The Return of Israel

This is a presentation of the prophecies and their fulfillments from Hosea Chapters 1-3

I. Hosea 1:2 — Marriage Between Hosea and Gomer (Hosea 1:2-3)

II. Hosea 1:4-9 — Removal of Israel from God’s land, from His mercy, and her relationship with Yahweh

III. Hosea 3:1-4 — God as the “friend” or “lover” of spiritually adulterous Israel (Hosea 3:1-4).

IV. Hosea 3:5 — Israel Returning to Yahweh and God Welcoming Israel to Himself (Hosea 3:5).

A. The Identity of the Last Days and the Identity of Israel (Hosea 3:5)

B. The Return of Israel is a Return to God, (Hosea 1:10-11).

C. God’s command to the Remnant of Israel to minister to the apostate nation of Israel (Hosea 2:1-13)

D. Prophecies of the nature of the return of Israel during the New Testament times. (Hosea 2:14-23).

E. Prophecies of the Israel of the New Testament in the latter days (Hosea 2:14-23)

V. Conclusion

The importance of this study is evident due to the perilous times that are now upon the Church. God’s people need a fresh look at prophecy. The coming of our Lord may be nearby. Even so come Lord Jesus!

I. Marriage Between Hosea and Gomer

TABULAR VIEW OF THE MARRIAGE BETWEEN HOSEA AND GOMER

Gomer depicts National Israel. She is a Baal Temple prostitute who marries Hosea and births three children	Hosea depicts God. God took a sinful nation to be His wife. Most Israelites were idolators while they were slaves in Egypt.[1]
The Law of Moses defines the relationship between Gomer and Hosea.	The Law of Moses defines the relationship between God and Israel.

A. After God brought Israel out of Egypt, He first evaluated her. Finding her to be a sinful nation, He took her to Mount Sinai where He enjoined the Law of Moses to her.[2]

B. Israel agreed to obey the Law of Moses (Exodus 19:8).

C. If she were to fail to obey God’s Law, she would no longer be the people of Yahweh. So, her status was that God would accept her if she obeyed and reject her if she disobeyed Him (Exodus 19:5, 8).

D. This was a corporate relationship. It was a covenant between God and the nation. Israel was God’s nation and Yahweh was the God of Israel. Of course, He is also the God of the whole earth.

The name “Gomer” meant “complete” or “end.”	The name Hosea meant “salvation.”
Gomer depicts Israel, God’s adopted son nation who failed to obey God to the end. By her sin, she brought the nation of the Ten Tribes to an end (Hosea 1:4).	Hosea depicts God’s Only Begotten Son who obeyed to the end and earned eternal life for Himself and for us. (Hosea 11:1; 1 Tim 3:16)
Hosea 11:1 says, “When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called My son.”	Matthew 2:15 says, “where he stayed until the death of Herod. This fulfilled what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: "Out of Egypt I called My Son."

E. Not only did God marry Israel but He adopted Israel as His Son nation. Israel as a nation is a type of Christ. Here we have the secret of God’s love for Israel.

II. Removal of the Ten-Tribe Nation of Israel from God’s Land, from His Mercy, and from her Relationship with Yahweh (Hosea 1:4-9)

A. Hosea and Gomer’s first child is “Jezreel,” whose name means “scattered.” Jezreel’s name is a prophecy. Instead of Israel living in the Land of Israel, God scatters the ten tribes into many nations. This is a prophecy of the dispersion of the Ten Tribes in the Assyrian Captivity of 722 BC. God scattered the people of Israel into other nations. By this, He predicted and initiated the diaspora of Israel. By scattering, God predicted.

B. The second child of Hosea and Gomer is Lo-Ruhamah whose name means “no mercy.” Due to Israel’s sin, God foretells a time in which He will have no mercy upon Israel. To continue under His mercy the nation must obey God. Israel failed to obey Him. God judged them by giving them no mercy. The time of “no mercy” began in the Assyrian Captivity in which God withheld His mercy from Israel, allowing their cruel captivity by the Assyrians.

TABULAR VIEW OF THE PROPHECY OF THE JUDGMENT OF ISRAEL

Child of Hosea and Gomer	Meaning of the Child’s Name	The prophecy as expressed by the name: In each case God abandoned Israel as a disciplinary matter.
Jezreel	“Scattered”	God allowed her scattering among the nations. He treated them as a nation with no home, like they were when they lived in Egypt (1:4).
Lo-Ruhamah	“No mercy”	God judged Israel by removing His mercy. Without His mercy they were easy prey to other nations (Hosea 1:6).
Lo-Ammi	“Not mine”	God cancelled Israel’s status as His adopted nation (Hosea 1:9).

C. The third child of Hosea and Gomer is Lo-Ammi, whose name meant “not mine.” God thus named the child because He would not treat Israel as His adopted nation due to their sin.[3] He began the fulfillment of this prophecy in the Assyrian Captivity of 722 BC. Not only did God scatter Israel among other nations, but He also disowned them. They became “not mine.” The Ten Tribes were no longer His people. Of course, He still loved the His individual Israelites like He loves all the people of the world.

III. God as the “friend” or “lover” of spiritually adulterous Israel. This begins the period of “tough love” for Israel (Hosea 3:1-4).

A. The translation of Hosea 3:1 is important for this point.

1. Hosea 3:1 says, “And Yahweh said unto me, Go again, love a woman beloved of her friend, and an adulteress, even as Yahweh loves the children of Israel, though they turn unto other gods, and love cakes of raisins.”

a. The sense is, ‘Go love a woman in the manner of a woman loved by her friend. In other words, God commands Hosea to be the lover who loves the harlot even though the harlot is sinful and ignores the friend. Hosea plays the role of God in this drama.[4]

TABULAR VIEW OF THE FRIEND OF THE HARLOT

The friend of the harlot is Yahweh	The harlot is the ten tribes of Israel
Yahweh loves Israel regardless of adultery and rejection by the harlot.	But the harlot does not want His love and does not deserve it.
The status of Israel from 722 BC until the 21st century is…	God is loving the adulteress people of Israel, while providentially shepherding Israel through the ages.

b. Yet the friend, who represents Hosea and Yahweh, cares for the harlot and holds her together loosely.

c. Hosea 3:1 says, “Love a woman like Yahweh loves an adulteress who loves evil things.

1) It is not logical that God would love an adulteress who loves evil things.

2) But love is not logical. He loves her because He loves her. And He loves her because He loves Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and the harlot descends from them. God promised the patriarchs that He would love even their natural seed. (Deuteronomy 7:8). But His ultimate love for the patriarchs and matriarchs is because of their union with His Only Begotten Son.

d. Harlots do attract “lovers” or “friends” who attach themselves to the harlot and who provide for her while hating yet overlooking her sin.

e. This is like Yahweh loving Israel. He must remain aloof due to her sin.

f. Hosea, the friend, must be like the situation of an adulteress beloved of her friend. He cares for her well-being but does not interfere with her sinfulness. He lets her go her own way for many days.

g. In other words, Hosea will play the role of the friend of an adulteress. That is the role that God will play through the ages.

