The Book of Hosea

The Book of Hosea

The Book of Hosea
By Richard St.James
Bible 1611.Com / Old Paths Baptist Mission © 2023

Hosea, chapter two:

Verse one: “Say ye unto your brethren, Ammi; and to your sisters, Ruhamah.”

Now, notice something here in this verse, the word brethren is in the plural, which signifies many brothers.  Ammi is the son of Gomer.  Notice here also, the word sisters is in the plural, which signifies many sisters.  Ruhamah is the daughter of Gomer.  Thus, the prophet Hosea is commanded to speak to the brethren [Ammi], which brethren represent all the men of Israel, and to all the sisters [Ruhamah] which sisters represent all the women of Israel.

Verse two: “Plead with your mother, plead: for she is not my wife, neither am I her husband: let her therefore put away her whoredoms out of her sight, and her adulteries from between her breasts;”

Marital Status:

Notice: Something has happened to both Gomer and to Hosea.  What has happened?  Why, their marital status has changed.  It changed just as the marital status of the married woman in the New Testament example [located in the First Epistle to the Corinthians, in chapter seven, verse ten, and eleven] had changed. 

Let us read from there, these verses of Scripture very carefully with believing hearts:

“And unto the married I command, yet not I, but the Lord, Let not the wife depart from her husband:

But and if she depart, let her remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband: and let not the husband put away his wife.” [1 Corinthians 7:10-11]

Do you see what happens to the wife upon her departure from her husband?  Why, it is as clear as a bell!  The departure dissolved her marriage to the man!  She became unmarried. This is called desertion!

By desertion she threw the testimonies of her own husband away!  Though he had pleaded with her betimes:

Turn to me!  Turn to me!  O my wife, behold only me.  Stay with me, and be true only to me.

But this was all to no avail.  She had thrown his testimonies away in order to have another lover!

To the Law of her God, Gomer had said, NO I WILL NOT OBEY: further than that, I could care less about my husband’s testimonies, or his statutes, and or his judgments. 

She just plainly said NO to the God of the BIBLE, and to what it says in the book of Proverbs, chapter thirty-one, verse twelve: “She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life.”

Gomer had displayed the ultimate treachery that could ever be brought to a husband that purely loves his wife.

Status: So, Hosea is now not a husband to Gomer, and Gomer is now not the wife to Hosea.  Her departure and her adulteries [her whoredoms] effected a divorce.

Now, here in this sad story, no one wins in the destruction of a marriage except the Devil.   Many times, when one sins someone else gets hurt.   In this situation that we have here, there is an innocent party who has been badly hurt.  And it is Hosea! 

Yes, there are hurts in this life.  May you not ever be the author of them!

If only Gomer would have repented, and had put away her whoredoms out of her sight!   Oh, that Gomer might experience a restoration to what once was a marriage to Hosea [called a remarriage].

Or what?

Verse three: “Lest I strip her naked, and set her as in the day that she was born, and make her as a wilderness, and set her like a dry land, and slay her with thirst.”

Sin has its awful and very horrible consequences!

We learn here that nakedness brings shame, and this, by a downward spiral to a very sad and tragic end.   The Spirit of God here so graphically lays out through HIS prophet Ezekiel this downward movement of the nation of Israel to its destruction, both spiritually, and physically. 

Now, go to the book of Ezekiel, chapter sixteen, and we will begin reading there starting with verse thirty-six:  

“Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thy filthiness was poured out, and thy nakedness discovered through thy whoredoms with thy lovers, and with all the idols of thy abominations, and by the blood of thy children, which thou didst give unto them;

Behold, therefore I will gather all thy lovers, with whom thou hast taken pleasure, and all them that thou hast loved, with all them that thou hast hated; I will even gather them round about against thee, and will discover thy nakedness unto them, that they may see all thy nakedness.

And I will judge thee, as women that break wedlock and shed blood are judged; and I will give thee blood in fury and jealousy.

And I will also give thee into their hand, and they shall throw down thine eminent place, and shall break down thy high places: they shall strip thee also of thy clothes, and shall take thy fair jewels, and leave thee naked and bare.

They shall also bring up a company against thee, and they shall stone thee with stones, and thrust thee through with their swords.

