Hosea 1 - Sermon (9-15-13)

The life of Hosea pictures for us the relationship between God and His covenant people, Israel. We saw last time that several passages in the Scriptures identify Israel as the wife of Jehovah. And we looked back in Biblical history and saw that the reason we were created was for a close intimate relationship with our Creator. Colossians 1:16 says this concerning the Lord Jesus - "All things were created through Him and for Him." This includes human beings. And we alone out of all the creations of God have been made for a special, close, intimate relationship with our Creator. From Genesis chapter 12 and onward through the rest of the Old Testament God primarily deals with the people of Israel, the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Like I've already mentioned, Israel is called the wife of Jehovah, and a couple of the prophets refer back to the exodus from the captivity in Egypt as the beginning of this marriage covenant between God and Israel. Jeremiah chapters 2 and 31, Hosea chapter 2, as well as Ezekiel chapter 16, all talk about the Exodus as the beginnings of this marriage relationship.

Last time we scanned through the book of Deuteronomy because we noted that this book is laid out in the format of an ancient marriage contract. And we saw several verses about Gods love for Israel, His jealousy for them, His commandments that they must be faithful to Him and love Him and Him alone. He will not share their affection. God talked about His care for them in the past and the importance of their fidelity to Him in the future. He warned them not to forget Him when they came into a land of prosperity. But the overall theme of the book as we saw it was Gods desire for a special love relationship with His people. But right near the end of the book the Lord speaks to Moses. Up to this point the Lord has been speaking to the congregation of Israel through Moses, but now He turns and speaks, not through Moses but to him. And it says in Deuteronomy 31:15-16 - "The Lord appeared in the tent in a pillar of cloud, and the pillar of cloud stood at the doorway of the tent. The Lord said to Moses, “Behold, you are about to lie down with your fathers; and this people will arise and play the harlot with the strange gods of the land, into the midst of which they are going, and will forsake Me and break My covenant which I have made with them.”" The Lord emphasized again and again the importance of Israels love for Him just as He loved them, their fidelity to Him, and yet He says to Moses, "This people will arise and play the harlot with the strange gods of the land." He knew that Israel was going to follow after false Gods and forsake Him. He knew that Israel would be unfaithful to her marriage vows, and yet He made this marriage covenant with her anyway. And this is what is pictured in the life of Hosea. The Lord commands Hosea to go and take a wife of harlotry, a wife who would be unfaithful to her marriage vows, to illustrate the unfaithfulness of Israel toward her God.

Hosea 1:1 - "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."

The book of Hosea is dated by the chronology of two kingdoms, The northern ten tribes which are called Israel, also referred to as Ephraim in this book, and the southern two tribes which are called Judah. Both of the kingdoms of Israel are in view in this book. Hosea began to prophesy during a time of political peace and material prosperity in Israel. It was in this time of peace and prosperity that the people of Israel once again forgot the Lord and turned aside to other Gods. It was a time of moral corruption and spiritual bankruptcy. Because of this, before the end of Hosea's ministry, the northern kingdom would be conquered by the Assyrians. Hosea focuses on Israels corruption and harlotry and the breach of the covenantal relationship with the Lord, announcing that judgment was imminent.

In the southern kingdom of Judah circumstances were not much better. King Uzziah was struck with leprosy for trying to do the work of a priest in offering a sacrifice to the Lord which was unlawful for him to do. Jotham encouraged idolatrous practices, paving the way for Ahaz, his successor, to encourage Baal worship. Hezekiahs revival served to slow her corruption, but only for a while. Eventually the southern kingdom would come under the same fate as that of her northern sister. Weak kings in both kingdoms repeatedly sought alliances with pagan kings rather than seeking the Lords help. It was at this time that the Lord raised up Hosea.

Hosea 1:2 - "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.”"