B. Hosea 3:2 says, “So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and 1.5 homers of barley.”

1. He hired the prostitute for the rest of her life for ½ the silver damages if someone’s ox gores your slave.

2. Exodus 21:32 says, “If the ox gores a manservant or maidservant, the owner must pay thirty shekels of silver to the master of that servant, and the ox must be stoned.”

3. Hosea also paid 1.5 homers of barley. An homer is something like a bushel basket. Barley is the coarsest and least expensive of the grains that the Israelites produced.

4. He paid the price of her prostitute services all at once and for the rest of her life. He gave her no other choice. It was what she was worth, and she was not valuable.[5] Proverbs 13:15 says, “Good understanding wins favor, but the way of the faithless is difficult.”

C. Hosea 3:3 says, “Then I said to her, “You must live with me for many days; you must not be promiscuous or belong to another, and I will do the same for you.”

1. He owns her now. God tells Hosea to put her on probation prior to the consummation of the marriage.

2. He does not allow her to have any lovers or do the work of her youth, which was prostitution.

3. She is like an extremely poor widow living a solitary life.

4. During this probatory period Hosea insists that she be chaste for him, and he commits himself to wait for her.

5. Hosea 2:14-23 foretells what this means for Gomer. It is a solitary life. As she sowed, leaving Yahweh alone, so Israel reaped. Yet she has opportunity to believe on her true Messiah.

6. Hosea is free to marry her though he had to divorce her once in the first vision. In the intervening time between the divorce in chapter one and the potential marriage in chapter 3:5, her Messiah had died for her sin and resurrected from the grave. So, technically it was not a remarriage (Deuteronomy 24:1-4).

7. And when a person becomes a Christian, they die with Christ at the cross, and they resurrect with Him as a new creation. So, all the ceremonial prohibitions of the law die with the new Jewish Christian. (Colossians 2:14)

TABULAR VIEW OF GOMER AND THE FRIEND OF THE HARLOT

Gomer must live with God for many days, which, so far, is about 2800 years.	Hosea will consummate the marriage in his own time and at his pleasure.
She must not be promiscuous or belong to another man.	Hosea will not be promiscuous or belong to another woman.
She is like a poor widow living in solitary, where Hosea can keep track of her.	Hosea must remain chaste like she must be chaste during this testing period.

8. Note that God remained chaste also. He married the Church, but the Church is not a second seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The Church is Jewish, coming out of the side of Christ, as Eve came from Adam’s rib. And our Lord is Jewish.

9. In Deuteronomy 9:14, God says to Moses, “Let me alone, that I may destroy them, and blot out their name from under heaven: And I will make of you [Moses] a mightier and greater nation than they.” KJV Brackets mine. 

10. God did what He threatened to do to Israel in Moses’ time. He put away His wife and made of Christ a new nation.

11. So, the Church comes from Christ, and Christ has the Jewish genealogy. So, the Church is spiritually Jewish. There is no Gentile seed.

D. Hosea 3:4 says, “For the Israelites must live many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar, and without ephod or idol.”

1. Gomer’s probation period pictures the Israelites who are of the ten tribes that went into captivity in 722 BC.

TABULAR VIEW OF THE TIMES OF ISRAEL’S DESOLATION

Israel’s desolation began in 722 BC

She lived a solitary life with no lovers

The duration of it is “many days.”

It went through about 2800 years until now.

She has had no self-rule, no idols,[6] and no priesthood.

2. But on May 14, 1948, Israel became a nation with leaders. Questions people ask are as the following, Does this mean that it is time for our Lord Jesus to return? Or does it mean that Yahweh will chastise her even longer? Or is our interpretation of this prophecy incorrect? Or is the coming of Christ so near that it does not matter if she has a ruler now or not? Is her national obedience improved to the point in which God can justly remove her discipline. Is God mercifully giving Israel the feel of freedom which she will have if only she will turn to Messiah.

3. Answer: Israel becoming a nation, changes nothing.

a. God divorced Himself from the Nation of Israel (Hosea 1:9; 2:2). But He is still saving individuals from Israel. And even if He saves only one, He is saving Israel. (Romans 11:2) He is saving those who turn from idols and turn to Him.

b. Romans 11:2 says, “God did not reject His people, whom He foreknew. Do you not know what the Scripture says about Elijah, how he appealed to God against Israel”

c. God sowed Israel among the nations. He is treating Israelites the same as all nationalities. There is no difference between the Jew and the Greek. He says, “’Whoever will’ may come to Messiah.” (Romans 11:10-13) 

d. Both Jew and Greek are alike in sin (Romans 3:22-23). And both Jew and Greek are alike in salvation. Romans 10:12 says, “For there is no difference between Jew and Greek: The same Lord is Lord of all, and gives richly to all who call on Him”

e. So, to postulate that there are two ways for God to save Jews is incorrect Bible interpretation.

f. Not all who descend from Israel are the true Israel. (Romans 9:6)

g. “God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew.” That is, He has not cast away the elect Israelites and Gentiles. They are the true Israelites. (Romans 11:2) The others are not.

h. God is saving the full number of elect Israelites who believe while part of them is blind and part of them can see spiritually (Romans 11:12).

i. God is saving the full number of elect Gentiles who believe while part of them is blind and part of them can see spiritually (Romans 11:25-26).

j. So, overall, he will save all true Israel, consisting of both Jews and Gentiles (Romans 11:26).

k. Any Israelite can have faith in their Messiah. Just as in Bible times it is their responsibility to believe in Him.

l. Israel becoming a nation is only another nation in which elect Jews live.

m. Even today there are many saved Jews in Israel. But they are saved in Christ. They are Christians.

n. Even if Israel goes back to the animal sacrifices to forgive their sin, nothing can change the fact that their rightful Messiah came and died for sin as the Messiah who is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. (John 1:29; Hebrews 10:1-2)

o. Scripture does not say that Israel, in her unbelief, cannot become a nation. It simply indicates that it would not be with God’s sanction any more than any other nation.

p. The chief persecutors of the early Church were the Jews. In the final days of this world, Israel may once again persecute the Church. We hope not, and we hope She joins the Church through faith in Christ.

q. Maybe there will be vast numbers of Jews in the future who will believe in Christ, but only God knows that.

r. There is no salvation whatsoever in offering animal sacrifices. That is a false gospel.

4. One thing is for certain. God wants Israel to abandon the gods she has now and become aware of her sin and her need for both forgiveness and spiritual power from her Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now is the time for her to be honest about the Messiah. 

5. This does not exactly pertain to the tribes of Judah and Benjamin who, though they sinned against God, did not provoke Him to the degree that the Ten Tribes did. But the two tribes did join Israel in both idolatry and captivity in 586 BC. Israel did not return from captivity, but Judah did.

6. Yahweh enforced her widowhood in a providential manner. He did not leave it up to her to voluntarily obey. He allowed her to reap as she sowed. He permitted for her to have a hard life so she could learn from it. 

7. The “many days” that Israel must live as a widow begin with the invasion of Israel by Shalmaneser in 722 BC. They continue until Messiah comes. So, it was 750 years.

8. During that time, the northern kingdom has had no king like Jeroboam who rose from her. She had to obey other nations’ kings and rulers. She offered no sacrifices. She erected no pillars like she had done for Baal. She had no priesthood. And she worshipped no idol in the manner that she did under all her kings as a nation.

9. The “many days” of her solitary life probably include the two thousand years since our Lord Messiah’s death on the cross.

10. However, as a nation she remains impenitent. She still wants nothing to do with her rightful Messiah.

11. And God continues as the “friend of Israel” though she now worships the gods of philosophy, of self, of money, and of powerful entities to keep her safe.

12. The despair of Israel is in Psalm 74:9 which says, “There are no signs for us to see. There is no longer any prophet. And none of us knows how long this will last.” But God is still her friend. However, Israelites do go to hell if they are not saved from it by Christ. God still loves Israel and desires her repentance from her sin.

E. Hosea 3:5 says, “Afterward, the people of Israel will return and seek the LORD their God and David their king. They will come trembling to the LORD and to His goodness in the last days.”

IV. Israel Returning to Yahweh and God Welcoming Israel to Himself (Hosea 3:5)

A. Hosea 3:5 says, “Afterward, the people of Israel will return and seek the LORD their God and David their king. They will come trembling to the LORD and to His goodness in the last days.”

1. The identity of the last days.

a. The last days are the days of the New Testament which are the days of the Good News of her Messiah’s death for sinners and resurrection from the dead.                     

b. Hebrews 1:1-2 says, “On many past occasions and in many different ways, God spoke to our fathers through the prophets. 2But in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, and through whom He made the worlds.”

c. Hebrews 9:26 says, “Otherwise, Christ would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But now He has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of Himself.” This verse alludes to Daniel 9:24 which says, “Seventy ‘sevens’ are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression and to put an end to sin.” At the end of seventy sevens God will end sin. It will be in the new earth (2 Peter 3:13).

d. Hebrews 9:28 says, “so also Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many; and He will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who eagerly await Him.” 

e. Notice that Hebrews teaches that the early Church is in “these last days.” It does not mean that God has spoken to us by His Son in the recent days.

f. The words “last days” are a technical expression for the days of the Messiah.

g. When the Old Testament looks forward to the days of Messiah, it calls them the “last days” as in Hosea 3:5; Isaiah 2:2; Joel 2:28. 

h. Acts 2:17 says, “In the last days, God says, I will pour out My Spirit on all people.”

i. In Acts 2:2-4 God poured out His Spirit on the Church. They were people of many languages.

j. The Holy Spirit caused many phenomena. This called for an explanation of what was occurring.

k. Simon Peter preaching on the day of Pentecost said that the ‘speaking with tongues and interpreting tongues’ on Pentecost were some of the phenomena of the “last days.”

l. Peter introduces a prophecy in Joel 2:28 in Acts 2:16, saying: “No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:” In other words, the speaking with tongues, the interpretation of tongues, the cloven tongues like as of fire, the sound as of a mighty rushing wind in the Upper Room on the Day of Pentecost, and the filling of the Christians with the Holy Spirit was a prophesied event from the Old Testament prophet Joel.

 TABULAR VIEW OF ACTS 2:16

“This” ---------------------------	“Is what was spoken by the prophet Joel”
The speaking with tongues, the interpretation of tongues, the cloven tongues like as of fire, the sound as of a mighty rushing wind of Acts 2:1-4	“In the last days I will pour out my Spirit on all people.” (Joel 2:28; Acts 2:17)

m. Peter gives the time of the fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy as the “last days” in Acts 2:17.

n. In Acts 2:17 Peter quotes Joel 2:28 as follows, “In the last days, God says, I will pour out My Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.”

o. Notice that Peter says that the spiritual phenomena that occurred on the Day of Pentecost was a prophesied event.

p. And God fulfilled the prophecy on the Day of Pentecost “in the last days.”

q. It is wrong to interpret the phrase “in the last days” as the last days from our time perspective.

r. They are the last days from Joel’s perspective. The last days are the New Testament days.

s. So, when Hosea 3:5 uses the word “afterward,” Hosea means the days when God fulfills prophecy, which are the days of the Messiah.

t. 2 Peter 3:3 says, “Most importantly, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires.” Characteristic of New Testament times is scoffing at the truth.

u. Again, the words “last days” in 2 Peter 3:3 refer to New Testament days, whether at their inception or at their end.

v. It is easy for us to interpret this prophecy as fulfilled today. But it means that throughout the New Testament days, including our days, scoffers will come. The New Testament days are the “last days.” So, the last days are like a train. The engine is already here but the caboose is not yet here. So, the “last days” are already here, but some of them are not yet here. The last days are all part of the train. The caboose is not yet here.

w. James 5:3 says, “Your gold and silver have corroded, and their rust will be for a testimony against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have treasured up in the last days.” James believed he was in the last days, and he was. 

x. Hoarding money and things is especially sinful because we live in the last days.

y. The last days are New Testament days.

x. 1 Corinthians 10:11 says, “These things happened to them[7] as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the culmination of the ages has come.” The New Testament days are the days of the fulfillment of most of the Old Testament prophecies.

aa. So, when Hosea 3:5 says that God’s people “will come trembling to the LORD and to His goodness in the last days, it is a prophecy of New Testament days. New Testament days span the entire time from the first coming of Christ until His second coming on the last day. Characteristic of the Church is that people, under conviction of sin by the Holy Spirit, come trembling to Messiah.

bb. The former days are Old Testament Days. The latter days are New Testament days.

B.  Hosea 3:5 says that the “people of Israel will return.”

1. What does He mean by “Israel?”

a. The name Israel, which God gave to Jacob, means “one who prevails with God.” This was after Jacob wrestled with the Angel of Yahweh and won. True Israel wins with God by wrestling with Him in prayer.

b. TABULAR VIEW OF THE TRUE ISRAEL

Stage 1 of Israel	Stage 2 of Israel	Stage 3 of Israel	Stage 4 of Israel
There were those who prevailed with God in prayer prior to Jacob. Abraham wrestled with God for Lot. Genesis 18	Jacob wrestled with God & won, as an illustration of what true Israel is. Genesis 32:28f	God married & then divorced Israel. There was a real Israel & there was an outer Israel. The real Israel was the remnant.	Those Jews who rejected Messiah were natural Israel. Those Jews who believed on Messiah were the true Israel.

c. Israel is like a nut. She has an outer shell, and she has the inner fruit. The New Testament calls “inner” Israel the “Israel of God.” See Galatians 6:16 and Romans 9:6. 

d. Romans 2:28-29 says, “A man is not a Jew because he is one outwardly, nor is circumcision only outward and physical. 29No, a man is a Jew because he is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man’s praise does not come from men, but from God.”

e. So, in the days of Messiah, those Jews who received Him as their Lord and Savior were true Israel.

