is a rather rapid telling of Hosea’s three children and the prophesies attached to their names. Again, don’t take this as advice for potential names for your own children, nor as a guide for what to look for in a potential spouse, but what lessons can be gleaned from these rather strange accounts?

Underlying everything is a strong story of redemption… Hosea redeeming his wife, the meaning behind the children’s names being flipped, and the idea that all of this prophetically demonstrates God’s love for the people of Israel despite overwhelmingly poor dedication on behalf of the people. Today’s message is about the grace of God.

God’s love and grace far exceed our wildest imaginations.

Hosea’s Wife

Hosea 1:1–3 “The word of the Lord which came to Hosea the son of Beeri, during the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and during the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel. When the Lord first spoke through Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea, “Go, take to yourself a wife of harlotry and have children of harlotry; for the land commits flagrant harlotry, forsaking the Lord.” So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.”

Whenever I read stories, scripture or otherwise, I try to put myself in the shoes of the protagonist. I try to imagine myself as Hosea. And I have a hard time imagining what Hosea hearing God tell him to go and do this. Again, this story is not about Hosea's emotions, but I can’t help but wonder what he would have felt at having heard those words. “Take yourself a wife of harlotry and have children of harlotry...” The NIV says “Go, marry a promiscuous woman and have children with her.” Do I read what the ESV says? “Go, take yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom...” Sometimes I get comments after a message where I use certain “distasteful” words… but it’s right there in the Bible! There is no way to candy coat what God is telling Hosea here? Hosea, go and marry someone who is going to be unfaithful to you and have children… and is it implying that some or all of those children will be illegitimate? As I’ve done some research on this passage, commentators are not certain as to how to interpret whether the children will be his or not.

This call to prophetic action is something that echoes Israel’s tumultuous (dare I say adulterous) relationship with God. Israel has strayed from faithfulness in God time and time again, and yet God has committed to her as a husband to a wife. And yet Hosea declares to the people through his actions what they are doing to God.

We are told some basic information about Hosea’s wife, namely that her name is Gomer (have I mentioned before that we probably shouldn’t look at Hosea for naming ideas?). We are told about her father and that right away, she gets pregnant and “bore him a son.” This is idea of her bearing Hosea a son is an idea I want us to watch out for as we progress through the passage. There may be more to glean from this specific wording as we progress.

Hosea’s Children - Jezreel

Hosea 1:4–5 “And the Lord said to him, “Name him Jezreel; for yet a little while, and I will punish the house of Jehu for the bloodshed of Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel. “On that day I will break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel.””

Hosea’s first child, a son, is named Jezreel for a reason. This is a theme that carries forward with all three of the children named in this chapter. Jezreel is a prophecy against the house of Jehu who committed quite the attrocious act against the town of Jezreel. One commentary has a great summary of a great deal of the events that happened at Jezreel that should give us some context as to why God is commanding this child to be named thus.

“But for Hosea’s audience Jezreel signified the town and valley of the same name located between Galilee and Samaria (the town of Jezreel was in the valley and just northwest of Mount Gilboa). This area was the scene of many significant—and violent—events in Israel’s history. There Israelite forces mustered in preparation for a disastrous battle with the Philistines (1 Sam 29:1). It was part of the abortive kingdom of Ishbaal (or Ishbosheth) according to 2 Sam 2:8. Jezreel was where Naboth had his vineyard until he was framed and murdered by the agents of Jezebel (1 Kgs 21:1). It was here also that Jehu killed Joram, Jezebel, and the rest of Ahab’s household and supporters (2 Kgs 9:24–10:11). The valley of Jezreel, moreover, was the scene of battles fought by Deborah (Judg 4–5) and Gideon (Judg 6–7). In the mind of an Israelite, Jezreel may have signified bloodshed in the same way that Chernobyl signifies nuclear disaster to a modern person.”

Duane A. Garrett, Hosea, Joel, vol. 19A, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1997), 55.

The divided kingdom had not fared well. While Judah occasionally had good kings that would be faithful and lead the people back to God, the larger kingdom of Israel would only have a succession of bad kings and Jehu was no different. Even though God used him to remove the evil Jezebel, his reign was marked by bloodshed all the same. Hosea’s prophetic naming of his son Jezreel was to be a lightbulb that shines on the ongoing problem of what the nation had done. God would enact justice and will punish not only the kings lineage, but the nation and Israel will be made powerless in the valley of Jezreel.

