Hos 1:2-9 | KingComments | STEP | The way in which the LORD begins to speak through Hosea is remarkable. The language He uses points to a marriage- and family drama. It is as if God says: ‘I have spoken enough words; now I will speak in a different way. The marriage and the children of Hosea will have a symbolic meaning. If the people still have ears to hear, they will listen to it.’ What must Hosea do? He must marry a wife of whom he is told by the LORD that she will be unfaithful to him. “A wife of harlotry” means a woman branded by harlotry. Children born of that marriage will be “children of harlotry”, that is to say, those children will be branded by harlotry. Because of this, Hosea will understand what God feels about the unfaithfulness of His people Israel. Through the tragedy of his own marriage, he will come to feel something of what the sin of the people is to the heart of God. He will discover what unfaithfulness means for love. Without this experience, his prophecy would have been very different. We, too, may get to know God through our experiences, so that we are better able to express His feelings in certain circumstances. That really will then happen in a different way than if we had not had that experience. That Hosea’s marriage should be a reflection of God’s relationship to His people and vice versa is clear from the reason God gives for the order for this special marriage: “For the land commits flagrant harlotry, forsaking the LORD.” God has a relationship with His people, like Hosea will have with his wife. His marriage should also lead the people to see their unfaithfulness toward the LORD. Thus Hosea is by the circumstances of his own life a practical illustration of what God wants to say. There has been a lot to do about this marriage. Some believe that it was not a real marriage, but that Hosea experienced it only in a vision. Others believe that this marriage should be seen figuratively, as a kind of fable. But there is no reason not to consider it a real marriage. God knows all things in advance. If He finds it necessary, He can announce future events that will take place in a person’s life. For example, He tells Ananias what Paul will have to suffer for Him and what his service will be ( ). He does the same with Hosea. In my opinion there is a lot to say that the wife Hosea takes, hasn’t committed adultery yet when she marries him. After all, she has to portray the attitude of Israel towards God, doesn’t she? When God took His people to be His wife, they were not immediately unfaithful to Him either. He speaks about the early days of His people’s relationship with Him as follows: “I remember concerning you the devotion of your youth, The love of your betrothals, Your following after Me in the wilderness, Through a land not sown” ( ). Hosea is not the only prophet who passes on a message to the people through his marriage. We find this with three other prophets. God speaks to Ezekiel that He will suddenly take away his wife ( ). Ezekiel’s wife is the lust of his eyes. Thus is God’s sanctuary and actually the whole people the lust of His eyes. In the message that God links to this, we read how He will give up His sanctuary and His people to the sword ( ). With the prophet Isaiah, who is married to a prophetess ( ), the message is in the special names he has to give both his children. The LORD tells him to go to Ahaz with his son Shear-jashub ( ). Through the name Shear-jashub, which means ‘a remnant will return’, Isaiah gives his message to Ahaz. This name warns that in case of persistent unfaithfulness, the people as a whole will be taken away into exile and that only ‘a remnant will return’. He had to call the other son Maher-shalal-hash-baz, which means swift booty, speedy prey ( ). Herein lies the prophecy that the land will soon fall prey to the enemy. Another prophet with whom there is something special about marriage is Jeremiah. He is not allowed to marry. Anyone who will ask him why he remains unmarried, he must answer that he does not want to have children because otherwise, through the judgment that God is to bring over Judah, they will fall into the hands of the enemy ( ). The unfaithfulness to be denounced by Hosea in the illustration of his marriage is not an occasional matter. There is not only an unfaithful Israelite here and there, but the whole land “commits flagrant harlotry”, which means that the land has completely surrendered itself to harlotry. It has become a national sin. The unfaithfulness of the people is evidenced by the many idols it possesses and worships. God mentions this harlotry. Because of this the people have turned away from the LORD. It has gone away from behind the LORD and no longer follows Him. The faithlessness in Christianity is called by God in the same way: “You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God?” ( ). Christians who take the world as their norm in their thinking, attitude, and behavior commit spiritual adultery. God and His Word should be the norm for the Christian’s thinking, attitude, and behavior in word and deed. That Christianity focuses on what is common in the world is an abomination in God’s eye. God is a jealous God. He cannot tolerate that those who are connected to Him give their love and attention to what lives in enmity with Him (cf. ). For the Christian, the touchstone of his life can be found at the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. The cross is the place where the Christian has to test all his deeds. In the rejection of Christ the world has shown its true character. Therefore John writes in his first letter that “the whole world lies in [the power of] the evil one” ( ). If the devil succeeds in blurring or taking away this consciousness from Christians, an ever-increasing shift to the standards of the world will take place. He succeeds in this by, among other things, making the cross a badge of honor and thus taking away its defamation. You can pin it on in ‘Christian’ countries or walk with it in a procession through the streets. People will appreciate it, as long as you don’t attach the exclusive meaning it has in the Bible. It is necessary to restore the cross to the place of supreme shame and defamation in our lives. It is the place where, when Christ died, God’s judgment of the world and sin was executed.

