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Little Books #8

#8

THE WORD OF GOD

Scripture: Modified King James Version

God’s Love Story

© Duplication and distribution of this book is encouraged.

Hosea chapters 1, 2 & 3

The prodigal returns

HOSEA’s story is also God’s story

(Hosea’s name means "Yahweh saves")

Compare this Scripture with Romans chapters 9-11.

Hosea’s marriage Hosea 1:1-2

01 The word of the LORD that came to 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. [c.753-729BC]

02 The beginning of the word of the LORD by Hosea.

And the LORD said to Hosea, Go, take to you a wife [who will eventually become a partaker] of whoredoms and [have] children of whoredoms: for the [people of the] land have committed great whoredom, departing from the LORD.

The love child Hosea 1:3-5

03 So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim; which conceived, and bore him a son. 04 And the LORD said to him, Call his name
Jezreel ["God sows (or avenges)"].

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. [2 Kings 9:30 to 10:11; & 17:18-23]. 05 And it shall come to pass at that day, that I will break the bow [or strength] of Israel in the valley of Jezreel.

The lost child Hosea 1:6-7

06 And she conceived again, and bore a daughter. And God said to him, Call her name Loruhamah: ["not having obtained (or accepted) mercy"].

For I will no more [be able to] have mercy upon the house of Israel [the northern tribes]; but I will utterly take them away.

07 But I will [still be able to] have mercy upon the house of Judah [the southern tribes], 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 [not by worldly powers. See 2 Corinthians 10:4].

The last child Hosea 1:8-10

08 Now when she had weaned Loruhamah, she conceived, and bore a son. [Soon after this Gomer packed up and left Hosea and the children]. 09 Then said God, Call his name Loammi ["Not My people" for this was not Hosea’s son.].

For you are not My people, and I will not be your God, 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 to them, "You are not My people", there it shall be said to them, "You are the sons of the living God" [See John 1:11-12].

The rejoining Hosea 1:11

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.

Chapter 2

Jesus pleads with His people Hosea 2:1-3

01 Say you to your brothers and sisters, "Ammi"["You are my people"];

and to your sisters, "Ruhamah" ["You have obtained mercy"].

02 [Then all of you] plead with your mother, plead: for she is not My wife [right now], neither am I her Husband. Let her therefore put away her whoredoms out of her sight, and her adulteries from between her breasts 03 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.

No lasting satisfaction in her "affairs" Hosea 2:4-8

04 And I will not have mercy upon her children [either] for they be the children [and followers] of whoredoms, 05 for their mother has played the harlot.

She that conceived them has done shamefully: for she said, I will go after my lovers [various gods], that give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, my oil and my drink. 06 Therefore, behold, I will hedge up your [her] way with thorns, and make a wall, that she shall not find her paths.

07 And she shall follow after her lovers, but she shall not overtake them; and she shall seek them, but shall not find them. Then [maybe] she shall say, "I will go and return to my first Husband, for then was it better with me than now".

08 For she did not know [or want to know] that I gave her corn, and wine, and oil, and multiplied her silver and gold, which they prepared for Baal [the god of force].

As you sow so shall you reap Hosea 2:9-13

09 Therefore will I return, and take away My corn in the time of it, and My wine in the season of it, and will recover My wool and My flax given to cover her nakedness. 10 And now will I discover her lewdness [or folly] in the sight of her lovers, and none shall deliver her out of My hand [permanently]. 11 I will also cause all her mirth to cease, her feast days, her new moons, and her [yearly] sabbaths, and all her solemn feasts [and there will be no joy in her religion].

12 And I will destroy her vines and her fig trees, of which she has 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 [for] the days of Baalim, in which she burned incense to them, and she decked herself with her earrings and her jewels, and she went after her lovers, and forgot me, says the LORD.

But He won’t give her up Hosea 2:14-17

14 However [in the last days], behold, I will allure [or woo] her, and bring her into the wilderness [out of trouble], and speak comfortably to her [to her heart, or in friendship]. 15 And I will give her her vineyards from there, 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 [in the exodus].

16 And it shall be at that day, says the LORD, that you shall call Me "Ishi" [my Husband]; and shall call Me no more "Baali" [my lord, the god of force]. 17 For I will take away [all] the names of Baalim out of her mouth, and they shall no more be remembered by their name [or character].

He will get them back! Hosea 2:18-23

18 And in that day will I make a covenant [to be a Protector] 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 [also] break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the earth, and will make them to lie down safely. 19 And I will betroth [or undertake to remarry] you to Me for ever, [yet I never ceased to be married to you]. Yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in loving kindness, and in mercies.

20 I will even betroth you to Me in faithfulness: and you shall [really] know [or have an experience with] the LORD.

21 And it shall come to pass in that day, I will hear, says the LORD, I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth. 22 And the earth shall hear
[or grow] the corn, and the wine, and the oil; and they shall [all] hear Jezreel. 23 And I will sow her to 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, "You are My people"; and they shall say, "You are my God".

Chapter 3

Go and get your wife back too, Hosea Hosea 3:1-2

01 Then said the LORD to me, Go yet, love a woman beloved of her friend [or husband], yet an adulteress, according to [or as] the love of the LORD toward the children of Israel, who look to other gods, and love flagons of wine.

02 So I bought her [back, or redeemed her] to me for fifteen pieces of silver, and for a homer and a half of barley [Total value = 30 pieces of silver, the price of a cheap slave].

Gomer’s choice Hosea 3:3

03 And I said to her, You shall [need time to readjust your way of thinking, so] abide for [or towards] me many days. You shall not play the harlot [any more], and you shall not be for another man [religious or political]. So will I also be [patiently waiting] for you [to recover from your self-imposed ordeal].

Israel’s choice Hosea 3:4-5

04 For the children of Israel shall [also] abide many days [or years] without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod [a priest’s apron], and without [clay fertility gods called] teraphim. [Therefore apparently without a Friend and hopeless].

05 Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the LORD their God, and David their King [Jesus Christ]; and shall fear [or respect] the LORD and His goodness in the latter [or last] days.

œ œ œ œ œ œ œ

Like Gomer, the Jewish people have had many lovers, but they have never divorced Christ and married His enemy (they have remained Sabbath-keepers), therefore they have never become "Mrs Babylon". They are only wayward "Mrs Christians". See Romans 11:23-27.

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