CHAPTER 1
(785 B.C.)
INTRODUCTION: AUTHOR AND BACKGROUND
1The Word of the LORD that came unto Hosea, the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel. (The name Hosea means Salvation. He was a contemporary of Isaiah. In the days..., refers to four kings of Judah, Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. One king of Israel, the Northern Kingdom, is mentioned, Jeroboam. Hoseas ministry began when he was a young man, while Uzziah was on the Throne of Judah and Jeroboam II was on the Throne of Israel.)
HOSEAS MARRIAGE WITH GOMER, A PROSTITUTE; BIRTH OF JEZREEL: MEANING
2The beginning of the Word of the LORD by Hosea. And the LORD said to Hosea, Go, take unto you a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms: for the land has committed great whoredom, departing from the LORD. (Go, take unto you a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms, actually means children of idolatry. The Nation of Israel, constituting the Northern Kingdom, is appealed to under the figure of an unfaithful wife, because of its devotion to idols and forsaking of Jehovah.)
3So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim; which conceived, and bore him a son. (There is some evidence that Gomer was the name of a harlot well known at that particular time. If so, the shame heaped upon Hosea would have been multi-fold.)
4And the LORD said unto him, Call his name Jezreel; for yet a little while, and I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu, and will cause to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel. (The name Jezreel means, God will scatter or sow. This was Hoseas first son.
The phrase, And I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu, has reference to the commission given to Jehu by the Lord, in carrying out Gods Judgment upon the house of Ahab. However, Jehu carried this commission too far, exacting greater Judgment than the Lord intended. And then, above all, he went into the same sins for which the Lord had judged Ahab [II Ki. 10:31-36].
And will cause to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel, signals the beginning of the end for the Northern Kingdom of Israel, even though it would take some seventy years for it to be brought to a total consummation.)
5And it shall come to pass at that day, that I will break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel. (The sign of the coming fall of this kingdom was the breaking of the bow, because the Northern Kingdom of Israel was famous for its use of the bow.)
THE BIRTH OF LO-RUHAMAH: MEANING
6And she conceived again, and bore a daughter. And God said unto him, Call her name Lo-ruhamah: for I will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel; but I will utterly take them away. (Lo-ruhamah means not pitied. Because of Israel going into total idolatry and refusing to repent, even though great Prophets were sent unto them, the Northern Kingdom would be destroyed as a nation, never to rise again, at least in that capacity.)
7But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah, and will save them by the LORD their God, and will not save them by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, by horses, nor by horsemen. (About 200 years before, ten Tribes had broken away and continued to refer to themselves as Israel. The larger Tribe of Judah remained, and referred to itself as Judah, with the Tribe of Benjamin throwing in their lot with Judah [II Chron. 10:12-19]. Even though the Lord here pronounces judgment upon the Northern Kingdom of Israel, He says here that the Southern Kingdom of Judah will be spared.
He is referring here to the deliverance from Sennacherib in the days of Hezekiah, when in one night the Angel of the Lord smote 185,000 of the flower of the Assyrian host [II Ki., Chpt. 19; Isa., Chpt. 37]. Still, its total fulfillment belongs to the future [II Thess., Chpt. 2].)
THE BIRTH OF LO-AMMI: MEANING
8Now when she had weaned Lo-ruhamah, she conceived, and bore a son. (Even though it would be about 70 years before the fall of Israel, still, the children are born in quick succession, proclaiming the finality of the Judgment of God.
As the three deportations would in later years be a warning to Judah, likewise, the births of these three children are warnings to Israel; however, whereas the deportations were some years apart, the births of these children were in quick succession, denoting the absence of any Spiritual Quality.)
9Then said God, Call his name Lo-ammi: for you are not My People, and I will not be your God. (Lo-ammi means not My People. As stated, the Prophets children symbolized, step by step, Israels fast coming calamity. There will be no reprieve, because there will be no Repentance.)
FUTURE REGATHERING OF ISRAEL
10Yet the number of the Children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, You are not My People, there it shall be said unto them, You are the sons of the Living God. (There is no contradiction between Verses 9 and 10. Even though the Northern Kingdom of Israel was totally destroyed as a nation, and in fact will never, as such, rise again, still, the Children of Israel were not destroyed, and, in truth, will be, in a future happy day, completely restored. Consequently, this Passage and Verse 11 have to do with the coming Kingdom Age.)
11Then shall the Children of Judah and the Children of Israel be gathered together, and appoint themselves one head, and they shall come up out of the land: for great shall be the day of Jezreel. (The restoration under Zerubbabel did not satisfy the prediction of Verses 10 or 11, for it was very small, and did not secure national independence. However, the future will satisfy the Prophecy, for then will God sow the Hebrew people unto Himself in Righteousness. As stated, it will be in the coming Kingdom Age, when, at the beginning of it, Israel will accept Christ.)