seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Hosea 1:1
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[a] 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.
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.[b]
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.[c]
a. Hosea 1:1 Hebrew Joash, a variant of Jehoash
b. Hosea 1:9 Or your I am
c. Hosea 1:11 In Hebrew texts 1:10,11 is numbered 2:1,2
There's a time warp here..... I'm no longer in the End Times.... I'm back in Judah which is separated from Israel.... the Temple is still in tact.... the people like Daniel haven't been born yet. OK.... shifting gears.... this is from the easy English site.
Hosea wrote in the middle of the eighth century BC (Before Christ). He gave most of his messages to Israel, the country in the north. But some of the messages were for Judah, the country in the south. The book has many curses and blessings, but there are many more curses than blessings. If we want to understand this book, we need to understand the covenant at Sinai. The curses and blessings of Hosea are connected to this *ovenant. Hosea’s job was to tell his people that there was danger. God was going to make sure that Israel kept his covenant. Hosea said that God was going to punish his people. It is the same message that many of the prophets gave before the exile. In most of the book, Hosea says that Israel will have death and illness. He also says that another nation will destroy Israel and take them away. When these things have happened, God will be able to bless Israel again. It is important that we understand what these promises mean. Israel will not be able to avoid God’s anger. Israel has broken the covenant and so the curses are going to happen soon.
Only a few people in Israel were loyal to God at this time. More people in Judah were loyal to God. Israel was a strong and rich country. The people of Israel were good at fighting wars. Because of this, people from Israel met people from other countries. This meant that Israel knew about other peoples’ gods. They forgot the commandments of Sinai. In the past, there was a group of kings that started with Jehu in 842 BC. This group of kings ended with the death of Jeroboam 2nd (793 - 753 BC). But, after he died, there were six more kings in Israel. It was a difficult time. Other leaders in the country killed these kings. Also, there was a war between Assyria and Israel. In 734 BC, Israel became a much smaller country. This was the beginning of the end for Israel. Then, in 722 BC, Assyria destroyed Israel.
We are not sure where Hosea gave his messages. Maybe it was in Samaria and Bethel. None of the messages has dates. Hosea might have known Amos, who was older than he was. Amos also wrote messages to Israel. We do not know if Hosea spoke his messages to people. The message of 5:1-7 suggests that he did. We know very little about Hosea and his family. Hosea tells us very few things about himself. Chapters 1-3 have been a puzzle to people for a long time. The word ‘prostitute’ in 1:2 can mean several things. It might mean:
an ordinary prostitute.
a holy prostitute who worked in the temple.
a woman who dressed like a prostitute.
a person who came from a nation that had no morals.
a northern Israelite.
a woman who was born to parents who were not married to each other.
a woman who was only sometimes a prostitute.
It seems most likely that she was an ordinary prostitute. After her marriage, Gomer was probably loyal to Hosea at first. This was while the three children were young. Later she left Hosea for another man (3:1). God told Hosea to marry a prostitute so that his life would be a type of parable. This parable would say something about the relations between God and the nation of Israel.
Everything in the book of Hosea is a message from God. God had the message in his mind before he gave it. Hosea did not give his own thoughts. He repeated the message that God had for Israel. The name ‘Hosea’ is like ‘Joshua’. It means ‘God is our Saviour’.
The book has dates that give the kings of Judah. Some people may ask why it does. The book only mentions one king (Jeroboam) from Israel. This is because the message is to both Israel and Judah. The end of Israel is near, but soon the end will come to Judah too. It is possible that 1:2-9 describes things that happened to Hosea at the beginning of his work as a prophet. It would take five or six years for all the things that are in these verses to happen.
God told Hosea to marry a woman. He knew that she would become a prostitute. Then his experiences would become a parable that he would act out in his life. This is because the worship of idols is like going to a prostitute. The woman gave birth to three children. Perhaps the marriage was between 752 and 750 BC. This was before Jeroboam 2nd died between 747 and 745 BC.
