THERE SHE WILL SING
Hosea 2:14-20 NET.
14 However, in the future I will allure her; I will lead her back into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her. 15 From there, I will give back her vineyards to her, and turn the “Valley of Trouble” into an “Opportunity for Hope.” There she will sing as she did when she was young, when she came up from the land of Egypt. 16 “At that time,” declares the LORD, “you will call, ‘My husband’; you will never again call me, ‘My master.’ 17 For I will remove the names of the Baal idols from your lips, so that you will never again utter their names!” 18 “At that time I will make a covenant for them with the wild animals, the birds of the air, and the creatures that crawl on the ground. I will abolish the warrior’s bow and sword — that is, every weapon of warfare — from the land, and I will allow them to live securely.” 19 I will commit myself to you forever; I will commit myself to you in righteousness and justice, in steadfast love and tender compassion. 20 I will commit myself to you in faithfulness; then you will acknowledge the LORD.”
Many of the Old Testament prophets had to do outrageous things to get the people’s attention. God had a message for his people, but they often refused to listen to his words. Yet his prophets were more than his spokespersons. They were also visible signs of his existence. When the people looked at the prophets, they could see the state of their relationship with God. No aspect of the prophets’ lives was private to themselves, especially their marriage relationships.
We have already seen this in Jeremiah 16, when God commanded that prophet not to marry. This restriction served as a powerful, tragic symbol for the nation, hinting at looming, terrible judgment. It evoked a heartbreaking future in which families could suffer from disease, famine, and war, with their bodies left unburied. Such imagery reminds us of the dire consequences that could come if we don’t heed the warnings.
We also saw this principle in Ezekiel 24, when God instructed that prophet that his wife was going to die, but he commanded him not to mourn her loss in the traditional way. God kindly guided Ezekiel to avoid the usual public mourning rituals, such as weeping, wearing sackcloth, or covering his face. Instead, he was advised to keep his turban and sandals on and refrain from eating the “bread of mourners,” encouraging him to stay strong and grounded during this time.
This personal tragedy resonated deeply with the Israelites during their Babylonian exile. The loss of Ezekiel’s wife served as a reminder of the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, which was so cherished. It was described as the “delight” of the people’s eyes. Just as Ezekiel was instructed not to mourn his wife, the people of Israel would also find it difficult to properly grieve the destruction of their cherished city and the heartbreaking loss of their children.
But the story of Hosea takes this principle to a new level. He was intentionally instructed to marry the wrong person. The resulting bad relationship became a symbol of the broken covenant between the people of Israel and their God.
Introduction: a bad relationship
First, Hosea was instructed to marry a prostitute. His wife, Gomer, would serve as a constant reminder that God had married Israel, yet that nation had turned to other gods and worshipped idols rather than the one true God.
Gomer bore three children, and Hosea was instructed to give them unconventional names. The children’s names were also signs of the strained relationship between God and his people. They likely contributed to conflict and dysfunction within Hosea and Gomer’s family as well.
Their first son was named Jezreel (יִזְרְעֶאל). It meant “God scatters.” That may have been a reference to Israel’s impending defeat and the end of the dynasty of Jehu. This would be especially significant because King Jehu had committed genocide at a place called Jezreel. So, every time Hosea and Gomer mentioned their son’s name or called him by name, it would remind them of that embarrassing fact.
I would imagine, for example, that not many parents have chosen to name their son “Adolph” after that name became associated with a cruel and deadly dictator. Having a son named Jezreel would have been an embarrassment to the parents, and I would assume the kid did not appreciate the name either.
The next child born to Hosea and Gomer did not fare any better. They were instructed to name her Lo-Ruhamah (לֹא רֻחָמָה), which means no pity. It sounds like a name a professional wrestler would use. It certainly did not sound like an appropriate name for a sweet little girl. Her name would be a reminder to Israel that when God sent his invading armies into that kingdom, he would not show pity to any of its inhabitants. The invaders would be allowed to destroy, desecrate, and annihilate. God would watch, and he would do nothing to protect them.
Children can experience shame and anxiety when other children make fun of their names. This poor girl had no chance to escape it. Her name was a reminder that her family was different. Her dad was a prophet, and they sometimes did strange things. Because of this weird name, she had to endure the taunts and jokes of all the other kids. I can’t imagine she turned out very well. It’s hard to be well-adjusted mentally when you carry around a name that virtually predicts you will be dysfunctional.
