Hosea 1-3 "A Wife of Whoredom" April 1, 2007 How much do you love your wife? For that matter, how do you respond when she ignores you? When she makes fun of you? Or when she nags you? But how would you respond if she cheated on you? I know a man whose wife cheated on him, then she divorced him, then she married another man. Soon after that, she divorced the second man. Shortly after that, the first man went to his ex-wife and asked her to marry him again. She said no. Rejected for more than 20 years, he continued to pursue her not in a pathetic, desperate sort of way, but with the full knowledge of how difficult and painful it would be if he ever succeeded. But Gomer didn't just cheat on Hosea. She became a prostitute. She became the slave of another man. And God told Hosea to buy her back. We don't know exactly how that worked, but if it was done like other transactions in the Bible, it would have been a public sale in the city gate. Hosea comes to city gate, in the presence of the elders. Hosea, the prophet of Yahweh, comes before all the leaders of the community, and says, I want to buy my wife back. Hosea is not a wealthy man. The price of a female slave is 30 shekels (according to Lev 27). Hosea has 15 shekels and for the rest he comes up with nine bushels of barley. What were the elders thinking? This guy is nuts! She's a whore! Literally! And he wants her back? Could you do that? Your wife is a prostitute. She's not repentant. But you are called to take her back and love her anyway. This is a love that goes beyond what we are prepared to do! The LORD had said to Hosea, "Go again, love a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress, even as the LORD loves the children of Israel." And while we grumble and complain about our wives, Hosea goes to the city gate and buys back his adulterous wife, and Jesus goes to the cross to buy back his adulterous people. Introduction: The Word of the LORD that Came to Hosea (1:1) Hosea prophesied in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hekekiah in other words, he is a contemporary of Isaiah and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel. This is Jeroboam II, who reigned approximately 793-753. He was of the house of Jehu the closest thing to a good king in Israel's history. Jehu had destroyed the idolatrous house of Ahab, and had thrown down the temple of Baal. Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah were kings of Judah until the 720s. There were several kings in Israel between the 740s and the 720s, but they are not mentioned. Hosea is a prophet to the northern kingdom indeed, he appears to be the only prophet who was from the northern kingdom (and his language appears to be a northern dialect, since it is somewhat different from the other prophets). Chapters 1-3 tell the story of Hosea and Gomer and their children, setting up the whole book. Chapters 4-14 are "the word of the LORD to Israel" (4:1), in two basic sections. Chapters 4-11:11 and 11:12-14:8. Each section contains God's warning of coming judgment and a call to repentance. And each section ends with the hope of restoration. The opening section, chapters 1-3, opens and closes with the "biographical" sections points one and three on your outline. Then the central section 1:10-2:23 speaks of the return of Israel at the beginning and the end, but at the very center of the passage (verses 2-15 of chapter 2) is the plea for Israel to heed the warning of the coming judgment. 1. Gomer and Her Children (1:2-9) In chapter 1, verses 2-9, we hear of Gomer and her children and what they signify. God tells Hosea to take a wife a whoredom. Some have argued that God would never call a prophet to marry a prostitute, so they claim that this is just an allegory or a vision. But it is not immoral to marry a prostitute. The fact that she is unfaithful does not mean that Hosea sins in marrying her. Some have tried to soften the force of this by suggesting that Gomer only became a prostitute later. But "wife of whoredom" seems to make it clear that she is already promiscuous. Indeed, it is likely that she was a temple prostitute. While Jehu had destroyed the worship of Baal, his sons appear to have permitted its return. Baal was the Canaanite god of fertility, and the way that you urged Baal to make the ground fertile, was by "exciting" him to action by engaging in ritual sex in his temple. So there were male and female prostitutes in the temple who would offer their services. It is likely that Gomer was such a prostitute especially given Yahweh's comment, "for the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the LORD." Idolatry and adultery are woven together throughout Hosea's prophecy. So he went and took Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son. And the LORD said to him, 'Call his name Jezreel, for in just a little while I will punish the house of Jehu for the blood of Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel. Jezreel functions at a number of levels: 1) Jezreel means "God will sow" and in the light of the fertility rituals of Baal worship, it is a reminder that God is truly the one who gives grain, wine and oil (2:8). 