1 Hosea, to shew God’s judgment for spiritual whoredom, taketh Gomer, and 4 and hath by her Jezreel, 6 Lo-ruhamah, 8 and Lo-ammi. 10 The restoration of Judah and Israel.
Hos 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 king of Israel:
The word of the Lord. See on Jer. 46:1. With a directness characteristic of the prophets, Hosea declares that the message he bears is not of human invention but of divine inspiration (see 2 Tim. 3:16; 2 Peter 1:20, 21).
Hos 1:2 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.”
The personal family experience of Hosea was made the basis of important religious instruction and appeal.
Hos 1:3 So he married Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.
Gomer. Probably meaning “completion.” No satisfactory explanation has been found regarding the significance of this name. This adds weight to the belief that Gomer was the historical name of a literal character. The same may be said concerning the name Diblaim.
Hos 1:4 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.
Jezreel. The meaning of the Hebrew name is “God will sow,” or “God will scatter.” Some have pointed out the play on ideas in the Hebrew name itself. Because anciently seed was scattered in the process of sowing, the word “to scatter” came also to have the meaning “to sow,” or “to plant.”
The first meaning of the name Jezreel applied to the time of Gomer’s unfaithfulness, because of which Hosea “scattered,” or hindered, her, that is, hedged her up and restricted her privileges. Later, when she repented, Hosea “planted” her, that is, he restored her to her former status and privileges (see on ch. 2:22).
Also there is a typical Hebrew play on words in the contrast of the word Jezreel with the word Israel: the latter has reference to prevailing with God for salvation (see on Gen. 32:28), the former, as used here, is a reference to being scattered by God unto destruction. The names of the prophet’s three children are significant, pointing as they do to God’s punishment of His people for their sins.
Punish. Literally, “visit”; here used in the sense of administering punishment (see on Ps. 8:4;59:5). Blood of Jezreel.
At the command of God, Jehu had exterminated the whole house of Ahab in the city of Jezreel (2 Kings 9:6, 7; 10:17). Why, then, should Jehu’s action be avenged? Very likely because his motive in destroying the dynasty of Ahab was sinful.
To destroy the house of Ahab fitted into Jehu’s selfish desire to obtain the kingdom. God’s purpose in exterminating the house of Ahab was to blot out completely the idolatry so generally provoked by Ahab and Jezreel. Although Jehu ended the worship of Baal, he still retained the worship of Jeroboam’s calves (see 2 Kings 10:21–31).
This half fulfillment of the divine command revealed a divided heart, and so brought upon Jehu the greater condemnation, since it nullified the divine objective. He placed his own purposes before those of God, and so the sentence was pronounced upon him, “I will avenge.” A man may be employed by God to accomplish a divine purpose and yet be rejected if his heart is not right.
House of Jehu. Jehu’s son (Jehoahaz), his grandson (Jehoash or Joash), and his great grandson (Jeroboam II) followed him on Israel’s throne; then Shallum slew the son of Jeroboam II, Zachariah, ending this royal line (2 Kings 15:8–12). Thus was fulfilled both Hosea’s prophecy and the previous word of the Lord unto Jehu (see on 2 Kings 10:30). Cause to cease. This follows because the event that ended the house of Je9hu, the assassination of Zachariah, began the period of political confusion that quickly ushered in the downfall of the northern kingdom
The pronounced secular prosperity of the nation under Jeroboam II was not an evidence of divine favor. The ultimate result of disobedience was the same then as now—destruction.
Hos 1:5 In that day I will break Israel’s bow in the Valley of Jezreel.
When the northern kingdom would be destroyed.
Break Israel’s bow. That is, destroy the military might of Israel.
Valley of Jezreel. The punishment upon the nation was depicted as taking place in the same region where Jehu slew the family of Ahab (see 2 Kings 9:15–37). For the meaning of the word “Jezreel” see on Hosea 1:4.
Hos 1:6 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.
Conceive a daughter. Some have found it significant that the record does not state, bare “him” a child, as was stated concerning Jezreel (see v. 3). This fact has led them to conclude that Lo-ruhamah was not a child of Hosea, but was born as a result of the adultery of Gomer.
