Faithful God (Part Three): A Turning Point

Transcript

JROT 3
10/9/2022
Faithful God (Part Three): A Turning Point
Hosea 1:10-2:1
Jesse Randolph

For a few years now, there’s been a photo floating around the Internet and on social media. This photo has three lines of text. Line one, “Let’s eat, Grandma. Line two, “Let’s eat Grandma.” No comma. Line three “Grammar saves lives.” It’s a funny meme. It brings about a chuckle. But it really does bring home an important point that grammar matters. Syntax matters. Even punctuation matters. Word arrangements matter. Because the moment you move a word here or move a word there or you add or drop a comma here or there suddenly the meaning of what you originally intended to convey has completely changed. Words have weight. Grammar can, in fact, save lives.

Now we’re going to see that grammar “saves lives,” you could say, in Scripture. Not saving lives in the sense of preventing Grandma from being cannibalized. But in the sense of a pilgrim’s posture toward God changing. His attitude shifting. His thoughts redirecting. Think of the book of Habakkuk. After grieving the sins of his people. After lamenting the sins of people. After complaining to God about the sins of his people. After accusing God of not listening to him about the sins of His people, that’s Habakkuk 1:2. “How long, O Lord, will I call for help, and You will not hear?” At the end of that book, Habakkuk’s perspective entirely shifts, and it hinges on a tiny little word. “Yet.” In Habakkuk 3:18 we see that word “yet” and that prophet’s perspective completely shifts in that book. Here’s the whole passage in context. Habakkuk 3:16-18, “Though the fig tree should not blossom and there be no fruit on the vines, Though the yield of the olive should fail and the fields produce no food, Though the flock should be cut off from the fold And there be no cattle in the stalls, Yet. Yet I will exult in the Lord, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength, And He has made my feet like hinds’ feet,
And makes me walk on my high places.” We see the usage of grammar in Scripture causing a shift not only in God’s people, though but rather you could say, in God Himself as His countenance toward His people shifts. As His attitude shifts. As His course reverses.

Take these, just for example. 1 Corinthians 1:26 & 27. It says, “For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise.” Or 1 Corinthians 10:13 “No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.” Or 2 Timothy 2:8 & 9 “Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, descendant of David, according to my gospel, for which I suffer hardship even to imprisonment as a criminal; but the word of God is not imprisoned.” Romans 5:6-8 “For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” One more, Ephesians 2:1-5 “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved).” Amen, amen, amen. “But, but, but.” As Martyn Lloyd-Jones once said, “praise God for the ‘buts’ of the Bible.”

All this to say, grammar matters. Syntax matters. Because, with just a few strokes of a pen today or maybe back in the old days, a stylus right down to that jot and the tittle. Incredibly important words, indeed life-saving words might be being communicated. We want to make sure we’re not missing any of them.

That’s what we have going on in our passage tonight. We have this grammatically driven turn of events. This syntactical turning point. With that riveting introduction about a syntactical turning point, turn with me if you will, to the book of Hosea. Now in case you’re new to this series and even if you’re not, simply to give you a sense of background. The major theme we’ve flagged in the book of Hosea is God’s faithful covenant love toward faithless Israel. Israel, the ten northern tribes, as a people and as a nation they were spiritually adulterous. They were not only drifting from their spiritual husband, Yahweh, they were actively pursuing other gods. As older translations render it they were “whoring after other gods.” God, though a holy God who cannot and will not tolerate wickedness and evil in His presence is also a patient God. Also a longsuffering God. Also a merciful God. Also a faithful, covenant-keeping God. So, the major theme of Hosea as we are going to see week over week over the many weeks to come is faithless Israel and her faithful God.

Structurally, what we see in this book are two major divisions which I mentioned before. In Hosea chapters 4-14 we see the back and forth between God and Israel over Israel’s apostasy and spiritual whoredom. Then in chapters 1-3 where we’re still tonight, we see God’s dealings with Israel being typified or illustrated in this real earthly marriage relationship between God’s prophet, Hosea and his wife, the unfortunately-named “Gomer.”