2) Historically Jezreel is the place where Jehu slaughtered the house of Ahab. In fact, Jehu was called by God to slaughter the house of Ahab. So why is God now saying that he will punish the house of Jehu for the bloodshed at Jezreel? It is because the house of Jehu has turned out to be no better than Ahab. 3) Jezreel (yizreel) also sounds very much like Israel (yisrael), and you see this pun working back and forth as well in verse 5 I will break the bow of yisrael in the valley of yizreel. She conceived again and bore a daughter. What is missing here? In the case of Jezreel, it says that she bore him a son. But in the case of these last two children, there is no reference to the father. It may be that Hosea was the father, but the ambiguity is intentional. She is a wife of whoredom, and her children are children of whoredom. And the LORD said to him, Call her name Lo-ruhama (No Mercy), for I will no more have mercy on the house of Israel, to forgive them at all. rhm is the word for "womb" Ruhama means that tender love and mercy that a parent has for a child. But God will no longer have mercy on Israel. Verse 7 appears out of place here. What is Judah doing here? This is a prophecy against Israel! Indeed some have argued that it is a later insertion into the text by a Jewish scribe. But Hosea refers to Judah frequently throughout the book. Indeed, in 3:5 Hosea will speak of the house of David as the answer to Israel's exile! After all, the problem of the northern kingdom according to Hosea, is their idolatry and refusal to worship the LORD rightly. And in the days of Hezekiah, God did indeed deliver Jerusalem from the Assyrians without bow or sword or war or horses or horsemen. When she had weaned No Mercy, she conceived and bore a son (the father is again unknown) And the LORD said, Call his name Lo-ammi (Not My People), for you are not my people, and I am not your God. You could also translate this last phrase, You are not my people, and I will not be with you. Yahweh had identified himself to Moses as "I am who I am." The covenant promise to Abraham was that God would be their God, and they would be his people. Now God is going to remove his mercy from Israel. Yahweh will no longer be with his people. Judgment is coming, and Hosea's children are signs to Israel of the coming of God's judgment. 2. Israel and Her Children (1:10-2:23) A. The Day of Jezreel (1:10-2:1) Having given this warning, Hosea then gives his first message of hope. Reminding Israel of God's promise to Abraham, he says, Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or numbered. God is faithful to his promise and though judgment is coming, there is yet hope! And in the place where it was said to them, You are not my people, it shall be said to them, Children of the living God. And the children of Judah and the children of Israel shall be gathered together, and they shall appoint for themselves one head. And they shall go up from the land, for great shall be the day of Jezreel. The first day of Jezreel was the day of judgment against the house of Ahab. The new day of Jezreel will be the day when Israel and Judah will be reunited and on that day Jezreel will say to his brothers, "My people" and to his sisters, "She has received mercy." God will bring Israel and Judah through "no mercy" to "mercy" from "not my people" to "my people." As we saw throughout the book of Kings, Israel's hope is not that they will avoid exile, rather, Israel's hope is that God will raise them up from the dust and death of exile. What does it mean that God will raise them up? Hosea will show them. And while we grumble and complain about our wives, Hosea goes to the city gate and buys back his adulterous wife, and Jesus goes to the cross to buy back his adulterous people. B. The Coming Exile (2:2-15) Verses 2-15 of chapter 2 then speak of the coming exile. But you hear in the opening line the plea of a loving husband to his children: Plead with your mother, plead! The word for "plead" is a legal term. It could be translated "accuse" but the structure of the passage militates against that. Verses 2-3 speak of God returning Israel to the wilderness (echoed in verses 14-15). Verses 4-5 speak of how she sought after her "lovers" to give her food (echoed in the judgment of verses 10-13) which leaves verses 6-9 at the center of the passage, the reminder that God is the one who provides all things. God warns that he will strip Israel naked and return her to the wilderness where he found her. He says that he will have no mercy on her children because they are not his children! Israel has gone after the Baals, her lovers, claiming that Baal is the one who gives her bread and water, wool, flax, oil, and drink. After all, Baal was the god of fertility. The cult of Baal with all its religious prostitution was designed to provoke Baal to make the land fertile! But God says that he will hedge up her way with thorns. She will pursue her lovers, but not find them until she comes to her senses and says, I will go and return to my first husband, for it was better for me then than now. Jesus echoes this in the story of the Prodigal Son. Hosea