Okay, friends. Here comes the next section. Our God is worthy.
Hosea 1:10&11:
“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.”
Oh…so…much!
First. “Yet.”
The punishment? The chastisement? It is only for a limited time. God is always faithful to His covenant.
Maybe you’ve heard this verse before, but memorize it. And then cling to it when doubts and failure plague you:
“If we are faithless,
He will remain faithful,
For He cannot disown Himself.”
2 Timothy 2:13
NLT says “He cannot deny who He is.”
He really is Love. He really is faithfulness. He really is Mercy.
His agape love really is patient, kind, humble and not easily angered. It really does always protect, trust, hope and persevere.
His love will never fail us.
Never.
If we have trusted that Jesus dying on the cross wasn’t just some historical event but an absolute necessity for us to have any ability to stand before a holy and righteous God…if we’ve accepted that personally for every mistake we’ve ever made and have committed to live for Him…He is in us.
And that kind of Love, that unbreakable Seal (Eph 1:13) isn’t based on our performance. It doesn’t betray. It is always for us. It never gets bored with us. We can’t out-sin it. It just is perfection.
What part of that Truth is the hardest for your heart to believe?
“Yet the Israelites will be like the sand on the seashore, which cannot be measured or counted.”
Does that sound familiar to you?
Hosea’s audience would know exactly what this refers to: The Promise of Abraham.
Genesis 22:17 “I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore.”
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A promise is only as good as the character of the One Who makes it. In His case, it is spotless.
What promises He has made in His flawless Word do you have the hardest time believing?
“In the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ they will be called ‘sons of the living God.'”
In the place…
Do you have a particular place where you were chastised? Maybe a certain relationship where you really blew it? Or a public failure where you still feel the sting of shame? Perhaps an emotional place where the enemy has mercilessly hit you over and over?
Did you know that in that place, He wants to redeem you?
Maybe He will restore your reputation – not based on your works but your cooperation with His.
I wonder if the Holy Spirit wants to lubricate a tense relationship – to show that only in Him are we able to forgive seventy times seven.
Perhaps He wants to sing over you in front of those who hurt you – so they will fear Him.
It is most certainly His desire to give you victory in that emotional area where the enemy has a stronghold. (Gal 5:1)
What area is tender right now to the Spirit’s work? Will you cooperate?
For Hosea the man, this promise was a name reversal: The curse of his third child’s name Not My People will be turned into a blessing: Sons of the Living God.
What do you think that meant to him? Do you think it mattered? Do you think it was more than a future prophecy for the people of Israel – but one that was fulfilled in Hosea’s lifetime for his son?
The name reversal is not all it meant for the Israelites. In the final verse we learn:
“The people of Judah and the people of Israel will be reunited, and they will appoint one leader (literally ‘one head’) and will come up out of the land for great will be the day of Jezreel.”
One Day Israel and Judah would become one nation again. In that day the divided kingdom shall no longer exist. They will be one people under one Leader. The Davidic covenant will be fulfilled in the Lion of the Tribe of Judah.
And did you recognize where? “Great will be the day of Jezreel.”
Remember Jezreel is a place. But do you remember what Jezreel means?
God will sow/scatter.
Finally, in this context, it is a blessing.
This time God is referring to sowing. He is now reversing the curse of Hosea’s first child’s name!
When Hosea named him, Jezreel meant scatter – the Israelites would be chastised by being scattered as exiles among the nations. But at the right time, He will sow new life in a restored land of Israel.
For great will be the day of Jezreel.
The Apostle Paul understood the messianic prophecy of this passage. He quotes it in Romans 9:22-29:
“What if God, choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath – prepared for destruction?
What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory – even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles?
As he says in Hosea:
‘I will call them ‘my people’ who are not my people;
And I will call her ‘my loved one’ who is not my loved one.'”
Paul, ever one to remind his fellow Jews that the Messiah was for all peoples (ta ethne), used this Hosea prophecy to emphasize that Gentiles would also enjoy the blessings of covenant relationship with the one Christ.
His Word is a Masterpiece. I hope every time you study it, it makes you love Him more.