Now, in terms of the terrain that we’ve covered in this book so far, we’re still in Hosea chapter 1. We’ve seen in verse 1 of chapter 1 “the word of the LORD” coming to Hosea. Which, based on the listing of the kings mentioned in that verse would place the dating of this book, when Hosea receives that word from the LORD sometime in the mid-800s B.C., approximately 750 years before the birth of Christ. We’ve seen, in verse 2 of chapter 1 that God commanded Hosea “Go, take to yourself a wife of harlotry, and have children of harlotry.” Though that may seem bizarre to us God’s command here wasn’t out of left field. It wasn’t random or purposeless. Rather, this same verse, verse 2, is the verse in which we see why God gave Hosea this command to take this harlot, this prostitute for his wife. Because it was an object lesson for the people of Israel. That’s what we see at the end of verse 2. “Go take yourself a wife of harlotry, have children of harlotry for the land commits flagrant harlotry, forsaking the LORD.” Israel did so by shacking up with other lovers namely, the false gods and idols of the various other people groups in the surrounding region. We’ve seen in verse 3, we saw this last week, that Hosea’s obedience was immediate. Surely the command that Hosea received was a difficult pill to swallow, not an easy pill to swallow as an appointed, set-apart prophet of the LORD. “Marry a prostitute”? “Me”? “To her”? “Really”? It didn’t matter to Hosea. The text tells us that he immediately followed the Lord’s command. It says, “So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim.” No complaining. No delaying. Simply obeying. “So, he went.”

And then last week, in verses 3-9, we saw that Gomer, Hosea’s wife, the prostitute gave birth to three children. Only one of those children was Hosea’s, the firstborn, “Jezreel.” As for the other two, Hosea’s fatherhood is left more ambiguous in the text which is, I would say, strong evidence that especially in the light of Gomer’s harlotry the latter two children were not Hosea’s but instead were the product of her adultery. Of “Jezreel,” the first-born child, the first-born son, we know that his name literally means “God sows.” But we also know that by the time of Hosea that that name “Jezreel” had become more synonymous with “bloodshed.” In the light of all the bloodshed that had been shed in the valley of Jezreel in the days of Gideon and later Jehu. We also know that this little boy’s name “Jezreel” was tied into the fact that God was about to judge Israel by scattering them. Look at Hosea 1:4, “I will punish the house of Jehu for the bloodshed of Jezreel,” God says, “and I will put an end to the kingdom of Israel.” Not only that, in verse 5 He says, “On that day I will break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel.”

Then we get to the second child, “Lo-Ruhamah,” in Hosea 1:6-7. Which, we saw last week, means “no mercy,” or “no compassion.” Earlier, in the days of Moses, God had declared that He was “The LORD, the Lord God,” this is Exodus 34 “compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth, who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin.” But now, that same God was telling Israel through Hosea’s naming of this little girl, “Lo-Ruhamah” not anymore. In the light of their wickedness, in the light of their spiritual adultery, in light of their apostasy God was no longer going to demonstrate His lovingkindness, His tenderheartedness, or His patience to Israel. They could no longer find rest in the truths they knew about God’s nature and His character.

We get to the third child, in Hosea 1:9, where God says, “Name him,” a son, “Lo-Ammi, for you are not My people and I am not your God.” That’s a troubling and a terrifying name as we saw last week because those are troubling and terrifying words. Also, we saw last week, there were many previous places in the Old Testament where God not only set His love upon His people but where He affirmatively told them they were His people, and He was their God. But now, God is saying to the people of Israel “Not anymore.” “You can no longer rest in, or upon your identity as the people of Israel.” He’s saying to them “I’ve warned you, over and over, about your sinful, wicked, and adulterous ways.” “I’ve had enough.” “I’m done with you.” “You are no longer My people.” “And I am no longer your God.” “I’ve cut you off.” “You’re on your own.”

That’s where we left off last week, Hosea 1:9, the naming of the three children and the judgment on Israel that the naming of those three children would portend. But I also gave you a little bit of a teaser before we ended last week when I read the very first word of verse 10, “Yet.” One of those small, seemingly insignificant grammatical terms. Just like “Yet” in Habakkuk 3:18. Just like “But” in Ephesians chapter 2. As we’re going to see, this little word isn’t grammatically insignificant at all. It carries actually a tremendous amount of weight. We’re going to pick it up in Hosea 1:10 right now. We’re also going to cover Hosea 1:10 and 1:11, and Hosea 2:1. Those three verses in the original Hebrew text are one paragraph, one unit.

