Hosea 1
The first chapter of the book of Hosea lays out for us the themes that we are going to find in the book. It starts out with God’s command for Hosea to marry an unfaithful wife who bears him three children with weird names and why God wants them named in that way and then the chapter promptly ends with a prophecy of the coming Messiah and God’s blessing.
Hosea was preaching in the northern kingdom of Israel under the reign of a horrible king. God commands Hosea to name his children according to the consequences of Israel’s sin. His first child is named for the destruction that was coming on the people. The second child, a daughter, was named “No Mercy” because God had enough of Israel’s sin. And the last child was named “Not My People” What can we glean from this? I would encourage us to make sure that we are living in obedience. Our God is a patient God. He works with us, He calls us, He forgives us. However, a day is coming that His patience will run out with humanity, and on that day many people who thought they were followers of God will realize that they were not.
On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them,‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’(Matthew 7:22-23 ESV)
That will be a fearful day for those who do not truly follow the God of the bible. But there is hope! At the end of this chapter Hosea points out that our God is a god who saves. God will call to Himself a remnant, and He will give those children a new heart, and Jesus will be their head and He will save them.
Senior Pastor Jonathan Welch
Comments are closed.