CHAPTER 2

2:1 Say ye unto your brethren, Ammi; and to your sisters, Ru-hamah. 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.

We have to remember that, in the book of Hosea, Hosea's relationship with Gomer is a depiction of God's relationship with Israel.

Just as Gomer had been unfaithful to Hosea, Israel had been unfaithful to God. God was divorcing Israel because of her unfaithfulness!

What parents DO become teachings to their children. When parents fail to worship God and be faithful, they teach their children to do the same.

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. 6 Therefore, behold, I will hedge up thy way with thorns, and make 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, and oil, and multiplied her silver and gold, which they prepared for Baal.

Israel had progressively gotten worse in their relationship with God. First they began to worship "other gods;" then, they had allowed their worship of God to become equal to their worship of Baal; and finally, they completely stopped worshipping God. This was the progression of parents to children.

As a result of this progressive idolatry, God would bring a loss of independence to the nation (verse 6). Then they would try to find relief from their false gods, and would not (verse 7A). God's reason for this action was to turn them again to Him (verse 7B).

The nation had become so engrossed in false gods that they failed to realize that the ONLY PROVIDOR is God! And they even gave away what He had given them as offerings to false gods!

It is God, our Savior, Who teaches us to live prosperously. Isaiah 48:17 tells us, "Thus saith the LORD, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am the LORD thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go."

To take the money that God gives us and use it in purchasing lottery tickets or gambling, is to worship a false god! (see verse 8) It is worship of LUCK!

9 Therefore will I return, and take away my corn in the time thereof, and my wine in the season thereof, and will recover my wool and my flax given to cover her nakedness. 10 And now will I discover her lewdness 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 destroy 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.

Because of their idolatrous manners, God is going to take away His provision for the nation (verse 9).

He will also show the SHAME of their unfaithfulness to the One and Only God Who is Savior and Providor. All other people will see that it was their unfaithfulness that caused the loss of their independence and prosperity.

God is going to destroy all that He had given them, and allow them to be taken into captivity by another nation.

14 Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably 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; 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.

However, through the action of divorce and removal of the nation's provision, God will TURN Israel again to Him (verse 14). He will once again become alluring to them, and they will seek Him with new desire.

When they seek God in repentance from idol worship, He will restore their provision and prosperity (verse 15).

Then, they will forget the names of the false gods (verse 17), and will call God "Ishi," which means husband!

When people repent from sin and turn to God for His salvation, they become MARRIED to Him. Jesus is the "Bridegroom" and Christians are the "bride" (See John 3:29, Revelation 21:9 & 17).

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.

When Christ comes and establishes the millenial kingdom, Israel will turn to Him. And Christ will make a "new covenant" with them.

The "beasts of the field" will be tamed. War will no more rend the nations. And God will provide safety for all in the world.

Those who trust in Christ will be "betrothed" (married) to Him. And they will be married in "faithfulness!" Never again will they stray from Him as God!

God has the ability to change man's heart! He can change us so that we will NEVER be unfaithful to His love. So why doesn't God just DO that today with ALL people? Because God only wants those to be changed who DESIRE to be changed.

When God completely changes us, we shall "know" Him! (See verse 20) We shall know Him inside out just as He knows us!

Can you even IMAGINE such a thing? What an incredible miracle it is to be saved!

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.

In the millenial kingdom God will restore the ability of the earth to provide all that we need. None shall ever go hungry again!

And God's people will be "sown" to Him. They will be planted in His mercy and grace.

This "Jezreel," whom God has broken (Hosea 1:5), will be RESTORED!

Stop and think about it a moment.

The ONLY way to be restored to rightness with God is to be BROKEN! Without true repentance there can be no salvation.

PLEASE CONTINUE WITH US IN BIBLE STUDY TOMORROW.