So, with all that as background let’s look at our text for tonight. Hosea 1:10 “Yet the number of the sons of Israel will be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or numbered; and in the place where it is said to them, ‘You are not My people,’ it will be said to them, ‘You are the sons of the living God.’ And the sons of Judah and the sons of Israel will be gathered together, and they will appoint for themselves one leader, and they will go up from the land, for great will be the day of Jezreel. Say to your brothers, ‘Ammi,’ and to your sisters, ‘Ruhamah’.” There’s a lot to cover in just these three verses so let’s get right into it. As we work through these three verses, I’m not going to give you three cute, alliterated preaching points but I do want to highlight for you a few different things that we see happening.

First, we’re going to see God promising a future restoration of His people. We’re going to see God providing a renewal of certain promises to His people, I guess this is alliterated. Third, we’re going to see a reconciliation of the divisions that once existed between Israel and Judah. Fourth, we’re going to see the reinstatement of a king. Fifth, we’re going to see a return to the land. Don’t worry. We’ll go through each one of those “r’s” as we get deeper into the text.

Let’s start with the first one. God’s promise of a future restoration of His people. Here in verse 10, that’s where we’re going to start, we see this rapid shift in focus. As we go from words of judgment on Israel mediated through the naming of those three children that Gomer gave birth to, now we have these words. Verse 10 “Yet the number of the sons of Israel will be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or numbered.” Turn with me to Genesis 13 for some context here. Genesis 13 and as you’re turning there, I want to remind you that we can’t read Hosea or any of the Minor Prophets and the doom that those minor prophets were predicting for Israel given its state of disobedience. Without keeping in mind the promises that God made to Israel’s patriarchs and specifically, to Abraham considering the land they would one day have, the people they would one day be, and the blessings they would one day obtain.
For that matter, we can’t read fairly the New Testament. The words of Jesus. The words of Paul. The words of Peter. The words of yet-to-be fulfilled prophecy given in the New Testament if we detach them entirely from the promises that God made first to His original covenant people Israel. God made specific promises to a specific people, Israel. And those promises will one day be specifically fulfilled in and for that people, Israel. It is hermeneutical malpractice to contend as men like Andy Stanley do that we should “unhitch” ourselves from the Old Testament. To do so would be to turn a blind eye to God’s original promises to Israel. To do so would not only wipe out the 39 books of inspired Scripture from the canon, the Old Testament. It would undermine and demean the very character of God who has told us that all Scripture, ta graphe, in both the Old and New Testaments it has been breathed out and given to us by, God.

Please turn to Genesis 13 and look at verse 16. These are God’s words to Abram, after he had separated from Lot. These are words of promise. “I will make your descendants,” God says to Abram, “as the dust of the earth, so that if anyone can number the dust of the earth, then your descendants can also be numbered.” That’s just the start. God says something similarly to Abraham in chapter 15, just across the page. This is still Abram in Genesis 15:5. God takes Abram outside and says “‘Now look toward the heavens, and count the starts, if you are able to count them.’ He said to him, ‘So shall your descendants be.’” Let’s keep going. Let’s go over to Genesis 22 where now God is speaking to Abraham and this is right after Abraham’s near-sacrifice of Isaac. Look at Genesis 22, we’ll start in verse 15. It says then the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven and said “By Myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your only son, indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies.”

Now, if we take these promises seriously, as we should. If the people in Hosea’s day took these promises seriously, as they should have; what we would or should understand or what they would have or should have understood was that God’s threats of judgment on His people. The immediate context going back to Hosea, in Hosea’s day, those threats of judgment still had to be measured against and mediated through the antecedent or prior revelation that God had given them. Specifically, the promises God had made to Abraham and the ways that He (God) would bless not only this people but the world through Israel.
Yes, in the immediate context back in Hosea of 8th century Samaria it may have seemed that God’s promises to Abraham were in jeopardy on account of Israel’s apostasy and that the looming judgment of God through His chosen instrument Assyria would really wipe Israel off the map. In reality, those earlier promises from Genesis were never really in jeopardy of going unfulfilled.

