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"Say to your brethren, 'My people'"

Text: Hosea 2:1

THE THREE CHILDREN OF HOSEA

The names given to the children of Hosea were unusual ones. They carried ominous significance! But in the future plans of God revealed, after the chastisement of Israel, the following would hold true. The following verses are better understood when read together.

“Then the children of Judah and the children of Israel
Shall be gathered together,
And appoint for themselves one head;
And they shall come up out of the land,
For great will be the day of Jezreel!”

“Say to your brethren, ‘My people,’
And to your sisters, ‘Mercy is shown.'”
Hosea 1:11; 2:1

1. “Jezreel” Hosea 1:4-5, 11

a) Originally, the name was to signify what God would do.

i) It would be a day of judgment for King Ahab who murdered Naboth, the Jezreelite.

ii) The King who deposed Ahab was Jehu.

iii) God’s blessing given to Jehu for his obedience to slay wicked king Ahab was that he would see four generations of his sons sit on the throne of Israel (2 Kings 10:29-31).

iv) Jehu’s kingdom would end with the judgment of Kings Jeroboam II and Zechariah (2 Kings 14:23-29; 15:8-12).

b) But Jezreel would also symbolize the commencement of a new thing that God would do. Thus, Hosea proclaimed, “Great will be the day of Jezreel!” (Hosea 1:11)

2. “Lo-Ammi” Hosea 1:9; 2:1

a) When Israel refused to repent and return to God:

i) God would no longer regard Israel as His people (Hosea 1:9a).

ii) Nor would He be Israel’s “God” (Hosea 1:9b).

b) But in the future

i) Believers would be called “sons of the living God” (Hosea 1:10).

ii) God would regard them as “My people” (Hosea 2:1).

3. “Lo-Ruhamah” Hosea 1:8; 2:1

a) Lo-Ruhamah means “No mercy”.

i) God warned Israel that He would withdraw His mercy.

Israel had shown no mercy in its social interactions with each other.

ii) If God were to withdraw His mercy, Israel would perish as a nation.

b) The women-folk may now use this phrase “Mercy is shown.”

i) God would bring the children of the captivity back to Jerusalem, Israel.

ii) God’s mercy would be shown to Israel again under the Persian kings (Ezra 7).