HelpFinder Bible - Flipbook - Page 1157
HOSEA 2
page 787
unfaithful, like Gomer chasing after another lover. If we worship our job and neglect
God, if we worship money and forget our provider, if we worship ourselves and ignore
our maker, we are playing the same adulterous game that Gomer played.
As you read Hosea, try to feel Hosea’s pain in knowing that his wife was being unfaithful; then try to understand God’s pain when we are unfaithful to him. Ask yourself if
you’ve lost your desire to know God—to really love him and please him. Rededicate
yourself to faithfulness: to God and to your family. Discover the great love and tenderness of God, a love that will not let us go, no matter what.
Key verses in Hosea
1:2 When the Lord first began
speaking to Israel through Hosea,
he said to him, “Go and marry
a prostitute, so that some of her
children will be conceived in
prostitution. This will illustrate
how Israel has acted like a
prostitute by turning against
the Lord and worshiping
other gods.”
2:14 “But then I will win her back
once again. I will lead her into the
desert and speak tenderly to her
there.”
3:1 Then the Lord said to me,
“Go and love your wife again, even
though she commits adultery with
another lover. This will illustrate
that the Lord still loves Israel,
even though the people have
turned to other gods and love
to worship them.”
4:7 They have exchanged the
glory of God for the shame
of idols.
7:16 They look everywhere except
to the Most High.
1
The Lord gave this message to Hosea son of
Beeri during the years when Uzziah, Jotham,
Ahaz, and Hezekiah were kings of Judah, and
Jeroboam son of Jehoash* was king of Israel.
Hosea’s Wife and Children
2 When the Lord first began speaking to Israel
through Hosea, he said to him, “Go and marry
a prostitute,* so that some of her children will
be conceived in prostitution. This will illustrate
how Israel has acted like a prostitute by turning
against the Lord and worshiping other gods.”
3 So Hosea married Gomer, the daughter of
Diblaim, and she became pregnant and gave
Hosea a son. 4 And the Lord said, “Name the
child Jezreel, for I am about to punish King
Jehu’s dynasty to avenge the murders he committed at Jezreel. In fact, I will bring an end to
Israel’s independence. 5 I will break its military
power in the Jezreel Valley.”
6 Soon Gomer became pregnant again and
gave birth to a daughter. And the Lord said to
Hosea, “Name your daughter Lo-ruhamah—
‘Not loved’—for I will no longer show love to the
people of Israel or forgive them. 7 But I will show
love to the people of Judah. I will free them from
their enemies—not with weapons and armies or
1:1 Hebrew Joash, a variant spelling of Jehoash. 1:2 Or a
promiscuous woman. 1:10 Verses 1:10-11 are numbered
2:1-2 in Hebrew text. 1:11 Jezreel means “God plants.”
2:1 Verses 2:1-23 are numbered 2:3-25 in Hebrew text.
11:9 “For I am God and not a
mere mortal. I am the Holy One
living among you.”
12 :6 So now, come back to your
God. Act with love and justice, and
always depend on him.
14:1- 2 Return, O Israel, to the
Lord your God, for your sins have
brought you down. Bring your
confessions, and return to the
Lord. Say to him, “Forgive all our
sins and graciously receive us, so
that we may offer you our praises.”
horses and charioteers, but by my power as the
Lord their God.”
8 After Gomer had weaned Lo-ruhamah, she
again became pregnant and gave birth to a
second son. 9 And the Lord said, “Name him
Lo-ammi—‘Not my people’—for Israel is not my
people, and I am not their God.
10*“Yet the time will come when Israel’s
people will be like the sands of the seashore—
too many to count! Then, at the place where
they were told, ‘You are not my people,’ it will
be said, ‘You are children of the living God.’
11 Then the people of Judah and Israel will unite
together. They will choose one leader for themselves, and they will return from exile together.
What a day that will be—the day of Jezreel*—
when God will again plant his people in his
land.
2:1*“In that day you will call your brothers
Ammi—‘My people.’ And you will call your sisters Ruhamah—‘The ones I love.’
Charges against an Unfaithful Wife
2 “But now bring charges against
Israel—your mother—
for she is no longer my wife,
and I am no longer her husband.
Tell her to remove the prostitute’s makeup
from her face
and the clothing that exposes her breasts.
2