See we see this surety, this certainty of God’s promises all over previous revelation in Genesis. Not only in Genesis, we see it in Isaiah too. In fact, flip with me over to Isaiah chapter 10. Subsequent prophecy given by God through Isaiah, after Abraham, around the same time as Hosea. Turn with me to Isaiah chapter 10 and we’re going to look at verses, start in verse 5. Here God, through Isaiah, is describing Assyria as the “rod of His anger.” That means, the instrument God would use to bring judgment on His own people. The same Assyria that Hosea is concerned about. Look at Isaiah 10:5. It says, “Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger and the staff in whose hands is My indignation, I send it against a godless nation,” talking about Israel, “and commission it against the people of My fury.” What a description. “To capture booty and to seize plunder, and to trample them down like mud in the streets. Yet it does not so intend, nor does it plan so in its heart, but rather it is its purpose to destroy and to cut off many nations.” What God is saying here that He will in His wisdom use an evil agent, Assyria to bring judgment on His people. The very judgment, by the way, that Hosea is warning about. Look at what God says in Isaiah 10:20. Flip over to verse 20. It says, “Now in that day the remnant of Israel, and those of the house of Jacob who have escaped, will never again rely on the one who struck them, but will truly rely on the LORD, the Holy One of Israel. A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God. For though your people, O Israel, may be like the sand of the sea, only a remnant within them will return; a destruction is determined, overflowing with righteousness.”

What we went through last week in Hosea 1:3-9 was unquestionably very dark, very sad, and very tragic. Was this the end of the promise? Was this the end of God’s plan of salvation? Was this the end of the story, the end of the road so to speak, for Israel? No. Not at all. Though Israel was facing, in Hosea’s day destruction and deportation at the hands of the Assyrians, again God had made everlasting promises to Abraham. Promises which He was not going to break. God has indicated here, back in Isaiah 10 that a remnant would be preserved as a result of that same Assyrian deportation.

Now, going back to Hosea 1:10 we see Hosea, the prophet, now echoing these same truths. Again, verse 10, “Yet the number of the sons of Israel will be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or numbered.” These words very clearly echo the promises made to Abraham. They echo the prophecy made in Isaiah and what they are telling us is that while large swaths of Hosea’s generation would be wiped out a remnant would remain. And from that remnant, God would restore His people.

So, we’ve seen, in verse 10 here God promising this future restoration of His people when He says, “Yet the number of the sons of Israel will be like the sand of the sea.” Next, God says, moving down through verse 10 “And in the place where it is said to them, “You are not My people,’ it will be said to them, ‘You are the sons of the living God.” We’ve see, remember those “r’s” at the beginning, that future restoration of His people. Now we’re going to see a renewal of His promises. A renewal of His promises. Though it appeared that God was about to repudiate His children in judgment through the naming of those children here we see Him renewing. Doubling down on the promises He had already made to His people. A refrain that had echoed down throughout Israel’s history was that God was their God and they were His people. Exodus 6:7 “I will take you for My people, and I will be your God.” Leviticus 26:12 “I will also walk among you and be your God, and you shall be My people.” In Hosea 1:10 that very refrain is once again being repeated. That very promise is being renewed.

Again, this should come as no surprise to us because we cannot lose sight of the fact as we work our way through the book of Hosea that there’s this golden thread that weaves itself through the Scriptures, both between the Old and New Testaments which is that God is faithful. God is faithful. As the faithful God, He always keeps His promises. We could do a whole discourse tonight on the concept and the truth of the faithfulness of God but I’m going to just rattle off a few here. Deuteronomy 32:4 “The Rock! His work is perfect, for all His ways are just; a God of faithfulness and without injustice, righteous and upright is He.” Or Psalm 33:4 “For the word of the LORD is upright, and all His work is done in faithfulness.” Or Psalm 36:5 “Your faithfulness reaches to the skies.” Psalm 119:90 “Your faithfulness continues throughout all generations.” Lamentations 3:23 “Great is Your faithfulness.” 2 Corinthians 1:9 — “God is faithful.” 1 Thessalonians 5:24 “Faithful is He who calls you.” 2 Timothy 2:13 “If we are faithless, He remains faithful.” God is always and ever faithful. In our times and in Hosea’s times. Israel was still His people and He was still their God. Note the text says at the end of verse 10 they are “sons of the living God.” The “living God.” El Hayyim. We see that name for God in a couple other places in Scripture. You could jot down Psalm 42:1-2. Very familiar verse to many of you. “As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.” El Hayyim. Or Psalm 84:2 “My heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God.” El Hayyim. The basic idea underlying this name, El Hayyim, is that God has life in Himself. He is the source of life for all created things on this planet. He is the source of physical life. He is the root of our spiritual life and He’s the hope of our eternal life. There’d be no existence without God. There would be no meaning without God. There would be no hope without God. He is the very root and source of life in each and every sense.