Put yourself in Hosea's shoes. The Lord was going to use his life as an example of Israels unfaithfulness to Him. Hosea's relationship with his wife was going to depict Gods relationship with Israel. Hosea was going to play the part of God, he was going to feel what God felt, he was going to love like God loved. He was going to enter into what Paul calls in the New Testament "the fellowship of His sufferings." Talk about a difficult ministry. Hosea was a real person, who thinks and feels just like you and I. Just because his story is in the Bible and he spoke for God doesn't mean that he was any less human than you or I. This word from the Lord must have severely tested the heart of the prophet. The idea of marrying a person who will without question be unfaithful and play the harlot is repulsive and goes against the sound reasoning of any thinking person, but this is what the Lord commanded Hosea to do, because this is what the Lord Himself did. Israel was faithful to the Lord at first but later on she turned away from Him and served other gods. So it would seem to best complete the picture that Hosea would marry a wife who would be faithful to him at first, but he knew from the beginning that she would break her marriage vows and be unfaithful to him and play the harlot. Back in Deuteronomy the Lord was entering into a marriage covenant with His special chosen people even though He knew that they would be unfaithful, and here Hosea is told by God to do the very same thing. He is told to unite himself in marriage with a woman devoid of character, a harlot, and thus illustrate the condition of wretched Israel, who remained the object of Gods love in spite of her sin and filthiness. What a rich picture. What better picture could we have of Gods grace? Grace is infinitely more than unmerited favor. It's Gods abounding favor toward those who have merited the opposite.

Such is the marvelous loving-kindness of our God that He finds the objects of His love, not among the righteous and holy, but among sinners lost and ruined, deserving naught but judgment, stained with guilt and polluted by sin, having all gone out of the way and become unprofitable; nevertheless He sets His love upon wretches so vile and unworthy, and redeems them to Himself. Jehovah's dealings with Israel of old picture His ways of grace with believers now. "Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come." (1 Corinthians 10:11)

Vs.3 - "So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son."

In obedience to the voice of the Lord, Hosea went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim as his wife. He married a woman that he knew would be unfaithful to Him. The rest of chapter one deals with the birth and naming of Gomers children. By the wording in this chapter and in the next it appears that the first child born to Gomer was Hosea's child. It says "she conceived and bore him (Hosea) a son." So this was Hosea's son. With the other two however, it simply says "she conceived and gave birth." No mention of Hosea, and the names of the children even imply that they are not his children, as we will see later.

The naming of these three children has prophetic significance, because through the naming of these three children the Lord is bringing three specific messages to the people of Israel.

Hosea 1:3-5 - "and she conceived and bore him a son. 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.”"

The name Jezreel means "sown of God" or "God scatters" as when a sower sows seeds and scatters them on the ground. In some contexts this name carries with it the idea of blessing, the idea of being sown or planted by God, and it's used that way later on in this chapter and in chapter two, but that's not the case in this context. The Lord is using the name Jezreel in connection with His judgment. He says "Name him Jezreel; for yet a little while, and I will punish the house of Jehu." Israel, God is declaring, will be scattered. God was about to cast Israel, the northern kingdom, out of His sight and they would be scattered among the nations of the Gentiles. What they would not learn through loving-kindness they must now learn through judgment. God declares that He is going to Jezreel Israel.

The reason for the scattering is given in verse 4 - "I will punish the house of Jehu for the bloodshed of Jezreel." The king of Israel at the time this was written was a man by the name of Jeroboam. He was a descendant and part of the dynasty of Jehu. Jehu succeeded to the throne of Israel through the very "blood of Jezreel" talked about in this verse.