And they shall burn thine houses with fire, and execute judgments upon thee in the sight of many women: and I will cause thee to cease from playing the harlot, and thou also shalt give no hire any more.” [Ezekiel 16:36-41]

The whoredoms of Israel [in departing from God] brought them to their judgment and to their removal from the LAND of PROMISE. 

The divorce, or the putting away of Israel.

Now, we read of these sad chronicles in the Second book of the Kings, in chapter seventeen, starting with verse six:

Verse six: “In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away into Assyria, and placed them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.

Verse seven: For so it was, that the children of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God, which had brought them up out of the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods,” 

Comment: They allowed themselves to be distracted from the One who loved them!

Verse eight: “And walked in the statutes of the heathen, whom the LORD cast out from before the children of Israel, and of the kings of Israel, which they had made.”

Look at this!  Israel lusted after the way of the world!

Verse nine: “And the children of Israel did secretly those things that were not right against the LORD their God, and they built them high places in all their cities, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city.”

Warning: Be sure your sin will find you out!

Verse ten: “And they set them up images and groves in every high hill, and under every green tree:”

They did with their hands what was already in their heart!  

What is in the inside will come out to the outside.

Verse eleven: “And there they burnt incense in all the high places, as did the heathen whom the LORD carried away before them; and wrought wicked things to provoke the LORD to anger:”

She provoked the LORD with her embracing of her strange lovers.

Verse twelve: For they served idols, whereof the LORD had said unto them, Ye shall not do this thing.”

Yet they went ahead, and did this thing, even though GOD had straightly commanded them in the second book of Moses not to do this very thing!  “For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:” [Exodus 34:14]

Verse thirteen: Yet the LORD testified against Israel, and against Judah, by all the prophets, and by all the seers, saying, Turn ye from your evil ways, and keep my commandments and my statutes, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by my servants the prophets.

Verse fourteen: Notwithstanding they would not hear, but hardened their necks, like to the neck of their fathers, that did not believe in the LORD their God.

We are now, at rock-bottom! 

Observation: Unchecked sin produces an increasing downward slide. 

Proverbs 30:20: “Such is the way of an adulterous woman; she eateth, and wipeth her mouth, and saith, I have done no wickedness.”

Now, go back to the Second book of Kings.

Verse fifteen: And they rejected his statutes, and his covenant that he made with their fathers, and his testimonies which he testified against them; and they followed vanity, and became vain, and went after the heathen that were round about them, concerning whom the LORD had charged them, that they should not do like them.

Verse sixteen: And they left all the commandments of the LORD their God, and made them molten images, even two calves, and made a grove, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served Baal.

Verse seventeen: And they caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire, and used divination and enchantments, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger.

Verse eighteen: “Therefore the LORD was very angry with Israel, and removed them out of his sight: there was none left but the tribe of Judah only.” [2 Kings 17:6-18]

Summary: Judgment: The land, with the people of the land, were to be made, as a wilderness, as a desert.

Now, we go back to our text in Hosea chapter two:

Verse four: “And I will not have mercy upon her children; for they be the children of whoredoms.”

Loruhamah: I will have mercy no more! 

Verse five: “For their mother hath played the harlot: she that conceived them hath done shamefully: for she said, I will go after my lovers, that give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, mine oil and my drink.”

How did this [this declension] happen to a people who had the oracles of God given them?  [Romans 3:2a] “because that unto them were committed the oracles of God.”

Do you remember the order of the regression that we found earlier in chapter one, verse two?  In the case of Israel, we find the same pattern:

Israel first, marveled in their God as like the freshness found in first love.

Then, they cooled to a doctrinal mediocrity.

Then, they descended to a morbid malaise.

Then, in their malady their relationship died. 

In the end, they departed from God.

Why?  Well, it is because of unchecked sin.

In the New Testament, the person who has had the word of God sown in their heart can experience this very same downward slide, and become UNFRUITFUL:

Mark 4:19: “And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful.”

Lesson:

Sometimes what begins well, does not end well. 

Remedy:

Maintenance is what is needed in our relationship with Jesus Christ.  [Indeed, all our relationships with others will benefit with maintenance.]