Now, for the Israelites, it would hardly have been news that God is alive. To call God El Hayyim but the point that’s clearly being made here in verse 10, in context, is clear. The God of Israel, the true God, the “living God” was starkly in contrast to the “dead idols” of the surrounding nations. The very “gods” with whom Israel had been prostituting herself. The “gods” that Israel had been adulterously joining herself to. Those gods they were worshiping were deaf, and they were dumb, and they were dead. That’s actually picked up in Jeremiah 10. If you’ll go back with me to Jeremiah chapter 10, we’re going to see the deafness, the dumbness, and the deadness of idols. Jeremiah is a prophet to the south. He’s writing to Judah but very similar context and also very similar timeframe as what we’re dealing with in Hosea. Let’s pick it up in Jeremiah 10:6 for this discourse on idols, false gods. Jeremiah 10:6 “There is none like you, O LORD; You are great, and great is Your name in might. Who would not fear You, O King of the nations? Indeed, it is your due! For among all the wise men of the nations and in all their kingdoms, there is none like You.” Alright. We’re off to a good start. But look at what comes next, in Jeremiah 10:8-9. “But they are altogether stupid and foolish,” speaking of the surrounding nations, “in their discipline of delusion their idol is wood! Beaten silver is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz, the work of a craftsman and the hand of a goldsmith; violet and purple are their clothing; they are all the work of skilled men.” Drop down to verse 14. It says “Every man is stupid, devoid of knowledge; every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols; for his molten images are deceitful, and there is no breath in them. They are worthless, a work of mockery; in the time of their punishment, they will perish.” In verse 16, “The portion of Jacob is not like these; for the Maker of all is He, and Israel is the tribe of His inheritance; the Lord of hosts is His name.” What is this excerpt from Jeremiah 10 reminding us of? That only God, Yahweh, the true God was and is the living God.

Now, as we turn back to Hosea we get into some really interesting terrain in verse 11. Not that verse 10 isn’t interesting! But look at what verse 11 says. “And the sons of Judah and the sons of Israel will be gathered together, and they will appoint for themselves one leader, and they will go up from the land, for great will be the day of Jezreel.” Now, why would I use the word “interesting” to describe verse 11? I use that word intentionally because there are aspects of this passage which have yet to be fulfilled which means that what we have here in Hosea 1:11 is unfulfilled prophecy. Things that have yet to come to pass but will.

Let’s start with the words “And the sons of Judah and the sons of Israel will be gathered together.” Here we see and this is our third “r.” Restoration of people, renewal of covenant promises, three would be reconciliation of the divisions that between Israel and Judah. Here what we have is this reconciliation of the divisions between the north and the south. Now, from the time of King Rehoboam, the son of Solomon. I realized that two weeks ago I made a mistake when I said Rehoboam and Jeroboam were both sons of Solomon. I recant. I take that back. Jeroboam was not the son of Solomon. He was not Rehoboam’s brother. He was the son of Nebat. I stand corrected. But the nation had been divided between the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah; and, throughout this period of division as we’ve seen these two camps were often at war. So, throughout this time in this divided period, God’s promise to have a “people” who would be “His people” continually begged the question. Which people? Which nation is being referred to? Now, in verse 11, God promises here to “gather together” and re-form as one people, His people.

When was this reunification going to take place? Many have taken the position and tried to argue that this reunification of Israel and Judah has already taken place. That it took place historically during the days of Ezra and Nehemiah following the decree of Cyrus when the Jews came back out of exile and were given permission to rebuild parts of Jerusalem; that really doesn’t fit. There are certainly traces admittedly, at least some cohesion starting to form between north and south during the period of the divided kingdom. For instance, Hezekiah a southern king did make overtures to the northern tribes of Israel to join him at Jerusalem for his great Passover. We see that in 2 Chronicles 30. Josiah (another southern king) did include the whole land of Israel in his reforms. We see that in 2 Chronicles 34 and 35. Ezra, following the return from the exile offered “twelve bulls for all Israel” it says, when they got back to Jerusalem when they started the sacrifices again. We see that in Ezra 8:35. So there are some shades of cohesion starting to form between north and south back in those days but there’s never total cohesion between Judah and Israel the way Hosea 1:11 portrays it. There were signs of the old breach between south and north starting to heal but that idea did not come to fruition. That prophecy was never fully fulfilled in the days of Hosea or later, in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah or even later, in the days of Jesus. Right? We have to keep in mind that already by the time of our Lord’s walk on this earth, His earthly ministry, there were already new roots of bitterness and hatred that had developed between Jews and Samaritans who were known as “half-breeds.” That’s in fact the very tension that’s built into that whole encounter with Jesus and the woman at the well in John 4.