The story begins back in 1 Kings 21. The territory of Jezreel originally belonged to a man by the name of Naboth who was a righteous man. Naboth had a vineyard in Jezreel and the king at that time, a wicked king by the name of Ahab, coveted the vineyard and sought to buy it from him. Naboth rightfully refused to sell his inheritance, saying, "The Lord forbid me that I should give you the inheritance of my fathers." And at that response Ahab returned to his palace sullen and vexed, and he laid down on his bed and turned away his face and ate no food. I can't help but smile every time I read that passage, because Ahab is acting like such a baby. It would be humorous if it wasn't so sad. Jezebel his wife came and asked him what was wrong and he told her about his conversation with Naboth and how he would not sell him his vineyard. Jezebel assured her husband that she would get him the vineyard. So she wrote letters in his name saying "Proclaim a fast and seat Naboth at the head of the people; and seat two worthless men before him, and let them testify against him, saying, ‘You cursed God and the king.’ Then take him out and stone him to death." And it happened according to her wicked plan. The two worthless men came in and sat before him; and the worthless men testified against him, even against Naboth, before the people, saying, “Naboth cursed God and the king.” So they took him outside the city and stoned him to death with stones. Then they sent word to Jezebel, saying, “Naboth has been stoned and is dead.” False witnesses swore away the life of the righteous one. His inheritance in Jezreel was declared forfeit and Ahab went down to take possession of it. But as he went down to take possession of it the Lord sent Elijah the prophet with a message of judgment against Ahab. The blood of Jezreel would be his undoing, for the Lord declared in 1 Kings 21:19 - "In the place where the dogs licked up the blood of Naboth the dogs shall like up your blood." And of Jezebel also has the Lord spoken saying "The dogs shall eat Jezebel in the district of Jezreel."

All this was literally fulfilled. Ahab was slain in the battle of Ramoth-Gilead, and we read in chapter 22 - "So the king died and was brought to Samaria, and they buried the king in Samaria. They washed the chariot by the pool of Samaria, and the dogs licked up his blood, according to the word of the Lord which He spoke."

Ahab was succeeded by his wicked son Joram. However, in Second Kings chapter 9 the Lord sent Elisha the prophet to anoint Jehu as king of Israel. Jehu succeed to the throne of Israel by killing Ahab's son Joram. When the two met, they met in, of all places, Jezreel. Joram was returning from battle to be healed of his wounds and he came to Jezreel. In the portion of Naboth the Jezreelite the two met and Joram saw Jehu and said to him "Is it peace Jehu?" and he answered "What peace, so long as the whoredoms of your mother Jezebel and her witchcrafts are so many?" Joram tried to run away, but Jehu drew his bow full strength and shot Joram through the back, through his heart and he sank down on his chariot. And in fulfillment of the word of the Lord, his bleeding corpse was cast into the plot of Naboth the Jezreelite.

It was also in Jezreel that Jezebel met her awful fate as the prophet had predicted. We read in 2 Kings 9:30 - "When Jehu came to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it, and she painted her eyes and adorned her head and looked out the window. As Jehu entered the gate, she said, “Is it well, Zimri, your master’s murderer?” Then he lifted up his face to the window and said, “Who is on my side? Who?” And two or three officials looked down at him. He said, “Throw her down.” So they threw her down, and some of her blood was sprinkled on the wall and on the horses, and he trampled her under foot. When he came in, he ate and drank; and he said, “See now to this cursed woman and bury her, for she is a king’s daughter.” They went to bury her, but they found nothing more of her than the skull and the feet and the palms of her hands. Therefore they returned and told him. And he said, “This is the word of the Lord, which He spoke by His servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, ‘In the property of Jezreel the dogs shall eat the flesh of Jezebel; and the corpse of Jezebel will be as dung on the face of the field in the property of Jezreel, so they cannot say, “This is Jezebel.”’”"
After this Jehu proceeded to completely cut off the house of Ahab. When we come to 2 Kings 10 we find out that Ahab had seventy sons, and Jehu wrote letters and sent them throughout Israel saying in verses 6-11 - ""If you are on my side, and you will listen to my voice, take the heads of the men, your master’s sons, and come to me at Jezreel tomorrow about this time.” Now the king’s sons, seventy persons, were with the great men of the city, who were rearing them. When the letter came to them, they took the king’s sons and slaughtered them, seventy persons, and put their heads in baskets, and sent them to him at Jezreel. When the messenger came and told him, saying, “They have brought the heads of the king’s sons,” he said, “Put them in two heaps at the entrance of the gate until morning.” Now in the morning he went out and stood and said to all the people, “You are innocent; behold, I conspired against my master and killed him, but who killed all these? Know then that there shall fall to the earth nothing of the word of the Lord, which the Lord spoke concerning the house of Ahab, for the Lord has done what He spoke through His servant Elijah.” So Jehu killed all who remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel, and all his great men and his acquaintances and his priests, until he left him without a survivor."
So Naboth the Jezreelite was killed through Jezebels scheming in Jezreel. Ahab was slain in battle and the dogs licked up his blood in Jezreel. Jezebel was thrown down and trampled to death by Jehu in Jezreel. Joram was killed and thrown into the plot of Naboth in Jezreel. And all seventy of Ahab's sons and all that remained of his household were slain in Jezreel. This territory of Jezreel is covered with bloodshed. That's what the Lord is talking about when He says through Hosea "I will punish the house of Jehu for the blood of Jezreel.
The ruling dynasty during Hosea's time, Jehu's dynasty, had come to the throne through the blood of Jezreel. Jehu was used by the Lord to carry out His judgement on the house of Ahab. In 2 Kings 10:30-31 we read - "The Lord said to Jehu, “Because you have done well in executing what is right in My eyes, and have done to the house of Ahab according to all that was in My heart, your sons of the fourth generation shall sit on the throne of Israel.” But Jehu was not careful to walk in the law of the Lord, the God of Israel, with all his heart; he did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam, which he made Israel sin." And now the Lord says through the prophet Hosea "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." The house of Jehu had failed to profit by the solemn lesson of Gods hatred for sin, and abhorrence of idolatry in particular. Therefore, this same valley of Jezreel would be the sight of their judgment. This would come about a few years later when the Assyrians defeated Israel and the captivity of the northern kingdom began. So the first son in this chapter speaks of a scattering of Israel.

