Daily Bread Crumbs

God’s Love for Adulterous Israel

Hosea 1:1-11

“Yet the Israelites will be like the sand on the seashore, which cannot be measured or counted. In the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ they will be called ‘children of the living God.’ (10)

Hosea is the first of the 12 Minor Prophets. He prophesied during the reign of four kings of Judah: Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, and during the reign of Jeroboam son of Jehoash^[a] king of Israel. Three of the four kings of Judah were good kings while all of the kings of Israel were bad. Hosea lived during times of idolatry and political intrigue, especially in the case of Northern Israel. The theme of his book is God’s faithfulness to unfaithful Israel. 

First, “Go, marry a promiscuous woman” (1-9). Hosea marries a promiscuous woman in obedience to God’s command. God commands Hosea to do things that are humanly unacceptable but even his marriage is a kind of parable about God’s love for his unfaithful people. Hosea marries Gomer, a prostitute. Humanly, it is too much but Hosea obeys God’s direction for his life regarding marriage: “Go, marry a promiscuous woman and have children with her, for like an adulterous wife this land is guilty of unfaithfulness to the Lord.”

One can only imagine their daily family life. While Hosea is doing Daily Bread, Gomer is sleeping in late because she was out late at night. It must have been agony for Hosea but since he has committed himself, he must make the marriage work by any means. This is like God’s love for sinners. God cannot dwell with sinners but he has committed himself to save sinners. The climax of God’s love is in sending us His One and Only Son Jesus to dwell with us. Jesus is exactly the Father’s love to dwell with sinners in order to save us.

I thank God for my wife M. Hannah. She is the ideal woman of God who prayed for me and bore all of my sinful habits over many years. Because of her love and her faithful prayers, God helped me to grow as a servant of God. 

Next, Hosea names his children according to God’s direction. Naming children is very personal. We want to name our children with Bible names that inspire hope and vision. For example, God gave us two handsome boys, who are named Paul Augustine and John Samuel. Their names inspire great vision and hope for each of them. But God commanded Hosea to name his children names that were full of despair. He was told to name his first son Jezreel. “because I will soon punish the house of Jehu for the massacre at Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of Israel. In that day I will break Israel’s bow in the Valley of Jezreel” (4,5).

He named his daughter Lo-Ruhamah (which means “not loved”), because God would not love his people Israel anymore due to their sins (6). But he promised to love and deliver Judah, for there was still good in Judah. Finally, he named his third-born Lo-Ammi (which means “not my people”), “for you are not my people, and I am not your God” (9).

These names reflect God’s broken heart over his unfaithful people Israel. It must have been very difficult for Hosea to give such names to his own children but he obeyed God’s direction anyway. In this way, his entire family was a living parable of God’s love and broken shepherd heart for his adulterous people.

Second, God’s hope (10-11). Fortunately, this doesn’t end in total despair. God himself would restore his love relationship with His people. “Yet the Israelites will be like the sand on the seashore, which cannot be measured or counted. In the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ they will be called ‘children of the living God.’ (10)

God has great hope for sinners. This promise is fulfilled in the church, which is God’s new Israel. God calls a people who are not his people (the Gentiles) to be His people. The Gentiles were not originally God’s people but God placed his love on all mankind. God so loved the world, which means the sinful and rebellious world of both Jews and Gentiles, that he gave us his One and Only Son, that we should not perish but have eternal life (Jn 3:16). 

This is God’s heart for the broken, unfaithful and rebellious world. He waits for sinners to come back to Him like Hosea waited for his wife. God is like the father of the Prodigal Son. He waits for us to come home to Him. This is God’s covenant love with his people.

Lord, thank you for your faithful love for unfaithful sinners like me. Help me to have your heart for the lost world and participate in your love to save sinners. Bless our family to be an expression of your love for the young people of our times.

One Word: God’s love never changes