Because a total reunification of Judah and Israel had not yet occurred in Hosea’s day it leaves us with the reality that this is speaking to a future day. This reunification will be on a day to come when Judah and Israel will be gathered together. Another reason we have to arrive at that conclusion is what comes next in verse 11. It says not only will “the sons of Judah and the sons of Israel” be “gathered together” but look what comes next. “They will appoint for themselves one leader.” Putting these puzzle pieces together here from verse 11, what this is speaking of is a future day of unification for God’s original people, Israel, now rejoined with Judah under one Head, one Ruler, one King.

That Head is who? Who else? The once-rejected Jesus. The Messiah. The Christ of God. The Son of God. Here, in this part of verse 11, this is our next “r,” number four, we see a reinstatement of the king. One, reunited nation would require one king, and that one king would not be from any line but from the line of David. That one king would not be just any Davidic king but the Messiah, the Christ, the King of Kings. By the way, this is not just me casually opining on these matters. This is not me winging it up here. We actually are given direct insights from God’s Word about what is happening here in Hosea 1:11. God’s Word is always the greatest commentary on God’s Word. Is it not? To prove it come with me Ezekiel 37. Note the answers we get in Ezekiel 37 to what is happening in Hosea 1:11. So I remind you Hosea 1:11 says
“the sons of Judah and the sons of Israel will be gathered together, and they will appoint for themselves one leader.” Now look at what Ezekiel 37 says, starting in verse 15. This is going to be a long one, bear with me. Ezekiel 37:15 says “The word of the LORD came again to me saying, ‘And you, son of man, take for yourself one stick and write on it, ‘For Judah and for the sons of Israel, his companions’; then take another stick and write on it, ‘For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim and all the house of Israel, his companions.’ Then join them for yourself one to another into one stick, that they may become one in your hand.”
“When the sons of your people speak to you, saying, ‘Will you not declare to us what you mean by these?’ say to them ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, ‘Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel, his companions, and I will put them with it, the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they will be one in My hand.’”
“The sticks on which you write will be in your hand before their eyes. Say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, ‘Behold, I will take the sons of Israel from among the nations where they have gone, and I will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land; and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king will be king for all of them; and they will no longer be two nations and no longer be divided into two kingdoms.” As in Hosea here in Ezekiel we have a regathered Israel and Judah being predicted here.
We see this very familiar language, that they will all, collectively, Israel and Judah, be God’s people, and He will be their God. That sounds very familiar. That sounds very Hosea-like. Look what comes next, in verse 24. It says, “My servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd; and they will walk in My ordinances and keep My statutes and observe them. They will live on the land that I gave to Jacob My servant, in which your fathers lived; and they will live on it, they, and their sons and their sons’ sons, forever; and David My servant will be their prince forever. I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will place them and multiply them, and will set My sanctuary in their midst forever.” This time a restoration and reunification and regathered Israel under a single Shepherd or a King from the line of David will occur when that Davidic king, the Messiah of Israel, the Christ of God, the Lord Jesus Christ returns to this earth to usher in His Millennial Kingdom. A literal one-thousand-year reign. That restoration and that unification will happen on that day. It will commence on that day when the Lord Jesus Christ sets His feet on very place from which He ascended. That will happen, Zechariah 14:4, on the Mount of Olives. This future day will not only bring about a reunification of Israel and Judah but it will bring them under a singular kingship and rulership of Christ, which is exactly what Zechariah 14:9 says. “And the LORD will be the king over all the earth; in that day the LORD will be the only one, and His name the only one.” This again will be during the Millennium. The one thousand year period in which Christ reigns here on earth to demonstrate His divine glory, to vindicate His lordly claims, to demonstrate His kingship, and to physically set up His kingdom here on earth. Not only that He will do so to literally fulfill the prophetic promises of what was said about Him in the Old Testament, including right here in Hosea.

We see that “the sons of Judah and the sons of Israel [being] gathered together,” verse 11, we see they will “appoint for themselves one leader,” the Messiah and next it says, “they will go up from the land.” That’s not a separate event that’s to be detached from what we’ve already seen in verse 11. Rather it’s in conjunction with the two other instances or incidents that we’ve already looked at. All associated with the future millennial kingship of Christ. Now the text here says “they will go up from the land” meaning, the land of their captivity. Next it says in this related statement, and this ties everything together “For great will be the day of Jezreel.”




