In this episode of ADDBIBLE, we delve into the profound themes presented in the Book of Hosea, the first of the minor prophets. Hosea’s narrative is not just about prophecy but illustrates a deeply symbolic relationship between God and Israel. By marrying a woman destined for unfaithfulness, Hosea’s personal life mirrors the spiritual infidelity of Israel. Together, we uncover the warnings and promises embedded in this narrative — a timely reminder of God’s unwavering faithfulness amid human frailty.
00:00:09 Introduction to the Ezra Project and the Book of Hosea
Welcome to Add Bible, an audio daily devotion from the Ezra Project. We join Allen J. Huth as he shares Bible passages and comments from over 30 years of his personal Bible reading journals.
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Today we begin the book of Hosea. The book of Hosea is the first of the minor prophets in the Old Testament, not because of importance, but because of the length or shortness of their books compared to prophets like Isaiah, Ezekiel, or Jeremiah. The book was written by Hosea, an Old Testament prophet in about 715 B.C., when Israel was a divided kingdom. The king of Israel, the northern kingdom, at the time was Jeroboam, and the kings of Judah, the southern kingdom, were Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. Hosea ministered for about 45 years to the northern kingdom. The book of Hosea is about Israel’s unfaithfulness, yet their unfaithfulness is not enough to exhaust God’s love. Hosea’s plea is that Israel would turn back to God. His book uses God speaking in the first person, in other words, using the word I, nearly 100 times. It is a touching story of how Hosea marries a wife he knows will be unfaithful to demonstrate the same relationship God has with unfaithful Israel. Our guest reader for the book of Hosea will be my wife, Terry. Terry and I met as high school sweethearts, and we’ve been married for over 40 years. She is also a board member of the Ezra Project. So we will welcome my wife, Terry, on several chapters in the book of Hosea. But we will begin with our recording from Faith Comes by Hearing of the first chapter, the first 11 verses of the book of Hosea.
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Hosea, Hosea 1. The word of the Lord that came to Hosea, the son of Beorai, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam, the son of Joash, king of Israel. When the Lord first spoke through Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea,
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Go, take to yourself a wife of Hordom, and have children of Hordom, for the land commits great Hordom by forsaking the Lord.
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So he went and took Gomer, the daughter of Gibleam, and she conceived and bore him a son. And the Lord said to him,
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Call his name Jezreel, for in just a little while I will punish the house of Jehu for the blood of Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel. And on that day I will break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel.
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She conceived again and bore a daughter.
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And the Lord said to him, Call her name No-mercy, for I will no more have mercy on the house of Israel to forgive them at all. But I will have mercy on the house of Judah, and I will save them by the Lord their God. I will not save them by bow or by sword or by war or by horses or by horsemen.
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When she had weaned no mercy, she conceived and bore a son.
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And the Lord said, Call his name Not-my-people, for you are not my people, and I am not your God.
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Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or numbered. And in the place where it was said to them, You are not my people, it shall be said to them, Children of the living God. and the children of Judah, and the children of Israel, shall be gathered together, and they shall appoint for themselves one head, and they shall go up from the land, for great shall be the day of Jezreel.
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To guide us through the book of Hosea, I will be referring back to three journals. I try to use journals from various decades just to get a perspective of how the Word of God may or may not change in the different times of our lives when we read the Scripture. So the first journal I could find that I recorded anything about Hosea was my journal in 1991. I will also use the journal from 2007 and then the journal from 2012. So we’ll have perspective from the 90s, from the 00s, and from the O-teens. In 1991, I read the book of Hosea in four days. I summarize the first four chapters of Hosea in this way. God’s relationship to Israel is like that of a husband married to a whore. He remains faithful while she seeks pleasure outside of the relationship. She seeks joy, pleasure, and provision by going her own way, while Jesus wants to provide those things within the relationship. Help me continue to stay faithful to you, O God, my pleasure and provider. In 2007, I look at my journal and I see I was in Mobile, Alabama. Mobile is where my best friend lives. So I must have been visiting my friend in Mobile as I read Hosea chapter 1. I wrote, You are not my people, and I am not your God. How sad! Israel had pushed away God so far that finally he said this. I hope I never disregard or push God so far away that he abandons me, gives up on me, thinks I worship false gods before him. Help me remain faithful as you remain faithful to me. In 2012, I referred to my footnotes in my ESV Study Bible when I wrote, My footnotes make a case that initially Gomer was a faithful wife. Whoredom did not mean prostitution, rather a married woman being unfaithful to her husband. Israel at first was faithful too, then goes after other gods. I wrote prophecy. God is going to end the kingdom of the house of Israel. God will have no more