Unfaithful punished
V. 1…My people….Mercy is shown… The first verse is supposed to be the concluding verse of Chapter 1. On the day of the LORD, there will be mercy shown to the people of Israel and they shall be called by God as “My people.”
Legal proceedings against the wayward wife (2:1-13): Hosea, in this passage uses the language of an offended husband against his wife as an image for God’s plans to deal with Israel.
The idolatry of the people. (1-5):
V. 1…Say to your brethren, My people and to your sisters… God is enticing Israelites to return her God. The mercy is still available upon repentance.
V. 2…bring charges…She is not my wife… is a renouncing of marriage bond is paralleled to God’s right to renounce His covenant bond with Israel, His people. God is calling on the individuals in the nation of Israel to seek justice as children of a home broken by adultery. Marriage has not ended yet. It can still be restored by putting away her harlotries from her sight.
V. 3…lest I strip her… Public humiliation of an unfaithful wife was not a strange practice during this period. The spiritual lesson according to Mathew Henry is, “Impenitent sinners will soon be stripped of the advantages they misuse, and which they consume upon their lusts.”
V. 4…They are the children of harlotry… Here is the disclaimer of fatherhood, because she continues in her sin and it is a natural understanding that their children are going to bow down to the idols along with their mother.
V. 5…I will go after my lovers… This is a clear picture that it was the people of Israel (Gomer) who pursued the lovers and not the lovers pursued her (Jeremiah 2:23-25). Israel’s lovers are other Gods.
God’s judgments against them. (6-13):
…They did not turn, therefore all this came upon them; and it is written for admonition to us. If lesser difficulties be got over, God will raise greater. … Crosses and obstacles in an evil course are great blessings, and are to be so accounted; they are God’s hedges, to keep us from transgressing, to make the way of sin difficult, and to keep us from it. We have reason to bless God for restraining grace, and for restraining providences; and even for sore pain, sickness, or calamity, if it keeps us from sin. – Mathew Henry Concise Commentary.
Hosea is using the legal process of an offended husband against his wife. God is a just God, and though He shows mercy, He insists that we should repent of our evil ways.
V. 6…Therefore… This word ‘Therefore’ appears here as the first of the three (vs 9 & 14) places in this chapter. The current and any untoward future can be corrected if sin is repented and relented. It is our sins keeps the situation as it is, and even makes it worse. …I will hedge up… As a jealous husband, God will put a hedge around Israel that she would be prevented from straying to pagan temples. This is a holy and redemptive intention.
V. 7…chases her lovers but not overtake them;…but not find them… Sin will not satisfy anyone, especially the Chosen people of God, Israel/Christian believers. Even though we seek sin diligently, we will not find satisfying god of this world.…she will say, “I will go and return to my first husband…it was better… She will remember the days when everything went well while she was with her husband. Jesus used this theme in His prodigal son Story.
V. 8…She did not know that I gave her… She did not realize that her possessions were given by God and she used the prosperity to worship Baal. It is God who provides us singularly.
V. 9…Therefore… This is the 2nd time the word ‘therefore’ occurs. In order to bring her Baal worship to an end, God is going to strip off what He has bestowed upon her.
V. 10…lewdness… This is not simply a punishment for Israel, but it is an act of exposing impotency of Baal. Sin does not have power to satisfy us. …no one shall deliver her from My hand… There is no other God to save Israel (Deuteronomy 32:39).
V. 11…mirth to cease… God has established the feast days so the people could remember His blessings to them. If there is not remembrance of God’s goodness, there is no thanksgiving. If there is no thanksgiving, there no meaning in feasts. If there is no meaning in feasts, there is no need for them.
Vs. 12 & 13…These are my wages… She (The Israelites) claims that she got from her lovers for worshipping them (baals). There were more than one baal is mentioned. In fact she offered something while worshipping baal. In 9:1, Hosea compare whatever she claimed to be received from the lovers to the prostitute’s wages. Interesting thing is that Israelite themselves agree that it is ‘wage.’ Bible calls the blessings from God as GIFT.
His promises of reconciliation. The LORD’s Mercy on Israel (14-23):
1. This passage may not directly talk about ‘the Restoration on Babylonian captivity.’ But in a way yes it does, because RESTORATION is the major theme in the PLAN OF GOD.
2. This is also a prophecy on the eternal salvation of mankind through Jesus Christ.
3. A message of hope for all those who are saved and struggle with sin. God will do anything in order to teach us and restore us.
4. This is also is about the final redemption of the Church of Jesus Christ. This also includes God dealing with Israel for one more time in the future at the end of this world during the Return of our LORD Jesus Christ.
V. 14…I will allure her…speaking tenderly to her… God will not ambush his Children but allure us. wilderness…This is not a place of punishment but a place of PRIVACY.
V. 15…valley of Achor… Achor mean ‘trouble.’ The valley of Achor was where Achan was crushed (Joshua 7:25 & 26). But for the people of Israel who accepts this wilderness which is a place privacy with God will turn into a place of enjoying the provision of God.
Vs. 16 & 17…in that day… it is not a calendar day, but the day in which God allures His children to wilderness and His children also accept the wilderness with joy, hear the words of God, and repent of their ways. …cal me ‘My Husband,’ and no longer … ‘my Baal’… Calling God as ‘My husband’ is in order to make clear her devotion to the LORD, God and not to Baal. The relationship will be like a FAMILY AFFECTION.
Vs. 18…make covenant for them with the beasts of the field… This primarily talks about the ‘State of Eden. ”
For them refers to the Israelites who are recipients of the covenant announced in 1:10–11. The terms for the animals here evoke Genesis 1–2, where man in his created condition had a proper dominion over them; hence Israel is in its restored condition living out the creational ideal, which was the goal of God’s redemption. – ESV Study Bible.
Also, this talks about the end time RESTORATION STATE, which takes beyond the Garden of Eden stage, the NEW HEAVEN AND NEW EARTH in the millennial kingdom. …to lie down safely… promise of a life with peace. As Christians, we can enjoy the life with peace now itself in Jesus Christ.
Vs. 19 & 20…betroth you to Me in righteousness and justice, in lovingkindness and mercy…in faithfulness……
Recovery is described as a renewed betrothal. The betrothal, a marriage agreement, is established by the payment of a bride price to the bride’s father (2 Sam. 3:14), a practice still found in the Arab world. The bride price paid is righteousness, justice, steadfast love, and mercy. These attributes come only from the Lord (Ex. 34:6–7) and are precisely what Israel desperately lacks. This is in harmony with the divine initiative represented by the many “I wills” in Hosea. – ESV Study Bible.
God promises through this wedding vows a relationship characterized by permanence, right standards, fair treatment, love unfailing, tenderness, security, and continuing self-revelation.
Vs. 21 – 23…in that day… In nutshell this passage talks about the reversal of punishment, removal of cures, and about the day in which the marriage is again consummated. The grain, wine, and oil will be replenished. Jezreel means God will sow.
1.‘No Mercy’ – Lo-ruhama
2.‘Not My people’ – Lo-ammi
V. 1…My people….Mercy is shown… The first verse is supposed to be the concluding verse of Chapter 1. On the day of the LORD, there will be mercy shown to the people of Israel and they shall be called by God as “My people.”
Legal proceedings against the wayward wife (2:1-13): Hosea, in this passage uses the language of an offended husband against his wife as an image for God’s plans to deal with Israel.
The idolatry of the people. (1-5):
V. 1…Say to your brethren, My people and to your sisters… God is enticing Israelites to return her God. The mercy is still available upon repentance.
V. 2…bring charges…She is not my wife… is a renouncing of marriage bond is paralleled to God’s right to renounce His covenant bond with Israel, His people. God is calling on the individuals in the nation of Israel to seek justice as children of a home broken by adultery. Marriage has not ended yet. It can still be restored by putting away her harlotries from her sight.
V. 3…lest I strip her… Public humiliation of an unfaithful wife was not a strange practice during this period. The spiritual lesson according to Mathew Henry is, “Impenitent sinners will soon be stripped of the advantages they misuse, and which they consume upon their lusts.”
V. 4…They are the children of harlotry… Here is the disclaimer of fatherhood, because she continues in her sin and it is a natural understanding that their children are going to bow down to the idols along with their mother.
V. 5…I will go after my lovers… This is a clear picture that it was the people of Israel (Gomer) who pursued the lovers and not the lovers pursued her (Jeremiah 2:23-25). Israel’s lovers are other Gods.
God’s judgments against them. (6-13):
…They did not turn, therefore all this came upon them; and it is written for admonition to us. If lesser difficulties be got over, God will raise greater. … Crosses and obstacles in an evil course are great blessings, and are to be so accounted; they are God’s hedges, to keep us from transgressing, to make the way of sin difficult, and to keep us from it. We have reason to bless God for restraining grace, and for restraining providences; and even for sore pain, sickness, or calamity, if it keeps us from sin. – Mathew Henry Concise Commentary.
Hosea is using the legal process of an offended husband against his wife. God is a just God, and though He shows mercy, He insists that we should repent of our evil ways.
V. 6…Therefore… This word ‘Therefore’ appears here as the first of the three (vs 9 & 14) places in this chapter. The current and any untoward future can be corrected if sin is repented and relented. It is our sins keeps the situation as it is, and even makes it worse. …I will hedge up… As a jealous husband, God will put a hedge around Israel that she would be prevented from straying to pagan temples. This is a holy and redemptive intention.
