By Woodrow Kroll
Part 3 - Married With Children
We've talked of the relationship man to woman--Hosea and Gomer in the Book of Hosea. But this first chapter isn't finished, friends, until you're married with children. And that's what we need to look at now.
Notice on your notes, it says that not only do you have to wrestle with the issue of, Does God ask Hosea to marry a prostitute? but look at the next part. Hosea is married with children. And with kids like these, who needs in-laws. I mean, wait 'til you meet his family. You talk about dysfunctional. Well let's not talk about it, let's find out what God has to say in His Word. Hosea 1, again at verse four.
"Then the Lord said to him: "Call him Jezreel."
This is the firstborn son to Hosea and Gomer. The preceding verse says that he took Gomer as his wife, she conceived and bore him a son, and He says, "Now, Hosea, I want you to name this child Jezreel." In fact, He even tells him why.
Now, you see, when you have a name like Woodrow, you ask questions like this. Why? See I think everyone at age 21 ought to have the right to change their name if they want to. My publisher, Multnomah Publishers, Inc., has tried to shorten my name.
Some of you have seen the last couple of books that came out this year, and it's not Woodrow on the cover. It's Wood. Now that's my wife's fault. I have to tell you this.
When I was a little boy, they called me Woody. And, when we were married, she said, "You know, one of these days you're going to have a doctorate. And they're still going to be calling you Woody." So she shortened it to Wood. And it kind of stuck. She calls me Wood; my friends call me Wood. So it's okay, you can call me that, too, just don't make it any shorter than that!
Now don't you wonder about these names? I mean, God says I want you to call your boy, not Hosea, Jr., I want you to call him Jezreel. It's like saying, I want you to call your son Asheville. Because, you know, Jezreel is the name of a place. Call your son North Carolina.
Or, if your son is going to play football some day, call him Nebraska. Why would you tell a man, after he has taken a wife who he knows is going to be unfaithful to him, why would you tell him to name his son Jezreel. Well there's a good answer for that, friend, and the Bible tells us what it is. Look at this. He says,
"�because I will soon punish the house of Jehu for the massacre at Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of Israel. In that day I will break Israel's bow in the Valley of Jezreel."
Well, I'm glad we got that straight! "I want you to call your son Jezreel because I will soon punish Jehu for the massacre in the Valley of Jezreel." And probably, like you, Hosea is scratching his head saying, "What on earth is all that about? Jehu? Who introduced Jehu into this story?
Jezreel? You want me to call my son the name of a place?" Well now, let's take it easy. Good Bible students always ask questions of the text. And I know you're dying to find out why Jehu is introduced here and what this has to do with Jezreel and why God would ask Hosea to name his son Jezreel?
By the way, Jezreel means "God sows." And the only way I know to find out why Jehu would be introduced, and why Jezreel was important is for us to go back to the story of Jehu in the historical books and find out. And, fortunately, we have a whole Bible to teach us this. So put your hand in there, in Hosea; and turn back with me to 2 Kings 9.
I'm going to read some selected verses. It's a long passage, and we don't have time to read it all. But you'll get the gist of the story. This is how Hosea could possibly name his son Jezreel, and it would say that God was going to punish Jehu for his wickedness in the Valley of Jezreel.
2 Kings 9, let's begin right at the first verse:
"The prophet Elisha summoned a man from the company of the prophets and said to him, 'Tuck your cloak into your belt, take this flask of oil with you and go to Ramoth Gilead. When you get there, look for Jehu son of Jehoshaphat, the son of Nimshi. Go to him, get him away from his companions and take him into an inner room. Then take the flask and pour the oil on his head and declare, "This is what the Lord says: 'I anoint you king over Israel.' Then open the door and run; don't delay!"
You think preachers have it tough today! Deliver your message and get out of there as quick as you can because Jehu is a man of some prominence. And you are to anoint him to be king. And he is going to rid the nation of the sins of Ahab, the wicked king of the North. Well that's what he's going to do. Let me jump into the story.
Look down at verse 14, 2 Kings 9:14: "So Jehu son of Jehoshaphat, the son of Nimshi, conspired against Joram."
Now Joram is the son of Ahab, he's now the king. Now God is telling Jehu, "I want you to punish the family of Ahab for the wickedness they've done against God." So he's conspiring against Joram.
"(Now Joram and all Israel had been defending Ramoth Gilead against Hazael king of Aram, but King Joram had returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds the Arameans had inflicted on him in the battle with Hazael king of Aram.)"
Now here the king has been in battle over in Syria, across the Jordan River in the northeast corner of the country; and he's been wounded in battle. So he comes back home to rest. And the King of Judah comes to find out how the King of Israel is doing, and that's what happens in the middle of the story. But God sends Jehu to take vengeance on Joram because Joram is the son of Ahab and to destroy the family of Ahab. So let's go ahead in the story, look at verse 22:
"When Joram saw Jehu he asked, 'Have you come in peace, Jehu?'"