Can you imagine yourself being named after some terrible disaster that could befall Canada? Jezreel’s name signified judgment.

Hosea’s Children - Lo-Ruhamah

Hosea 1:6–7 “Then she conceived again and gave birth to a daughter. And the Lord said to him, “Name her Lo-ruhamah, for I will no longer have compassion on the house of Israel, that I would ever forgive them. “But I will have compassion on the house of Judah and deliver them by the Lord their God, and will not deliver them by bow, sword, battle, horses or horsemen.””

It is not long until Gomer is pregnant again with another child, this time a daughter. But notice the wording… whereas for Jezreel, it says that she “conceived and bore him (Hosea) a son,” this time, it just says that she “conceived again and gave birth to a daughter.”

Is it possible that this child is not the result of Gomer and Hosea’s marriage, but rather some of the “harlotry” mentioned in verse 2? The wording is interesting and worth consideration, but whether the child is Hosea’s or not, God instructs Hosea to name her Lo-ruhamah “for I will no longer have compassion on the house of Israel, that I would ever forgive them.”

Wow. Jezreel was bad enough, but this is like naming your child “God won’t forgive you.” The ESV says that her name means “No Mercy” whereas the NIV says “Not Loved.”

But here with the daughter, we see a reversal. Whereas she is named “unloved” or “no compassion,” God declares that he will show Israel love and/or compassion and will deliver them. But He will deliver them in such a way that they will know that it is from God and not anything they have done.

Hosea’s Children - Lo-Ammi

Hosea 1:8–10 “When she had weaned Lo-ruhamah, she conceived and gave birth to a son. And the Lord said, “Name him Lo-ammi, for you are not My people and I am not your God.” Yet the number of the sons of Israel Will be like the sand of the sea, Which cannot be measured or numbered; And in the place Where it is said to them, “You are not My people,” It will be said to them, “You are the sons of the living God.””

This third and final child named in Hosea’s book is equally as disheartening as his siblings. His name means “Not My People.” Poor kid.

Yet like his sister before him, this child is not said to have been born to Hosea, but rather that she conceived and gave birth to a son. Again, the question rises as to whether this child is legitimately Hosea’s or another child born to the harlotry previously mentioned. But as with his sister before him, Lo-Ammi has a turn around where even though he is not “my people,” the prophetic message suggests that he will be called sons of the living God. Clearly there will be a sense of belonging to this child that doesn’t belong.

Redemption

As with what I preached last Sunday about not taking my word for it, I hope that this message inspires you to check out for yourselves the continuing story of what unfolds in the pages that follow. Chapters 1-3 are a package unto themselves and thus reading through them both would be very beneficial to our understanding of what we are looking at today.

For the sake of time, I would like to draw your attention to Hosea 2:21-23.

Hosea 2:21–23 ““It will come about in that day that I will respond,” declares the Lord. “I will respond to the heavens, and they will respond to the earth, And the earth will respond to the grain, to the new wine and to the oil, And they will respond to Jezreel. “I will sow her for Myself in the land. I will also have compassion on her who had not obtained compassion, And I will say to those who were not My people, ‘You are My people!’ And they will say, ‘You are my God!’ ””

Three children born and named prophetically. I’m sure it would have been difficult for them as they grew up, and yet here we see a fulfillment of the prophecy… a turn around, a redemption. Notice the names of the three children… well, if not their names, then the meaning of their names as the negative prophecies are reversed.

Jezreel, who was so named as a reminder of the bloodshed and unjust reign of king Jehu, now sees that there will be a fruitful sowing in the land… a blessing.

Lo-ruhammah, who was unloved, or unpittied, now will be shown compassion.

And Lo-ammi, who was not his people is now declared “my people” and they will prophetically respond “You are my God!”

But there was more than just the children in this unfortunate tale isn’t there? What of Hosea’s wife?

Look now to chapter 3. It’s a small chapter, but it deals with her story. And it’s a great living illustration of God’s redemptive work… a work that would later be more fully fulfilled in Christ on the cross.

