See Notes and Commentary on Hosea 4:15. Like Hosea, God was willing to go to extreme lengths to buy back His bride (Hosea 3). How can you keep the wrongs for which you have forgiven others from creeping back into your mind and destroying your peace? Dr. Steve Lake is a retired educator with over 30 years experience in the American public schools. Story of Elijah summary About a hundred years had passed in ancient Israel since the time of King David, who had set a high standard of faithfulness and integrity in serving the one true God. These instructions have been variously understood by different students of Scripture through the years. Secularism and materialism captured the hearts of the people and sin ran rampant. Ive found my true love. Hosea 2:313 contains an image in which the prosperous and productive land of Israel sins and is punished, drying up and losing its fertility. What can compare to the hurt that accompanies betrayed trusts, friendships, confidences, and even covenants? Thus, instead of seeking counsel from the living God, they looked to the idols. Joel discusses, analyzes, and appreciates the great writings of the past and present on his website,Perspectives off the Page. Again the name was symbolic of Israels wandering from Gods love and the discipline she would soon experience. They had forgotten His law and instructions. Others have felt that such an act would be inconsistent with God, who cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance (Alma 45:16). What one does is a result of where one puts ones trust. mine heart is turned within me, my repentings are kindled together. (Emphasis added. Yet God knew Moses was ready to carry out His plan. In either case, the archer can be wounded. God told Hosea to name his first son God will scatter, his daughter No mercy and his youngest son Not My people. 2 Once again, Hosea obeyed. The story of Hosea and Gomer has to be one of the greatest pictures of Gods love and faithfulness found throughout the Bible. Forgiveness does mean, however, that we will pay for the other persons offenses. At times, however, many of us are too stubborn, too afraid, or too prideful to admit when we need help, but the truth is, we all need rescuing, and that is an eternally good thing when we know who is coming to our rescue. Husbands and wives are not always aware of each others love. ), This is an agricultural simile, and refers to the custom of raising the yoke from the neck and cheeks of the oxen so that they can more readily eat their food. If you sow seeds of purity, you will harvest purity. 11:4). And once separated from God and the knowledge of their first love, they quickly turned to their own ways, other gods, and other nations (Hosea 8:4), which, they soon discovered, could not satisfy or save them (Hosea 7:16). The big nations, furthermore, had religious practices that were utterly opposite to prophetic ideals. 11115). What we say must be said lovingly and kindly, but we have both the need and the obligation to share what is on our hearts. That is the lesson of Hosea and Gomer, the lesson of forgiveness. He lay awake at night and wrestled with his fears. Because the sin is as enticing as ever, many people give into temptation. 14 It was you who crushed the heads of Leviathan and gave it as food to the creatures of the desert. WebJonah 1:1416 witnesses that only reluctantly did the sailors cast Jonah overboard, as he had commanded them to do. If you would obtain celestial glory, you must plant into your heart and character Gods heavenly ways. He preached with a heavy heart during the day. A prophet of the Lord said, For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind (Hosea 8:7). Hidden sin does not stay hidden forever, and the sin we think we can cover up will eventually be exposed (Hosea 2:10). Elder BernardP. Brockbank counseled college students: If you sow seeds of righteousness, you will harvest righteousness. When a person shows hsed to another, he is not motivated merely by legal obligation but by an inner loyalty which arises out of the relationship itself. Hosea was loyal to his God, as he was to his wife because he understood something about the heart of God. One response to Gods conviction is that we harden our hearts against His conviction. Neither does forgiveness necessarily mean we cannot take positive steps to guard against the sin recurring. Unfortunately for Hosea, she would also continue in that profession and later leave Hosea altogether, becoming enslaved by one of her many lovers. For the ways of the Lord are right, and the righteous will walk in them, but transgressors will stumble in them.