"'How can there be peace,'" Jehu replied, "'as long as all the idolatry and witchcraft of your mother Jezebel abound?'"
Well, Jezebel was his mother. So "Joram turned about and fled, calling out to Ahaziah, 'Treachery, Ahaziah!'"
Ahaziah is the king of the South that came to visit him.
"Then Jehu drew his bow and shot Joram between the shoulders. The arrow pierced his heart and he slumped down in his chariot."
Now Jehu was anointed king for the express purpose of taking God's vengeance out on a wicked, wicked family. And now, it is "mission accomplished." But he didn't stop there. Look at verse 30:
"Then Jehu went to Jezreel. When Jezebel heard about it, she painted her eyes, arranged her hair and looked out of a window."
Now men, I just know you're wondering about this. [She] Put a little eye shadow on, and fixed her hair because Jehu was coming. What on earth is all this about? I don't think she was intending to entice Jehu. I mean that was impossible. He was there to kill her. But she was a very vain woman. She couldn't go out in public until she'd fixed her hair and done her eyes. So she got all dolled up here, and she looks out the window.
"As Jehu entered the gate, she asked, 'Have you come in peace, Zimri, you murderer of your master?'"
"He looked up at the window and called out, 'Who is on my side? Who?' Two or three eunuchs looked down at him." 'Throw her down!' Jehu said. So they threw her down, and some of her blood spattered the wall and the horses as they trampled her underfoot."
It's a good thing she fixed up. This is her last public appearance.
"Jehu went in and ate and drank. 'Take care of that cursed woman,' he said, 'and bury her, for she was a king's daughter.' But when they went out to bury her, they found nothing except her skull, her feet and her hands."
Now I want you to know that Jezebel was a very wicked woman. But God did not tell Jehu to kill Jezebel. God told Jehu to take his vengeance on the throne, not on the queen--on the king, Joram, the new king. And what happened was, Jehu enjoyed God's vengeance so much he went a little farther than God suggested he go. And it all happened right here in the Valley of Jezreel.
Now, come back with me to Hosea. God says to Hosea, "I want you to take your firstborn son and name him Jezreel because that is going to remind everyone of the sinful wickedness of Jehu in going overboard in doing my will when it came to the city of Jezreel." And then He says in verse five:
"In that day I will break Israel's bow in the Valley of Jezreel."
Breaking the bow of Israel simply means I'm going to destroy the people there. This is the biblical way of saying that I am going to take My vengeance and no one will be able to stand in thy way. Psalm 46, for example, verse 8:
"Come and see the works of the Lord, the desolations he has brought on the earth. He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth;he breaks the bow and shatters the spear, he burns the shields with fire. "Be still, and know that I am God;
Notice "breaks the bow." That's a biblical way of saying he is victorious. And that's what this man Jehu did. He was victorious over all the enemies. So the name Jezreel then is going to be a constant reminder to this man Hosea of the horrible things that Jehu did and the fact that God still loved His people, even though they had lived in sin against Him.
"I want you to name your son, Jezreel. Because every time you look at that boy you're going to think of the punishment of God for sin. But I want you also to be reminded that underneath all this lies the love of God. I even loved My people when they were sinning against me. I loved my people while Ahab was the king and Jezebel was the queen." That's the kind of love, my friends, that comes from this kind of God. "So name your firstborn Jezreel."
Look at verse six, Hosea chapter one, verse six: "Gomer conceived again and gave birth to a daughter." Now, things are getting better.
"Then the Lord said to Hosea, "Call her Lo-Ruhamah, for I will no longer show love to the house of Israel, that I should at all forgive them. Yet I will show love to the house of Judah; and I will save them--not by bow, sword or battle, or by horses and horsemen, but by the Lord their God."
Okay, child number two. If you have trouble thinking up a name for child number one, child number two gets easier. You buy a book and you come up with the name Lo-Ruhamah. Now I know, you're wondering what on earth does Lo-Ruhamah mean. Well, it's a daughter, so it's a female name. And it means "she is not loved." In fact, that's exactly what it says. "Call her Lo-Ruhamah, for I will no longer show love to the house of Israel."
So while the first son, his name is designed to constantly remind Hosea that God is mindful of the fact that Israel has sinned against Him. The second child, the daughter, is named a name that will constantly remind Hosea that God is going to withhold His love from His people for a short time in order to bring them to repentance. Now remember, in verse seven, it says, "I am going to love them. But I'm going to withhold that love."
Now it seems that way when you parents are correcting your children. Isn't that true? I mean, punishing children�when you correct a child for something that child has done wrong, that action seems to be your withholding your love. It isn't, of course, "the Lord loves whom He chastens." But it seems to that kid that you're withholding your love.
Certainly, and we're all experienced in that area, both as a child and as a parent. And here it looks like this daughter is constantly going to be a reminder to this man that God is withholding His love from His people.