‏ Hosea 1:2-9

The Wife of Hosea

The way in which the LORD begins to speak through Hosea is remarkable. The language He uses points to a marriage- and family drama. It is as if God says: ‘I have spoken enough words; now I will speak in a different way. The marriage and the children of Hosea will have a symbolic meaning. If the people still have ears to hear, they will listen to it.’

What must Hosea do? He must marry a wife of whom he is told by the LORD that she will be unfaithful to him. “A wife of harlotry” means a woman branded by harlotry. Children born of that marriage will be “children of harlotry”, that is to say, those children will be branded by harlotry.

Because of this, Hosea will understand what God feels about the unfaithfulness of His people Israel. Through the tragedy of his own marriage, he will come to feel something of what the sin of the people is to the heart of God. He will discover what unfaithfulness means for love. Without this experience, his prophecy would have been very different.

We, too, may get to know God through our experiences, so that we are better able to express His feelings in certain circumstances. That really will then happen in a different way than if we had not had that experience.

That Hosea’s marriage should be a reflection of God’s relationship to His people and vice versa is clear from the reason God gives for the order for this special marriage: “For the land commits flagrant harlotry, forsaking the LORD.” God has a relationship with His people, like Hosea will have with his wife. His marriage should also lead the people to see their unfaithfulness toward the LORD. Thus Hosea is by the circumstances of his own life a practical illustration of what God wants to say.

There has been a lot to do about this marriage. Some believe that it was not a real marriage, but that Hosea experienced it only in a vision. Others believe that this marriage should be seen figuratively, as a kind of fable. But there is no reason not to consider it a real marriage.

God knows all things in advance. If He finds it necessary, He can announce future events that will take place in a person’s life. For example, He tells Ananias what Paul will have to suffer for Him and what his service will be (Acts 9:15-16).

He does the same with Hosea. In my opinion there is a lot to say that the wife Hosea takes, hasn’t committed adultery yet when she marries him. After all, she has to portray the attitude of Israel towards God, doesn’t she? When God took His people to be His wife, they were not immediately unfaithful to Him either. He speaks about the early days of His people’s relationship with Him as follows: “I remember concerning you the devotion of your youth, The love of your betrothals, Your following after Me in the wilderness, Through a land not sown” (Jer 2:2).

Hosea is not the only prophet who passes on a message to the people through his marriage. We find this with three other prophets. God speaks to Ezekiel that He will suddenly take away his wife (Eze 24:16a). Ezekiel’s wife is the lust of his eyes. Thus is God’s sanctuary and actually the whole people the lust of His eyes. In the message that God links to this, we read how He will give up His sanctuary and His people to the sword (Eze 24:17-27).

With the prophet Isaiah, who is married to a prophetess (Isa 8:3), the message is in the special names he has to give both his children. The LORD tells him to go to Ahaz with his son Shear-jashub (Isa 7:3). Through the name Shear-jashub, which means ‘a remnant will return’, Isaiah gives his message to Ahaz. This name warns that in case of persistent unfaithfulness, the people as a whole will be taken away into exile and that only ‘a remnant will return’. He had to call the other son Maher-shalal-hash-baz, which means swift booty, speedy prey (Isa 8:1-3). Herein lies the prophecy that the land will soon fall prey to the enemy.

Another prophet with whom there is something special about marriage is Jeremiah. He is not allowed to marry. Anyone who will ask him why he remains unmarried, he must answer that he does not want to have children because otherwise, through the judgment that God is to bring over Judah, they will fall into the hands of the enemy (Jer 16:2-4).

