Latest / Faith by annm2705 / 681: Bible Study: Hosea 1 (The Prostitute wife symbolic of Idolatry and the affect on a relationship with God)

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681: Bible Study: Hosea 1 (The Prostitute wife symbolic of Idolatry and the affect on a relationship with God) · Faith by annm2705

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  As I mentioned before, we are going through the prophets, the
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  prophets who were reigning during the different times of
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  the kings of Israel and Judah. And so we have talked about when
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  we went through like first kings, second kings.
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  I believe that this was discussed our prior books, we
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  talked about Elijah and Elijah, and then we started talking
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  about as far as the prophets go, Jonah, because he was the next
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  one that came in the order of time.
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  So in the like 790 to 770, Jonah was in that period.
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  And now and then we did Amos. We just finished that book and
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  now we're on Hosea. And so this is the next prophet
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  that God sent to warn the people.
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  Now, at this time, Judah and Israel are separate kingdoms.
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  Israel consists of 10 tribes, and Judah and Benjamin are
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  together. They're separate in the southern
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  Kingdom. And so that's the context of
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  this. This is when it happened during
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  that time. And so it does have significance
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  because he was giving this warning to the people of Israel
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  before they were captured by the Assyrians.
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  So this, this, I did read through the whole book and
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  there's 14 chapters. And so maybe it'll be a couple
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  weeks, depends how much I talk. And I'll try not to do too much
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  talking, but only if I feel prompted to say something will I
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  comment on them. So let's get into the
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  introduction of what it says about the book of Hosea or
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  Hosea. I don't know how to say that
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  this book tells a story as contemporary as one discussed on
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  today's talk shows, that of a man's love for his unfaithful
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  wife. But the story of the prophet
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  Hosea and his wife Gomer illustrates another love story,
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  that of God's love for us, a love that endures even when our
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  sins have broken his heart. Here is a picture of God who
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  longs to forgive us when we turn to him.
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  Notice when we turn to Him. So that's when we get
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  forgiveness, when we turn, when we repent.
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  OK, who wrote the book? Hosea, a prophet in the northern
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  Kingdom of Israel. So he is living among the 10
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  tribes of Israel, and he is speaking to them.
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  You know, there is a verse that just came to mind.
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  And it's like a prophet is never welcomed in his hometown.
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  So here it is. Hosea is trying to tell, trying
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  to warn Israel. Guess what's going to happen
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  because of what condition we're in.
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  And nobody believes him. That's just like every time God
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  sends prophets. People don't listen.
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  I mean some do, but not many. So again, this is what he was
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  doing. To whom was it written?
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  Hosea originally delivered his prophecies to the northern
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  Kingdom of Israel. After Assyria conquered Israel,
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  the words were transcribed to scrolls as a record of prophecy
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  fulfilled and as a warning possibly to the remnant left
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  behind in Israel or possibly to the people of Judah.
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  Personally, I think there's also some last days biblical end
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  times when we get to the very end of the book that's
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  referenced. And I'll explain that when I
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  when we get there. Approximately this, when was it
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  written? Approximately 715 BC.
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  But Hosea first prophesied around 753 BC and continued to
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  speak to the people until Samaria and the Northern Kingdom
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  fell in 722 BC. So he had a good, you know, 30
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  plus years where he was speaking to these people, 30 years of
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  speaking to the people about this.
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  What was happening at this time? Jeroboam the Second was a wicked
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  king whose leadership had produced a materialistic,
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  immoral, unjust society. Following Jeroboam the Second, 6
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  kings ruled Israel within 25 years.
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  This was the twilight of the northern Kingdom.
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  So God replaced kings very frequently over periods of time
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  during when they were not obedient to him.
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  And mostly all of the kings of Israel, of the 10 tribes of
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  Israel were evil. And it also, it makes sense
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  because God established Jerusalem and Judah had that at
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  as its capital. But Israel had Samaria at its
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  capital, and it was kind of a war, not a war, a competition
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  between kings. And the one king of Israel
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  didn't want, He wanted to keep his power.
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  So there were two different kings that were established
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  after Solomon's death, and neither one of them wanted to
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  give up their power. I believe the king over Judah
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  was anointed, but the king over Israel was not.
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  It was like the People's Choice. And so there were consequences.
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  It shows like every single if you read through the Bible in
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  Chronicles and Kings. I think both of them kind of
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  repeat some of the same things. They talk about this king was
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  evil or this king was good or followed after the after the
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  Lord. And none of the kings of the 10
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  tribes of Israel were considered good in God's eyes.
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  There was 1 Jehu which will also be mentioned in this book of
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  Hosea who was used by God to pronounce judgment on Ahab's
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  family because Ahab was an evil wicked queen king.
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  He was married to Jezebel and there's a lot about them.