V. 7…chases her lovers but not overtake them;…but not find them… Sin will not satisfy anyone, especially the Chosen people of God, Israel/Christian believers. Even though we seek sin diligently, we will not find satisfying god of this world.…she will say, “I will go and return to my first husband…it was better… She will remember the days when everything went well while she was with her husband. Jesus used this theme in His prodigal son Story.
V. 8…She did not know that I gave her… She did not realize that her possessions were given by God and she used the prosperity to worship Baal. It is God who provides us singularly.
V. 9…Therefore… This is the 2nd time the word ‘therefore’ occurs. In order to bring her Baal worship to an end, God is going to strip off what He has bestowed upon her.
V. 10…lewdness… This is not simply a punishment for Israel, but it is an act of exposing impotency of Baal. Sin does not have power to satisfy us. …no one shall deliver her from My hand… There is no other God to save Israel (Deuteronomy 32:39).
V. 11…mirth to cease… God has established the feast days so the people could remember His blessings to them. If there is not remembrance of God’s goodness, there is no thanksgiving. If there is no thanksgiving, there no meaning in feasts. If there is no meaning in feasts, there is no need for them.
Vs. 12 & 13…These are my wages… She (The Israelites) claims that she got from her lovers for worshipping them (baals). There were more than one baal is mentioned. In fact she offered something while worshipping baal. In 9:1, Hosea compare whatever she claimed to be received from the lovers to the prostitute’s wages. Interesting thing is that Israelite themselves agree that it is ‘wage.’ Bible calls the blessings from God as GIFT.
His promises of reconciliation. The LORD’s Mercy on Israel (14-23):
1. This passage may not directly talk about ‘the Restoration on Babylonian captivity.’ But in a way yes it does, because RESTORATION is the major theme in the PLAN OF GOD.
2. This is also a prophecy on the eternal salvation of mankind through Jesus Christ.
3. A message of hope for all those who are saved and struggle with sin. God will do anything in order to teach us and restore us.
4. This is also is about the final redemption of the Church of Jesus Christ. This also includes God dealing with Israel for one more time in the future at the end of this world during the Return of our LORD Jesus Christ.
V. 14…I will allure her…speaking tenderly to her… God will not ambush his Children but allure us. wilderness…This is not a place of punishment but a place of PRIVACY.
V. 15…valley of Achor… Achor mean ‘trouble.’ The valley of Achor was where Achan was crushed (Joshua 7:25 & 26). But for the people of Israel who accepts this wilderness which is a place privacy with God will turn into a place of enjoying the provision of God.
Vs. 16 & 17…in that day… it is not a calendar day, but the day in which God allures His children to wilderness and His children also accept the wilderness with joy, hear the words of God, and repent of their ways. …cal me ‘My Husband,’ and no longer … ‘my Baal’… Calling God as ‘My husband’ is in order to make clear her devotion to the LORD, God and not to Baal. The relationship will be like a FAMILY AFFECTION.
Vs. 18…make covenant for them with the beasts of the field… This primarily talks about the ‘State of Eden. ”
For them refers to the Israelites who are recipients of the covenant announced in 1:10–11. The terms for the animals here evoke Genesis 1–2, where man in his created condition had a proper dominion over them; hence Israel is in its restored condition living out the creational ideal, which was the goal of God’s redemption. – ESV Study Bible.
Also, this talks about the end time RESTORATION STATE, which takes beyond the Garden of Eden stage, the NEW HEAVEN AND NEW EARTH in the millennial kingdom. …to lie down safely… promise of a life with peace. As Christians, we can enjoy the life with peace now itself in Jesus Christ.
Vs. 19 & 20…betroth you to Me in righteousness and justice, in lovingkindness and mercy…in faithfulness……
Recovery is described as a renewed betrothal. The betrothal, a marriage agreement, is established by the payment of a bride price to the bride’s father (2 Sam. 3:14), a practice still found in the Arab world. The bride price paid is righteousness, justice, steadfast love, and mercy. These attributes come only from the Lord (Ex. 34:6–7) and are precisely what Israel desperately lacks. This is in harmony with the divine initiative represented by the many “I wills” in Hosea. – ESV Study Bible.
God promises through this wedding vows a relationship characterized by permanence, right standards, fair treatment, love unfailing, tenderness, security, and continuing self-revelation.
Vs. 21 – 23…in that day… In nutshell this passage talks about the reversal of punishment, removal of cures, and about the day in which the marriage is again consummated. The grain, wine, and oil will be replenished. Jezreel means God will sow.
1.‘No Mercy’ – Lo-ruhama
2.‘Not My people’ – Lo-ammi