The unfaithfulness to be denounced by Hosea in the illustration of his marriage is not an occasional matter. There is not only an unfaithful Israelite here and there, but the whole land “commits flagrant harlotry”, which means that the land has completely surrendered itself to harlotry. It has become a national sin. The unfaithfulness of the people is evidenced by the many idols it possesses and worships. God mentions this harlotry. Because of this the people have turned away from the LORD. It has gone away from behind the LORD and no longer follows Him.

The faithlessness in Christianity is called by God in the same way: “You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God?” (Jam 4:4). Christians who take the world as their norm in their thinking, attitude, and behavior commit spiritual adultery. God and His Word should be the norm for the Christian’s thinking, attitude, and behavior in word and deed. That Christianity focuses on what is common in the world is an abomination in God’s eye. God is a jealous God. He cannot tolerate that those who are connected to Him give their love and attention to what lives in enmity with Him (cf. 2Cor 11:2-3).

For the Christian, the touchstone of his life can be found at the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. The cross is the place where the Christian has to test all his deeds. In the rejection of Christ the world has shown its true character. Therefore John writes in his first letter that “the whole world lies in [the power of] the evil one” (1Jn 5:19).

If the devil succeeds in blurring or taking away this consciousness from Christians, an ever-increasing shift to the standards of the world will take place. He succeeds in this by, among other things, making the cross a badge of honor and thus taking away its defamation. You can pin it on in ‘Christian’ countries or walk with it in a procession through the streets. People will appreciate it, as long as you don’t attach the exclusive meaning it has in the Bible. It is necessary to restore the cross to the place of supreme shame and defamation in our lives. It is the place where, when Christ died, God’s judgment of the world and sin was executed.

Gomer and Hosea’s First Son

Hosea does what God has ordered him to do. It is not clear if he has functioned as a prophet before and therefore the people already know him as such. It does not seem so, because it is said of his marriage that this is what “the LORD first spoke through Hosea” (Hos 1:2). Therefore, his marriage will have been nothing sensational at first.

The first child to be born does not seem to be an extramarital child. It says that “she conceived and bore him a son”. We do not read that of the next children Gomer will have. They were conceived by an act of adultery. Then the tales came. Hosea is a man with exactly the same feelings that every man has for his wife. There is no reason to think that he would not have loved her. He married her because he loves her. But would not he have waited with fear for the moment when she will tell him that she is pregnant by another man?

The First Child of Hosea: Jezreel

The first child of Hosea is a son. He gets the order to call him “Jezreel”. This is not without reason. The meaning of that name implies a message. What has been said of the children of Isaiah can also be said of the children of Hosea (Isa 8:18). The name Jezreel, in connection with the name Jehu, refers to the city where Jehu exterminated the house of Ahab. He was commanded to do so by God (2Kgs 9:7-10). This history is here recalled by God as something for which retribution must take place. How is that?

Jehu has acted by order of God. God has given His approval after Jehu has carried out his commission. There is even a reward attached to it (2Kgs 10:30). Yet here his actions are rejected and God speaks of a bloodshed, for which the house of Jehu will be punished. And not only that, because with the judgment on Jehu and his house the judgment on the whole kingship is pronounced. Israel will cease to be an independent kingdom. What follows after the reign of Jeroboam II are only the convulsions of a doomed empire.

The name ‘Jezreel’ speaks of the judgment that God is going to make. Jezreel means ‘God will scatter’ or ‘God will sow’. This name, Jezreel, indicates the imminent end of Israel. The people will be scattered among the nations because of their harlotry.

This must have sounded hard to their ears, but they will probably have laughed at it too. After all, they are experiencing a time of prosperity, aren’t they? But the laughter will disappear when, in the year 722 BC, the Assyrians deport Israel from its land and, as the Assyrians are used to, scatter the captured Israelites, as it were, over several other countries. In doing so, the enemy eliminated the danger of regrouping and Israel’s strength is broken.

But now the question remains as to what Jehu’s bloodshed consists of. The solution to this problem is probably as follows. Although Jehu has done God’s will, he sins by killing more people than God has said. He killed Ahaziah, the king of Judah, and his forty-two brothers, and God did not command him to do so (2Kgs 9:27 ; 2Kgs 10:14). In God’s public reign, Jehu receives His approval and reward for what he has done. But Jehu’s hidden deliberations while fulfilling his commission are not pure. Here God shows how He really thinks about it: Jehu has shown himself to be ambitious and cruel.