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  They were very evil and God did use a Jehu to pronounce judgment
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  on them. But we'll see in Hosea that Jehu
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  still gets punished also, because what happens is God uses
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  someone's free will to accomplish His ultimate purpose
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  so He can use evil to bring about what He's has planned for
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  the world. OK, So what to look for in
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  Hosea? Don't be shocked by the
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  prostitution, unfaithfulness, and sorrow in this book.
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  Notice the stark consequences of sin as God stated His case
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  against His people. Then look beyond Hosea's
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  suffering and God's pain to see an example of love that will not
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  quit. First, God's love for his people
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  in Israel, and second, God's love for us.
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  Look for ways that Hosea loved his loved his undeserving wife,
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  and consider how God does the same for us.
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  So the Bible really does put things in parable stories that
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  people can relate to, to express the character of God and to
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  express spiritual things. And so literal things do have
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  symbolic meaning and sometimes spiritual meaning.
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  And the more we read the Bible, the more that becomes apparent
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  to us. So to start, let's pray.
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  Dear God, please be with us as we read the words that you
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  inspired this prophet to give to all of us today to read and and
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  let us apply this to our own lives and also see the
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  historical significance to us. But history repeats itself.
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  So let us learn from this and be inspired by the Holy Spirit to
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  change our lives, receive the Holy Spirit to change our lives
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  and come in repentance to you because that's really what this
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  book is all about is turning to God in repentance.
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  So we ask that you guide us as we read this in Jesus name,
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  Amen. The word of the Lord that came
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  to Hosea son of Beri during the reigns of Uziah, Jotham, Ahaz
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  and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and during the reign of Jeroboam
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  son of Jehovah Ash king of Israel, Hosea's wife and
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  children. When the Lord began to speak
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  through Hosea, the Lord said to him, Go marry a promiscuous A
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  promiscuous woman and have children with her, for like an
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  adulterous wife, this land is guilty of unfaithfulness to the
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  Lord. So he married Gomer, daughter of
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  Diblium, and she conceived and bore him a son.
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  Then the Lord said to Hosea, call him Jezreel, because I will
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  soon punish the House of Jehu for the massacre at Jezreel, and
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  I will put an end to the Kingdom of Israel.
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  So he's saying that he's going to punish Jehu.
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  Even though he used Jehu to accomplish to, I guess,
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  exterminate some evil, he's still punishing Jehu for what he
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  did in at the massacre at Jezreel.
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  And he's also pronouncing an end to the Kingdom of Israel.
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  And if you recall in 7/22, the 10 tribes of Israel were then
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  captured by Assyria. So that was the end of the 10
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  tribes. Then Judah, the Kingdom of Judah
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  remained for a little bit longer, but it too also then was
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  captured by the Babylonians. So we'll learn, you know, that's
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  why we're doing these prophets in order to kind of have the
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  context of what's happening. And this comes next and and kind
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  of a sequential order because the Bible doesn't assemble the
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  books that way. OK, So in that day, I will break
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  Israel's bow In the valley of Jezreel, Gomer conceived again
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  and gave birth to a daughter. Then the Lord said to Hosea,
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  call her Lo Ruhama, which means not loved, for I will no longer
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  show love to Israel, that I should at all forgive them.
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  I will yet, yet I will show love to Judah.
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  I will save them not by bow, sword or battle, or by horses
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  and horsemen, but I, the Lord their God will save them.
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  So right when I read that this morning, I thought, OK, not by
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  sword, bow, battle, horses, horsemen, none of those things.
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  They aren't going to be saved by that, but I, the Lord their God,
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  will save them. Does that make you think of
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  anything? To me, it made me think of Jesus
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  and I know that so that we're talking about ultimate later on
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  prophecy. But again, history repeats
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  itself there. You'll see this in Scripture
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  like something maybe a foreshadowing, but throughout
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  prophecy, all prophecy tends to show Jesus or point to Jesus.
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  And that's where I mean, that's what I saw when I what I read.
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  When I read this, that's what came to my mind.
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  OK, after she had weaned Lo Ruhama, Ruhama Gomer had another
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  son. Then the Lord said, call him Lo
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  Amim a me, which means not my people, for you are not my
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  people, and I am not your God. Yet the Israelites will be like
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  the sand on the seashore, which cannot be measured or counted in
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  the place where it was said to them.
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  You are not my people. They will be called children of
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  the living God. The people of Judah and the
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  people of Israel will come together.
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  They will appoint one leader and will come up out of the land,
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  for great will be the day of Jezreel.
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  That's the end of chapter 1. So again, I think this one
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  leader is Jesus Christ, Yeshua the Messiah, and the people of
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  Judah and Israel will be brought together by Him.
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  I, you know that both of the kingdoms were separated and I
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  don't really know what happened after that.
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  They've just had different leaders of Israel, but you know,
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  no kings of Israel. And I believe that when Jesus
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  returns, that's going to be the one, the one leader that unites
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  all of Israel. And it's, I want to read that
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  again because throughout time there's been persecution of the
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  Israelites and there's been, I mean, think about the World War,
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  World War 2, and think about what happened on October 7th.
