Hosea · chapter 1 of 14
Updated on
Hosea 1 introduces the prophet Hosea, whom God commands to take Gomer as his wife as a picture of Israel's unfaithfulness to the Lord. Three children are born with names that announce judgment: Jezreel, Lo-ruhamah (not loved) and Lo-ammi (not my people). The chapter ends with a promise of hope: the scattered people will again be called children of the living God.
The book of Hosea is set in the northern kingdom, Israel, in the eighth century BC, during the reign of Jeroboam II and some years after, when prosperity hid deep religious and moral corruption. God uses the prophet's personal life as a message. This first chapter sets the tone of the whole book: God's faithful love toward an unfaithful people, with real judgment and even greater hope.
The chapter begins with the word of the Lord to Hosea, son of Beeri, in the days of the kings of Judah Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, and of Jeroboam son of Joash, king of Israel. God tells him to take a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom, because the land has been committing great whoredom by forsaking the Lord. Hosea obeys and takes Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim. Interpreters differ on how to understand this command: some believe Gomer was already unfaithful or would be later, others see a symbolic action; in any case, Hosea's marriage is a picture of God's relationship with Israel.
Gomer conceives and bears a son. God tells Hosea to name him Jezreel, because in a little while he will punish the house of Jehu for the blood shed at Jezreel and put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel; on that day he will break the bow of Israel in the Valley of Jezreel. Gomer then bears a daughter, whom God calls Lo-ruhamah, meaning not loved or shown no mercy, because he will no longer have mercy on Israel, though he will have mercy on Judah and save them not by bow or sword but by the Lord their God.
When Gomer has weaned Lo-ruhamah, she conceives and bears another son. God names him Lo-ammi, meaning not my people, because Israel is no longer his people and he is not their God. But the chapter does not end there. The number of the children of Israel will be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or counted. In the place where it was said that they are not God's people, they will be called children of the living God. Judah and Israel will be gathered together, appoint one head and go up from the land, for great will be the day of Jezreel.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
God commands Hosea to marry a woman of whoredom, because the land has been committing whoredom by forsaking the Lord. The prophet's life becomes a living message about Israel's unfaithfulness and God's grief over it.
The daughter is named Lo-ruhamah, not loved, because God will no longer have mercy on Israel. The name of an innocent child serves as a sign of judgment, while Judah will still be shown compassion.
The third child is named Lo-ammi, not my people, because Israel has ceased to be his people and God is no longer their God. It is the hardest break, and it reverses the covenant formula: you will be my people and I will be your God.
Where it was said you are not my people, they will be called children of the living God, and their number will be like the sand of the sea. Judgment does not have the last word: the same promise made to Abraham is given again to a people who seemed lost.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: To take a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom, because the land had forsaken the Lord. — Hosea 1:2
Answer: Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim. — Hosea 1:3
Answer: The punishment of the house of Jehu for the blood shed at Jezreel and the end of the kingdom of Israel. — Hosea 1:4-5
Answer: Not loved or shown no mercy: God would no longer have mercy on the house of Israel. — Hosea 1:6
Answer: Not my people, because Israel was no longer God's people and God was not their God. — Hosea 1:9
Answer: That the children of Israel will be countless like the sand of the sea and will be called children of the living God. — Hosea 1:10
Hosea 1 teaches that God is not indifferent to the unfaithfulness of his people. It speaks of grief, not only punishment, and that is why it uses the most intimate image, that of a marriage. In a class or small group you can ask what we have given the love that belongs to God, even if we bear the name of believers.
But the chapter does not stay with judgment. The names of the children end up reversed in a promise: those who were not a people will be children of the living God. The New Testament takes up this hope for the church, which includes believers from all nations. It reminds us that God's grace reaches those who do not deserve it and that no estrangement is so great that God cannot restore it.
Hosea 1 sets out the drama of the whole book: an unfaithful people, a God who judges and a promise of restoration. In Hosea 2 God will speak as a wounded husband who disciplines his wife and in the end draws her back with tenderness.
The text presents God's command and Hosea's obedience as real events. Many interpreters understand that Gomer was already living unfaithfully or would later, while others see a symbolic action. The text does not aim to settle the details but to show the relationship between God and Israel.
Jehu was a king of Israel who destroyed the family of Ahab at Jezreel and founded a dynasty. Hosea announces that God will call that blood to account and that the dynasty will come to an end. Jeroboam II, mentioned at the start, belonged to that house.
Paul and Peter take up the promise that those who were not God's people will be called children of the living God and apply it to the church, which includes believers from all nations. In this way they see in Christ the wide fulfillment of Hosea's hope.