Nothing that man himself brings into the work of God is hidden from Him. What is man’s own will be judged righteously by God, especially where it happens under His great name ‘LORD’. Jehu is rejected for what he has done more than God had commanded him to do.

It is also remarkable that it is already about eighty years ago that Jehu committed these murders. But God forgets nothing. In the same way, God comes back many years later to something Saul had done and for which no satisfaction has yet taken place (2Sam 21:1). With God, crime never expires. He will at some point confront everyone with acts for which no atonement has been made. There is only one way to escape God’s retribution and that is sincere confession. Then an appeal can be made to the work that Jesus Christ accomplished on the cross of Calvary. There He brought about the reconciliation with the holy and just God for the repentant sinner.

The Bow of Israel Will Be Broken

A bow is a symbol of strength and an important weapon in warfare. A broken bow speaks of the loss of that power. As in Hos 1:7, where it is said concealed from Judah, here too we find the thought that Israel relies on its own strength in battle.

The valley of Jezreel is a plain where many wars have been fought and where soon the great final battle will take place. The valley is then known as Har-Magedon (Rev 16:13-16). There the Lord Jesus appears (Rev 17:14) and destroys the hostile armies.

The Second Child of Hosea: Lo-ruhamah

Maybe Hosea has not been home regularly because of his work as a prophet. Practice shows that such a situation can tempt some women to seek their ‘happiness’ with other men. Marriage infidelity is not only found in cases where a man is swallowed up by his busy social activities. Also in marriages of busy pastors in Christianity, marital infidelity is unfortunately not an unknown sin. And certainly not only on the part of women.

There is no reason to assume that Hosea has not been good for his wife. On the contrary, if his marriage should symbolically represent the relationship between God and His people, it is very likely that he has done everything to prove to her that he loves her very much. In spite of that, she becomes unfaithful to him.

Many women have found reason in their husband’s behavior to become unfaithful to him. Although the behavior of men can sometimes be criticized a lot, it can never find any justification for a woman’s infidelity. She will therefore have to confess her act of infidelity as a sin. But the man will also have to confess his sins, in which his wife has found a reason to be unfaithful to him. In this way it is possible to work towards the restoration of the broken relationship.

In the opposite case, the unfaithfulness of the man, of course, the same applies. More often there is not even a clear misbehavior on the side of the woman. Women whose husbands commit adultery generally feel guilty. They wonder in despair how they could have prevented it. But it is often the man who opens himself up to other women, even in spite of the fact that he has a good marriage relationship with his own wife.

The cause of this lies in the lust of the man that he does not control. The Lord Jesus does not address the man for no reason, when He says: “But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Mt 5:28). He indicates in the following verse that this lust must be put to an end.

Be radical. Turn away when you see something that can cause lust to arise. Out with that DVD, that book, throw away that stuff that contains things that pollute your mind. Don’t be tempted to visit pornographic sites on the Internet. Everything, even the most pernicious sin, is literally within reach these days: with a single movement of your finger, a push of the (mouse) button, you can see the world and all its attractiveness and perversion.

If there is a temptation here for the reader, answer this temptation with the words of the Lord Jesus: “Go, Satan! For it is written, ‘YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD, AND SERVE HIM ONLY’” (Mt 4:10).

After a son, Hosea’s wife now has a daughter. This will certainly be meant to indicate that Israel consists of sons and daughters (cf. Hos 2:1). This child was conceived by Gomer in an extramarital relationship. Gomer has become unfaithful to Hosea. What it says in Hos 1:3, that Gomer bore “him”, which refers to Hosea, a son, is not in this verse. Yet the child is attributed to Hosea. He gets the responsibility for it. The LORD commands him to give the child the name “Lo-ruhamah”, which means ’no compassion’.

People have probably heard that Hosea’s wife has become unfaithful to him and that this child does not belong to Hosea. What will they have talked about, as happens in our time when something like this becomes known. Stories of unfaithfulness fill whole gossip magazines and how it is loved. These kinds of magazines are quite popular, which proves that people like to read them. But readers are blind to their own unfaithfulness. Those who like to hear or read such stories are morally numb and have no feeling for the sinfulness that is present in their own hearts. Talking about the sins of others is simply ‘delicious’.

