Note: (GM) denotes lines taken from Dr. George E. Meisinger's study of Hosea.
In Hosea 1, we find two introductions: 1.) Hosea, a prophet we know little else about; 2.) God, a jilted lover.
By Hosea 1:2, we are seeing the prophecy begin. "Take yourself a wife of harlotry and children of harlotry," the Lord commands Hosea. It is an unbearable assignment. The relationship is a reflection of the one between God and Israel, He says. Meanwhile, Hosea is commanded to marry a woman who will cheat on him and spurn him.
In Hosea's day, "great harlotry" permeated the Northern Kingdom (Israel, or Ephraim). Baal worship was everywhere. And it was a slap in God's face; an outright rejection of His first commandment: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength."
Hosea's family (his wife, Gomer, and their three children) illustrates three things: 1. Israel's disloyalty/backsliding into idolotry;
2. God's judgment;
3. the Lord's faithfulness to His promises. (GM)
Hosea & Gomer have three children, all with very peculiar names.
Baby #1 is a boy, called Jezreel after a horrific massacre (2 Kings 9 & 10) in the Valley of Jezreel, a place of much idolotry.
Baby #2 does not fare much better. She is called Lo-Ruhamah, which means "without mercy" or "without pity." She is so named because "the Lord says that he will not show Israel merciful acts of deliverance from her enemies." Yet, He still has mercy on the house of Judah (2 Kings 19:35-37).(GM)
Baby #3 is named Lo-Ammi, or "not my people." God, a spurned husband, is separated from His beloved Israel. The relationship is broken.
Yet, by Hosea 1:10, we see the Lord as still faithful to His promise. He keeps his Abrahamic covenant (Gen 12:1-3 and chp. 15). In verse 11, we see Himself bringing David into leadership, a king whose heart is for the Lord.
For more reading, see Romans 9:22-26.
Hosea 2:
We see the harlot lose everything. She loses her vines, her clothing, her happiness. (Cf. chapter 9.)
Yet through this all, God's grace shines.
"The Lord promises five different times, in no uncertain terms, that He will not abandon His people in spite of how circumstances appear." (GM)
In the second half for chapter 2, the restoration begins. The first half is restoration by discipline -- putting up hedges and walling her in.
Israel had turned to Assyria and Egypt for protection, and not to God. They were her "other lovers."
God allows destroyed or removed everything that is a remnant of harlotry -- her "wages," her clothes, wines ... all of it. Gone.
By v. 14, however, he is restoring her, offering her new wines, new hope. She had forgotten Him, but He will allure her and speak comfort.
What we learn here is something astonishing about how God's grace works.
The harlot here does absolutely nothing to earn her redemption. Unlike other books of prophecy in the OT, Hosea is not a "repent and be saved" kind of book. It is by God's grace alone that she is saved.
Chapter 3 is short. It's a lovely story of restoration. Take her back, the Lord says. Tell her that she will be without a man for some time. Be with her, but not with her. Hosea buys back his wife from the place where she is enslaved, just as God promises; just as He has done for us.
But it's bigger than that. It's prophecy (3:4-5). The nation is told they "will abide many days without king or prince." This was prophecied in 722 B.C. Israel still waits.
They are told in v. 5 that total restoration (an Eden-like scenario) will come to pass eventually.
In the meantime, they wait.
We all do.
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