The names of the children each have a special meaning. They are a way for God to speak to Israel. The names show that another nation will destroy the people of Israel. Hosea does not have any choice about his marriage. Later, Hosea uses the word ‘prostitutes’ in 4:12 and 5:4. He means that Israel behaves like a prostitute. Gomer’s children are part of a bad nation. Hosea does not suggest that Gomer gave birth to the children before she married Hosea. Jezreel, who was born first, was Hosea’s son. But it is possible that Hosea was not the father of the next two children. We cannot be sure because the book does not mention him as the father.
The name Lo-Ruhamah means ‘Not Pitied’ or ‘Not Loved’. God will no longer care about the needs of his people even if they depend on God for everything. Israel’s enemies will defeat her. But God will have mercy on Judah because they were more true to him.
The name Lo-Ammi means ‘Not My people’. God says that his covenant with Israel is over. In the future, he will destroy Israel.
The name Jezreel means ‘God sows’. Perhaps the name was to make people remember an event in the past. This was when Jehu killed the group of Omri kings at Jezreel. The Jehu group of kings ended with the death of Zechariah in 752 BC. This showed that God would bring an end to Israel too. The name Lo-Ammi shows that there is no mistake about what God thinks about Israel.
It was God who gave these names to Gomer’s children. These names will show what will happen to Judah and Israel in the future. God controls the direction of both Judah and Israel. This is because they are his people. The nation of Israel ended because God gave a judgement on the people. This was because of their sin. Hosea explains this again later in the book. But God will have mercy on Judah because they were still God’s covenant people.
Wow..... Ok... this is from Bible.org."during the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, Kings of Judah" It seems rather unusual that a prophet from the Northern Kingdom would list the Judean kings in such detail. This list of kings covers a long period of time.
This list of Judean kings is identical to the introduction to Isaiah, therefore, many scholars have asserted that Hosea is trying to show that he is a contemporary of this southern prophet. Also it possibly shows that (1) Hosea was against the division of the kingdoms and saw Judah as the only legitimate covenant hope or (2) this verse was added by later Judean scribes. With so many theories it is obvious that moderns do not know!
The term "harlotry" (BDB 276, KB 275) is PLURAL, which can convey (1) intensity or (2) repitition in Hebrew. It seems to refer to either a cultic prostitute (cf. 4:14; NET Bible) or probably a typical woman of his day who, because of the cultural climate of Ba'alism, was involved in promiscuous activities (at least initial sexual union with priest to ensure fertility) and, therefore, was considered (biblically) to be a harlot. This has caused much discussion among commentators:
1. Origen said that nothing unworthy of God should be taken literally, but must be spiritualized /allegorized (followed Philo).
2. Jerome and Iben Ezra (many rabbis) interpret this as a vision.
3. Calvin and E. J. Young interpret this as an allegory.
4. Martin Luther interprets this as Gomer being a faithful wife and they only acted out this drama to convey the message.
5. Wellhausen says that she became promiscuous after marriage. (KB lists one meaning as "inclined to fornicate").
OK.... this happened back way way way way before Daniel, Jeremiah or Ezekiel. This is way way way back..... is about 500 years before those guys.... so now.... now I'm trying to get all the people in these chapters of Old Testament sorted out and then I get a time warp??? OK then.....
I think this is how it goes. God rescued the people from slavery in Egypt and brought them to Canaan.... along the way... they were near the mountain at Sinai. That's where God met with Moses and gave him the 10 Commandments. It was about this time that the people agreed to accept God as their one and only God. This agreement is known as the covenant at Sinai. Then Israel split in two..... Israel was in the north and Judah was in the south. Jerusalem and the Temple were in the south. The people of Israel had to leave Israel [work and production would stop] and go to Judah for all the religious ceremonies. So.... the king of Israel.... to keep work and production up and keep the money flowing..... built two "convenient" temples in Israel. That way his people could still worship and productivity wouldn't suffer so badly.
It wasn't long before the people in the fake temples started to "upgrade" the service..... idol worship crept in and then they started having orgies in the church.... claiming they were to increase fertility.
I think Gomer was one of those temple whores. God told Hosea to marry a temple whore. Just like the descendants of Jacob [whom God renamed Israel] had turned into temple whores.
Last edited: