THE NEVER-ENDING LOVE OF HOSEA (2)

Hosea is one of the minor prophets. Like Joshua, his name means Salvation. He prophesied in the 8th century BC. He receives God’s Word directly, a serious, powerful and authoritative prophetic message from God to the people of Isreal. He is the son of Beeri, meaning “my well”. This name appears only here in the Bible. It means Hosea comes from a humble family. God commands Hosea to marry a promiscuous woman called Gomer. “Go, take yourself a wife of harlotry and children of harlotry. For the land has committed great harlotry by departing from the Lord” (Hosea 1:2). In Hebrew, the name “Gomer” means “made whole or perfect”. It was a prophetic name. She may not have been a professional prostitute. She was possibly a simple young woman who became promiscuous after she got married. After bearing three children, Gomer left Hosea to live with another man. Eventually, the man rejects her and she becomes a slave. God gives Hosea another, even more amazing, command: “Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another man and is an adulteress. Love her as the Lord loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods” (Hosea 3:1). Hosea obeyed again. He buys his wife back with fifteen shekels of silver and some barley. His loyal love was not discouraged by Gomer’s unfaithfulness. This story is a picture of God’s own faithful love and grace for His wayward, idolatrous people.

Hosea steps into ministry during material prosperity, political disorder, moral decline, and approaching judgment. God’s word arrives with absolute authority, showing that divine direction is sure even when culture is unstable. Hosea obeys God’s Word. Obedience begins with recognizing God’s voice and acknowledging its supremacy over every other influence. The prophet shows the courage and commitment required to speak God’s truth, even when it is unpopular or difficult. The book of Hosea reveals the sin of spiritual adultery. It uses the symbol of marital unfaithfulness to describe Israel’s idolatry, challenging us to examine our own faithfulness to God. Despite warnings of judgment, Hosea’s message points to God’s desire for repentance and restoration, offering hope for renewal, and a new beginning.

Hosea’s marriage to Gomer is a vivid illustration of God’s enduring love, and commitment to His people, despite their unfaithfulness. God can use personal experiences as living parables and powerful messages to others. Lesson: Be open to how God might use your own life to communicate His truth. The call to Hosea is ultimately a call to repentance.

Hosea’s three children are a prophetic warning of judgement. Their names combined mean this: I will destroy you; I will not longer love you for you are not My people. Then, God promises to forgive them, to multiply them and to call them back to Him. God will appoint a leader who will bring them out of Jezreel (the place of death) and into salvation. This Leader is Jesus, our Redeemer. He brings us out of the place of judgment and death into a place of mercy and love. We are like Gomer and her children, dead in trespasses and sins, unloved and without God. Jesus married an adulterous woman and by His death on the Cross, He turned her into a spotless bride, the Church. Glory!

CALL HIS NAME JEZREEL

“Then the LORD said to him: “Call his name Jezreel, for in a little while I will avenge the bloodshed of Jezreel on the house of Jehu and bring an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel” (Hosea 1:4). Gomer’s first child was a son. God told Hosea to name the boy Jezreel, meaning “God sows or God scatters (seeds)”. This is a picture of judgment. Each time Hosea calls his son, he publicly proclaims that Israel’s unfaithfulness has reached a tipping point; judgment is no longer a warning. The Valley of Jezreel was a place of bloodshed in Israel’s history. Ahab and Jezebel had a palace in Jezreel. It was there that they killed Naboth to take his vineyard (1Kg 21). Jehu, a commander in Ahab’s army was anointed by God to be king over Israel, to destroy the house of Ahab. He killed all Ahab’s descendants and friends, queen Jezebel, Ahaziah, king of Judah, and all the priests of Baal. Jehu’s actions, though initially commanded by God, became excessively violent, leading to a cycle of bloodshed. The prophecy against the house of Jehu shows that partial obedience is not enough. The sins of Jehu are pride and lack of compassion. Jehu executed judgment on the house of Ahab at Jezreel as God commanded. Yet Jehu’s excesses and his ongoing idolatry betrayed a divided heart (2 Kg 10:31). God now revisits “the bloodshed of Jezreel” upon Jehu’s dynasty, showing that even divinely initiated acts become sin when carried out with merciless pride. God’s prophecy foretells the fall of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. God’s judgment has come. In 722 BC, 30 years after the boy Jezreel was born, Assyria conquered Samaria and crushed the northern kingdom (2Kg 17:6). The Ten tribes of Isreal were carried to Assyria where they got assimilated and lost forever. We see that God is sovereign in judgement. He is in control over history. He judges leaders and nations.