Maintenance Instructions:

1.       Read God’s word every morning.  Ephesians 3:4: “Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ)”

2.       Pray to LORD while you are reading your Bible.  1 Thessalonians 5:17: “Pray without ceasing.”

3.       Meditate on God’s word to you.   Psalm 119:97: “O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day.”

The Value of the Hedge

Verse six: “Therefore, behold, I will hedge up thy way with thorns, and make a wall, that she shall not find her paths.”

We see in this verse a peculiar standout.  It is the word hedge. 

Now a hedge has tremendous worth and is of great value.  

Question: Who made the hedge? 

Well, the LORD is the inventor of the hedge.  God purposed the hedge is for a certain operation.  It is for division!  It is used to divide, or subdivide, a parcel of ground by acting as a fence or a boundary, and is formed by a dense row of shrubs or low trees. 

Now, the most effective hedge is one that contains sharp projections such as with thorns.  This describes a physical hedge but others hedges are spiritual in nature, and therefore deal with the supernatural, which deals with things beyond the human senses. 

Hedges can hurt those that are hemmed in for safe keeping from escaping, or hedges can be used to keep the enemy from coming into the protected ground. 

We need to realize something very important at this point.  Are you listening?  Something that hurts, may, be a friend.

Example: This was so, as recorded in a far-off scene, which can be seen in the book of Job, chapter one, verse ten:

“Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land.” [Job 1:10]

God used a hedge to protect Job, his wife, and his children.  Furthermore, God used this hedge to prosper him with great worldly substance.  God’s use of the hedge here was purposed to surround Job with a defensive fortification. 

For this reason, the Devil, and all his subordinate devils, and all the wicked of the earth hate hedges.  Ecclesiastes 10:8:

“He that diggeth a pit shall fall into it; and whoso breaketh an hedge, a serpent shall bite him.”

Other times God uses the hedge to enclose [or hem in] or to obstruct one from escaping to their own harm.  This is exactly what we have here in verse six: I will hedge up thy way with thorns, and make a wall, that she shall not find her paths.

One can always tell when God has given up on a person, or a people, or a land.  It is when the hedges have been taken away. 

Now, the nation of Israel has been likened to a vineyard.  Consider what happens to the vineyard of the LORD after Israel decides to leave [or depart] from all the commandments of the LORD. 

This happening is found in the book of the prophet Isaiah: “And now go to; I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; and break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down:

And I will lay it waste: it shall not be pruned, nor digged; but there shall come up briers and thorns: I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.

For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry.” [Isaiah 5:5-7]

Commentary: For nearly two thousand years, and until A.D. 1948, this nation in the absence of the hedges has only found oppression as they wandered homeless among the nations of the earth.

Verse seven: “And she shall follow after her lovers, but she shall not overtake them; and she shall seek them, but shall not find them: then shall she say, I will go and return to my first husband; for then was it better with me than now.”

Gomer [Israel] now, hits the road to follow after her lovers.  She pursues a worldly fulfillment.  She is looking for whatever will satisfy her fleshly desires.  

But all was to no avail.  She was found endlessly, and always, coming up dry with a thirsty mouth in her fruitless pursuit of something she could never really identify, which was her true need.  This true need was for her first husband.

She was in some ways like the Samaritan woman at the well [in the Gospel of John, chapter four] who was questioning the veracity of the PERSON WHO claimed to be the source of the water that she would never thirst again, if she would only drink.  Go to the Scripture there, and we will read:

John 4:13-19: “Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw.

Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither.

The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband:

For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly.

The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet.”

The run with the five previous husbands, and now, presently with another man, has left this woman finally in a condition ready to have her eyes opened to the solution now offered by Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

Until Israel, as a nation, perceives that their true Messiah is none other, but Jesus Christ HIMSELF, they will continue to suffer thirst.  The perception that it was better with me then, than it is now, will be their turning point.  The return of Israel to her first husband will occur in a future noted day, which day is the day of her trouble when she will mourn for HIM and want HIM.

The Great Tribulation = Jacob's trouble

[The Great Tribulation, Matthew 24:21: “For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.” [Jeremiah 30:7] “Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.”]

This afore mentioned event is prophesied in the book of Zechariah the prophet in chapter twelve, verse ten:

“And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.” [Zechariah 12:10]

Verse eight: “For she did not know that I gave her corn, and wine, and oil, and multiplied her silver and gold, which they prepared for Baal.”

Gomer just believed in her deceived heart that her first husband contrived to withhold the good things in life from her.  Sad, but true, the Devil put that same old tale over on to Eve.   Yea, hath God said?

Genesis 3:1: “Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?”

Baal is found kin to THE DEVIL.

Sometimes the only way a man, or a woman, ever learns something is through the hard way [through the school of hard knocks].    The thorns, brambles, sweat, sickness, hunger, and even death lie in the hard way.  See this in the book of Proverbs 13:15:

“Good understanding giveth favour: but the way of transgressors is hard.”

Verse nine: “Therefore will I return, and take away my corn in the time thereof, and my wine in the season thereof, and will recover my wool and my flax given to cover her nakedness.”

Man’s reasoning’s will always come up empty.

Gomer thinks she is in control.  She says, I will return.  Israel says, I will return. 

Gomer presumes she can return [on her own terms].  Israel presumes she can return [on her own terms], but something is very wrong with this thought process.

Analysis: God’s word shows we are a presumptuous lot to think we can map out our own plans for our life.  This presumptuous reasoning is a telltale sign of the presence of the sin of pride in our life:

Proverbs 16:18: “Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.”  [P-R-I-D-E always brings destruction]. 

Conclusion: It can be said that there is a class of presumptuous men whom age has not made cautious, nor adversity wise.

Gomer has presumed wrong.  Israel has presumed wrong. 

Remedy: Gomer must return by Hosea’s terms.  Israel must return by the Lord’s terms.

What Gomer [or Israel] must receive from her first husband is the form of application of incremental judgments that slowly increases in intensity over the expanse of time [approximately 2500 years] to bring her to the time of Jacob’s trouble [the Great Tribulation] [Jeremiah 30:7]. 

So, she receives:

1.       Terror

2.       Consumption

3.       Burning ague

4.       Sorrow of heart

5.       Sowing in vain

6.       Killed, or slain

7.       Enslavement

8.       Humiliation

9.       Exhaustion

10.    Fruitlessness

11.    Devouring by wild beasts

12.    Desolation of the land

13.    War

14.    Pestilence

15.    Famine

16.    Cannibalism

17.    Faintness of heart

18.    Rejection

19.    All this and more:

Hosea [as type of the God of Israel] appoints judgment for Gomer [as type of Israel].

The proof text for this: Leviticus 26:15-39:

“And if ye shall despise my statutes, or if your soul abhor my judgments, so that ye will not do all my commandments, but that ye break my covenant: I also will do this unto you;

I will even appoint over you terror, consumption, and the burning ague, that shall consume the eyes, and cause sorrow of heart: and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.

And I will set my face against you, and ye shall be slain before your enemies: they that hate you shall reign over you; and ye shall flee when none pursueth you.

And if ye will not yet for all this hearken unto me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins.

And I will break the pride of your power; and I will make your heaven as iron, and your earth as brass:

And your strength shall be spent in vain: for your land shall not yield her increase, neither shall the trees of the land yield their fruits.

And if ye walk contrary unto me, and will not hearken unto me; I will bring seven times more plagues upon you according to your sins.

I will also send wild beasts among you, which shall rob you of your children, and destroy your cattle, and make you few in number; and your high ways shall be desolate.

And if ye will not be reformed by me by these things, but will walk contrary unto me;

Then will I also walk contrary unto you, and will punish you yet seven times for your sins.

And I will bring a sword upon you, that shall avenge the quarrel of my covenant: and when ye are gathered together within your cities, I will send the pestilence among you; and ye shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy.

And when I have broken the staff of your bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall deliver you your bread again by weight: and ye shall eat, and not be satisfied.

And if ye will not for all this hearken unto me, but walk contrary unto me; Then I will walk contrary unto you also in fury; and I, even I, will chastise you seven times for your sins.

And ye shall eat the flesh of your sons, and the flesh of your daughters shall ye eat.

And I will destroy your high places, and cut down your images, and cast your carcases upon the carcases of your idols, and my soul shall abhor you.