Vs.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.”"

A daughter is born to Gomer, and Hosea is told to name her Lo-ruhamah, a name that means "not having obtained mercy" or "not having known a fathers mercy." This child's name tells of the present state of Israel at that time having been cast out of her land and shown no mercy. There was still hope however for the people of Judah, her harlotries were not yet as great as her sisters. Judah would be spared for a while, and the Lord declares that she would not be spared through their own strength or through warfare, "not by bow, sword, battle, horses or horsemen" but "by the Lord their God."

In the book of 2 Kings we can read the historical account of when these things took place. In 2 Kings 18:11-12 we read this - "Then the king of Assyria carried Israel away into exile to Assyria, and put them in Halah and on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes," that's the scattering we read about in the previous verses. "because they did not obey the voice of the Lord their God, but transgressed His covenant, even all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded; they would neither listen nor do it." She broke her marriage vows to the Lord and so the Assyrians conquered them and they were scattered and shown no mercy (Lo-ruhamah). After the Assyrians conquered the northern kingdom they came up against the southern kingdom of Judah and conquered all their cities except for Jerusalem. When they came up against the city of Jerusalem, a man by the name of Rabshakeh, a spokesperson for the king of Assyria, began to taunt the people of Jerusalem and tried to frighten them into surrendering without a fight. He gave a letter from the king of Assyria to the king of Judah, a man by the name of Hezekiah, whom the Bible says "clung to the Lord and did not depart from following Him." And when Hezekiah received the letter he was greatly troubled. He tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth and entered the house of the Lord. Hezekiah spread out the letter before the Lord and the Lord heard him. The Lord sent a message to Hezekiah through Isaiah the prophet, and this is what he said in 2 Kings 19:32-36 - "Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the king of Assyria, “He will not come to this city or shoot an arrow there; and he will not come before it with a shield or throw up a siege ramp against it. By the way that he came, by the same he will return, and he shall not come to this city,”’ declares the Lord. ‘For I will defend this city to save it for My own sake and for My servant David’s sake.’” Then it happened that night that the angel of the Lord went out and struck 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians; and when men rose early in the morning, behold, all of them were dead. So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and returned home, and lived at Nineveh."
Though Israel was shown no mercy, the Lord had mercy on the house of Judah and He delivered them, not by sword, bow, battle, horses or horsemen, but by His power as the Lord their God.

The first child, Jezreel, spoke of a scattering of Israel. The second child, Lo-ruhamah, brings the message of "no mercy." And now there is another child born to Gomer.