Here, in this next part of verse 11, we see this is our fifth “r” a return to the land. A return to the land, the people of God will be restored in the land. “They will go up from the land, for great will be the day of Jezreel.” Now we need to remember that while the name “Jezreel” had become synonymous by Hosea’s day with “bloodshed” that was not the literal meaning of his name, Jezreel’s name. Rather the name literally means “God sows,” “sows.” Now at first, God sowed by scattering, by dispersing the Israelites, by sending them into captivity. Now, what’s being predicted is He is sowing them by planting them so that “Jezreel” would no longer be associated or synonymous with bloodshed but rather that name Jezreel would revert to its true meaning. God would plant His people in the land. He will sow His people in the land reunified. No longer as “Israel and Judah” but rather, simply, as “Israel.” Under that singular headship, that singular kingship of their Davidic Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. In that era they will flourish. They will be fruitful. They will be planted in their land. They will be sown in their land and be they will be fruitful in that land. We see this elaborated on a bit further in Hosea 2, probably not next week but maybe in a week or two after. Look at Hosea 2:21-22. This is referring to the same events. It says, “It will come about in that day, “Hosea 2:21, “that I will respond, declares the LORD, I will respond to the heavens, and they will respond to the earth, and the earth will respond to the grain, to the new wine and to the oil, and they will respond to Jezreel. I will sow her for Myself in the land. I will also have compassion on her who had not obtained compassion, and I will say to those who were not My people, ‘You are My people!’ and they will say, ‘You are my God!’” This will be the true “day of Jezreel.” When the valley of Jezreel, the place that was known where blood was shed, the place that was known, Hosea 1:5, where Israel’s bow was broken instead becomes now the vineyard of the Lord where the previously scattered people of Israel and Judah are now sown in the land of their fathers never to be rooted up again.

Last for tonight, we see verse 1 of chapter 2, “Say to your brothers, ‘Ammi,’ and to your sisters, ‘Ruhamah.’” Just as Jezreel would become a name of salvation so Lo-Ruhamah and Lo-Ammi would become redemptive. Ruhamah now becomes “my loved one” and Ammi becomes “my people.” That change of names reflects a real change of status. We see in scripture that a change of name can be negative. In Ruth 1:20 Naomi becomes “Mara,” “bitter” or “bitterness.” Or a change of name can also become positive like in Genesis 17 when Abram becomes “Abraham,” the father of many nations. Or in Isaiah 62:4 where Judah is no longer called “forsaken” or “desolate,” but becomes “My delight,” “the Lord’s delight.” Or even in Matthew 16:18 where Jesus says, “You are Peter.” Here in Hosea 2:1 these name changes were intentional, and they reflect a God-directed act of grace and mercy with the ever-faithful God revealed in the Bible saying, “a day is coming when the “Lo,” meaning not, “will be removed.” These very people – Israel will once again be owned as My people and again will receive My mercy. Again, that’s looking forward to a future day. Not in the present church age but in a future time, Romans 11:27 when “all Israel shall be saved.”

Now, even if you’ve never read the book of Hosea part of our passage tonight likely sounds familiar to you because Paul references sections of this passage in a key part of the book of Romans. Romans 9-11 specifically which covers God’s dealings past, present, and future with Israel.
In Hosea 1:10-2:1, as we’ve just seen we see this stunning reversal of judgments that God was going to bring to pass on Israel, but then we see that He spares them and promises to restore them. That’s what we just looked at. Now, when you get to Romans 9-11, Paul is referring to Israel’s rejection of the Messiah, Jesus Christ, at His first coming which was the latest and most egregious act of Israel’s unfaithfulness to God. It was in fact its supreme act of obstinacy, and stubbornness, and hard-heartedness, and stiff-neckedness. That was the state of spiritual Israel in Paul’s day and is the state of spiritual Israel in our day. What Paul is then writing, and we don’t have time to go there tonight, maybe in a different lesson, what Paul is writing about in Romans 9-11 squares perfectly with what Hosea wrote of nearly 800 years prior. Both saw the unfaithfulness of Israel in their respective centuries. Both saw the mercy of God that would eventually be shown and blessed upon Israel. Just as Hosea’s focus, in Hosea 1:10-2:1 tonight, was Israel, Paul’s focus, in Romans 9-11, was Israel. Just as Israel was apostate and adulterous in Hosea’s day Israel was apostate and adulterous in Paul’s day and remains so in our day. Nevertheless, a future day of hope and restoration is coming for Israel. God has promised, both through both Hosea and Paul that those who have become “not My people” will again become “My people.” In fact, let’s go to Romans 9 real quick. I just want to show you real quick what Paul does in bringing Hosea 1 into what he says. I couldn’t resist. Romans 9 and let’s just look really quickly at verses 25 and 26. Romans 9:25 “as He,” God, “also says in Hosea ‘I will call those who are not My people, My people and her who is not beloved, beloved. And it shall be that in the place where it was said to them, ‘you are not My people’ there they shall be called sons of the living God.’” Paul’s talking about Israel here. We don’t need to allegorize or spiritualize what this is saying. He’s talking about Israel. God has promised also in Romans 11:25-26, that there is coming a day when “the fullness of the Gentiles has come in . . . [that] all Israel will be saved.” The redemption of Israel will come. Their current season of being stiff-necked and scattered will end. God will eventually bring them back into their own land and to their true Lord as sons of the living God.