This view is strengthened if ch. 2 is taken to be the actual experience of the prophet with his wife, Gomer (see on ch. 2:4). Lo-rohamah. Heb. Lo’ruchamah, “not pitied,” or “not having received compassion.” Paul, referring to the prophecy of Hosea, apparently interprets the phrase as meaning “not beloved” (Rom. 9:25), and Peter, doubtless referring to the same general passage, speaks of a people that “had not obtained mercy” (1 Peter 2:10).
The nation of Israel was at the place where a God of love could no longer have compassion upon it (see Gen. 6:3).
The LXX reads, “surely set me in array against them.” This is evidently a reference to the soon-coming Assyrian captivity.
Hos 1:7 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.”
But I will have them. The spiritual condition of the southern kingdom, “the house of Judah,” was much better than that of the northern kingdom. Although there was a spiritual decline in Judah, the nation still held, in some measure, to the worship of God, to the Law, to the Temple services and to the sacrifices that pointed forward to the “Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).
This called forth divine compassion upon the southern kingdom in reproachful contrast with that denied the kingdom of Israel. Will save them. God did save Judah from the fate suffered by Samaria in 723/722; he saved them later from Sennacherib by slaying the 185,000 in the Assyrian camp (2 Kings 19:35, 36; Isa. 37:36, 37).
Will not save them by bow. Judah, though tainted with idolatry, did to a considerable degree maintain its devotion and trust in God rather than in military strength as did Israel. The detailed mention of armed forces here strikingly emphasizes the truth that when God delivers His people He does not need bow or sword, horses or horsemen, to gain the victory; and that these, when used, cannot save without Him (see Ps. 20:7; Isa. 31:1).
Hos 1:8 After she had weaned Lo-Ruhamah, Gomer had another son.
Again there is no positive statement that the prophet is the father of this child (see on v. 6).
Hos 1:9 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.
Lo-ammi. Heb. Lo’ ‘ammi, “not my people.” Some see in this name a final recognition by Hosea of the adultery of Gomer; that is, the prophet is saying that the child is not of his family. In any event, the name given to the child was symbolic of God’s relationship to the northern kingdom of Israel.
You are not my people.
In this strong fashion God indicates His rejection of Israel as a nation because of their sins, the severance of His covenant relation with them.
Hos 1:10 “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.
Mingled with the prophecy of the breakup of the kingdom of Israel (v. 4) is the promise of restoration. Note the resemblance here to the promise given to Abraham (Gen. 22:17), and to that given to Jacob (Gen. 32:12). The promised restoration would not be to the ten tribes as such, but to Israel and Judah together (see on v. 11).
However, the children of Israel did not live up to the glorious destiny that the Lord had planned for them (see pp. 30–32). The apostle Paul shows how this prophecy will be fulfilled with respect to the Gentiles (Rom. 9:25, 26; see pp. 35, 36).
Children of the living God. This promise now meets its fulfillment in the Christian church. Through the acceptance by faith of the gospel we, whether Jews or Gentiles, are adopted as individuals into the family of God (Rom. 9:24–26), and so become heirs of eternal life (see John 1:11, 12; Rom. 8:14–17; Gal. 3:26, 29; Rev. 21:7; cf. Paul’s illustration of the grafting into the fig tree of true Israel, Rom. 11).
It was based on the covenant relationship that God acknowledged Israel as His “people.” The name Lo’ ‘ammi thus implied an annulment of the covenant, and the statement, “Ye are the sons of the living God,” its restoration.
Hos 1:11 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.
Judah and Israel are spoken of together to indicate that God’s plan for His chosen people was that they should be united in one nation. Later prophets emphasized this same truth (see Jer. 3:18; 50:4, 5, 33; Eze. 37:16–22; etc.).
Representatives from the tribes of Israel were among the exiles who returned after the captivity of Judah (see on Ezra 6:17).
Come up out of the land.
Evidently a reference to the return from the Assyrian and Babylonian captivity.
Jezreel. Whereas in v. 4 Hosea uses the name “Jezreel” to represent the scattering of the people, here (as in ch. 2:22, 23) the prophet employs “Jezreel” to express the sowing of God’s love and mercy toward His people. This chapter stresses the truth that “God is not mocked” (Gal. 6:7). If we disobey Him, we cannot expect to escape the penalty for our transgressions.
Hosea’s three children, representing the apostate children of Israel, declare by their names the successively severer punishments for this apostasy. However, divine mercy is here pictured as strongly as is divine judgment. God is a God of justice and love (see Ps. 85:10; 89:14).