TABULAR VIEW OF THE PROPHECIES OF THE NAMES OF HOSEA’S CHILDREN

Hosea’s children	Prophecy for the descendants of Hosea and Gomer
Jezreel means “Scattered”	Then the LORD said to Hosea, “Name him Jezreel, for soon I will bring the bloodshed of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu, and I will put an end to the kingdom of Israel. 5And on that day I will break the bow of Israel in the Valley of Jezreel.” (Hosea 1:4-5)
Lo-Ruhamah means “No mercy”	“Name her Lo-Ruhamah, for I will no longer have compassion on the house of Israel, that I should ever forgive them” (Hosea 1:6).[8]
“Lo-Ammi means “not mine”	“And the LORD said, “Name him Lo-ammi, for you are not My people, and I am not your God.” (Hosea 1:9).

f. Notice that God said He would never forgive Israel for her idolatries. 

g. Notice that God said He would no longer have compassion on Israel. He does not mean that He will have no compassion on individual Israelites, but He would no longer have compassion on the ten tribes that comprised national Israel. Note: That is true, but God loves us and will always have mercy on us if we repent. Only when someone goes to hell does He completely quit having mercy on them.

h. Matthew 23:37 says, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing.”

i. Notice that God said He would no longer own Israel. They would no longer be His people and He would no longer be their God.” So, He will govern Israel like He governs any other nation.

j.     Notice that God said He would put an end to the kingdom of Israel. And the nation of the ten tribes had no more kings. King Herod was part of Rome’s rule over Israel. And Herod the Great descended from Esau.

k. This is a prophecy: God will scatter Israel, have no mercy on her, and not own them as His people. The names of Hosea and Gomer’s children predict that.

l. It should be obvious that if Israel repents and turns to Him in faith for mercy, He will take them back. He is the God of mercy. By His nature, He leaves the door open for the restoration of the descendants of Israel.

1) But as the nation which consists of the Ten Tribes, which originated in rebellion against God, He will never have mercy on them. They will never be His nation. But God will welcome them if they come to Him individually.

2) However, the Israelites do have a future in Christ. Anna the prophetess is one example who was of the tribe of Asher (Luke 2:36-38).

3) And at the time of Christ Israel was a nation called “Israel.” So, the prophecy pertains to the nation that called itself “Israel” when they rebelled against God and Judah.

4) The judgment of AD 70 was the ultimate judgment of national Israel.

C. The Return of Israel is a Return to God. Hosea 1:10-2:23 is a prophecy of the great revival in of the people called the Church.

1. Prophecies that Israel will be in number like the sand of the seashore and the stars in the sky are as follows:

2. Hosea 1:10-11 says, “Yet the number of the Israelites will be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or counted. And it will happen that in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not My people,’ they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’ 11Then the people of Judah and of Israel will be gathered together, and they will appoint for themselves one leader, and will go up out of the land. For great will be the day of Jezreel.”

a. The prophecy of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob’s seed which says that the Israelites will number as the sand of the sea includes the Spiritual Jews and the spiritual Gentiles. That is, the promise includes saved Jews and saved Gentiles. Proof for this is in Romans 4:16-18 as follows.

b. Romans 4:16-18 says, “Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may rest on grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. 17As it is written: ‘I have made you a father of many nations.’ He is our father in the presence of God, in whom he believed, the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being what does not yet exist. Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.”

c. Abraham’s descendants who believe God are more like Abraham than his seed who do not believe God. Thus, spiritual sons are the real sons of Abraham. And the Holy Spirit includes Gentile believers in the count of the number of Israelites that “which cannot be measured or counted.”

d. So, God sowed the unbelieving Israelites in foreign lands. And God said to them there (as well as in the land of Israel,) that they were not His people. Then after many days, He said to both Jews and Gentiles whom He had saved, “You are my people.” Being a son of Abraham is part of a parable in which a true son of Abraham is a son of God.

e. And God said to the Jews and Gentiles who believed Him and who were living in foreign lands, “I am having mercy on you.”

TABULAR VIEW OF THE FULFILLMENT OF HOSEA 2:10

The fulfillment of Hosea 2:10 that Israel will become numerous like the sand of the sea and the stars of the sky

The fulfillment occurs in the Church, not in a time after the Church. (Romans 9:23-27)

3. In this manner we have the fulfillment of the prophecy of Hosea 1:10.

a. Romans 9:23-26 says, “What if He did this to make the riches of His glory known to the vessels of His mercy, whom He prepared in advance for glory— 24including us, whom He has called not only from the Jews, but also from the Gentiles? 25As He says in Hosea:

I will call them ‘My People’ who are not My people, and I will call her ‘My Beloved’ who is not My beloved, 26and, “It will happen that in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not My people,’ they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’”

b. So, the Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul says that God fulfills Hosea 1:10 in the Church.” God may save vast numbers but there is no authority to say that it is in any age of our future.

TABULAR VIEW OF THE TIMING OF THE RETURN OF ISRAEL

Lo-Ruhamah will become Ruhamah (“No mercy” will become “mercy”)	In the Church, not in a future time after the Church.
Lo-Ammi will become Ammi (“Not my people” will become “My people”	In the Church, not in a future time after the Church.

c. To be saved by God, a Jewish person must believe on Christ Jesus. “There is no other name … whereby we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12) 

4. Hosea 1:11 says, “Then the people of Judah and of Israel will be gathered together, and they will appoint for themselves one leader, and will go up out of the land. For great will be the day of Jezreel.” This will be the day that the Apostles went out evangelizing in response to the Great Commission.

a. The One Leader that they appoint for themselves is our Lord Jesus Christ.

1) Though God the Father designated our Lord Jesus as the Lord of the Church.

2) Yet each believer, by confessing Him as Lord, confesses Him as Lord of the Church. He is Lord by unanimity and by Divine Appointment. All true believers acknowledge Him as Lord.

3) And He is Lord by the fact that He is God as well as man.

b. And the gathering together occurred at Pentecost as Acts 2:1 attests, “When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place”

c. And the Church gathering in local churches through the centuries constantly fulfills Hosea 1:11.

d. The reason that the Holy Spirit calls them “the people of Judah and of Israel” is because the Church is the place of ultimate unity between the ten tribes and the two tribes. Only in Christ is there true unity (Ephesians 2:11-17).[9]

 D. God invited the Remnant of Israel to Minister the Word to the Apostate Nation which He had divorced (Hosea 2:1-13).

1. Hosea 2:1 says, “Say of your brothers, ‘My people,’ and of your sisters, ‘My loved one.” In Hosea 2:1 God is addressing the Remnant.

2. Though God divorced Israel, He continued to help them by telling the remnant to minister to the apostate nation (Hosea 2:1).

3. God still works with the ten tribes. Though they are not His nation to protect any longer, God does not give up on them.

