Book of The Prophet Hosea: God's Judgment On The Ten Tribes of Israel

[Davy]

Did you know Apostle Paul quoted from this Book of Hosea which was mainly God's Message to the ten northern tribes of Israel that were rebellious, and He was getting ready to scatter them among the Gentiles? I'll let you know when we come to where Paul quoted it and to whom and why.

At this time of Hosea, the ten northern tribe "house of Israel" was still in the land, but they were following Baal idol worship and Jeroboam's two calf idols he created to keep the ten tribes from going south the join with the tribes of Judah and Benjamin. That is covered in 2 Chronicles 11.

Hosea 1
1 The word of the LORD that came unto Hosea, the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel.

The kings of Judah meant over the southern "kingdom of Judah" with its capital city at Jerusalem, and was made up of the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, and Levi after God split Israel in Solomon's days (1 Kings 11 & 12). The king of Israel represented the king over the northern ten tribe kingdom where the ten tribes of Israel dwelt, with their capital city at Samaria. King Jeroboam of the tribe of Ephraim was who God made king over the northern tribes.

2 The beginning of the word of the LORD by Hosea. And the LORD said to Hosea, "Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms: for the land hath committed great whoredom, departing from the LORD."
3 So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim; which conceived, and bare him a son.

One of the reoccurring ideas God uses in His Word is the idea of false worship as spiritual harlotry, thus He uses the harlot idea to get His point across.

4 And the LORD said unto him, "Call his name Jezreel; for yet a little while, and I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu, and will cause to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel.
5 And it shall come to pass at that day, that I will break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel."

The word Jezreel means 'God will sow'. It is used here to point to God getting ready to scatter the northern ten tribe kingdom of Israel for falling away to idolatry. Historically, it was Ahab's home, as Ahab was one of the wicked kings over the ten tribes, and his wife Jezebel was a Zidonian and a Baal worshiper who tried to murder all of God's prophets. Jehu was also a king over the ten tribe kingdom of Israel, and he carried out God's sentence upon Ahab, but not properly, and Jehu worshiped Jeroboam's idols. So the above verses is actually a pronouncement by God what He is getting ready to do upon the northern ten tribe kingdom.

Then in final, the word Jezreel is used in an opposite way in verse 11 about God in final eventually sowing the children of Judah and the children of Israel (ten tribes) back to the lands of promise under one head (Jesus).

6 And she conceived again, and bare a daughter. And God said unto him, "Call her name Lo-ruhamah: for I will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel; but I will utterly take them away.

Hosea has another child by his harlot wife that God told him to marry. "Lo-ruhamah" means 'not loved', or "not beloved" how Paul has it in his quote of Romans 9:25. This also was to represent God scattering the ten northern tribes for rebelling against Him.

7 But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah, and will save them by the LORD their God, and will not save them by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, by horses, nor by horsemen."

But for the "house of Judah" at Jerusalem, the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, and Levi, God would not scatter them just yet, but would keep them at this point in time. These called themselves Jews, that title originating from the tribe of Judah.

8 Now when she had weaned Lo-ruhamah, she conceived, and bare a son.
9 Then said God, "Call his name Lo-ammi: for ye are not My people, and I will not be your God.

Hosea's wife then had another child, a son, and God said to name him "Lo-ammi" which means 'not My people'. God is still pointing this to His removing of the ten northern tribe "house of Israel" out of the holy lands and scattering them among the Gentiles.

10 Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, "Ye are not My people", there it shall be said unto them, "Ye are the sons of the living God."

God is still pointing to the ten northern tribes of Israel. Even though they were scattered, God promised they would still be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered. The Jewish historian Josephus in his days around 100 A.D. actually remarked how the ten tribes in his day were still scattered beyond the Euphrates river, and were a great number of people, too many to count.

This verse is where Apostle Paul in Romans 9 quoted to Roman gentile believers on Christ Jesus. That eventual gathering back to the lands of promise is to include the believing Gentiles with them, all of them under Jesus Christ, the One Head. Obviously, this is not happening today, as the majority there in the holy land nation of Israel today are Jews of the old southern kingdom and still in majority reject our Lord Jesus Christ.

11 Then shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel be gathered together, and appoint themselves one head, and they shall come up out of the land: for great shall be the day of Jezreel."
KJV

There it is, in that day when Jesus returns is when that prophecy will be fulfilled.

(Continued...)

 

[Davy]

(Continued...)

In this Hosea 2 Chapter, God reveals why He scattered the ten northern tribes of Israel, and what He would do with them in their time of scattering, and then their final state.

Hosea 2
2 Say ye unto your brethren, Ammi; and to your sisters, Ru-hamah.

"Ammi" means 'My people', and "Ru-hamah" means 'pitied one'.

2 Plead with your mother, plead: for she is not My wife, neither am I her husband: let her therefore put away her whoredoms out of her sight, and her adulteries from between her breasts;
3 Lest I strip her naked, and set her as in the day that she was born, and make her as a wilderness, and set her like a dry land, and slay her with thirst.

God is using Hosea's wife Gomer (Hos.1:3) as a symbol for Israel in harlotry. That is why God said above, "she is not My wife". This idea is pointed out more in Jeremiah 3 where God is angry at both the "house of Israel" (ten tribes) and the "house of Judah" (Jews) for playing the harlot against Him.