Vs. 8-9 - "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.”"

The name Lo-ammi means "Not mine" or "Not my people." God is not going to force His love on anyone, not on any individual and not on any nation. Since they would not have Him as their God, They would not be His people. They had broken their covenant with the Lord and so God gives them up for the time being and refuses to own them as His people. Judah also went into captivity under the Babylonians and so both the northern and southern kingdoms fall into this category of "Not My people."" This could account for the omission of the name of God in the book of Esther. God's providential care for Israel during their captivity is obviously set forth in the book of Esther but His name is not mentioned because He could not publicly identify Himself with them. "For you are not my people and I am not your God."

These three children in chapter 1 speak of problems for Israel as a nation. Jezreel, Lo-ruhamah, Lo-ammi. Scattered, no mercy, not My people.

Though this is a hard message chapter one ends on a high note.

Vs. 10-11 - "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.” And the sons of Judah and the sons of Israel will be gathered together, And they will appoint for themselves one leader, And they will go up from the land, For great will be the day of Jezreel."

The final two verses in this chapter speak of mercy yet to be shown to Israel, not on the basis of her works, but on the basis of the Lords abounding grace. In Spite of their rejecting the Lord and their unfaithfulness to Him, the prophecy is given and the promise is given that they will be increased in population as the sand of the sea. They will turn back to God. Israel will once again be united in one kingdom, and they will have one leader speaking of the Messiah. Even when they are unfaithful and inconsistent God still has a plan for Israel. God is not through with Israel. If God does not keep His promises to Israel we have no reason to expect that He'll keep His promises to us. But the fact is that God is a faithful God who cannot lie, and He is not done with Israel. She is the wife of Jehovah and He is committed to her in spite of her unfaithfulness, and He will draw her back to Himself. The threefold judgment of God in this chapter is reversed in these last two verses. They would be scattered, but the Lord says that the sons of Israel and Judah will be gathered together. They would not receive the Lords mercy for a time, but He says in these verses that He will once again pour out His abundant mercy on them. And the Lord would call them "Not Mine." but 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 verse is quoted by the apostle Paul in Romans chapter 9 and verse 25 when he is presenting from the Scriptures the present work of God in showing mercy to the Gentiles. In John chapter one we're told that the Lord Jesus came unto His own (the nation of Israel) but His own did not receive Him. "But" we're told "as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become sons of God, to those who believe in His name." We who were once called "Not My people" have been given the right to become "sons of the living God" through faith in Jesus Christ. Both Jew and Gentile now stand on the same ground before God, therefore the same passage may well apply to both. Because the salvation of both Jew and Gentile is on the ground, not of legal works, but of pure grace. 

The reference in verse 10 to the "sand of the sea" carries us back to Gods promise to Abraham in Genesis. God will not forfeit the promises made to the fathers no matter how great the failure of the children. A numberless host of Israel and Judah will one day be brought into blessing into the very land that God promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The Lord has a set time to carry out His promises to Israel, and when that time comes they will return from all the lands where they have been scattered and the two kingdoms shall once again be united under one King, the King of kings and Lord of lords, the once rejected Jesus, the Christ of God. That will be the true day of Jezreel, when the people of God are once again sown, planted in their land never to be uprooted again. Though they have been scattered (Jezreel) They will be sown by God in the land. Though they were shown no mercy (Lo-ruhamah) they will receive mercy. And though they have rejected the Lord as their God and He has declared that they are "Not my people" (Lo-ammi) in that day it will be said to them "You are the sons of the living God." 

The word of God declares in 2 Timothy 2:13 - "If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself." And the prophet also declares in Lamentations 3:22-23 - "The Lord’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, For His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; Great is Thy faithfulness."

The Lord will be faithful to keep His promises to Israel even though they have been unfaithful toward Him. The Lord has not forsaken His people. In Jeremiah chapter 31 the Lord declares to Israel "I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have drawn you with lovingkindness." We go on to read in that chapter "He who scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock."

Jeremiah 31:31-33 - "“Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,” declares the Lord. “But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the Lord, “I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people."