Hosea 2:1-23
1 Say ye unto your brethren, Ammi;a and to your sisters, Ruhamah.
2 Plead with your mother, plead: for she is not my wife, neither am I her husband: let her therefore put away her whoredoms out of her sight, and her adulteries from between her breasts;
3 Lest I strip her naked, and set her as in the day that she was born, and make her as a wilderness, and set her like a dry land, and slay her with thirst.
4 And I will not have mercy upon her children; for they be the children of whoredoms.
5 For their mother hath played the harlot: she that conceived them hath done shamefully: for she said, I will go after my lovers, that give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, mine oil and my drink.b
6 Therefore, behold, I will hedge up thy way with thorns, and makec a wall, that she shall not find her paths.
7 And she shall follow after her lovers, but she shall not overtake them; and she shall seek them, but shall not find them: then shall she say, I will go and return to my first husband; for then was it better with me than now.
8 For she did not know that I gave her corn, and wine,d and oil, and multiplied her silver and gold, which they prepared for Baal.
9 Therefore will I return, and take away my corn in the time thereof, and my wine in the season thereof, and will recovere my wool and my flax given to cover her nakedness.
10 And now will I discover her lewdnessf in the sight of her lovers, and none shall deliver her out of mine hand.
11 I will also cause all her mirth to cease, her feast days, her new moons, and her sabbaths, and all her solemn feasts.
12 And I will destroyg her vines and her fig trees, whereof she hath said, These are my rewards that my lovers have given me: and I will make them a forest, and the beasts of the field shall eat them.
13 And I will visit upon her the days of Baalim, wherein she burned incense to them, and she decked herself with her earrings and her jewels, and she went after her lovers, and forgat me, saith the LORD.
14 Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortablyh unto her.
15 And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope: and she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt.
16 And it shall be at that day, saith the LORD, that thou shalt call me Ishi;i and shalt call me no more Baali.
17 For I will take away the names of Baalim out of her mouth, and they shall no more be remembered by their name.
18 And in that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven, and with the creeping things of the ground: and I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the earth, and will make them to lie down safely.
19 And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies.
20 I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the LORD.
21 And it shall come to pass in that day, I will hear, saith the LORD, I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth;
22 And the earth shall hear the corn, and the wine, and the oil; and they shall hear Jezreel.
23 And I will sow her unto me in the earth; and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to them which were not my people, Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God.
The Man Who Never Stopped Loving
Hosea
Mark Kirkpatrick
Chapter 2
v1 Then you will tell your brothers, ‘You are my people’. And you will tell your sisters, ‘He has shown *mercy to you’.
In chapter 1 verse 10, the message changes to a message of hope. At this time, there were about 600 000 people in Israel and Judah. But the message is about the promises that God gave to Abraham (see Genesis 13:16; Genesis 15:5; Genesis 22:17). Israel and Judah will unite again in the future. A new leader will bring his people together. God wants to bring back Israel in a way that makes it a part of Judah. The words of the promise in verse 10 are like Genesis 32:12. The word ‘future’ can mean thousands of years in the future. Jeremiah 33:22 says the same thing. Only Hosea uses the words ‘children of the living God’ in the *OT. Hosea is careful to use the word ‘leader’ (verse 11). He does not use the word ‘king’ as this was a time when Israel had war. The kings also did not obey God. The *Hebrew word for ‘unite’ can also mean a plant that comes up from the ground. It would be like a *resurrection. Jezreel, a valley, is another way of using the word Israel. The words ‘brothers’ and ‘sisters’ refer to the people of Israel. They include people from Judah. This time in the future will be a great time of *blessing for everyone.
The *Lord speaks to the people of Israel
v2 My children, argue with your mother.
Argue! This is because she is not my wife,
And I am not her husband.
Tell her to stop living like a *prostitute.
Tell her to take away from between her breasts the men that she loved.
v3 If she does not do this, I will take away all her clothes.
She will be naked like the day that she was born.
I will make her like a land that has no water. I will make her like a dry desert.
She will die because she will have no water.
v4 I will not love her children.
They are the children of a woman of *adultery.
v5 Their mother has not been loyal to her husband.