The talk will have gone through the city like wildfire and will have been intensified along the way. This is how it usually goes with the ‘passing on’ of such events. But Hosea can respond to that and say: ‘As my wife is, so are all of you!’ His preaching must touch consciences and place them in God’s light. They need to see that they are doing exactly the same things that they are accusing others of (Rom 2:1), even if those accusations are sometimes justified.

The same goes for the Pharisees who bring an adulteress to the Lord Jesus (Jn 8:3-11). They want to see what He will do with this case. Certainly, she has committed adultery and the evidence is indisputable. She has been caught red-handed. If He condemns her, He cannot be the Savior. Then He is only a Law Enforcer and so are they. If He acquits her, then He cannot come from God, because then He does not do justice to God’s law. What does the Lord Jesus do? By asking a question he makes it clear that the sin of which they accuse the woman is present in their own hearts: “He who is without sin among you, let him [be the] first to throw a stone at her” (Jn 8:7). When He has said this, they go away. “They [began] to go out one by one, beginning with the older ones” (Jn 8:9).

Look, that is what we also have to learn. How quickly we talk about the sins of others while forgetting how we ourselves are. It is not a matter of condoning sin, but of recognizing it in ourselves first of all. How many Christians watch dirty programs night after night or consciously look for porn on the internet, while easily saying something about the unfaithfulness of others?

Hosea could have said: ‘Entering into this marriage has been the mistake of my life. Look, what a misery I have been through, what a disgrace for the children.’ He could also have blamed God, just like Adam: “The woman whom You gave [to be] with me” (Gen 3:12). He doesn’t do that. When he writes these words, it is as if he looks back and says: ‘This is how God has led me.’

This view gives him the power to keep loving her and not become unfaithful himself. Even if she runs away from him, he remains faithful to her. She even comes back to him, as we will see in Hosea 3. In this way Hosea also experiences God’s faithfulness towards His people. Even though He has to reject Israel because of unfaithfulness, it is not forever. There will come a time when He will accept His people again.

In this time, in which so much is being done from the point of view of feeling, it is good to also point out this attitude of Hosea. You sometimes hear: ‘We should break up, because I don’t feel anything for her anymore’, or: ‘We don’t feel anything for each other anymore.’ As if the absence of certain feelings could be a valid reason to dissolve a marriage. Who thinks of such a thing? It only comes from Satan’s quiver of lies.

The command for men is: “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her” (Eph 5:25). It is clear, isn’t it? No more talk like ‘feel nothing for’ or ‘you should be in my shoes’. Just do it.

The only strength for the best and most difficult marriage lies in the example of the Lord Jesus. He loves the church. He loves her when she is completely devoted to Him in the very beginning of her existence on earth. He also loves her now that she is so unfaithful to Him towards the end of her presence on earth. That love can be seen perfectly on the cross. There He died out of love for His church, His heavenly bride, to acquire her for Himself to be His wife forever.

When Hosea hears the remarks about his unfaithful wife, he points to the name he had to give this child. This name is telling. Once again it must have sounded hard to his people’s ears and possibly they laughed again. But God will stop proving His compassion to them. If God withdraws His compassion, it is a terrible thing. He must, however, let Israel feel the effect if He no longer has compassion for them. A child without compassion is doomed to die or to become a monster. A human being or a people cannot do without compassion. For His people then, Israel, and for His people now, the church, compassion is the basis of their existence. If God can no longer prove His compassion, it means the end.

For God it is a terrible thing that He has to act this way. David says of him: “Just as a father has compassion on [his] children, So the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him” (Psa 103:13). And has not Israel experienced such compassion recently? Only a few years ago, at the time of the reign of Joash, the father of Jeroboam, they experienced it: “But the LORD was gracious to them and had compassion on them and turned to them” (2Kgs 13:23). And even more recently, under Jeroboam’s reign, the LORD saw “the affliction of Israel, [which was] very bitter; for there was neither bond nor free, nor was there any helper for Israel”. And then we read: “But He saved them” (2Kgs 14:26-27).

God makes Himself known as a God who takes care of people in need. This is how we also get to know God in the history of Job: “You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome of the Lord’s dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and [is] merciful” (Jam 5:11).

There is no greater encouragement to love and serve God than after we have experienced compassion. In Romans 12, Christians are addressed as people who know God’s mercy. In Romans 1-8 those mercies or compassions are broadly measured. In Romans 9-11 they are shown to Israel. It is not surprising, therefore, that Paul immediately follows this up by saying: “Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, [which is] your spiritual service of worship” (Rom 12:1). Because of all that God has done for us in Christ, He may expect us to serve Him with all that we are and have.