Verse eight: "After she had weaned Lo-Ruhamah, Gomer had another son. Then the Lord said, 'Call him Lo-Ammi, for you are not my people, and I am not your God.'"
And now things are getting serious, friends. Son number one, call him Jezreel so you've a constant reminder, this boy's a constant reminder that my people have sinned against me just like Jehu did back in the Valley of Jezreel. Child number two, a daughter, Lo-Ruhamah. Call her that because it will be a constant reminder to you that for a time I'm going to remove my love from my people so that I can bring them to judgment. And then call the third child, a boy, call him Lo-Ammi because you are not my people and I am not your God.
Now, what does Lo-Ammi mean? Well the Hebrew word for man or for people is am. If you want to say "my people," add the personal pronoun, the personal possessive pronoun, you add an "i" on the end of the word. So, ammi becomes, "my people." Am is people, ammi is my people. It's like in the New Testament, you know the word "rabbi." Rabbi means "my teacher." The word is rabbin. But if he's your personal teacher, one you follow, you call him "my teacher," rabbi. So ammi is "my people."
Add the "lo" in front of it, the negative--lo-ammi--no my people. Not my people. You've just had your first class in Hebrew 101. And you all passed. Don't get used to it!
God says, "I want you to name your third child, Not My People." I have to tell you, folks, this is tough because it is bad enough being called Jezreel and being reminded constantly of Jehu's sin. It's bad enough being called Lo-Ruhamah and knowing that God, for a time, is going to withhold his love to bring the people to repentance.
But the most devastating thing in this story has got to be the name of the third child--not the fact that Gomer was unfaithful to her husband, Hosea. But that God told Hosea to name the third child, Not My People. What's worse is the last clause in verse nine. Did you notice it? "For you are not my people, and I am not your God."
Now why would God say this to His people? We're talking about the Israelites here. These are the Jewish people. These are the good guys in the Old Testament. Why would God say this? Because the good guys in the Old Testament, my friends, are living like the bad guys. And God does not allow His people to live like the pagans around them forever and get away with it.
See God is very interested in those who know better because they know something about God and His Word, living better because they want to live God and His word. But when God's people forsake the Word of God and don't know the Word of God and when they forsake God and they live like the devil--God says, "I won't put up with that forever."
Sin always leads to judgment. Israel hadn't learned that. I'm not sure we've learned that yet.
I'm not a prophet nor the son of a prophet, but I just know how to read. And I can read and know what's coming next. For any time God blesses a people and they take the gold and the silver and the oil and the wine and the grain and they worship other gods with it, and if there is any lesson for us to learn from this passage, surely it is that we are exactly where these people were. And we're doing exactly the same thing. And God says, "I am not going to be your God." In fact, it's even stronger than that.
Remember when Moses asked God, God was calling him at the burning bush, Exodus chapter three, and Moses said, "Look, I'm going to go to these people and they're not even going to recognize me. They won't listen to me. Who will I tell them sent me?"
"And God says to Moses, 'Tell them, "I Am sent you. I Am that I Am.'" Boy, that was enough. You say that, you have an "in" immediately. And what He said to Moses in Exodus chapter three, He is reversing here in Hosea chapter one. When He says, "I am not your God." Same expression. And, my friends, that is very�that is absolutely scary. That God would not be among His people. He would have to withdraw Himself from His people because His people were living such sinful lives. Well this is how the chapter concludes, verse 10:
"Yet the Israelites will be like the sand on the seashore, which cannot be measured or counted. In the place where it was said to them, 'You are not my people,' they will be called 'sons of the living God.' The people of Judah and the people of Israel will be reunited, and they will appoint one leader and will come up out of the land, for great will be the day of Jezreel."
Hey, this is a tough chapter. But notice it ends on a very, very strong upbeat. My people will come together and they'll come out of their captivity and they'll come back to the land and they will worship the Lord. And great will be the day of Jezreel.
Now that's the time you want a name like Jezreel, isn't it? And God said, "Look, I'm promising you that my temporary compassion shut down for my people is only temporary. And it's only designed to bring them back to myself--to withhold My goodness from them, My grace from them, all the good things they are enjoying now, to withhold--so they come to their senses."
What God wants, He wants His people to come to their senses. He wants His people to be convicted of their sins, and He wants His people to confess their shortcomings. And when they do that, God says, when they do that, "My arms are open to them and I will welcome them back," and they can come home to God's love again. That's the promise of God.
And how Hosea can end this first chapter with the promises of God absolutely amazes me because this is really a downer chapter. This is why everybody wants to skip this chapter when they read this book. I'd like to skip the whole book! But, I can't. It's in there for a reason, friends. And I think the reason is that when God makes a promise, you can trust that promise. It doesn't matter what it looks like now, it doesn't matter how God withholds His blessing--you can trust the promises of God.
Standing on the promises that cannot fail. See that's what we sing, when the howling storms of doubt and fear assail, by the living Word of God, I shall prevail. Standing on the promises of God. If God said it, you can trust it.
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