She should be ashamed of the way that her children were born.
She said, ‘I will go to the men whom I love.
They give me food and water,
Wool and cloth,
oil from trees and wine’.
v6 So I (the *Lord) will put something in the way of her (Israel’s) road.
I will use plants that hurt.
I will build a wall so that Israel cannot find her way.
v7 She will run after the men that she loves.
But she will not catch them.
She will look for them.
But she will not catch them.
Then she will say, ‘I will go back to my first husband (God).
Life was better for me when I was with him.
Life was better then than it is now’.
v8 Israel was not willing to believe that I (the *Lord) was the one who gave her grain, wine and oil.
I was the one who gave her plenty of silver and gold.
She used this silver and gold when she wanted to *worship at Baal.
v9 So I will take back my grain at the harvest.
I will take back my new wine when it is ready.
I will take back my wool and cloth.
This was what she was going to use to cover her naked body.
v10 Now I will take away her clothes.
This is why I will take away her clothes. Many men loved her. They will all see her as she is.
No one will be able to take her from my power.
v11 I (God) will stop the special times that she enjoys herself.
I will stop her holidays.
I will stop the times when she enjoys new moons.
v12 I will destroy her *grapes and her fruit trees.
She said that the men who loved her paid her with these things.
But I will destroy her gardens.
They will become like a wild forest.
Wild animals will come and eat from those plants.
v13 I will punish her for the times that she burnt *incense to Baal.
Also because she put on *jewellery.
This is why she put it on. She wanted to run after the men who loved her.
But she forgot me.
The *Lord has said this.
In this chapter, Hosea is saying things in a special way. He says that God is like a judge. This judge is going to decide things about Israel. He will decide them in a ‘court’. First, he asks his children to argue with their mother. Which children are these? The ones that understand what God wants. Their mother, Israel, is the part of Israel that does not follow God. And so God is going to make a *judgement against the children and the mother.
‘She is not my wife’ (verse 2) is perhaps a legal way of saying something. God says that he does not want to be Israel’s husband any more. Their marriage is now over. But God does not want to end the marriage. He wants his wife to return to him. He wants his wife to change the way she behaves. But God is a judge too and will make Israel pay for her *sins. This is because they have not been true to him. He has the legal power to do this.
When Israel was born, she needed God. But when she grew up, she *worshipped false gods (verses 4-5). The men she loved were the Baals (*idols). This was as bad as a woman who is not true to her husband. God decides to punish her. He will make sure that she cannot go where she wants. Walls and other things will stop her. Then she will want to return to God.
Verse 7 She will *repent and the marriage will not end. But this idea of *repenting does not last for long. Hosea will quickly bring the people back to the idea of *judgement. Israel forgot that God gave her everything. God gave her the grain, wine and *oil. She thought that Baal gave her the silver and gold. But it was God who gave her real riches. So for the second time, God becomes like a *judge. He will take away her riches. There will be no grain and no wine. Israel will have no clothes. This happened after 748 BC. There was war between Assyria and Israel and things became difficult.
God was angry because Israel’s holidays became days of Baal (verse 11). God wanted people to rest on the *Sabbath. But this, too, became a holiday for eating (see Amos 8:5). Hosea comes back to the idea of a *prostitute. Hosea perhaps means that this is like the time in Exodus 32:2. This was when the people of Israel *worshipped the young cow in the desert. Aaron made this young cow out of gold.
The *Lord’s love for his people
v14 So I (the *Lord) will say words of love to her. I will lead her into the desert and speak kind words to her. v15 There I will give her back the *grapes that she had. I will give her Trouble Valley as a door of hope. Then she will return to me. It will be like the time that she came out of the land of Egypt. v16 Then, in the future, she will call me her husband. She will not call me her Baal any more. v17 I will never let her speak the name of Baal again. Then people will not use the Baal’s names again. v18 At that time, I and the people of Israel will make a new *covenant. I will also do this with the animals of the field and the birds of the sky. I will do it with the animals that move along the ground. I will also break Israel’s *bows and swords. There will be no more war. I will remove the things that men use to make war. My people will be able to live in safety.
v19 I (the *Lord) will make you my wife for all time. I will be true and fair. I will always love you and show *mercy. I will make you mine until the end of time. v20 I will make you into a wife that does not leave me. Then you will know the *Lord in a true way.
v21 At that time I will answer the *prayers of my people Israel. I will speak to the sky. Then rain will fall on the earth. v22 The ground will give back grain, wine and *oil. They will have an answer for Jezreel. v23 I will plant many seeds on her land. To Lo-Ruhamah, I will show *mercy. To Lo-Ammi, I will say, ‘You are my people’. And they will say to me, ‘You are my God’.