And I will make your cities waste, and bring your sanctuaries unto desolation, and I will not smell the savour of your sweet odours.

And I will bring the land into desolation: and your enemies which dwell therein shall be astonished at it.

And I will scatter you among the heathen, and will draw out a sword after you: and your land shall be desolate, and your cities waste.

Then shall the land enjoy her sabbaths, as long as it lieth desolate, and ye be in your enemies' land; even then shall the land rest, and enjoy her sabbaths.

As long as it lieth desolate it shall rest; because it did not rest in your sabbaths, when ye dwelt upon it.

And upon them that are left alive of you I will send a faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies; and the sound of a shaken leaf shall chase them; and they shall flee, as fleeing from a sword; and they shall fall when none pursueth.

And they shall fall one upon another, as it were before a sword, when none pursueth: and ye shall have no power to stand before your enemies.

And ye shall perish among the heathen, and the land of your enemies shall eat you up.

And they that are left of you shall pine away in their iniquity in your enemies' lands; and also in the iniquities of their fathers shall they pine away with them.”

After all of this, blindness is then added to the nation of Israel’s maladies.

Blindness is added.

The LORD has added a final judgment for this people, which is revealed through the prophet in the book of Isaiah:

Isaiah 6:9-10: “And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.”

Israel was blinded, and they are blinded to this very day as to who Jesus Christ is.

2 Corinthians 3:14: “But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ.”

A general observation concerning mankind:

When we sin, and sin, and sin, and in our pride, think we can presume to come back to where we were, we will find instead ourselves stuck in place, and in subjection to nothing but abject spiritual darkness.  We will find that we are undone.  We will be found naked without God, and HIS mercy to cover for us.  [What a sad lot for any people!] 

We will hear with the ears the word of God, but we will not understand with the heart the word of God.  [What a sad lot for such  people!] 

Verse ten: “And now will I discover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and none shall deliver her out of mine hand.”

Gomer’s sin has been found out.  And it is all out in the open for others to see!   She has become a spectacle in the sight of all her lovers.  And as one might say, one does not wash one's dirty linen in public.  The LORD GOD brought the thing out!  Gomer, a type of Israel, has been smoked!

Numbers 32:23: “But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the LORD: and be sure your sin will find you out.”

“…and none shall deliver her out of mine hand.”

God’s hands are like a vise grip.  There is none like the LORD in HIS might!  His hand is mighty!  See this for yourself in the book of Joshua:

Joshua 4:24: “That all the people of the earth might know the hand of the LORD, that it is mighty: that ye might fear the LORD your God for ever.” 

This fear of the LORD is a fearful thing.  This nugget of truth is according to word of God, which is found in the book of Hebrews, chapter ten, verse thirty-one:

Notice: “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” [Hebrews 10:31]

Verse eleven: “I will also cause all her mirth to cease, her feast days, her new moons, and her sabbaths, and all her solemn feasts.”

Observation: “Hold ‘er, Newt; she’s heading for the rhubarb!”

The vise grip is applied with the sure and the steady hands of the living God.  The LORD knows what is in man, in his heart.  The thing is true, as the prophet said it is true, in the book Jeremiah, chapter seventeen, verse ten:

“I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.” [Jeremiah 17:10]  

The LORD searches their heart, and gets the reading.

God knew the things in the heart of Israel that were most important to them, and HE has determined to crash their party. 

There will be no more fun.  There will be no more singing in Sing Sing.  All the joy is gone…gone…gone.  It is so sad that it came to this.  It did not have to be this way! 

What does God have to do to you and me to get our attention?

Verse twelve: “And I will destroy her vines and her fig trees, whereof she hath said, These are my rewards that my lovers have given me: and I will make them a forest, and the beasts of the field shall eat them.”

Onward it goes.  Downward it goes.

God says, I will destroy your infrastructure.  I will take it out!  Your vines and your fig trees are going to die.  I will do all of this to get your attention.  [Turn back to me!]

Verse thirteen: “And I will visit upon her the days of Baalim, wherein she burned incense to them, and she decked herself with her earrings and her jewels, and she went after her lovers, and forgat me, saith the LORD.”

Problem: Israel forgot her God, and went full bore for Baalim.