4 And I will not have mercy upon her children; for they be the children of whoredoms.
5 For their mother hath played the harlot: she that conceived them hath done shamefully: for she said, 'I will go after my lovers, that give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, mine oil and my drink.'

6 Therefore, behold, I will hedge up thy way with thorns, and make a wall, that she shall not find her paths.
7 And she shall follow after her lovers, but she shall not overtake them; and she shall seek them, but shall not find them: then shall she say, 'I will go and return to my first husband; for then was it better with me than now.'
8 For she did not know that I gave her corn, and wine, and oil, and multiplied her silver and gold, which they prepared for Baal.

Now God is pointing especially to the Israel of the ten northern tribes, that He would scatter them and hedge up their way that she would not find her way back to the holy land.


9 Therefore will I return, and take away My corn in the time thereof, and My wine in the season thereof, and will recover My wool and My flax given to cover her nakedness.
10 And now will I discover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and none shall deliver her out of Mine hand.

This is where when God scattered the ten tribes of Israel with allowing them to fall deep into Baal worship in the new lands they would go to.

11 I will also cause all her mirth to cease, her feast days, her new moons, and her sabbaths, and all her solemn feasts.

This happened only to the ten northern tribes of Israel, as the Jews of the southern "house of Judah" never lost their heritage as part of old Israel, even to this day. But the ten tribes lost their identity as part of old Israel, which is still how it mostly is with them today. The ten tribes literally became as Gentiles, scattered among Gentiles, not knowing who they really are.

12 And I will destroy her vines and her fig trees, whereof she hath said, 'These are my rewards that my lovers have given me: and I will make them a forest, and the beasts of the field shall eat them.'
13 And I will visit upon her the days of Baalim, wherein she burned incense to them, and she decked herself with her earrings and her jewels, and she went after her lovers, and forgat Me, saith the LORD.

That happened to the scattered ten tribes. They became 'lost' to the world and lost to the Jews, but not lost to God. When God scattered them, He allowed them to get into the full weight of their Baal worship they did in forgetting Him.

14 Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her.

But when God scattered the ten tribes to the "wilderness", then He would speak comfortably to them.

15 And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope: and she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt.
16 And it shall be at that day, saith the LORD, that thou shalt call me Ishi; and shalt call me no more Baali.
17 For I will take away the names of Baalim out of her mouth, and they shall no more be remembered by their name.

From there, protected in that symbolic "wilderness", they would grow to a powerful people, and be blessed with great resources and lands, and she would be happy. Then they would no more call God by the name "Baali", but instead as "Ishi" (my Husband). God would then remove the Baalism they followed.

18 And in that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven, and with the creeping things of the ground: and I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the earth, and will make them to lie down safely.

What covenant might that be? That is pointing to The New Covenant Jesus Christ.

19 And I will betroth thee unto Me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto Me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies.
20 I will even betroth thee unto Me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the LORD.
21 And it shall come to pass in that day, I will hear, saith the LORD, I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth;
22 And the earth shall hear the corn, and the wine, and the oil; and they shall hear Jezreel.
23 And I will sow her unto Me in the earth; and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to them which were not My people, "Thou art My people; and they shall say, 'Thou art my God.'"
KJV

Apostle Paul applied the above also to believing Gentiles on Jesus Christ in Romans 9. Lord Jesus did say that He was not sent but unto the lost sheep of the "house of Israel". After the majority of Jews at Jerusalem-Judea rejected Christ, The Gospel then went to the Gentiles, and to the ten northern tribes of Israel.

 

[Davy]

Hosea 3 Chapter -- in this Chapter, God gave a short summary of His plans for the children of Israel, of both houses.

Hosea 3
3 Then said the LORD unto me, "Go yet, love a woman beloved of her friend, yet an adulteress, according to the love of the LORD toward the children of Israel, who look to other gods, and love flagons of wine."

God tells His prophet Hosea to go love an adulteress to represent the rebellion of the children of Israel against God.

2 So I bought her to me for fifteen pieces of silver, and for an homer of barley, and an half homer of barley:
3 And I said unto her, "Thou shalt abide for me many days; thou shalt not play the harlot, and thou shalt not be for another man: so will I also be for thee.

4 For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim:

This applied to both 'houses', the Jews at Jerusalem who later would also be scattered for falling into false worship, and to the northern ten tribes whom God scattered out of the land first. Even to this day, there has never been one of the seed of the house of David sitting upon a throne in Jerusalem. In 70 A.D., the Roman general Titus with his army took Jerusalem and destroyed it and the 2nd temple, and then scattered the Jews of the "house of Judah" out of the land. That ended Israel's temple worship and sacrifices to God per the old covenant.

It's important to note that this 70 A.D. destruction involved only those of the old southern "house of Judah", as the ten northern tribes of Israel had already been removed long before this time.

5 Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the LORD their God, and David their king; and shall fear the LORD and His goodness in the latter days.
KJV

A remnant of the Jews, of the southern "house of Judah", have been returning to the lands, but only much smaller portions of the land than what Israel had before, or that God had promised Israel. And although these Jews in majority there still reject Jesus of Nazareth as Messiah, there is a group of devout Jews that love The LORD and seek restoration of the Israel of God's promise.

(Continued...)