Year 2, Week 5, Day 3 Bible Reading Observations

Year 2, Week 5, Day 3

I have a brief observation for today’s reading of Psalm 48; Hosea 1-2.

Today’s reading takes us to the prophet Hosea: “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” (Hosea 1:1). Hosea was a prophet in the same era as the prophets Isaiah, Amos, and Micah. And like his contemporary prophets, Hosea was commissioned to call the people of God back to covenant faithfulness. Hosea had a direct word for the Northern Kingdom of Israel, but his words were applicable to the Southern Kingdom of Judah as well. Today’s reading also includes Psalm 48, a Psalm by the sons of Korah. Psalm 48 is a song celebrating the LORD’s presence in Jerusalem: “Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised in the city of our God! His holy mountain, beautiful in elevation, is the joy of all the earth, Mount Zion, in the far north, the city of the great King” (Psalm 48:1-2). As we come to sections in Kings and Chronicles that give historical detail of a siege around Jerusalem, focus of Psalm 48 is pertinent, for it describes a failed attempt to overtake Jerusalem: “For behold, the kings assembled; they came on together. As soon as they saw it, they were astounded; they were in panic; they took to flight” (Psalm 48:4-5).

One of the things that struck me from today’s reading is the preparation that the prophet Hosea was required to make in order to prophesy to Israel: “the LORD said to Hosea, “Go, take to yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom, for the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the LORD” (Hosea 1:2). Hosea was to marry an unfaithful woman, for that would enable him to accurately reflect God’s love toward His unfaithful people. Hosea obeyed his calling: “So he went and took Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son” (Hosea 1:2). The LORD also instructed Hosea as to what he was to name his son, which was to be a sign of impending judgement: “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” (Hosea 1:4). Jezreel, the name of his first son, is also the name of the location where King Jehu assassinated Jezebel and those who remained of the house of Ahab, who had earlier martyred the prophets of the Lord: “In the territory of Jezreel the dogs shall eat the flesh of Jezebel…So Jehu struck down all who remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel” (2 Kings 9:36b;10:11a). God announced through the naming of Hosea’s son that he was soon bringing an end to the Northern Kingdom of Israel. 

Gomer has additional children and their names are also symbolic of the LORD’s actions. Gomer’s second child is a girl: “She conceived again and bore a daughter. And the LORD said to him, “Call her name No Mercy, for I will no more have mercy on the house of Israel, to forgive them at all” (Hosea 1:6). This daughter would receive none of the tender mercy of a mother’s care; and neither would Israel any longer receive the tender mercies of God’s forgiveness and care. But Judah would still receive the mercies of God: “But I will have mercy on the house of Judah, and I will save them by the LORD their God. I will not save them by bow or by sword or by war or by horses or by horsemen” (Hoseah 1:7). The LORD Himself, without a military response, would rescue Judah from the hands of their Assyrian invaders (the same invaders who took Israel): “And that night the angel of the LORD went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. And when people arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies. Then Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and went home and lived at Nineveh” (2 Kings 19:35-36).

Gomer had a third child, another son: “When she had weaned No Mercy, she conceived and bore a son. And the LORD said, “Call his name Not My People, for you are not my people, and I am not your God” (Hosea 1:8-9). The name of this third child is connected to the essence of the LORD’s relationship to His people: “I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the LORD your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians” (Exodus 6:7). In light of Israel’s persistent unfaithfulness, the LORD was announcing that they were no longer His people.

However, what was declared next could be described as nothing other than a great reversal: “Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or numbered. 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.” (Hosea 1:10). After their punishment, the LORD would restore Israel, unite them once again to Judah, all under a common Kingship: “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” (Hosea 1:11). A Davidic King (see Hosea 3:5) would bring them back together and the punishment reflected in their names would be reversed: “Say to your brothers, “You are my people,” and to your sisters, “You have received mercy.” (Hosea 2:1).

What struck you in today’s reading? What questions were prompted from today’s reading?

Pastor Joe