(Hosea 14:9). He threatened to disinherit her (2:3). There was neither harlot nor marriage, but Hosea was asked to accept the burden of being prophet (husband) to immoral Israel (Gomer). In desperation the people alternately sought aid from Assyria and Egypt, paying tribute to both, with the result that they lost their independence and national autonomy, being forced to accept vassalage to Assyria. We know very little about the prophet of Hosea. Sadly, the people had become blind to the reality of their own demise (Hosea 4:1). Even those who have been grossly unfaithful to God can reestablish their relationship with Him if they will but turn back to Him with full purpose of heart. He longed for her to come home. One metaphor that is central to Hoseas message is marriage. When the grave is conquered, however, and the judgments rendered, there will be no more sin; hence, no more repentance because all will be assigned to a kingdom whose laws they can obey. He loved her deeply and grieved for her as though she had been taken in death. It was all out in the open now. And he believed that God was great enough to do it. The list reads like twentieth-century America: swearing, lying, killing, stealing, adultery, drunkenness, perversion, perjury, deceit, and oppression, to name but a few. Gomers absences from home probably grew more frequent and prolonged and soon Hosea was feeling pangs of suspicion about her faithfulness to him. And his suspicions were confirmed when Gomer got pregnant again. And because He never stopped loving them, He never stopped pleading with them: Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity (Hos. On the inside, however, they had become corrupt, morally decrepit, and adulterous, one of the major themes Hosea was called to address. A variation of the interpretation in number three is that Gomer was not an actual harlot but was a worshiper of Baal; therefore, she was guilty of spiritual harlotry. The superscription of this book informs us that Hosea was the son of Beeri. Use Notes and Commentary below to help you as you read and study the book of Hosea. The sophistication of the city-based Canaanite farmers who surrounded them, the fertility of their flocks and fields (apparently elicited from the gods and goddesses of fertility) attracted the Israelite farmers. Because Israel wanted to go her own way and be alone, she was likened to a wild ass. Hoseas prophetic ministry launched when God gave him the puzzling assignment to find a wife among the unfaithful, immoral young women of Israel: 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 WebHe said that God was going to raise up the Assyrian nation to punish this people and that fierce and ruthless army would sweep across the land like a scourge. Biblical names often were taken from the circumstances surrounding the childs birth. The calendar on the wall indicated that it was about 760 years before Jesus was born. In Hoseas narrative Gomer bore her husband three children: two sons and a daughter. She probably even accused Hosea of thinking more about his preaching than he did of her. Like the Jezreel Valley, they have great potential and will be resown and made fruitful by the Lord. Gods love and forgiveness pervade Hoseas entire prophecy. Then God said to him: Call her name Lo-Ruhamah, For I will no longer have mercy on the house of Israel, But I will utterly take them away. 5 Things about Palm Sunday That Remind Us Christ Is King, 10 Things You Need to Know about the Unforgivable Sin, 30 Morning Prayers to Start Each Day with God, Holy Week Devotional Guide with 7-Day Scripture Readings and Prayer, 7 Ways Phones Produce Anxiety and Lead to Mom Guilt, How the Resurrection Power We Celebrate at Easter Impacts Our Marriage, This site is a proud member of the Salem Web Network, a subsidiary of, Copyright 2023, Crosswalk.com. The Lord used this marriage as a symbol to teach the Israelites about His covenant relationship with them. In either case, it is obvious that she was a woman who had been deeply affected by the moral laxity of her society, and God intended to use the prophets personal relationship with her as a penetrating object lesson of His own relationship with His unfaithful people, Israel. If he does that one more time, Im leaving. Those are human responses. At the time of Hoseas ministry, Israel had experienced a period of economic prosperity and growth. So he began his search, driven by that indestructible divine love, love that bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things, love that never ends. The name of the third child, Lo-ammi, in Hebrew, not my people, is like a lament and shows that by their harlotry Israel could not be thought of as Gods people. This word is exceedingly difficult to render into English. In the symbolic marriage covenant, God is the husband and Israel, the covenant people, is the bride. Israel would learn, through years of trial, failure, and eventual captivity and exile, that there is no satisfaction separate from God and no love that can compare to the unshakeable love God has for His people (Romans 8:38-39). Webbased on 1 rating. 