The third child was another son, named Lo-Ammi (לֹא עַמִּי), meaning “not my people.” David Guzik commented on this: “This was not so much a sentence or a penalty as a simple statement of fact. It wasn’t as if the people really wanted to be the people of God, yet God would not have them. Instead, the people of Israel rejected God, and here the LORD recognized that fact. He would not play “let’s pretend”: “You pretend to be My people and I will pretend to be your God.” The time for those games was over.”[1]
Hosea’s messed-up family did not stay together long. Gomer went back to her life as a prostitute, breaking her husband’s heart. God’s point in orchestrating this dysfunctional family scenario was that Israel’s apostasy was breaking his heart. That is why he was forced to scatter them and send them to the Valley of Trouble.
The Valley of Trouble
Long before, the Hebrews stoned Achan and his family to death in a valley called “trouble” (עָכוֹר) after he rebelled against God’s command at Ai. Now, God is going to send the entire Northern kingdom into its own Valley of Trouble. Remember, Hosea is prophesying to the Northern kingdom – Israel. Other prophets would focus on the Southern kingdom of Judah. Judah had at least a couple of good kings. Israel had none. At the time he was prophesying these things, the kingdom of Israel was enjoying a reasonable amount of economic and political success. But the time of trouble was coming to them because they were prosperous and healthy, yet they used that blessing to turn away from God and follow the idols of the pagans.
Consequently, God had to bring judgment on the Northern kingdom and Jehu’s dynasty of kings. During this time of trouble, several kings succeeded one another, but none of them lasted long. Several were assassinated. The last king of Jehu’s line (Hoshea) died in exile.
But even during this season of trouble, God was going to do a special thing for this wayward bride, Israel.
The second courtship
God says that in the future he will allure her; he will lead her back into the wilderness and speak tenderly to her. It would be like a second courtship. We even see how she would respond to this allure. God says he will fence her in with thorns; he will wall her in so that she cannot find her way. Then she will pursue her lovers, but she will not catch them; she will seek them, but she will not find them. Then she will say, “I will go back to my husband, because I was better off then than I am now” (6-7).
You see, throughout Israel’s rebellious era, she was tempted to worship other gods because those idols were associated with what she wanted: prosperity, fertility, and health. But during the exile, the only thing those idols did was remind her of what she had lost. Consequently, the exile cured Israel of her idolatry.
The Opportunity for Hope
God was going to let them go through that time of trouble, but he was going to be with them on the other side. He promised to give back their vineyards to them and to turn the “Valley of Trouble” into an “Opportunity for Hope.” There she will sing as she did when she was young, when she came up from the land of Egypt.
Out of this terrible time for Israel, there will come an opportunity for them to repent and return to God. God promised to plant them as his own in the land. He will pity ‘No Pity’ (Lo-Ruhamah). He will say to ‘Not My People’ (Lo-Ammi), ‘You are my people!’ And they will say, ‘You are my God!'”
But it is not that everything will be the same as it was. No, you see, the Israelites used to equate Yahveh, their God, with Baal. They referred to God as their Baal – their husband. But that word for husband carried the connotation of one who dominates his wife. God says he would not allow them to have that kind of relationship with him. God says they will no longer call him their Baal. The standard word for “husband” is Ish, and the female form is Ishah. So God says to call him their Ish. Some of them started calling God Ishi, which signified a much closer relationship. Ishi means “my husband.” But it referred to a loving, nurturing husband, not a master.
Now, what is God telling us in all this? Let me suggest a few things for us to think about:
- No matter how far you run from God, He is still there, waiting for you to come back. Israel was like the prodigal. They finally came to themselves and realized that life with their heavenly Father was better than the pig slop they were eating.
- God wants to restore you. He will let you suffer the consequences of your wrong choices, but what he really wants is your love. No other god wants our love, but God always does.
- God can take a bad reputation and turn it into a good one. He can take the Jezreels and turn them into people who are planted deep and produce an abundant harvest. He can take the Lo-Ruhamas and bless them with his unmerited pity and favor. He can take the Lo-Ammis and turn them into his chosen race and royal priesthood. He can take Saul, the chief of sinners and persecutor of the church, and turn him into an Apostle of grace. There is not one character trait that God cannot redeem.
- Peter saw the power of God at work in the life of Christ and asked him to depart from him because he was a sinner. But Jesus didn’t do that. He saw not just Peter the sinner but also Peter the Rock upon which he would build his church. So don’t ever let Satan convince you that Jesus cannot use you.
- We are living in uncertain times. Now is the perfect time to turn your back on the Baals of your life and return to your Ishi, the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bridegroom is coming soon. We all need to get ready for Him.
[1] Enduring Word Commentary.
jeffersonvann 