It is a great ingratitude when we answer God’s compassion with unfaithfulness, doing our own will, and following our own lusts. If we consistently ignore His compassion, if we pretend that it means nothing, the moment will come when He can no longer make us feel His compassion. Soon that moment will come for Israel. It will happen that He will “forgive them”, which means that He no longer forgives them.

His compassion is, in fact, most evident in the forgiveness He grants. When God no longer forgives, because there is no more repentance among His people, the people sink further and further into their sins. Then He has to execute the final judgment. This will happen when the ten tribes are deported out of their land. This is the judgment that awaits the people.

A Word About Judah

If God must go so far as to deny Israel his compassion, He attaches to this a message for Judah. Although Hosea mainly addresses Israel, the ten tribes kingdom, he also occasionally says something about Judah. That does not mean that Israel does not have to listen then. The saying also contains a message for them.

When we read in God’s Word, He speaks – as the Lord Jesus does in the Gospels – to a whole people, a group of people or just one person. We know we are addressed, because what applies to those who are directly addressed, also applies to us. We must always ask ourselves what the message that is spoken to the other person means to us. The reason for what God or the Lord Jesus notices can be a certain behavior. If we recognize such behavior in ourselves, we would do well to listen carefully to the Word of God.

If Israel as a whole can no longer escape judgment, the word that is said to Judah can still mean a way out for the few in Israel who bow under God’s judgment. Whoever resorts to Judah can still count on the compassion of God. Even today, where the judgment of Christianity as a whole is inescapable, there is such an escape route. That escape route is separation from evil with the promise of the compassion of God (2Cor 6:17-18).

For Judah, this word is a great encouragement. Here the LORD calls Himself “their God”. He is still in connection with them. They will experience His compassion in the salvation He will give (2Kgs 19:35). God has allowed the king of Assyria to deport the ten tribes. In his audacity this king also wants to conquer the kingdom of the two tribes. He has approached Jerusalem and besieged it. But God does not allow him to take His city (2Kgs 19:33-36).

The salvation does not come by his own strength and effort or by following a cleverly conceived tactic. There is no clattering of Judah’s arms. It is a salvation that has clearly only been brought about “by the LORD their God”, without the use of any human being. That salvation has come about because of Who God is in Himself, “for my sake”, and because of who David is, His chosen servant, “for David’s sake, My servant” (2Kgs 19:34). In David we see a picture of the Lord Jesus, the true Servant of God. Salvation, every salvation, is based on pure grace from God which He can show because of Who the Lord Jesus is for Him and what He did on the cross.

The Third Child of Hosea: Lo-ammi

Lo-ruhamah is barely weaned or Gomer is back on the bad path. She is quick in her unfaithfulness, the result of which quickly shows itself again. How deeply Hosea must be grieved by this renewed unfaithfulness. Would not he have hoped that, after her first adulterous act, she would now remain faithful to him? Since she must have seen how he cares for her and the children, should not she have been won over by his love? No, as soon as she no longer feels any responsibility for the child she birthed, she goes down the bad path again. In spite of all the love Hosea has proven to her after she has returned to him, she gets pregnant by another man.

But even now, when she comes back for the second time, pregnant again by another man, he lets her in again. Again he takes her in, with her illegitimate child. Again Hosea is commanded by the LORD to give this child a name. Again in that name the judgment of God on His people is expressed.

Again there will have been a lot of gossip about the unfaithfulness of Gomer. And again Hosea has taken the opportunity to announce God’s judgment over the people because of their unfaithfulness, because of the meaning of the name of the child. While in the previous name there is only talk of God withdrawing His compassion from His people, in the name he is to give to this third child, the definitive break between God and His people is indicated. “Lo-ammi” means ’not My people’. Every bond between God and His people is broken.

Giving up His connection with Israel is an even harder blow than not loving anymore. God is withdrawing. There is no more open acknowledgment that Israel is His people. He will act with them as described in the book of Esther. The Name of God is not mentioned in that book. Yet behind the scenes God is making sure that His people are not exterminated to the last man. In His providence – that is, not openly, but in a hidden way – He remains busy for Israel until today. He will continue to do so until the day of Israel’s restoration. That restoration is the subject of the following verse.