A Study of Hosea
God is creator of all that is seen and unseen. He knows the best way of doing everything, as He was the One who wrote the universal laws. He has given us detailed instructions on how to go about worshipping Him. He has also made it plain to us that we are to worship Him in the manner given to us. If we don’t, if we change anything about the time, place, or mode of worship, God sees us not as worshipping Him, but worshipping some other God. An early example of this is found in Leviticus 10:1-3
Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu took their censers, put fire in them and added incense; and they offered unauthorized fire before the LORD, contrary to his command. So fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed them, and they died before the LORD. Moses then said to Aaron, “This is what the LORD spoke of when he said: “`Among those who approach me I will show myself holy; in the sight of all the people I will be honored.’” Aaron remained silent.
Nadab and Abihu offered, “unauthorized fire.” What exactly is that? It is fire put before the Lord at a time other then when He specified. They had, in their excitement, went to worship the Lord in “their own way” and were cut down for doing so. This was done in the presence of the whole nation of Israel. This was a lesson for them. Unfortunately, they didn’t learn the lesson. Out of the stubbornness of their hearts, they decide time and time again to “do it their own way” and every time it got them into trouble.
Jeroboam set up these two idols, one at Bethel and one in Dan. Bethel, as you may recall, means “house of the Lord” and is the place where Jacob saw his vision of the ladder. This was a place already known as a holy place, as was the place in Dan. Amos the prophet tells us that this second image was set up at Gilgal, which is another place rich in spiritual connotations. When the people first entered the land, they celebrated the first Passover in the land at Gilgal. This is also the place where King Saul chose to “do it his way” and lost the support of the Lord and the kingdom as well. (1 Samuel 13:8-14)
So, Jeroboam leads his people, the Israelites, into false worship and therefore away from the Lord. The Lord decides to punish these people in front of Judah so that Judah would learn from their example and not follow them into this adulterous worship. Unfortunately this did not work as Judah also turned away after false gods and ended up in Babylon.
Going back to chapter one, verses 10-11, we see that even though God has “disowned” them, the Israelites would not be cast off forever. There would come a time when the Lord will reunite these two kingdoms and the Israelites, who were called “not my people”, would be re-embraced and called “sons of the Living God.” He does not say, “I will bring in another group of people to take their place.”
So, how can the disciples equate the Israelites with the Gentiles? Why did they use these verses to show that the Gentiles were to receive the gospel too? Because the Israelite were “scattered into all the nations” and the Jews saw all the nations as Gentiles. You would have to preach to the Gentiles too in order to reach those missing Israelites. Not only that, but they also understood that reaching the Gentiles had always been part of the plan of salvation. The Jews were supposed to live their lives in such a way that the world would be drawn to them and therefore to the Lord. This is not what happened.
Some would say that since the Israelites were scattered, they no longer exist as a group and therefore cannot be the people the Lord is speaking of here. They like to believe that the Christian church is the true people of God now. The Jewish people were never one with the Christian church. How can they be reunited to a people they were never united with?
No, what is going to happen is that the Lord, who knows exactly who these people are and where they are found, will “call out” his people from the nations where they were scattered and call them back to Himself. When we look at chapter two verse 14, we see how His is going to accomplish this. “Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her. Hosea 2:14 Restoration happens in the wilderness. He has to pull us away from all the other voices so that we listen only to Him. Then, and only then, His people will return to Him with their whole heart and stop walking “in the stubbornness of their own hearts.”
It will be in that day,” says the LORD, “that you will call me ‘my husband,’ and no longer call me ‘my master.’ For I will take away the names of Baal out of her mouth, and they will no longer be mentioned by name. Hosea 2:16-17
Anytime we see the phrase “in that day,” we understand it to mean “the great and terrible day of the Lord” or “Judgment Day.” This means that in the end, when we have been found worthy to stand before Him, we will join with Him in the marriage feast of the Lamb (see Revelation 21:9-14.) At that time there will be no doubt about our love for the Lord. At that time, we will be able to pronounce His name boldly as if it were our own.
We also must remember that Baal wasn’t the name of just one false god, it was the generic name given to all false gods. (In Hebrew, the word means “master.”) This applies to any one or any thing that is lord over our lives. For some people, this can be religion itself. What we also need to understand is that anything that keeps us from worshipping the Lord in the manner He has prescribed is idolatry. Only those who are willing to give up what they thought was right to follow what is truly right will be called “My people.” Those who don’t will continue to be called “children of the harlot.”
For all those who make it through the flaming trials of the Tribulation, and are able to stand and be a part of the marriage feast, have a wonderful future awaiting them.
“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!’” Hosea 2:23
Let’s look back at what we’ve learned so far. Hosea is demonstrating, through the naming of his children, what is to become of Israel. But, before he even goes into the details of what they have done and why they are being “disowned,” he assures them of their future reuniting with Judah. The Lord tells Hosea that there will come a time when the Lord would draw His people back into the wilderness in order to woo them back to Himself. What else does He say about the future of this people?
For the sons of Israel will remain for many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar and without ephod or household idols. Afterward the sons of Israel will return and seek the LORD their God and David their king; and they will come trembling to the LORD and to His goodness in the last days. Hosea 3:4-5
They will be so scattered that they will live for a very long time without a leader to unite them, without a way to meet with the Lord and make the required sacrifices to Him, and without any “holy object” to call their own. After this, they will realize what they have been missing, and just how valuable that relationship was, and will return to His ways. In those “last days” we will see more and more people, coming from every nation under the sun, turning to the Lord and following His commandments with their whole heart. These are the people who will be “my people.” They will leave behind any and all false teachings (following the way of Jeroboam.)
It seems to me that the biggest problem that the people of Israel were having was that they were following those who didn’t have the right to lead. The priests serving were not Levites, and were not trained in the way of the Lord. They lead the people astray because they didn’t know the way themselves. And the people are paying the price for not making sure that those who where leading where following the Lord. Those who did try to make corrections were not heard.