Your biography: A written narrative that is carefully penned to summarize your life. Filled with descriptions about your experiences, factual details, and stories that encapsulate your personality, motivations, and intimate details. How will it read?
For Hosea, the prophet, chapters 1-3 serve as the biography of his own marriage to Gomer and describe the account of her unfaithfulness. It's also a story of restoration and is used as a parable to depict the Lord's relationship to Israel. As we travel alongside Hosea, I trust you'll feel his heartbreak. I believe you'll relate to the unlovingly-named children. I am confident you will be taught by wayward wife, Gomer. For tucked within these intense heartbreaks is an opportunity to see. To see God's perspective. To know redemption. To experience the most profound and mysterious gift: grace upon grace.
May your heart be prepped and the fertile soil of your heart be tilled and ready for the Word to take deep root. Amen.
1 The word of the Lord that came to Hosea son of Beeri during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and during the reign of Jeroboam son of Jehoash king of Israel:
2 When the Lord began to speak through Hosea, the Lord said to him, "Go, marry a promiscuous woman and have children with her, for like an adulterous wife this land is guilty of unfaithfulness to the Lord." 3 So he married Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.
"Hosea" comes from the same root as "Joshua" and "Jesus." It means "to save or deliver," and you're going to experience His deliverance throughout this study. As you purpose in your heart to prioritize His life-changing Word, you will experience the longest miracle that ever takes place in a believer’s life: transformation.
It may seem odd that God told Hosea to marry a woman of whoredom and have children with her. However, He commanded Jeremiah not to marry, and He allowed Ezekial's wife to die. God can use a multitude of situations and circumstances to speak into the lives of others. Let’s allow Him to use ours.
Let's talk for a moment about Gomer. While we don't want to become friends with her sin, we want to know and understand her because God is (still) using her to teach us.
Not every Bible study agrees about Gomer. Some think she was a prostitute; others believe she was pure and then later became a prostitute or gave into sexual misconduct. Don't get wrapped around the axel too much here. Hosea's story was written to teach us about Israel's 3 primary sins: idolatry, ingratitude, and hypocrisy. We can draw a dotted line from these sins to our own heart, which we'll see soon enough.
Here is one commentator’s perspective (Wiersbe), and there are others: "Since the Jews were idolatrous from the beginning, it seems likely that Gomer would have to be a prostitute when she married Hosea; for this would best symbolize Israel's relationship to the Lord.”
"Then a woman came out to meet him, with the attire of a harlot and cunning of heart. She is loud and defiant; her feet do not remain at home. Now in the street, now in the squares, she lurks at every corner." Proverbs 7:10-12
God was clear with Hosea upfront: marry, have children, and tie this situation back to my people because they have been unfaithful to me. Hosea knew the why and the purpose before his world unraveled. Beloved, the power of purpose is essential. If you haven't read my blog post on Knowing Your Purpose, it's one to marinade on.
"I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship." Romans 12:1
4 Then the Lord said to Hosea, "Call him Jezreel, because I will soon punish the house of Jehu for the massacre at Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of Israel. 5 In that day I will break Israel's bow in the Valley of Jezreel."
6 Gomer conceived again and gave birth to a daughter. Then the Lord said to Hosea, "Call her Lo-Ruhamah (which means "not loved"), for I will no longer show love to Israel, that I should at all forgive them. 7 Yet I will show love to Judah; and I will save them—not by bow, sword or battle, or by horses and horsemen, but I, the Lord their God, will save them."
8 After she had weaned Lo-Ruhamah, Gomer had another son. 9 Then the Lord said, "Call him Lo-Ammi (which means "not my people"), for you are not my people, and I am not your God.
This is the section that holds both the names of the "children of whoredom" and prophecy. In Old Testament times, a child's name was identification of their character. We spend time talking to each of our boys about the meaning of their names, and as they grow, they each choose a Scripture that underscores the idea of their name meaning, and then we frame it for them to keep in their room.
"Call his name Jezreel..." --> Hosea, like Isaiah, uses children as signs and symbols for prophetic pronouncements (ESV Study Bible). There's quite the story about the house of Ahab in 1 Kings 21 and his promotion of Baal (a false god we talked about in the Intro).
