v.1 Setting of the Book. The book of Hosea was written, as the inscription in v.1 shows, contemporaneously with Isaiah, Amos, and Micah (compare Hos. 1:1, Isa. 1:1, Amos 1:1, Mic. 1:1). Isaiah speaks specifically to the two tribes about what pertained to them. Hosea addresses the two tribes, but speaks more about the ten tribes as a warning, although his burden is for all twelve tribes. In the setting of Hosea we have that he prophesied not only “in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, kings of Judah” but also “in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel”. We can see by this introduction that the Word of the Lord came to the prophet Hosea over approximately a fifty year period starting during the reign of Uzziah but while Jeroboam II still reigned (~755 BC) and continuing until the reign of Hezekiah (~705 BC). He would have begun before the end of Jehu’s dynasty and Assyrian captivity of Israel (v.4) which was accomplished by Shalmaneser V and Sargon II around 722 BC. Hosea most likely was from the northern kingdom because he calls Israel’s king “our king” (Hosea 7:5), and was very familiar with northern places like Samaria, Gilgal, Gibeah, Ramah, Mizpah, Tabor, and Gilead. Hosea was a witness all those years to the sin of the people he loved, and his grief of heart is expressed along with that of Jehovah, who felt the betrayal of His people keenly.

 

v.2 A Wife of Whoredoms. The very first thing the Lord spoke through Hosea was to him, and it was an extremely painful instruction: to take a harlot as his wife. Nothing could be more reprehensible and repulsive to a man of God. There are at least two reasons why the Lord asked Hosea to marry this sinful woman, knowing how wicked she was to start with, and that marriage to Hosea wasn’t going to change her heart. First, it was for the prophet, to cause Hosea to 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 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.3-5 Jezreel. Hosea obeyed the difficult command, and married Gomer the daughter of Diblaim. 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 Jezreel upon the house of Jehu”. Jehu did execute judgement on the house of Ahab and the idolatrous Jezebel most notably in Jezreel (2 Kings 9:30-37), but he took it too far (2 Kings 10:12-14) and his heart was not right (2 Kings 10:31). Jehu showed by his failure to judge the sin of Jeroboam that his zeal against Baal-worship in Israel was really for political convenience, though God publicly sanctioned it. Eventually, God smote not only Jehu’s house (when Zechariah was assassinated, 2 Kings 15:8-12), but also the kingdom of the house of Israel, which never recovered to a stable condition after Jehu’s dynasty fell, and lingered for a little while (approximately 30 years). The final blow to the house of Israel came in the first attack of the Assyrian Shalmaneser, upon the last king Hoshea (2 Kings 17). The Assyrian broke the “bow” or the power of Israel in the valley of Jezreel (Esdraelon). Then the northern tribes were “scattered” in the Assyrian captivity, fulfilling the first meaning of the name Jezreel.

 

vv.6-7 Lo-ruhamah. The second child born to Gomer was a daughter whom Hosea names “Lo-ruhamah”, meaning “not having received mercy.” The implication is clearly stated: “I will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel”. This applies specifically to the ten tribes; judgment was about to fall because of their sin. It was now inevitable. Just as Manasseh’s sin marked the point of no return for Judah around 650 BC (2 Kings 21:10-15; 23:26-27), so Lo-ruhamah marked a similar turning point for Israel around 750 BC, which is also reflected in Amos’s visions during the reign of Jeroboam II, roughly a generation before Samaria fell, when God declared, “I will not again pass by them any more” (Amos 7:8; 8:2). However, there would be mercy for the house of Judah; they would be saved from the Assyrian invasion. 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 permitted to destroy the kingdom of Israel, but when he sought to carry away Judah also, he was prevent by the power of God: not “by bow, or by sword, or by battle, or by horses, or by horsemen”. This occurred in the reign of Hezekiah when Sennacherib’s vast army was miraculously destroyed around 701 BC (2 Kings 18:13-19:36; Isa. 36-37; 2 Chron. 32:1-22).

vv.8-9 Lo-ammi. The third child is born, a son named “Lo-ammi”, which means “not my people”. This speaks of the setting aside of the whole nation, after Judah proved faithless. As long as the tribe of David remained faithful to the Lord, there was still a center around which the whole nation could be gathered and a basis upon which God could work recovery; but once Judah proved irrecoverable, the nation as a whole was disowned by God. That happed after Hezekiah’s death, and coincided with the sin of Manasseh (2 Kings 24:3, Jer. 15:1-14). It is what the Spirit says; “But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against his people, till there was no remedy. Therefore he brought upon them the king of the Chaldees…” (2 Ch. 36:16-17). Yet, no mention is made of the conquest of Nebuchadnezzar, and instead the Spirit of God abruptly transitions to a promise of restoration!

A Rapid Shift. Throughout this book there are many rapid shifts from Jehovah pronouncing judgment to Jehovah pronouncing blessing: it is characteristic of Hosea. This is the first of these shifts to occur. Each transition 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. These are snapshots of His ultimate desire and His steadfast purpose to bless His earthly people.

 

vv.10-11 Restoration. The prophecy jumps forward two-thousand plus years to the restoration of all twelve tribes. This does not refer to the feeble return under the leadership of Zerubbabel, but to the full restoration of Israel under the Messiah. This is where we get the interpretation of the second meaning of Jezreel, “God shall sow”. They will be “sown” in the land instead of “scattered” out of it. God will bring about an amazing reversal of the judgment, and Israel will be a numerous people once more; “the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea which cannot be measured or numbered”. Then, Israel will be owned by the living God as His own people. In v.11 the people are seen united, Israel and Judah as one people, willingly taking Jehovah as their one head. They “shall go up out of the land” to worship the Lord in Jerusalem. 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 used to describe God’s judgment in scattering Israel, is used in grace to describe God’s blessing on the nation!