This is the problem for all the nations of the world.  There is a pay day coming according to the BOOK!

 Psalm 9:17: “The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.” 

This is what exactly has happened to us, too.  We [the United States of America] likewise, have forgotten God.  The United States of America has forgotten the God of her forefathers [The God of the Bible].  We have deliberately killed our memory of God by the removal of the Bible and of prayer from all our public schools and colleges in all our land for over four generations.  Pay day is here! 

We used to know of our connection [as a nation] to the governmental precepts, which are located in the word of God.

John Quincy Adams [our sixth President], referred to the "insoluble bond" between Christianity, and our form of government.

The Supreme Court said we must "select and prefer" Christians for our elected rulers (or officials). 

Our forefathers believed that religion and morality could not be divorced from politics. 

The House Judiciary Committee Report [March 27, 1854] said of the adoption of the Constitution and its amendments that "the universal sentiment [of our founding fathers] was that Christianity should be encouraged."

Two months later, the House Judiciary Committee Report said: “The great and conservative element in our system ... the thing that holds our system together is the belief of our people in the pure doctrines and the divine truths of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”   Our forefathers wanted to keep Christian principles in our government.

Blackstone's Commentaries On Law are Bible based and were used by our Supreme Court for guidance for over 150 years of our nation's history.

The branches of Government: The legislative, the executive, and the judicial branches, have their very roots in the Bible.  [Isaiah 33:22]

The 1844 Supreme Court, in Vidal Vs. Girard, affirmed that our public schools will teach that Christianity is our nation's foundation.

The 1892 Supreme Court decision in Church Of The Holy Trinity Vs. United States stated that “We are emphatically a Christian nation.”

So, from our nation’s birth right up to the year 1947, our Supreme Court had steadfastly maintained that the intent of our "founding fathers" was for our nation to preserve its Christian principles in order to perpetuate its existence as a nation. 

However, the 1947 Supreme Court, in Everson v. Board of Education, totally pulled out of context Thomas Jefferson's reference to a “wall of separation between church and state” which reference was in his letter to the Danbury Baptist Association of January 1, 1802.   The letter was to express to the Danbury Baptist Association that there was nothing to fear with respect to the federal government establishing a national church [or a national denomination).   The 1947 decision, in essence, declared that we were no longer a Christian nation.  And ever since then, the Supreme Court has, over and over again, used this phrase “separation of church and state” to remove Jesus Christ out of our government and out of our public schools and colleges in the land.      

They did this one step at a time till we forgot God.

Fact: “The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.”

Here are the steps: 

1.       The Supreme Court, in Engel versus Vitale, decided to strike out against school prayer [June 25, 1962].    The goal simply was to get God out of our public schools. 

2.       On June 17, 1963, in Abington versus Schempp and Murray v. Curlett, the Supreme Court outlawed Bible reading in the public schools [without regard to any historical or legal precedent].   In this decision, “Bible reading” was considered psychologically damaging.  Downward we went! 

3.       With DeKalb versus De Spain [1967], the decision was to not allow the “Ten Commandments” to even be posted in the public schools of our land.  Children would no longer get to see “The Ten Commandments” posted on the wall of the school telling them not to lie, cheat or steal!

4.       And if that was not enough, in 1980, with “Stone v. Graham”, the Supreme Court decided that the word of God could not even be mentioned in a public school.

So, we [as did the nation of Israel before us] will pay the piper.   And we all are paying today!

Remember this particular RULE of life: “The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.”

Verse fourteen: “Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her.”

What is allurement?

Webster’s 1828 dictionary defines it this way:

ALLU'REMENT, n. That which allures; any real or apparent good held forth, or operating; as a motive to action; temptation; enticement; as, the allurements of pleasure, or of honor.

The visitation of judgment comes to the end, just in time.

The great allurement begins.

The dark clouds begin to roll away.  The visitation of the days of Baalim passes.  The sun begins to shine. 

Here shows a marvelous thing, the LORD is taking the initiative to turn the wayward people of Israel [Gomer] back to HIMSELF: “behold, I will allure her”!  