"Through the birth of Hosea's son, God announced that He would avenge the innocent blood shed by Jehu and put an end to Jehu's dynasty in Israel. This was fulfilled in 752 BC when Zechariah was assassinated, the great-great-grandson of Jehu and the last of his dynasty to reign (see 2 Kings 10:30)." See what I meant earlier by the names of the children being connected to prophecy (something yet to come)? These were meaningful names selected by God to pronounce a coming judgment (and, we'll soon see, new names).
"Call her name No Mercy..." --> Here's the second child, a daughter. It is pretty clear that this child wasn’t actually Hosea's. In the previous passage, it said, "...and she conceived and bore him a son." In this verse, it merely says, "she conceived again and bore a daughter." It doesn't mean it was his daughter. Hosea intimately knew pain, for what father doesn't have compassion for his own children?
After the second child, a third was conceived (a son). God instructed Hosea to name him, "Not My People." Again, there's a clear indication that this is not Hosea's son. God was making a statement about the people He had once "married" at Mt. Sinai, who were no longer His people because of their idolatry (spiritual adultery/unfaithfulness).
10 "Yet the Israelites will be like the sand on the seashore, which cannot be measured or counted. In the place where it was said to them, 'You are not my people,' they will be called 'children of the living God.' 11 The people of Judah and the people of Israel will come together; they will appoint one leader and will come up out of the land, for great will be the day of Jezreel.
Up until this present moment, the story has been quite dismal. It's shadowy, sinful, and filled with wanderlust. It's a story of you. It's a biography of me. Can you see the parallel between a man and his wife // a God and His Bride // a Father and a No Mercy child named ________ [insert your name]?
"Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be like the sand of the sea..." --> The strength of yet when God uses it is unconquerable. Yet tells us there's something else coming. Yet beckons us to believe richly. To see God's perspective. To know redemption. To experience the most profound and mysterious gift: grace upon grace.
No matter what your name means today, He has renamed you, just as He renamed these three children in Hosea's biography. The detached covenant was to be renewed and restored. The Israelites failed to live up to the standard set at Mt. Sinai (for the law only reveals our sin and inability to uphold God’s law), yet God prophecied how He would gather His people together once more. He longs to love His people, and through Christ, we are all offered the unfathomable gift of grace.
As we conclude, here are a couple of nudges to reflect on in conversation with God. I tag on the italicized prepositional phrase at the end because "self-reflection" can be dangerous (and I'm totally guilty of it). I'm learning to not turn inward for the answer (i.e., sifting through the rubbage myself) but instead to turn outward (i.e., looking into the face of Jesus so I can be transformed out of the rubbage). It's a subtle linguistic tweak, but it's intentional.
So, let's grab a journal, a pen, and sit quietly for a moment to talk with God. I've provided some promptings should you need a bit of guidance and added in my own gratitude ledger for #3 since this is a safe place to be human:
Lord, help me see. It's so easy for me to recognize sin in other's people's lives, but I realize that I see it because it is familiar. I see it because it is me. I ask that you would grant me the Spirit of wisdom and revelation (Ephesians 1:17) to see how I am like Hosea (with a heart of purpose), Gomer (with a wayward commitment to You), and the children (who are outcomes of pain and need renamed). Show me my sin so that I can come to repentance and live in purposeful intimacy with You.
Father, when I think of my name, I think of ________. But today, I want to think as You think. What's the word you want me to grasp as it relates to who I truly am? Show me how You see me.
God Almighty, I realize that idolatry is about taking the gifts, but not recognizing the Giver. We all bow down to something, and if I'm not giving you thanks for what has been graciously given, I turn my heart's posture away from You. Forgive me for the ingratitude of my moments. I choose to live each day gratefully and take these moments to record a ledger of thankful transactions You've given. You are the Giver. {photo below}
This concludes the study of Hosea 1! Fittingly, we are studying the names of Jesus through our Advent (meaning "coming") season #ontheblog. You can follow along on Instagram and Facebook to immerse yourself more in learning about the Man who died for you. He wants you to live for Him--so let's ensure we're clear on what that means.
