Hosea Chapter Two

Written By: Timothy Fish Published: 10/13/2008

The parallel between Hosea and Gomer and the Lord and Israel continues in chapter two of Hosea. Verse one seems to fit better with the pervious chapter. Beginning with verse two we see a call for the children of this woman to repent of her sins. The children in this case appear to be the people of Israel while the mother is the nation as a whole. Still, I believe Gomer’s life followed a similar pattern. She left her husband to be with other men. Hosea may have told his children to plead with her to leave her sin. We don’t know how old her children were during all of this time. They may have all been babies. They may have been adults with children of their own. We don’t know.

The Lord gave Israel a warning in Hosea 2:3. The essence is that if they didn’t return to God they would lose the blessings he was giving them. He would strip them all away. In verse four, he tells them that he won’t have mercy on her children because they are children of whoredoms. We see a picture of a draught that they brought on themselves.

As we look at the economic situation today, it isn’t great. We can blame Republicans or Democrats, lenders or borrowers, foreigners or countrymen, but time will show us one thing; people were too greedy. There is plenty of blame to go around, but the problem is because people saw the promise of wealth and decided to spend money they didn’t have. It is a monster we brought on ourselves, but it is also a monster that God can handle. The question is, will we obtain mercy because we are trying to do his will or will he write us off and allow the situation to get much worse because we are serving the money god?

Israel and Gomer believed their lovers were the ones providing for their needs. Gomer sold herself to her lovers for bread, water, clothing and other things she needed. We see this in verse five, but in verses six and seven we see that she and Israel had misplaced loyalties. The Lord promised to put a hedge of thorns and a wall to prevent Israel from doing what they had been doing. Gomer probably reach a point were her lovers lost interest in her. Maybe they returned to their wives. Maybe Gomer wasn’t as young and pretty as she once was and they went after other women. Whatever the case, she became a reject and she decided it had been better with Hosea (verse 7).

In verses 8 – 13, the Lord does not appear to be moved by this quick repentance. Verse 8 says that “she did not know that I gave her corn and wine and oil and multiplied her silver and gold, which they prepared for Baal.” Up to this point, the Lord had provided plenty and more than enough, but Israel had been wasting what he gave them. We see a picture here of Hosea providing for Gomer and Gomer wasting what he gave her and even claiming that her lovers were the ones who provided for her. So, he removed her provision.

The Lord looks forward to a day when he will be able to shower Israel with gifts once more, in Hosea 2:14-23. He will allure her and bring her back. When that happens, she will call him “My Husband” and no longer call him “My Lord” (verse 16). The picture is clear. The Lord wants a loving relationship rather than servitude.

“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 those who were not My people, `Thou art My people'; and they shall say, `Thou art my God.'” (Hosea 2:23)

For the Love
of a
Devil

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