In the end, God will redeem His people. In the end, going back to our major theme of the book of Hosea here, God is a faithful and covenant-keeping God. He has in no way reneged on His promises to Israel. You and I now sit in this parenthetical period of history known as the church age. If you are here tonight as a follower of Jesus Christ, you have already been a great recipient as I have have been of the redemptive love that we see God putting here on display in the book of Hosea toward Israel. There’s is no human category for the type of love God demonstrates here in this book, this book that we’ll be studying for some time. That love will one day bring believing Israel back into fellowship with God. That love is what brought you and I into fellowship with that God. That love, that faithful covenant-keeping love of God doesn’t stop even when, by definition, human definition, we think it should. This is divine, redeeming love. God is, and has been, faithful to people who don’t love Him back. He loves them even though they don’t recognize His love. Even though they turn their backs on Him. Even though they roll their eyes at Him. Even though they dismiss Him.

Just because we might think, well I would never love somebody who doesn’t love me back, well that’s not how God operates as clearly seen here in the book of Hosea. We don’t deserve His compassion. Humanly speaking, we shouldn’t have been shown God’s love, but we were. We are not His people, by nature. We are meant for condemnation. God set His love upon us anyway. Why? Because He did. That’s the only reason for God’s love and faithfulness to us. He loves us because He loves us. That’s the answer. He loves us because He loves us. That was true of Israel, Deuteronomy 7:7-8. He didn’t select or choose or put His love on Israel because she was great, or she was better than all the nations. No. He loved her or that nation because He loved her. The same is true of Christians today. Ephesians 1:5 couldn’t be clearer. He chooses us “according to the kind intention of His will.” Thank the Lord that the only basis for His love, is His good pleasure. His kindness. His will. If there were any other reason rooted in us as to why we should be loved by that God we would continually stumble and continually fall and ultimately be found unworthy of His love because we are in our own right unworthy.

I’m going to close with a quote from a helpful commentary on Hosea written by George Zemek. He says this. "Knowing what you and I deserve in the light of the severity of our sin, who among us today could object if God were to choose to withhold any additional mercy? No one could legitimately accuse God of injustice if He were to declare that sinners like you and me had been officially disowned. If God were to pronounce that He no longer loved us, who among us could protest that we were somehow too loveable to ignore?” "The warnings in [Hosea] send a chill down the spine of any child of God who has an awareness of his own sinfulness and what he justly deserves from God’s hand." "The nature of God’s temporary judgment of Israel’s sin as described in this chapter,” Hosea 1, “touches upon some of our greatest fears and doubts in the Christian life, that we might somehow, one day sin beyond the limits of the grace of God and find ourselves disowned and rejected.” I love this last line, “Where would we be without important scriptural words like "yet.” Grammar matters.

Let’s pray. God thank you so much again for Your word. Thank you for this sweet privilege that we’ve had today to sit under it, to learn from it, and doing so to know You and to learn more of You as You reveal Yourself in Your word. Thank you that You are a faithful covenant-keeping God. That You are a God who loves in a way that we can understand. You love us in a way that has nothing to do with us or our own sense of inherent goodness or worth, but You love us according to the kind intention of Your will. You have a love that You set upon Israel. Your promises are sure that You’ll fulfill those promises to her, to that nation. You’ve also made promises to us, we Gentiles in the church age, that we know we can bank on and rest on and find hope in. God help us to leave this place this evening encouraged, refreshed, comforted that we know You. A God who loves like this, forgives like this, has mercy like this and is gracious like this. We love You and give You thanks and praise. In Jesus’ name, amen.