Hos 2:23 | KingComments | STEP | God has come to His purpose. He has returned His people to His heart and to His land. The people sown by and for Him will enjoy full blessing in fellowship with Him. In that time, the time of the kingdom of peace, the situation which Hosea had to express in his days in the names of his children ( ), will be totally reversed. The phrase ‘God scatters’, the one meaning of ‘Jezreel’, in which His judgment is expressed, is changed into ‘God sows’, the other meaning of ‘Jezreel’. This is how God’s blessing is expressed. The fact that God speaks here of sowing, in addition to the blessing for the seed, also makes us think of multiplying, increasing in number. The people will enjoy the blessing, but will also become very numerous and be spread abroad ( ). Paul quotes this verse in his letter to the Romans ( ). In Romans 9 he also quotes Hosea 1:10, as we have seen ( ; ). That quote serves to show that God’s grace cannot be limited to the Jew. Quoting of Hosea 2 serves another purpose. This verse makes it clear that although grace is shown to Jew and Gentile without distinction, a separate blessing remains for the Jew. That blessing is: restoration in the land. Peter also refers to this verse in his first letter. He highlights yet another aspect. From his letter it appears that he writes to converted Jews who are “scattered” ( ). He writes to them: “For you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy” ( ). With this Peter refers to here. With this he wants to make it clear that the believing Jews to whom he writes are already in the relationship with God that the whole people will only have in the future. As Jews by nature, the judgment that God revealed in Hosea rests upon them. As converted Jews, they have already been accepted as God’s people and have already received His mercy. It is also true that through their faith in the Lord Jesus they have joined the church, but that fact is not mentioned here by Peter. It is for him to show his Jewish brethren what they have received from God through faith in the Messiah. As we have already seen with the name ‘Jezreel’, here also the other names mentioned in Hosea 1, “Lo-ruhamah” and “Lo-ammi”, are changed for the better by God’s grace. In Hosea 1 they mean judgment. Here they get a positive meaning, reminiscent of mercy and blessing. God takes care of Lo-ruhamah, which means ‘no compassion’. To Lo-ammi, which means ‘not My people’, He says: “You are My people.” With so much goodness, the people can only cry out: “My God.” In doing so, they express all the feelings of gratitude, admiration and praise that fill their hearts. This is reminiscent of what we read of Thomas. Thomas is a picture of the remnant, which only comes to faith when it sees the risen Lord. But when Thomas sees Him, he says, filled with reverence and awe: “My Lord and my God!” ( ).

‏ Hosea 2:23

You Are My People

God has come to His purpose. He has returned His people to His heart and to His land. The people sown by and for Him will enjoy full blessing in fellowship with Him. In that time, the time of the kingdom of peace, the situation which Hosea had to express in his days in the names of his children (Hos 1:4 ; 6 ; 9), will be totally reversed. The phrase ‘God scatters’, the one meaning of ‘Jezreel’, in which His judgment is expressed, is changed into ‘God sows’, the other meaning of ‘Jezreel’. This is how God’s blessing is expressed. The fact that God speaks here of sowing, in addition to the blessing for the seed, also makes us think of multiplying, increasing in number. The people will enjoy the blessing, but will also become very numerous and be spread abroad (Isa 54:3).

Paul quotes this verse in his letter to the Romans (Rom 9:25). In Romans 9 he also quotes Hosea 1:10, as we have seen (Hos 1:10; Rom 9:26). That quote serves to show that God’s grace cannot be limited to the Jew. Quoting Hos 2:23 of Hosea 2 serves another purpose. This verse makes it clear that although grace is shown to Jew and Gentile without distinction, a separate blessing remains for the Jew. That blessing is: restoration in the land.

Peter also refers to this verse in his first letter. He highlights yet another aspect. From his letter it appears that he writes to converted Jews who are “scattered” (1Pet 1:1). He writes to them: “For you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy” (1Pet 2:10). With this Peter refers to Hos 2:23 here. With this he wants to make it clear that the believing Jews to whom he writes are already in the relationship with God that the whole people will only have in the future.

As Jews by nature, the judgment that God revealed in Hosea rests upon them. As converted Jews, they have already been accepted as God’s people and have already received His mercy. It is also true that through their faith in the Lord Jesus they have joined the church, but that fact is not mentioned here by Peter. It is for him to show his Jewish brethren what they have received from God through faith in the Messiah.

As we have already seen with the name ‘Jezreel’, here also the other names mentioned in Hosea 1, “Lo-ruhamah” and “Lo-ammi”, are changed for the better by God’s grace. In Hosea 1 they mean judgment. Here they get a positive meaning, reminiscent of mercy and blessing. God takes care of Lo-ruhamah, which means ‘no compassion’. To Lo-ammi, which means ‘not My people’, He says: “You are My people.”

With so much goodness, the people can only cry out: “My God.” In doing so, they express all the feelings of gratitude, admiration and praise that fill their hearts. This is reminiscent of what we read of Thomas. Thomas is a picture of the remnant, which only comes to faith when it sees the risen Lord. But when Thomas sees Him, he says, filled with reverence and awe: “My Lord and my God!” (Jn 20:28).