v.1 Setting of the Book. The book of Hosea was written, as the inscription shows, contemporaneously with Isaiah (compare Hos. 1:1 and Isa. 1:1). Isaiah speaks most specifically to the two tribes, while Hosea speaks much more about the ten tribes, although his burden is all twelve tribes. We can see this because in Hosea we have not only “the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, kings of Judah” but also “and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel”.

 

v.2 Gomer. There are at least two reasons why the Lord asks Hosea to marry this sinful woman, knowing how wicked she is to start with, and that marriage to Hosea isn’t going to change her heart. First, it was for the prophet, to make Hosea feel in a measure what the Lord was feeling because of Israel’s rebellion. He could now identify with the sentiments of the prophetic message (see note on Hos. 11:3). Second, it was for the people, so that Israel could see by Hosea’s family the way they had been treating the Lord, and what Jehovah thought of them, and yet see His steadfast love despite their behavior. It is obvious that Gomer is a figure of Israel as a nation; “the land is entirely given up to whoredom”.

 

vv.3-4 Jezreel. The first son of Gomer and Hosea was to be named “Jezreel”, which has a double meaning. First, it means “God soweth” in the sense of scattering seeds, which foreshadows the scattering among the nations as the judgment of God. The second meaning is “God shall sow” in the sense of planting and multiplying Israel in restoration! But as the Lord explains to Hosea, the first son Jezreel symbolizes the first great blow to Israel; they would be smitten in the house of Jehu. This tells us something not mentioned in the book of 2 Kings, that the Lord saw a root of cruelty and lust under Jehu’s bloody campaign; “I will visit the blood of Jizreel upon the house of Jehu”. Jehu did execute judgement on the house of Ahab and the idolatrous Jezebel, but he took it too far (2 Kings 10:12-14) and his heart was not right (2 Kings 10:31). God smote not only Jehu’s house (when Zechariah was assassinated, 2 Kings 15:8-12), but the kingdom of the house of Israel which lingered for a little while, but never recovered to a stable condition after Jehu’s dynasty fell.

 

 

v.5 the final blow to the house of Israel came in the first attack of the assyrian Shalmaneser, upon the last king hoshea (II Kings 17). The Assyrian broke the “bow” or the power of Israel in the valley of Jezreel. then they were “scattered” in the assyrian captivity.

 

 

v.6 “Lo-ruhamah” means “not having received mercy.” this applies specifically to the ten tribes… judgment was about to fall because of their sin. It was inevitable.

 

 

v.7 but there would be mercy for the two tribes in that they would be given a little more time to repent. Judah was not as far advanced in sin as the ten tribes. Later he will beg them not to follow in ephraim’s footsteps (Hos. 4:15). The Assyrian was allowed to destroy the kingdom of Israel, but was himself checked by divine power when he hoped to carry off Judah. This occurred in the reign of Hezekiah when sennacharib’s vast army was destroyed.

 

 

v.9 “Lo-ammi” means “not my people”. This applies more specifically to Judah, although representaive of the nation. As long as the royal tribe stood for the Lord, there was still a nucleus round which all the people might be gathered – God could still work recovery. That ened with hezekiah’s death, and because of the sin of mannasseh (II Kings 24:3, Jer. 15:1-14), judgment falls.

 

 

v.10 the prophecy jumps forward 2000+ years to the restoration of all twelve tribes. This is not the scanty return under Zerubbabel – but the full restoration under the Messiah. this is where we get the interpretation of the second meaning of Jezreel, “god shall sow” – the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea which cannot be measured or numbered. Throughout this book there are many rapid shifts from Jehovah pronouncing judgment to Jehovah pronouncing blessing. This is characteristic of Hosea, and a contrast to the style of Joel. This is the first of these shifts to occur. It is a little window into the heart of Jehovah – he cannot forget mercy, even in the midst of pronouncing judgment, his heart looks on to the day of blessing. they are snapshots of His ultimate desire and his steadfast purpose to bless His earthly people. see note on “SONS OF THE LIVING GOD”.

“sons of the living God” – In a mysterious way there is room left by God for the bringing in of the Gentiles too, because sonship is “a title never given in its full force to any but the Gentiles who are now being called.”¹ Israel as a nation is sometimes referred to as a son, but individually “sons” is the calling of the Gentiles. What confirms this as the true interpretation is, that Peter in quoting from Hosea (writing to a remnant of Jews only) omits the words, “sons of the living God.” See 1 Pet. 2:10 – he quotes from Hos. 2, not Hos. 1. But Paul, writing to the Gentiles in Rom. 9:26, avails himself in a most appropriate way of what Peter passes by – not of Hos. 2:23 only (Rom. 9:25), but of Hos. 1:10 (Rom. 9:26), which intimates the call of Gentiles. This is the only place in Hosea where we get the calling of the Gentiles.

 

 

v.11 This represents the final alignment of the house of Israel and the house of Judah in spiritual union – the complete reversal of the deeds of Jeroboam. The very name of “Jezreel”, which was before a term of reproach and judgment earlier, is now turned by the grace of God into a title of infinite mercy.

played the harlot. gomer becomes hosea’s wife, and the first child (Jezreel) is said to be hosea’s son. but the same language is not used for Lo-ruhamah and Lo-ammi… indicating that she returned to her old lifestyle after the first child (Hos. 2:5). we find that the children are “the children of whoredoms” (v.4) which means that they may not belong to Hosea, instead they are a byproduct of Israel’s idolatrous relationships. Israel was an idolatrous people in captivity in Egypt when the Lord brought them out (see deut. 26:5), and now they have gone right back to it. Gomer’s departure then negated the marriage (v.2), there was grounds for her to be put away.