God’s judgement upon Isreal was Political and spiritual Collapse. “I will break the bow of Israel in the Valley of Jezreel” (Hos 1:5). Military power, once Israel’s pride, will break under divine pressure. Because Jehu obeyed God to destroy the house of Ahab, he is rewarded with the throne. But Jehu killed more people that God has commanded. Their blood now cries from the ground to God (Gen 4:10). God allows only four generations of Jehu’s dynasty to be kings. Jehu and his four descendants did not repent from the sin of idolatry. They continued to serve the two golden calves erected by Jeroboam at Bethel and Dan (1Kg 12:28-30). God called Jehu to punish the Ahab for idolatry, but Jehu himself continued in idolatry. God’s judgement exposed his hidden sin; he “played the harlot” (Hos 1:2). Judgement has now come!

LESSONS ABOUT GOD’S JUSTICE

*God is faithful to His covenant. He blesses the obedient and curses the disobedient. Initially, Jehu obeyed but he went too far by killing more people than God commanded. He became proud believing that he is like God, killing anyone he hates. He became wicked, ruthlessly ambitious, lacking any compassion. He is a symbol of Isreal. These are God’s curses of disobedience: “I will set My face against you, and you shall be defeated by your enemies. Those who hate you shall reign over you, and you shall flee when no one pursues you… 33 I will scatter you among the nations and draw out a sword after you; your land shall be desolate and your cities waste. 34 Then the land shall enjoy its sabbaths as long as it lies desolate and you are in your enemies’ land… 38 You shall perish among the nations, and the land of your enemies shall eat you up” (Lev26:17;33,34,38). Isreal was judged and disappeared in Assyria. “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked. For whatever a man sows, so also will he reap” (Gal 6:7). Jezreel means both sowing and reaping. Selah!

*God judges individuals, families and nations. Hidden or unrepentant sin can survive the sinners, but it infects their families until God intervenes and judges their descendants. “The wicked shall be turned into hell, And all the nations that forget God. 18 For the needy shall not always be forgotten; The expectation of the poor shall not perish forever. 19 Arise, O Lord, Do not let man prevail; Let the nations be judged in Your sight. 20 Put them in fear, O Lord, That the nations may know themselves to be but men. Selah!” (Ps 9:17-20). Selah!

*God judges religious hypocrites. Jehu punished Ahab because he worshipped idols. But Jehu himself did not repent from idolatry. God judged him for that. Jesus said: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. 28 Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness” (Matt 23:27,28). Outward or patrial obedience is not enough!God judges the motives!

*God’s justice is certain and it is based on His perfect memory. Decades had passed, but God did not forget Jehu’s crimes. Jehu’s house ended in the fourth generation, exactly as promised. “It is mine to avenge; I will repay. In due time their foot will slip; their day of disaster is near and their doom rushes upon them” (Deut 32:35; NIV). Trust God to avenge you in His own time!

*God’s justice is impartial. Jehu once served as God’s instrument, yet he is judged when he himself departs from obedience. Rank or past usefulness never exempts anyone from God’s righteous standard. Lessons: Obey God’s commands in details. Obedience matters as much after a victory as before it. Finishing well prevents a Jezreel-type reckoning. God’s Justice fits the offence. It is never capricious or excessive. God targets “the house of Jehu,”. It is not a reckless slaughter of innocents.

*God’s Justice is morally grounded. The Bible always links bloodshed with punishment. “Whoever sheds man’s blood, By man his blood shall be shed; For in the image of God He made man” (Gen 9:6). “When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. 10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” (Rev 6:9,10). Human life is sacred. Unjust killing demands an answer from the Creator and Judge of all. Lessons: Respect and honour human life. Do not kill! Don’t do abortions!

