Then the Lord said to Hosea, “Call him Jezreel, 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.”
Gomer
conceived again and gave birth to a daughter. Then the Lord said to Hosea, “Call her Lo-Ruhamah (which means “not loved”), for I will no longer show
love to Israel, that I should at all forgive them. Yet I will
show love to Judah; and I will save them—not by bow, sword or battle, or by
horses and horsemen, but I, the Lord their God, will save them.”
After she
had weaned Lo-Ruhamah, Gomer had another son. Then the Lord said, “Call him Lo-Ammi (which means “not my people”), for you are not my
people, and I am not your God. Hosea 1:4-9
I will plant her for myself in
the land;
I will show my love to the one I called ‘Not my loved one.’
I will say to those called ‘Not my people,’ ‘You are my people’;
and they will say, ‘You are my God.’” Hosea 2:23
I will show my love to the one I called ‘Not my loved one.’
I will say to those called ‘Not my people,’ ‘You are my people’;
and they will say, ‘You are my God.’” Hosea 2:23
God asked prophets
to do some difficult tasks. In addition
to asking Hosea to marry a prostitute, God told Hosea to give his children
depressing names that were descriptions of the people in Israel.
Because of their
sins, God “punished” them, separated himself from them in his heart and
declared them no longer his people. The
children of Hosea were reminders of that everywhere they went.
While difficult to
see a child grow up with that name, it was even more tragic that the
Israelites had strayed so far from God.