086 079 7114 [email protected]. ), Hosea 13:4. WebAnswer: Contribution. The statistics range from 20-70%, but the results are unreliable. Another approach that avoids some of these difficulties is that the words present an allegory designed to teach the spiritual consequences of Israels unfaithfulness. Here are the fierce words of the husband, spoken after his wife has betrayed him in adultery: [Hosea 2:67]. 10 Ways Your Clothes Reveal Your Heart at Church, Christian Chris Stapleton Leads the Judges in Worship During American Idol Audition, 7 Ways to Have the Best Easter with Your Grandchildren, What Is Holy Week? When the Lords people forsake him and worship false gods, their infidelity to Jehovah is described as whoredoms and adultery. Even when you break His commandments and your life seems to fall apart, Gods greatest desire is to see you repent and come back to receive the happiness of a good life. In the story of Hosea, here then are several lessons worth taking to heart: Among Hoseas many themes, the prophet warned for nearly forty years that the people of Israel were in a state of spiritual decline that would only lead to destruction. The very first thing God ever said to Hosea tells us about his unlikely marriage: Go, take to yourself a wife of harlotry, and have children of harlotry; for the land commits flagrant harlotry, forsaking the Lord (Hos. Gomers adultery hurt more than just Gomer. The travailing woman is Israel, and as there is a critical time in parturition [the process of giving birth] in which the mother in hard labour may by skillful assistants be eased of her burden, which, if neglected, may endanger the life both of parent and child; so there was a time in which Ephraim might have returned to God, but they would not; therefore they are now in danger of being finally destroyed. (Clarke, Commentary, 4:651.). Its a spiritual fact. What percentage of those married commit adultery? When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt., Hosea 11:8. By reason of numerous allusions in the prophecy to the Northern Kingdom, it is commonly supposed by commentators that Hosea was a native of that commonwealth. (See also Joel 2:23.). We can think of each as having been living people, or we can apply the second analogy where Hosea represents God and Gomer represents a nationIsrael. If you sow seeds of pure love, you will receive pure love. What shall I do with you, O Judah? Webnancy spies haberman kushner. At Gods direction, he called her Loruhamah, which means unpitied or unloved, implying that she would not enjoy her true fathers love. Jezreel means God shall sow, or scatter abroad, since anciently sowing was done by casting handfuls of seed. The Cross And Unjust Suffering (1 Peter 2:19-25), 5. Or it may be a wifes growing involvement in outside activities and subsequent neglect of the home. He has ministered overseas in Angola, Zambia, Honduras, Germany, and Russia. Hosea would take her back in loving forgiveness and they would try again. As is often the case, with prosperity came moral and spiritual degeneration. The Cross And Separation From The World (1 Peter 4:1-6), 7. Maybe its a major offense, like Gomers, and we can never forget it. Through Hosea's marriage to Gomer, God, also known as Holy Week Devotional Guide with 7-Day Scripture Readings and California - Do Not Sell My Personal Information. WebHosea 11:12-12:14. But Hosea bought her from her slavery for fifteen shekels of silver and thirteen bushels of barley (Hos. However, where Judah was known to go through seasons of revival, the Northern Kingdoms spiritual sickness had spread far quicker than their southern neighbors. Hosea is a prophet whom God uses to portray a message of repentance to God's people. Web"I think you call it fate, God or whatever," said Engelbert, who was among the first officers to respond. how shall I set thee as Zeboim? But clearly he was opposed to forms that were devoid of the spirit of true faithfulness to the God of the covenant. God wanted Hosea to have a firsthand feeling of what He feels whenever His beloved people, the Israelites stray after other gods, and thereby forsaking Him. The Hebrew name of the prophet, Hoshea, signifies help, deliverance, and salvation, and is derived from the same root as the names of Joshua and Jesus. 1. 28586.). Complete Points to Ponder as directed by your teacher. Moses may have felt that he would spend the rest of his life in that desert and that God was finished with him. What else could you do together to strengthen your bond of oneness? God hates sin; it grieves His heart; He cannot condone it; His perfect righteousness and justice demand that He deal with it. Thereafter, Gomer remained faithful to her husband. 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