4. In the New Testament, after the Jews had rejected their Messiah, and insisted upon His crucifixion, God still had His remnant.

a. His remnant consisted of those individuals who served Him and ministered to people in national Israel as well as to Gentiles.

b. And it is still that way today. God saved Billy Graham through the ministry of the Jewish evangelist Mordecai Hamm.

c. Note that God did not at that time divorce Judah and Benjamin.

d. He only divorced the northern kingdom that had broken off from the southern kingdom into idolatry. The northern nation so blatantly rejected God that He, to remain true to Himself, had to divorce them.

e. During the time in which the northern kingdom was Lo-Ruhamah (no compassion) and was also Lo-Ammi (not My people,) the remnant could still minister to individuals from Israel.

f. Malachi 3:16 says, “At that time those who feared the LORD spoke with one another, and the LORD listened and heard them. So, a scroll of remembrance was written before Him regarding those who feared the LORD and honored His name.” The Israelites of Hosea 2:1 were “those of their day who feared Yahweh.” God ordered His servants to write a scroll of remembrance of those who fellowshipped with each other around the name, “My people.” See Malachi 3:17.

g. So, God directed His converted Israelites from the scattered northern kingdom to fellowship with one another over His word.

h. The Church consists of people who receive mercy and who belong to God. 1 Peter 2:10 says, “Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Those two words that describe the Church are “mercy” and “mine.”

i. So, Peter was saying to the Jewish Church “Ammi” and “Ruhamah,” which mean “mine” and “mercy.” God was saying, “You are mine and I am having mercy on you.” The word “mine” speaks of a personal relationship between God and the one who is “mine.” The word “mercy” says that God gave His only begotten Son for you. That is, for you personally.

j. 1 Kings 19:18 says, “Nevertheless, I have reserved seven thousand in Israel--all whose knees have not bowed to Baal and whose mouths have not kissed him. 

k. And Romans 11:4 quotes 1 Kings 19:18 as New Testament truth as well. Romans 11:4 says, “And what was the divine reply to him? “I have reserved for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.”

l. So, God intended Romans 11:4 to define the remnant of all times, especially to those of the New Testament. And thus Hosea 2:1 speaks to the New Testament remnant. In fact, the New Testament Church is nearly equivalent to the remnant of the Old Testament, God’s elect. 

m. To illustrate, may we consider the following from John 1:11-13. 

1) 1 John 1:11 says, “He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.” Christ’s own people were those born as Israelites. He came from Heaven to the Israelites, and they rejected and crucified Him.

2) John 1:12 says, “But to all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God—” Note that true children of God from His perspective are “mine,” or “Ammi.” If they receive His Son, He adopts them as His sons and daughters.

a) So, His own people, Israel, did not welcome their Messiah. Thus, His own people, who had been “ammi,” became “not mine” or “lo-ammi.”

b) But to those who believed in His name He gave the right to be known as children of God “ammi” or “mine.”

3) John 1:13 says, “children born not of blood, nor of the desire or will of man, but born of God.

a) So, John 1:13 tells us how lo-ammi people become ammi people. That is, how people who are not God’s people become His people.

b) People who are not God’s people (lo-ammi) become God’s people (ammi) by being born of God.

4) Conclude this by saying that when Hosea says that lo-ammi people will become ammi people, it is a prophecy of the new birth in the New Testament. People who are not God’s people become God’s people by believing on His name, receiving Christ, and being born again. That is the teaching of Hosea 1 and 2. And it is in the Church, not in some future age. It is in the age of the New Testament. And the new birth for Israel does not restore them to being members of fallen Israel. It unites them to the true Son of God, the Jewish Lord Jesus Christ.

TABULAR VIEW OF THE JOHN 1:11-13 INTERPRETATION OF HOSEA CHAPTERS 1 AND 2

John 1:11 says, “He came to His own” (to people called ammi)	His own received Him not, which proves that they were “Not His people” Lo-Ammi
John 1:12 says, “But to all who did receive Him”	“to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to be children of God.” So, Gentiles not His own become His own people
John 1:13 says, “children born not of blood, nor of the desire or will of man, but born of God.” So, those who were not God’s own become His “own” by birth from God.	They do not become God’s own children because of their nationality or because of any act or will of man, but because of being born of God. Their birth is a miracle. They believe and receive Messiah. (Of course, one must turn from sin to do that). So, being born a Jew is not the issue.

5. Hosea 2:2 says, “Rebuke your mother, rebuke her, for she is not My wife, and I am not her husband. Let her remove the adultery from her face and the unfaithfulness from between her breasts.”

a. The nation of Israel, as God originally adopted them was the mother of individual Israelites.

b. Acts 2:23 says, “He was delivered up by God’s set plan and foreknowledge, and you, by the hands of the lawless, put Him to death by nailing Him to the cross.” In this case Simon Peter is obeying Hosea 2:2 by rebuking and pleading with national Israel concerning her sin of crucifying Christ. So, Peter is fulfilling Hosea 2:2. He is rebuking and pleading with national Israel to repent and believe.

c. And our Lord is pleading with Israel while obeying Hosea 2:2. He says in Matthew 21:37-39 as follows, “Finally, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said. 38But when the tenants saw the son, they said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and take his inheritance.’ 39 So they seized him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.”

d. Notice that God says in Hosea 2:2 that the Ten Tribes are not His wife. Israel broke the marriage covenant. God gave her divorce papers.

e. Jeremiah 31:32 says, “It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt—a covenant they broke, though I was a husband to them,” declares the LORD.” Israel broke the covenant many times over.

f. Israel did not behave as a wife should. So, God quit nourishing, cherishing, providing for, and protecting her. He quit treating her as His preeminent nation.

g. Notice that the covenant that Israel broke is the covenant from Sinai, which is a conditional covenant. And Israel broke it.

h. She was guilty of idolatry. God said to her that she is not His people.

i. So, the ball is in Israel’s court to put away her harlotries.

j. Their harlotry consisted in failing to confess the true Messiah as their Lord and God.

6. Hosea 2:3 says, “Otherwise, I will strip her naked and expose her like the day of her birth. I will make her like a desert and turn her into a parched land, and I will let her die of thirst.

a. If they do not abandon their idolatry.

b. That is, if they fail to acknowledge the Lord Jesus Christ as their Messiah, they will be following another god.

c. Matthew 6:24 says, “No one can serve two masters: Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” One or the other will be your God who nourishes, cherishes, provides, and protects you.

d. So, God left Israel to herself, as it is to this day.

e. The nakedness is the shame of a newborn who comes into the world wearing no clothing. Israel was born in shame (Ezekiel 16:3-5).

f. She was a slave when God entered her life. She had no money, no home of her own, no land, no country, no natural or spiritual mercies, and no freedom. And she worshipped other gods (Joshua 24:14).

g. John 11:48 says, “If we let Him go on like this, everyone will believe in Him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.” Thus, they had accepted the Romans as their god and rejected their true Messiah. They cared more about what the Romans might do to them than what God might do to them. To this day, Jews crave protection from rulers rather than from God. This is the idolatry that they practice today. The leaders of Israel cared about their position in Israel and their nation more than they cared about their God.