In the wilderness

God will allure Israel while she is in the wilderness of Paran in the latter half of the near future Tribulation coming to this earth [this according to the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ, in chapter twelve, verse six]:

 “And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.” [Revelation 12:6]

Now, this allurement is called grace, G-R-A-C-E.   Gomer deserved harsh speech from Hosea, but she instead receives comforting words from the prophet. Isn’t that something?

Verse fifteen: “And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope: and she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt.”

Now, the valley of Achor is the place where Achan, and his family were buried under a very great heap of stones, and thus, this valley became a cursed valley. 

We have here [in this verse] a promise from the word of God that during the Tribulation, the valley of Achor will become a door of hope instead of a curse.  In the end, the valley of Achor is destined to become a place where great joy comes to the people of Israel in a so great salvation. 

What is more, this very valley [of Achor] lies in the path of the return of Jesus Christ to establish the Kingdom of Heaven on this earth.

Verse sixteen: “And it shall be at that day, saith the LORD, that thou shalt call me Ishi; and shalt call me no more Baali.”

Ishi: an expression of endearment.

In that day they will finally recognize WHO Jesus Christ is: GOD come in the flesh!  

Then will this prophecy be fulfilled, which is located in the book of Zechariah, chapter twelve, verse ten:

“And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.” [Zechariah 12:10] 

The nation of Israel is destined to cleave to their Messiah in a manner much like the Christian in the body of Christ does today when he cries, “Abba Father”!!!   Here it is, in the epistle to the Galatians, chapter four, verse six:

“And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.” [Galatians 4:6]

Verse seventeen: “For I will take away the names of Baalim out of her mouth, and they shall no more be remembered by their name.”

The cleansing remedy foretold.

When Israel finally receives her Messiah, [WHO is none other than the Son of God, Jesus Christ] Baalim will finally get the boot from the Jewish national scene, and will be cleansed from the hearts and from the thoughts of the Jewish people, for the former things are passed away.  Call it the great memory wipeout!   What occurs here concerning the names of Baalim reminds me of how God [in the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ] is going to wipe away all tears from our eyes after a new heaven and a new earth is established:

“And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.” [Revelation 21:4]

I am looking forward to this!  Amen!

Now, let us read our next verse.

Verse eighteen: “And in that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven, and with the creeping things of the ground: and I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the earth, and will make them to lie down safely.”

There is a day coming when God [Jesus Christ] will make a covenant with all mankind, as well as with all the animals [the beasts], with all the birds [the foul], and with all the creeping things of the earth.  And within this covenant God promises to convert all the implements of warfare that man has accumulated in the 21st century in space [above the earth], on the land of the earth, and within the oceans of this earth, and all the creation will live safely together in beautiful harmony.  Do you doubt me?  Then check it out in THE BOOK for yourself.   It will be a world-wide utopia where all men will enjoy living in peace and safety.  

It is found in the book of Isaiah, the prophet, chapter eleven, verse one:

We read: “And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:”

So we see this rod, and we see this Branch.

Verse 2: “And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD;”

[This is none other but the same person that was identified in the Gospel of John chapter one, verses twenty-nine through thirty-six.]

Verse 3: “And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears:”

Who is this person of quick understanding?  We shall see!

Verse 4: “But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.”

Why, he is the same person shown in the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ, chapter nineteen, verse fifteen.

Verse 5: “And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.”  This is Jesus Christ, the SON of GOD.  Amen!

Look what happens when HE comes to this earth, soon.  The restitution of all things will occur.  The earth will enjoy a one-thousand-year Sabbath or REST.

Verse 6: “The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.”

Verse 7: “And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.”

Verse 8: “And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice' den.”

Verse 9: “They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.”

The Branch

There is more to consider concerning this Branch.  In the Gospel according to John, chapter fifteen, in the first part of verse five, we have this:

“I am the vine, ye are the branches…” 

We, who are in the body of Christ, are the branches.

To understand our heritage as branches on the true vine, we will need to understand WHO the BRANCH is [in the Bible].  In the Bible, it is shown that a righteous Branch will come from the legal line of David [a KING].

This is found in the book of Jeremiah, the prophet, in chapter twenty-three, verse five:

“Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.” [Jeremiah 23:5]

Note, all of this:

• Jesus Christ will be the KING.

• Jesus Christ is the BRANCH.