Hosea 3 “Then the Lord said to me, “Go again, love a woman who is loved by her husband, yet an adulteress, even as the Lord loves the sons of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love raisin cakes.” So I bought her for myself for fifteen shekels of silver and a homer and a half of barley. Then I said to her, “You shall stay with me for many days. You shall not play the harlot, nor shall you have a man; so I will also be toward you.” For the sons of Israel will remain for many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar and without ephod or household idols. Afterward the sons of Israel will return and seek the Lord their God and David their king; and they will come trembling to the Lord and to His goodness in the last days.”

We aren’t told when Hosea’s wife left him, but her situation had presumably gotten so bad that she was now needing to be purchased back… apparently some form of slavery. And Hosea, who in righteous anger could refuse, but willingly obeys the command of God and buys her back.

He redeems her for the purchase price and he tells her to “not play the harlot” and that they will be faithful to one another from that point on.

Again, as with everything we have read, the physical actions have a spiritual echoing in the story of Israel, and the Lord declares through Hosea what will happen with their exile and their eventual return.

Conclusion

So why does any of this matter? These are the prophetic actions and utterances of a prophet who lived thousands of years ago. The prophesies were given to the people of Israel. We are pretty far removed from all of this. And yet, God saw fit that this story should be recorded and transmitted through history so that it is now sitting in our Bibles. God has lessons in this for us to learn from, so let’s try to walk our way through it’s history and discover what God might be saying to us through these words.

First of all, Hosea was written to a nation failing to follow God. Clearly Hosea’s prophecies were warnings for Israel to turn around and come back to God. I want to start by commenting on the naming of the children. Each child was specifically named because God was fed up with all of it. We know that God’s patience is beyond anything we could understand, but apparently after generations of unfaithfulness, God had enough. It was time for Israel to taste punishment and it started with a punishment against a king that was supposed to turn the nation around but failed. Then the prophetic names took aim at the people and implied that they would be unloved and no longer God’s people.

And yet the grace of God is greater than all our sins and God saw fit to turn everything around. From Jezreel who would be blessed with abundance and harvests, to Lo-ruhammah who would be shown compassion and loved, to Lo-ammi who would be declared to be God’s people. And all of them would declare that God is their God. This is the important purpose behind negative prophesies… warnings. Come back to God before it’s too late. But even after it’s too late, you can still come back to God and He will make all things right and new again! God’s grace means that it’s never too late.

And there is perhaps no greater illustration of this than in Hosea’s marriage to Gomer. From the beginning we knew that she would not be faithful to Hosea. And we are given every reason to believe that Hosea knew it too. God’s purpose behind the marriage was to have a living illustration of the unfaithfulness of the people towards God. Sure enough, she would wander away and be unfaithful, but God would call Hosea to go and redeem her… to buy her back from the pit in which she threw herself. This illustrates the lengths God was willing to go to for Israel, which was supposed to be His bride. God’s grace leads to redemption.

And it is here that we can begin to trace the line to Jesus Christ and what He went through. As God’s Son, He was sent to the nation of Israel to tell of the plans of God for the future. He would give the warnings to the religious leaders who got it all wrong. He would go to the people to call them to come and follow Him regardless of their past. It is never too late to start over again and for Jesus to forgive your sins! And He went to the cross for the very purpose of redemption… of buying us back from the mess we have gotten ourselves into.

This message is about God’s grace. If you feel that you have wandered away from God, it’s not too late to turn around! You can come back to God! You can come back to your family! That’s not to say that it will be easy… again, Hosea’s life illustrates that following God isn’t easy street, but it is to say that God is waiting for you with open arms! He wants you to repent of your sins and to accept the love and forgiveness of Jesus Christ so that you can be redeemed! Bought back! And we who were not His people will be called the children of God! Christ is the ultimate fulfillment of that. Jew and Gentile alike are now welcomed into the family of God as children through what Jesus did on that cross!

Be encouraged and share the good news with your friends and family! And when you find yourself going through hard things, remember that you are not alone in that journey. Heroes of the faith and in scripture have walked those paths too and they are cheering you on to stay true to the Word and will of God.