7. Hosea 2:4 says, “I will have no compassion on her children, because they are the children of adultery.” That is, He will have no compassion of the kind that made Israel special. The nature of the compassion that made Israel special was its object, which is true Israel. God, in His mercy, reserved a remnant of true Israelites for Himself.

a. “Her children” are the descendants of Israel.

b. Paul asks the question: “Did God reject His people?” Romans 11:1 says, “I ask then, did God reject His people? Certainly not! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin.

c. God has not rejected Israel if He saves even one of her number.

d. Paul answers the same question: “Certainly not! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. 2God did not reject His people, whom He foreknew. Do you not know what the Scripture says about Elijah, how he appealed to God against Israel: 3“Lord, they have killed Your prophets and torn down Your altars. I am the only one left, and they are seeking my life as well”? 4And what was the divine reply to him? “I have reserved for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.”

e. Proof that God did not reject His people is that He saved Paul, and Paul is a Jew. Paul said, “I am an Israelite myself…”

f. And proof that God did not reject His people is that there is a remnant of Israel whom He is saving. Romans 11:5 says, “In the same way, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace.”

g. Many Jews fear the Romans more than God. John 11:48 says, “If we let Him go on like this, everyone will believe in Him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.” Our place is our position in Judaism, which is Chief Priests. Our nation is Israel.

h. Though God divorced Himself from the nation of Israel, He did not reject individual Israelites who came to Him for salvation.

i. And His promise to always be their God is not through the Mosaic Covenant, which is a conditional covenant. Rather, it is through the New Covenant, which is an unconditional covenant. See Jeremiah 31:31-34.

j. See God’s unconditional promises in Jeremiah 31:31-34 and Hebrews 8:6-13).

TABULAR VIEW OF ISRAEL’S CONDITIONAL AND UNCONDITIONAL COVENANTS

Conditional Covenant	Unconditional Covenant
The Law of Moses (Jeremiah 31:32)	I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah (Jeremiah 31:31-34)
If you obey God will bless you. (Deuteronomy 28:1-14)	You believe in Me, and I will guarantee the following”
If you disobey God will curse you (Deuteronomy 27:11-26)	I will put My law in your inward parts (31:33)
Israel broke the covenant 31:32	I will write my Law in your heart (Jer. 31:33)
God cursed the nation	I will be your God & you shall be my people (31:33)
	You will know me (Jeremiah 31:34)
	I will forgive your iniquity & remember your sin no more. (Jeremiah 31:34)

8. Hosea 2:5 says, “For their mother has played the harlot and has conceived them in disgrace. For she thought, ‘I will go after my lovers, who give me bread and water, wool and linen, oil and drink.’” Here we have insight into the thinking of the Israelites of the Old Testament.

a. Israelites believed that her gods gave them food, water, clothing, oil, and drink.

b. But Yahweh gave these things to Israel. The Baals did not give them to Israel.

c. Messiah is God. But Israel believed that Messiah did not give her food, water, clothing, oil, and drink even though He came and worked miracles giving those things to the people to demonstrate that He is their Messiah.

d. Isaiah 54:5 says, “For your husband is your Maker—the LORD of Hosts is His name—the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; He is called the God of all the earth.”

9. Hosea 2:8 says, “Their land is full of idols; they bow down to the work of their hands, to what their fingers have made.” In Hosea’s day, you could walk throughout Israel, the northern kingdom, and it looked like there was a cemetery on every high place. The hills were full of statues to idols.

10. Hosea 2:9 says, “Therefore I will take back My grain in its time and My new wine in its season; I will take away My wool and linen, which were given to cover her nakedness.”

a. So, God is saying, if you will not acknowledge Me as the source of all your prosperity, I will take it away. And you will see who is giving it all to you.

b. There is much shame in a nation that can take so much from God and thank Him so little. It is wicked to give credit to gods who are not gods.

11. Hosea 2:10 says, “And then I will expose her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and no one will deliver her out of My hands.”

a. The Jews befriended the Romans in the time of Messiah and hoped the Romans would favor them.

b. So, God will reveal the truth of who the true Blesser of Israel is.

12. Hosea 2:11 says, “I will put an end to all her exultation: her feasts, New Moons, and Sabbaths—all her appointed feasts.”

a. God is not against rejoicing and celebrating.

b. But He is against His wife rejoicing and celebrating while she is loving another man.

13. Hosea 2:12 says, “I will destroy her vines and fig trees, which she thinks are the wages paid by her lovers. So, I will make them into a thicket, and the beasts of the field will devour them.” Israel will lose everything that she thinks comes from her idols. Then she will know that God gave it all.

14. Hosea 2:13 says, “I will punish her for the days of the Baals when she burned incense to them, when she decked herself with rings and jewelry, and went after her lovers. But Me she forgot,” declares the LORD.”

a. These were Baal-Peor, Baal-Berith, Baal-Meon, Baal-Perazim, Baal-Shalisha, Baal-Tamar, Baal-Zebub, Baal-Zephon, et cetera.

b. Matthew 23:32 says, “Go ahead, then, and complete what your ancestors started!” NIV

c. Her work for the Baals proves that it was for the Baals that she was a Temple prostitute.

E. Prophecies of the Israel of the New Testament in the latter days are in Hosea Chapter 2:14-23. God fulfills the prophecy of each verse of Hosea 2:14-23 in the New Testament days. Please read the following exposition as proof of this truth.

1. Introduction: Notice that God’s tone changed. He began to use a kinder and gentler tone toward the Israel of the New Testament. From Hosea 2:1-13 He spoke threatening words of punishment.

2. But in Hosea 2:14-23 So He speaks of how He wins her in the New Testament times. He says, “I will allure her.” “I will speak to her tenderly.” Contrast this with Hosea 2:13 where He says, “I will punish her.”

TABULAR VIEW OF THE CONTRAST BETWEEN HOSEA 2:13 AND 2:14

Old Testament Times	New Testament Times
I will punish (Hosea 2:13)	I will allure; I will speak to her tenderly. (Hosea 2:14)

3. Hosea 2:14 says, ““Therefore, behold, I will allure her and lead her to the wilderness, and speak to her tenderly.” Hosea 2:13 says, “I will punish her for the days of the Baals when she burned incense to them,” Notice that each verse of Hosea 2:14-23 finds its fulfillment in the days of the New Testament, not in a future millennium.

a. Note that the Gospel approach to Israel is softer and kinder in general than the threatening’s of the Law.

b. Hebrews 12:18-21 says, “For you have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom, and storm; 19to a trumpet blast or to a voice that made its hearers beg that no further word be spoken. 20For they could not bear what was commanded: “If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned.” 21The sight was so terrifying that even Moses said, “I am trembling with fear.”

c. “But we have come to the commands and promises of grace. Hebrews 12:22-24 says, “Instead, you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to myriads of angels 23in joyful assembly, to the congregation of the firstborn, enrolled in heaven. You have come to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.”

d. To “allure” means to attract with something desirable. Christ crucified for sinners is someone desirable. That is the message of the New Testament. 