Again, Hosea says what the judge is going to do. But this time it is a message of love. The desert was the place where God and Israel ‘married’. This was where Israel needed God. God will use kind words. These are the words that a husband uses before he marries a wife. Perhaps Hosea is thinking of a time far in the future. It will be after the time that God has punished Israel. Trouble Valley (the Valley of Achor) was a place where Israel did not obey God (Joshua 7:24). It was a place where a man broke God’s *covenant. But, in the future, Israel will not need Baal any more. Israel will not *worship Baal because Israel will not know anything about him. Nobody will hear about Baal. Nobody will remember him (verse 17). People will only remember the name of God. In this future time, Israel will have two *blessings:
• Animals will not be able to hurt the people of Israel.
• There will be no more war.
There will be a *covenant between God and Israel. Animals will not eat crops. There will be no more *exiles. God will make Israel a good place to live in again. This is not because God will change his mind. Nor will it be because Israel will deserve this. It is because God is being true to his *covenant.
The word ‘love’ (verse 19) does not explain this idea completely. Hosea uses the special *Hebrew word ‘hesed’. This word means being true to a *covenant. Sometimes a Bible will translate this word as ‘*covenant of love’ or ‘great love’. It does not mean ‘*mercy’. This is how some other translations have it. Hosea is perhaps thinking of a time when Israel will be very different. Perhaps there will be many more people in this new Israel. God will finish the old marriage but he will bring back a new marriage. The new marriage will be fair and true. God will have *mercy on Israel. It will be for all time. In Israel, a man paid money to the father of his future wife (see 2 Samuel 3:14). In the future, God himself will pay the money for his wife (Israel). He will be the husband and father. God himself will bring the rain. Baal will not bring it. The rain will give Israel everything that the people of Israel need. Jezreel means ‘God plants’. Hosea’s children are part of this future. In the past, they did not belong to Hosea. In the future, they will belong to him.
The word ‘speak’ in verse 21 can also mean ‘sing’. Maybe God will sing a new song at this time. God promises three things:
• Israel will be true to God alone (verse 17).
• God will be true to Israel (verse 20).
• The land will have much fruit (verses 18, 21, 22).
mercy ~ help to those that need something; the love that God has for us.OT ~ see Old Testament.
Hebrew ~ the language that the Jews spoke.
Jews ~ people who were born from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their children.
resurrection ~ to come alive again.
bless ~ to call for good things to happen; to call something or someone holy.
holy ~ what God is like; different and better.
lord ~ one who rules or is a master. God is the Lord who rules everyone.
prostitute ~ a woman that a man pays for sex.
adultery ~ when someone has sex with a person who is not their husband or wife.
worship ~ what we should do when we are with God; giving thanks to God.
grape ~ a type of fruit that is used to make wine.
incense ~ the smoke from a plant that makes a sweet smell.
jewellery ~ things that people wear to make them more beautiful.
judgement ~ when God says what is good or bad.
sin ~ when people do things against God.
idol ~ a thing that someone made out of wood, stone or metal. People pray to it.
repent ~ to turn from sin to God’s ways.
sin ~ when people do things against God.
oil ~ something that a fruit makes; used in cooking.
judge ~ a person who decides what is right or wrong.
sabbath ~ a day of rest in which the people must not work.
covenant ~ an agreement between two people. A promise that God makes.
bow ~ a thing to shoot arrows with.
prayers ~ the words that people say when they talk to God.
blessings ~ the good things that God does for us.
exile ~ the time when an enemy took Israel out of their land.