mercy on Israel, only Judah. He will save Judah, but not by traditional means. A harsh declaration from God in verse nine, you are not my people and I am not your God. Yet Israel will not be snuffed out because of God’s promise to Abraham. Someday again they will be called children of the living God. Some books of the Bible sort of ease into the subject matter, but not here in Hosea. Hosea gets right after it immediately. And as God uses illustrations in other prophetic books of the Bible, here he uses another illustration. Hosea marrying a woman of whoredom to illustrate the relationship he has with the nation of Israel. And by the names of the children they have together, he gives a prophetic view of his relationship to Israel. The name of the first child is I will punish. And there God says, I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel. The second child is named no mercy, for I will no more have mercy on the house of Israel to forgive them at all. How harsh can it get? when God has no more mercy nor forgiveness for us. And the third child is named, Not my people, for you are not my people, and I am not your God. This is a very, very tough beginning to the book of Hosea. But we can also see a positive thread in some of these verses. Let’s go back to verse 7. But I will have mercy on the house of Judah, and I will save them by the Lord their God. So though God will judge the northern kingdom, the kingdom of Israel, he will have mercy on the tribe of Judah. Why? Because Judah deserves it? Probably not, but because of his own promises. God is faithful. He keeps His promises, even when we are not faithful. And let’s look at verse 10. Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or numbered. And in the place where it was said of them, You are not my people, it shall be said to them, Children of the living God. That is a reminder of the promise to Abraham that his children would be like the number of the sands of the seashore. So in this opening chapter of Hosea, though he will judge Israel, he will also keep his promise and remain faithful even when they and we are unfaithful. Lord, I pray that I would never get so far away from you that you take away your mercy and your forgiveness from me. In the same way, Lord, I pray that I would never get so far away from you that you say that I am not yours anymore and you are not my God. May it never be in my life. Help me walk close to you. Help me never wander off into idol worship and disobedience. I need your mercy and your forgiveness. Keep me close to you. In Jesus’ name, amen. Thanks for listening to AdBible today. You know, sometimes we need a plumb line, a true north, a solid basis of truth to live life. We’re not going to find it in the media or in social media or Google or your friends, but it is available right at your fingertips. Pilate asked Jesus in John 18, 38, what is truth? The chapter before, Jesus had answered the question in his prayer to God for his disciples. In the 17th verse, Jesus pleads with the Father, sanctify them in the truth, thy word is truth. So what would it be like if everyone, everywhere, read the Bible every day? Wow, it might be heaven on earth. What would it be like if every Christian read the Bible every day? Would we be better ambassadors for Christ? What would it be like if everyone in your community read the Bible every day? Would we have greater impact in our communities? And what would it be like if you personally read the Bible every day? Could you use a closer walk with Jesus? Could you use a light unto your path and a lamp unto your feet to walk through this life? Could you use a spiritual power surge in your life? Matthew 22, 29, Jesus speaking to the Sadducees said, You are mistaken not understanding the Scriptures or the power of God. Yes, the Scriptures can give us power to live this life. So I’m going to give you three easy action steps to make the Bible worth your time each and every day. Number one, commit to daily Bible reading. Commit to seek God and His Word daily, every day. And if you miss a day, start again the next day. Change your belief about God’s Word to behavior in God’s Word. Use any of our Ezra Project resources to help you. Visit EzraProject.net to get an Ezra Project Bible reading journal or one of our day-by-day through the Bible books. Commit today and visit EzraProject.net for easy-to-use resources for your daily time in God’s Word. Number two, be intentional. Decide what you want out of your Bible reading. I got to visit the headquarters of Back to the Bible once in Lincoln, Nebraska. And in one hallway down one side, they had scribbled all the reasons people say they don’t read the Bible. On the other side were all the reasons people do read the Bible. And I want to give you some of those to encourage you. On that wall, it said, God wants me to. Yes, God wants you to read the Bible. Do you want to meet with him daily? Because he’ll meet with you every day through his word. Number two, it changes me. Where could you be in one year with more Bible reading in your life? Number three, it improves my outlook on life. Yeah, turn out the bad news and saturate yourself with good news from the Word of God. Number four, it keeps me grounded. Yes, when the storms of life come, and they will, can you stand? Yes, you’ll stand better and more solid because you’re in the Word of God. Next, it keeps my heart soft. Yeah, Nehemiah 8, when people heard the word, they wept and they worshipped. You will do the same as the word softens your heart. Lastly, on the wall it said, it keeps my daily focus on God. Yeah, that’s a great reason to read the Bible. You’ll gain the spiritual power to live life in our secular world. And then thirdly and lastly, feed your soul. Let God minister to your soul. Hebrews 4.12 says the Word of God pierces between your soul and your spirit, between joints and marrow, and is the discerner of the thoughts and intents of your heart. Nothing else goes that deep. I don’t know where the place is between my soul and my spirit, but I want to put the Word of God there each and every day of my life. I hope you do too. God bless you as you spend time in God’s Word.