4. Hosea 2:15 says, “There I will give back her vineyards and make the Valley of Achor into a gateway of hope. There she will respond as she did in the days of her youth, as in the day she came up out of Egypt.”

a. Vineyards are signs of the blessings of God.

b. The meaning of the Valley of Achor is the “valley of trouble.”

c. God named the Valley of Achor after Achan, whom the Israelites stoned to death for his sin (1 Chronicles 2:7).

d. In Joshua 7:25, Joshua says to Achan, “Why have you brought this trouble upon us?” “Today the LORD will bring trouble upon you!” And all Israel stoned him to death.

e. So, instead of stoning wayward Israel to death under the ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Valley of Achor becomes a door of hope. The same valley in which Achan died under the law became a place a place that prefigured the Lord Jesus Christ who is the door to eternal life.

f. To the woman whose death the Law of Moses required, our Lord said, “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. He set her free and said, “Now go and sin no more” (John 8:11). If she stops her sinning because she believes He is the Messiah and becomes His follower, God justifies her.

g. So, our Lord is that door of hope. He is the door to eternal life of whom Hosea speaks in Hosea 2:15. “I will make the Valley of Achor into a gateway of hope.”

h. So, the fulfillment of Hosea 2:14-15 is in the hope that Jesus brought. He is the door of hope. This is primarily a Gospel truth, not a millennial truth.

5. Hosea 2:16 says, “In that day,” declares the LORD, “you will call Me ‘my Husband,’ and no longer call Me ‘my Master.’

a. In the New Testament the identity of Israel changes. Instead of being the nation that God divorced, she became the Israel of God upon believing on Him as her Lord and Savior.

b. God sowed her among the nations in the Old Testament. By sowing her among the nations, God is saying that she is a pagan like the nations. Then He called Jewish and Gentile pagans to life in Christ. 

c. That seed, sowed among the nations came up miraculously as a crop of Jews and Gentiles in the New Testament times. It germinated as justified and sanctified Israel, which consisted of Jews and Gentiles in Christ.

d. Romans 2:28-29 says, “A man is not a Jew because he is one outwardly, nor is circumcision only outward and physical. 29No, a man is a Jew because he is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man’s praise does not come from men, but from God.”

1) So, a person may be born a Gentile. Yet, if he is born again, he partakes of Abraham’s heart and spirit, which is really Christ’s heart and spirit.

2) A believer is a saved Jew. In other words, he is a spiritual Jew.

e. From Romans 2:28-29, a true Jew is a remnant Jew, whether in the Old Testament or in the New Testament.

f. Romans 9:6 says, “It is not as though God’s word has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel.” That is, God’s promised word to always save Israel[10] is still valid. But not all the descendants of Israel are true Israel. Only the saved Jews are true Israel. That is, they are not all Israel as God sees it. Only believing Israel is true Israel.

g. So, Christians legitimately call God “My Husband.” Our Savior Jesus Christ is our Husband. Baal is not Lord. Christ is Lord and Savior. 

h. The Hebrew word for Lord in Hosea 2:16 is “Baali,” which is a Lord like Baal. Baal is not God. He is an imposter. But the Hebrew word for “husband” in Hosea 2:16 is Ishi, which indicates love and marriage. Jesus is to the Christian, all that a husband should be and more. Jesus is not a Lord like Baali. The word Baali means owner or master.

i. Jesus is our Master, but He is not a tyrant like false gods are.

j. So, our Lord Jesus fulfills Hosea 2:16 in the New Testament Church and not in a future millennium.

6. Hosea 2:17 says, “For I will remove from her lips the names of the Baals; no longer will their names be invoked.”

a. The New Testament fulfillment of Hosea 2:17 comes to us in Christ. A byproduct of regeneration by the Holy Spirit is that we know our true Lord.

b. 1 Corinthians 12:3 says, “Therefore I inform you that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, ‘Jesus be cursed,’ and no one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except by the Holy Spirit. So, God takes away the word “Baali” from our lips by giving us the Holy Spirit in Christ at salvation. All Christians confess Jesus as Lord. No Christians confess Baal as Lord. And Jesus is husband to all true Christians.

c. So, this is more evidence that God fulfills the prophecies of Hosea chapter 1 in the New Testament days.

7. Hosea 2:18 says, “On that day I will make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field and the birds of the air and the creatures that crawl on the ground. And I will abolish bow and sword and weapons of war in the land and will make them lie down in safety.”

a. Mark 1:13 says of our Lord, “and He was there for forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and the angels ministered to Him.” Those wild animals did not harm our Lord. This was the time in which the lion laid down with the Lamb of God.

b. Hebrews 11:33 speaks of those who “who shut the mouths of lions” such as Daniel. By faith Daniel shut the mouths of lions.

c. And Mark 16:18 says, “they will pick up snakes with their hands, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not harm them”

d. It is not a common occurrence that Christians should use the power of God to overcome deadly serpent bites. God distributes this power as He sees fit. I do not endorse snake handling services. Most of them put God to the test when they handle snakes. 

e. Acts 28:3-6 says, “Paul gathered a bundle of sticks, and as he laid them on the fire, a viper, driven out by the heat, fastened itself to his hand. 4When the islanders saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “Surely this man is a murderer. Although he was saved from the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live.” 5But Paul shook the creature off into the fire and suffered no ill effects. 6The islanders were expecting him to swell up or suddenly drop dead. But after waiting a long time and seeing nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and said he was a god.

f. And through the Gospel God brings peace first to the individual heart and then to the nations in which we live.

g. And there are many ravenous beasts of the New Testament who are spiritual animals. Matthew 7:15 speaks of those who “inwardly they are ravenous wolves. There was a time in which Saul of Tarsus was a ravenous wolf. But after the Lord saved him, he became the brother of Christians, a lover of sheep. So, the wolf and the sheep became brothers in Christ.

h. And Paul warned to beware of “dogs” in Philippians 3:2. These were not literal dogs but were persecutors of the believers and purveyors of false doctrine. In this sense, Paul had been a “beast” and a cobra. But due to our Lord’s work in his heart, he became a great blessing to all the Christians.

i. In 2 Peter 2:2 Simon Peter calls false teachers “natural brute beasts.” Peter is not taking this illustration from thin air. He gets this idea of beasts from the spiritual meaning of the prophecies of the Old Testament. He also calls them “sows” in 2 Peter 2:22 from Proverbs 26:11.

j. And Paul tells the Ephesian elders that after he dies “grievous wolves” will attack the “sheep.” The words “wolves” and “sheep” come from the Old Testament.

k. And the Roman Empire was a great beast (Revelation 13:2).