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  There's a lot of it in just what's happening right now
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  between Israel and Iran. And there's a desire of the
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  people surrounding Israel to exterminate Israel.
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  And there's no question about that.
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  It's openly spoken of by the leader, the current leader of
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  Iran. And so you think about
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  throughout time, even God himself is aggravated with
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  Israel and he always leaves a remnant because he promised that
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  the Israelites will be like the sand on the seashore.
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  So God, if he does something, he will stand by that.
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  So that doesn't necessarily mean that every single Israelite will
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  never die. That doesn't mean it.
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  We obviously know that because the Israelites have been killed
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  over the years. But what that does mean, and
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  what I think this means is this refers to the Millennium.
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  And I believe that the Millennium is really the purpose
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  of that is for God's chosen people, for God's chosen people
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  to repopulate during a time of peace.
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  We will not have peace until Jesus comes back and reigns as
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  king. Until then, there will be wars
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  and rumors of wars, as Jesus said, and all the way up until
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  the time that Jesus returns. So, but during this Millennium
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  time frame is when I believe that God will fulfill its
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  promise to Israel and they will multiply and be like the sand on
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  the seashore that cannot be measured or counted in the
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  place. And I'll read this again in that
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  in the place where it was said to them, you are not my people.
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  They will be called children of the living God.
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  So they'll be called children of the living God because God, you
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  know, lives, he still lives and also because they will see
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  Jesus, they will experience Jesus.
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  That's what I believe the people of Judah and the people of
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  Israel will come together. They will appoint one leader and
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  will come up out of the land for great will be the day of
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  Jezreel. So that is chapter 1.
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  I'll read the questions and answers for chapter 1 and then
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  we'll see if we can keep going our saved the rest for another
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  day. Why would God tell a godly man
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  to marry an adulteress? God called other prophets to
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  integrate their lives into the messages they proclaimed, and
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  there's examples of that through Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel.
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  Yet no prophet endured what Hosea endured.
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  Hosea risk losing everything, family, friends, reputation and
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  self respect. But God was saying through
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  Hosea's marriage, Wake up Israel.
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  Hosea's love for his unfaithful wife demonstrated God's love for
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  his unfaithful people. Like Job, Hosea was called to
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  walk a very difficult path in life.
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  But also like Job, it was through his pain and suffering
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  that Hosea's intimacy with God grew.
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  Did Hosea's wife already have children when he married her?
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  There was a strong possibility that Gomer was a prostitute who
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  had borne children out of wedlock with unknown fathers.
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  These children might have also been the offspring of an
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  adulterous relationship after Hosea married Gomer.
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  What is the significance of the name Jezreel?
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  Jehu, King of Israel from 841 to 814 BC, had engineered the
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  slaughter of the descendants of Ahab at Jezreel in fulfillment
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  of the prophecy of Elijah that's found in First Kings chapter 21
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  and 2nd Kings chapter 10. So Jezreel had become a picture
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  of judgement as well as a warning to heed God's prophets.
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  Why choose such odd names for children?
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  The Israelites often named children to reflect the
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  circumstances surrounding their conception in birth.
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  But the names God selected were unusual even by the standards of
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  Hosea's Jewish culture culture. God chose these names to send a
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  message about the consequences of sin.
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  Wouldn't a name that means not love harm a child's self esteem?
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  Perhaps, but probably not any more than the pain of having a
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  mother like Gomer, who later abandoned her husband and
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  children to live with another man.
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  Since Hosea was committed to demonstrating God's
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  unconditional love, he probably showed more love to Lo Ruhama
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  than Gomer did. This continues to demonstrate
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  the terrible consequences of unfaithfulness to God.
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  It contrasts with God's promise to call the Israelites children
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  of the living God. How could Jezreel be a picture
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  of something good? The events of Jezreel pictured
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  judgment. However, the word Jezreel
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  literally means God scatters a picture of scattering seed for
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  planting. Planting was a positive image
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  because it anticipated a harvest.
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  So that's interesting when it talks about a harvest because
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  think about this. When Jesus returns, he sends his
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  angels to gather his elect, his chosen ones, the ones who had
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  prepared for him. So that is a harvest.
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  And then there's also the harvest of judgment.
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  So first Jesus has the angels gather his elect, then the
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  remaining will be harvested also, but they will be receiving
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  God's wrath. So there's there's essentially 2
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  harvest and we certainly want to be in the one that is not wrath.
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  So if you become a believer, if you are born again and have the
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  Holy Spirit and remain close connected to God, it is said
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  that we are not appointed to wrath.
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  So we will not be that second harvest.
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  That is the winepress that's crushing.
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  It talks about that in the Book of Revelation, so.
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  Anyway, that I'm just going to conclude because I know these
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  podcasts tend to get a little bit long.
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  So this one I'm going to stop after Charter One and then the
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  next podcast will start on Charter 2.