Hosea 1:2-9

The first thing God said to Hosea was to go, take yourself a wife of harlotry.  God told the prophet to find a prostitute and marry her.  Thus the children of this relationship would be of harlotry.  The reason God gave for this is that it provides an illustration for Israel who, as a nation, had committed harlotry by going away from the LORD.

God deeply loved Israel from her childhood when He called her out of Egypt (Hos. 11:1-4).  But when the kingdom divided the first king Jeroboam established idols at both ends of the nation, a form of spiritual harlotry that characterized every northern king from then on.  The wicked Jezebel had later imported Baal worship from Tyre and made it mandatory throughout Israel.  King Jehu (Jeroboam II’s grandfather) stamped out this religion in obedience to God, but still maintained the sins of Jeroboam I (2 Ki. 13:6,11; 14:24).  God was compassionate and gracious in the time of Jeroboam II, providing some relief for Israel (2 Ki. 14:25-29).  But even so, the spiritual prostitution continued.

To gain a hearing from His people, God commands Hosea to marry a harlot.  So he marries Gomer who bears three children who are also part of the message.

·        1:4-5: Gomer gives birth to a son, Jezreel.  Jezreel is a valley, also called Esdraelon and Armageddon.  From Ahab’s time the capital city Samaria was in Jezreel.  When Jehu killed Jezebel and destroyed the descendants of Ahab and the prophets of Baal it happened at Jezreel.  But he went beyond the LORD's command and killed the king of Judah and 42 of his brothers/relatives.  This son of Hosea and Gomer was a powerful graphic of God’s promise to bring an end to the house of Jehu after four generations (2 Ki. 10:30; 15:12) and an end to the nation itself.  The end would come when Assyria besieged Samaria in the Valley of Jezreel (2 Ki. 17).

·        1:6-7: Gomer gave birth to a daughter, Lo-Ruhamah, which means no mercy.  As we noted, God was merciful in the time of Jeroboam II.  But now there would be no mercy.  The nation would be removed from the land.  Yet at the same time God would show mercy to Judah in the days of King Hezekiah, delivering Jerusalem from the Assyrians without a single battle (2 Ki. 18-19).

·        1:8-9: Finally Gomer gave birth to Lo-Ammi which means not My people.  What a tragic picture.  God chosen people, His special treasure, would no longer have that honor.  They had rejected God; thus God utters the sad words: And I will not be your God.

This is a great place to stop so that we can take time to appreciate the reality of judgment.  Our choices, like those of Israel, have consequences.  God judges according to our works.  Perhaps it would be good to re-read Deut. 7:1-11 to understand the delightful plan God had for Israel and which they forfeited.  The story is not over, but for now think about consequences.