8. Hosea 2:19 says, “So I will betroth you to Me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in loving devotion and compassion.”

a. The relationship between our Lord Jesus Christ and the Christian is an eternal relationship.

b. It is different from the relationship between God and the nation of Israel which God established by using a conditional covenant.

c. God conditioned the wedding vows between God and the nation of Israel upon the obedience of Israel.

d. God would remain faithful to Israel if she kept her side of the bargain. Galatians 3:10 quotes Deuteronomy 3:26 saying, “Cursed is everyone who continues not in all things of the law to do them.” So, if Israel had simply obeyed the entire law every day of her life, she would have been God’s son nation under the law. But only our Lord Jesus could do that.

e. But so great is the salvation of the Christian that His grace does two things: 

1) God both demands that we stay in the faith,

2) And God also keeps us in the faith. He warns us to remain in the faith and He uses that warning as a tool in our lives to keep us in the faith. We obey and He keeps. That is how the New Covenant works.

f. Our marriage to Christ is forever. Nothing can ever change it. He will always be faithful. And He will keep us faithful as well.

g. Israel of the Old Testament never was God’s ultimate bride. She was an illustration of the true bride who believed in Messiah. She was like the Ark of the Covenant, a temporary symbol .

h. So, God fulfills this promise of his betrothing during the time of the Church as well. We read, “Husbands love your wives as Christ loved the Church and gave Himself for it.”

i. This is not a millennial event. It is during the Church Age.

9. Hosea 2:20 says, “And I will betroth you in faithfulness, and you will know the LORD.”

a. Our Lord will always be faithful to us.

b. He is faithful to Himself and to us to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

c. 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 says, “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely, and may your entire spirit, soul, and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The One who calls you is faithful, and He will do it.” He is faithful to keep you blameless.

d. This is New Testament truth.

10.     Hosea 2:23 says, “And I will sow her as My own in the land, and I will have compassion on ‘No Compassion.’ I will say to those called ‘Not My People,’ ‘You are My people,’ and they will say, ‘You are my God.’”

a. “I will sow her” means that the Lord sows the seeds that germinate and then become His people.

b. This is a prophecy of Matthew 13:3, which says, “And He told them many things in parables, saying, “A farmer went out to sow his seed.” So, our Lord Jesus fulfills Hosea 2:23.

c. In this “Parable of the Sower,” our Lord Jesus Christ is the Sower of Seed.

1) The good seed is the Word of God.

2) The seed, in this context is both Jew and Gentile spiritual seed. Parents will birth some as Jews and some as Gentiles.

3) The Sower sows his seed in the field which is the world.

4) There are four responses to the sowing of the seed.

a) Some seed fell on the path and the birds ate them. The birds represent the devil and his angels who oppose the sowing.

b) Some seed fell on rocky places coated in shallow soil. It germinated and grew, but the soil was not deep enough for the growth to survive the hot sun of persecution. These were those whose hearts were rocky and not fit to give God a crop for His glory. These are unsaved people.

c) He sowed some seed in the ground that had living roots of briars in it. This seed grew but the briars of the care of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choked the crop so that it did not produce fruit for God’s glory. These are also unsaved people.

d) The good seed fell on good ground. The good ground represents people who have heart soil that receives the Word of God and grows a good crop of glory for God. These are those who have born-again hearts. They are those upon whom the Lord had compassion. They believed the Gospel, abandoned their idols, and served God for life.

d. The Lord Jesus Christ does His sowing during the entire time of the Church. He does it through Pastors, evangelists, teachers, and soul winners, but He does it.

e. This fits perfectly with the fact that Hosea 2:14-23 is speaking of New Testament times.

f. The seed is the good news message, and the parable explains to us the various responses to the Gospel.

V. Conclusion – It should not surprise us that God married a harlot. As He sees it, that is what all of us are. We are spiritual harlots. And it is not shocking that his bride of the Old Testament revealed herself to be an adulteress. But by the grace of God that is what we all are. God used people who were ceremonially his wife to portray what does amaze us. It is unthinkable that God could and would make any of Adam’s race into his bride. But this is precisely what He did. This is indeed Amazing Grace[11]

Amazing grace! How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found;
Was blind, but now I see.
’Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears relieved;
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed!

The earth shall soon dissolve like snow,
The sun forbear to shine;
But God, Who called me here below,
Will be forever mine.

The Lord has promised good to me,
His Word my hope secures;
He will my Shield and Portion be,
As long as life endures.

The earth shall soon dissolve like snow,
The sun forbear to shine;
But God, Who called me here below,
Will be forever mine.

When we’ve been there ten thousand years,
Bright shining as the sun,
We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise
Than when we’d first begun.

Words by John Newton 1779

NOTES

[1] Joshua 24:14 says, “Now, therefore, fear the LORD and serve Him in sincerity and truth; cast aside the gods your fathers served beyond the Euphrates and in Egypt, and serve the LORD.

[2] Exodus 19:8 says, “And all the people answered together, “We will do everything that the LORD has spoken.” So, Moses brought their words back to the LORD.”

[3] Notice that God conditions His covenant with Israel on the Mosaic Covenant, which is a conditional covenant. Christians have no fear of losing our salvation because God saved us with an unconditional covenant. See Hebrews 8:6-13 and Jeremiah 31:31-34).

[4] I am indebted to Dr. John Gill, “An Exposition of “The Books of the prophets of the Old Testament” London: Printed for Mathews & and Leigh, 18 Strand, 1810 2 Volumes, 789 pages Reprinted by The Baptist Standard Bearer, 1989 This is Volume VI of Gill’s work, It gives the genuine sense books of the prophets, a summary of each chapter, the sense of every verse, and shows that the prophecies chiefly belong to the times of the Gospel. Also, I gratefully acknowledge the ministry of biblehub.com, thanking them for their presentation of Dr. Gill’s entire 10-million-word set., entitled The Baptist Commentary Series. Written from 1746 -1766 AD.

[5] She was not valuable by human terms, but she was valuable to God.

[6] However she did have more refined idols such as worshipping money, powerful nations, et cetera.

[7] In the context, things happened to Old Testament people so that we might learn from reading about them in the Bible. They were warnings to us to avoid these sins. The last days are those of the New Testament era. From the Bible perspective they lived their lives to help us. But the main emphasis of what God is doing is on our lives.

[8] There is no mercy for the nation. But we must remember that God still will forgive them if they repent. He forgave Nineveh after He said there were only 40 days left for them. And God will forgive anyone in Nineveh if they repent. Most of Israel consisted of unsaved people who died in their sins.

[9] Ephesians 2:11-17 says, “Therefore remember that formerly you who are Gentiles in the flesh and called uncircumcised by the so-called circumcision (that done in the body by human hands)— 12remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. 13But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ. 14For He Himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has torn down the dividing wall of hostility 15by abolishing in His flesh the law of commandments and decrees. He did this to create in Himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace 16and reconciling both of them to God in one body through the cross, by which He extinguished their hostility. 17He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. 18For through Him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.”

[10] The saving is spiritual saving, which means salvation from sin.
[11] I am indebted to Hymnlyrics.org