explains that she did not know that it was I who gave her the grain, the wine, and the oil, and who lavished on her silver and gold, which they used for Baal. Grain, wine, and oil are the three chief crops of Israel. and in verses 10-13 God says that he will lay waste to everything related to Baal. And the whole reason for this is because, she went after her lovers and forgot me, declares the LORD. What would you do if your wife forgot you? If she just went about with her life, pursuing other men right in front of you acting as though you didn't exist? And while I grumble and complain about my wife's peccadillos, Hosea goes to the city gate and buys back his adulterous wife, and Jesus goes to the cross to buy back his adulterous people. God says that he will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her. Yes, Israel will return to the wilderness exile is coming! But there I will give to her vineyards and make the Valley of Achor a door of hope. The valley of Achor was where Achan was stoned to death in Joshua 7. Achan had sinned against God by taking from God things devoted to destruction. And he had brought trouble against all Israel. Now the Valley of Achor (a very desolate valley) will become a door of hope. And there she shall answer as in the days of her youth, as at the time when she came out of the land of Egypt. The exile will turn into a new Exodus. C. The Coming Restoration (2:16-23) And verses 16-23 describe this in two parts, both starting, "and in that day." And in that day, declares the LORD, you will call me 'My Husband,' and no longer will you call me 'My Baal' (baal means "master"). God promises that he will establish his covenant with all creatures and restore peace to the earth. And I will betroth you to me forever . . . in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. I will betroth you to me in faithfulness. And you shall know Yahweh. In that day, Israel shall know the LORD like Adam knew Eve like Isaac knew Rebecca. The problem was that Israel had forgotten Yahweh. Now the names of the Baals shall be remembered no more. You shall know me! Faithfulness. Steadfast love. Mercy. Righteousness and justice. Israel's relationship to Yahweh will finally be what it was supposed to be from the start. And part two lays this out in the terms of the names of Gomer's children! And in that day I will answer, declares the LORD, I will answer the heavens, and they shall answer the earth, and the earth shall answer the grain, the wine and the oil. What will the heavens and the earth say? God will sow. (Yizreel) And I will sow her for myself in the land. God will plant Israel in the land. And I will have mercy on No Mercy, And I will say to Not My People, My People, and Not My People will answer, You are my God. Such is the love of God for his wayward wife. And while you grumble and complain about your wife, Hosea goes to the city gate and buys back his adulterous wife, and Jesus goes to the cross to buy back his adulterous people. 3. The Redemption of Gomer/Israel (3:1-5) And the LORD said to me, Go again, love a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress, even as the LORD loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love cakes of raisins. (Raisin cakes were offered in pagan worship) So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and a homer and a lethech of barley. And I said to her, You must dwell as mine for many days. You shall not play the whore, or belong to another man; so will I also be to you. What Hosea is saying is, you may not sleep with any man (including me)-- and I will not sleep with any woman (including you) for "many days." Gomer has been restored to her husband, but the restoration will be incomplete. If you want to understand what this means, keep reading: For the children of Israel shall dwell many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or pillar, without ephod or household gods. There will be a long period when Israel will have neither good nor bad worship just as Gomer will not sleep with either her husband or anyone else. Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the LORD their God, and David their king, and they shall come in fear to the LORD and to his goodness in the latter days. Conclusion: The Love of a Husband A daughter of Israel came to the well of her fathers, and a man of Judah asked her for a drink of water. He told her that she had had five husbands, and the man she now had was not her husband. She was a whore. And she ran back to her town and said, "Can this be the Christ?" What on earth was a Samaritan doing looking for the Christ? The "Christ" is the anointed one the Son of David. This Samaritan woman, this daughter of Israel, was looking for the Son of David. And Jesus said that the Father was looking for worshipers who would worship in the Spirit and in truth. And she was who called "No Mercy" received mercy. And those who were "Not My People" once again became My People Because while we prided ourselves on our feeble and impotent love, Hosea goes to the city gate and buys back his adulterous wife, and Jesus goes to the cross to buy back his adulterous people.