*God’s Justice advances God’s redemptive plan. God is a God of judgement but also a God of mercy and hope. The same Jezreel valley named for judgment becomes a place of future restoration. God “scatters” and later, He promises to “plant”. God pledges, “I will say to Not-My-People, ‘You are My people’” (Hos 2:23). Judgment is redemptive, driving the unfaithful back to covenant love (Heb12:10,11). The ultimate fulfillment of restoration is found in Christ, who bears judgment for sin and gathers a scattered people into one body, the Church. You “who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy” (1Pet 2:10)

MODERN IDOLS

God punishes idolatry. Idolatry provokes God to anger. It affects generations. An idol is anything or anyone who becomes more important to you than God. Idols can hide behind career success, romantic relationships, social media, wealth, entertainment, comfort, convenience, selfish ambition is politics or even in ministry.    

AN EVIL SPIRIT MAY RETURN!

“When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none. 44 Then he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order. 45 Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first. So shall it also be with this wicked generation” (Matt 12:43-45)

Here we see the danger of pride and spiritual complacency, which is defined as self-satisfaction with yourself and your own abilities, especially when accompanied by a lack of awareness of present dangers. Jesus warns the believers against partial obedience, or deliverance without the filling with the Holy Spirit. The unclean spirits are evil spirits that harm people, hate God and God’s people. They are always restless, looking for people to inhabit and influence the mind and the emotions. These scriptures remind us of the reality of spiritual warfare. We must be watchful against evil spirits trying to come back to influence our minds and emotions with past sinful thoughts. We must actively resist and reject them. Here we see that nobody can be neutral with Jesus. You are either for Him or against Him. Deliverance is good bot not enough. To have a clean house (heart) is not enough. For as long as the house is empty, the danger remains. You need to be filled with the Holy Spirit. The wicked tenant called the devil must be rejected and the house (heart) must receive its new Tenant who is also the Owner, the Holy Spirit. After that, be sure that you don’t grieve the Holy Spirit, entering the danger zone again. This is a warning: evil spirits may return and the heart will become worse at the end. It is not enough to change outwardly, to become religious, to pray, worship God and attend church activities. There is need for repentance, faith, internal transformation, and filling with the Holy Spirit. Without repentance and the filling with the Holy Spirit, you become a religious hypocrite. Humble yourself. Repent of all known sins. Submit to God and His Word. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Serve and Love God and people. Worship the Lord!   

BE FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT

“See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, 16 redeeming the time, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be unwise but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, 20 giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 submitting to one another in the fear of God” (Eph 5:15-21)

From the story of Jehu, we learn that partial obedience is not enough. You must be filled and led by the Holy Spirit. To be filled with the Holy Spirit is a command. Pagans drink wine to feel strong, courageous and happy. But wine is only a temporary measure to feel good. The best way to live a successful spiritual life is to be filled with the Holy Spirit. What are the conditions? You must be saved, born again by the Spirit of God. Once you become a child of God, the Holy Spirit comes into your heart, like a deposit in the bank. To be filled with the Holy Spirit is more than that. You must desire to be filled. When you become born again the penalty of sin is destroyed. When you become filled with the Holy Spirit, the power of sin is destroyed. When you go to heaven and see Jesus, the presence of sin is destroyed. Glory to God!

Not all people desire that. Why? Because once you are filled with the Holy Spirit you can only do what the Holy Spirit wants. Your selfishness must die. Not all people want that. To be filled with the Holy Spirit you must present your body as a container, a temple, a living sacrifice to God (Rom 12:1,2). Then you must pray and ask God to fill you with his Spirit. You must exercise faith 100% in the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Baptizer with the Holy Spirit and Fire. The Holy Spirit comes into your heart suddenly, like power in weakness. It is not a gradual thing. You feel it. It is also called the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. The effect is Power to overcome sin and Power to do ministry. It manifests as Boldness of speech, divine wisdom, godly character, and agape Love. Worship the Lord!