Now, let me pause here for a moment, in order to make this acknowledgment.

We are very much indebted to Israel. We owe so much to the Jews! Amen!

Now, why?

Here is the reason why:

• From the Jews we received our Bible:

“Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God.” [Romans 3:2]

• From the Jews we received our SHILOH [our SAVIOR, and our salvation]:

“The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.” [Genesis 49:10]

Now, the BRANCH [Jesus Christ] in the book of Jeremiah came forth from a stem, growing out of the roots of Jesse [Israel], to become the TRUE VINE [Jesus Christ].

In the TRUE VINE, we [the believers in the Son of God Jesus Christ] need to abide as the branches [small case].

There in Psalm eighty is a prophetic picture of this: “And the vineyard which thy right hand hath planted, and the branch that thou madest strong for thyself.” [Psalm 80:15]

Verse nineteen: “And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies.”

Twelve times the words betroth or betrothed appears in God’s BOOK – the Bible.  Two of these instances are here in the book of Hosea.

Now, what does it mean to BETROTH? 

To betroth is to commit to a future marriage [by promise] one to be the future spouse of another.  

We certainly can say this much about betrothing.  It has its origin in the Holy Bible with the first betrothal being seen in full display in the First Book of Moses called Genesis in the story of Isaac and Rebekah.  This practice of betrothing had marriage as its primary goal. 

In this view, which is through the eye of faith, is seen a PERSON [WHO is Jesus Christ] WHO will institute a promise of marriage to the nation of Israel that will literally last forever.   We read it again: “I will betroth thee unto me for ever”.  

The development of the special relationship between two: The LORD GOD, and Israel is to come to an agreement:

“Can two walk together, except they be agreed?”  [Amos 3:3] 

This then, becomes the central pillar to betrothing: The walk of two together as one in a future marriage means: AGREEMENT!

Betrothing is bathed:

1.       In righteousness

2.       In judgment

3.       In lovingkindness

4.       In mercies

Commentary: The LORD does not fool with dating Israel.  Why?  It is because dating is involving a tasting experience, and is something only contrived in the sinful hearts of men.]

Conclusion: This practice of dating has destroyed God’s institution of marriage and family as can be seen by its fruit ever since the 20th century.

Verse twenty: “I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the LORD.”

The fruit of the betrothal relationship produces a marriage steeped in faithfulness.  Proverbs 20:6: “Most men will proclaim every one his own goodness: but a faithful man who can find?”  If the LORD is in it [the betrothal] then it shall surely happen!

Verse twenty-one: “And it shall come to pass in that day, I will hear, saith the LORD, I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth;”

The very nature of a man is earthly, he hears the earth.  Man’s focus is on the here and now.  The LORD hears all else in all the heavens above.

The phrase “that day” points to the millennial reign of Jesus Christ over the earth.

[See Isaiah 2:11, 17, 20, 3:7, 18, 4:1, 2, 5:30, 7:18, 21, and many more places in the Bible.]

Isaiah 11:10: “And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious.”

Verse twenty-two: “And the earth shall hear the corn, and the wine, and the oil; and they shall hear Jezreel.” 

Israel will endure the coming tumult in Jezreel [Armageddon], and the day of Jezreel shall surely pass.  The earth shall come through and it shall be regenerated.  There is life after death.  There will be indeed victory after Jacob’s trouble. [Jeremiah 30:7]

Verse twenty-three: “And I will sow her unto me in the earth; and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to them which were not my people, Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God.” 

The promises of God to Israel concern the earth.  This is an earthly type of promise which involves an inheritance to a LAND.  This is called a LAND GRANT:

“In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:” [Genesis 15:18].

Next - Hosea Chapter Three

Friend

If you know the Bible Is True,

And you never received

Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior...

And you want to come to Him for Salvation now ... Then:

1. Admit ...  To God that you are a Sinner...

Deserving Hell Fire...

2. Believe ... that Jesus Christ is the Son of God... 

Who died on the Cross for You! ...

3.  Repent! ... Ask Him to Forgive You of Your Sin...

4. Receive Him... By Asking Him to come into Your Heart...

And You Will Receive the Gift of Eternal Life! 

Born of God!  You Are in The Narrow Way ... To HEAVEN!