Hosea 2: 1 – 23
Un-holy relationships
1 Say to your brethren, ‘My people,’ and to your sisters, ‘Mercy is shown.’ 2 “Bring charges against your mother, bring charges; For she is not My wife, nor am I her Husband! Let her put away her harlotries from her sight, and her adulteries from between her breasts; 3 Lest I strip her naked and expose her, as in the day she was born, and make her like a wilderness, and set her like a dry land, and slay her with thirst. 4 “I will not have mercy on her children, for they are the children of harlotry. 5 For their mother has played the harlot; She who conceived them has behaved shamefully. For she said, ‘I will go after my lovers, who give me my bread and my water, my wool and my linen, my oil and my drink.’ 6 “Therefore, behold, I will hedge up your way with thorns, and wall her in, so that she cannot find her paths. 7 She will chase her lovers, but not overtake them; Yes, she will seek them, but not find them. Then she will say, ‘I will go and return to my first husband, for then it was better for me than now.’ 8 For she did not know that I gave her grain, new wine, and oil, and multiplied her silver and gold—which they prepared for Baal. 9 “Therefore I will return and take away My grain in its time and My new wine in its season, and will take back My wool and My linen, given to cover her nakedness. 10 Now I will uncover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and no one shall deliver her from My hand. 11 I will also cause all her mirth to cease, her feast days, her New Moons, her Sabbaths—all her appointed feasts. 12 “And I will destroy her vines and her fig trees, of which she has said, ‘These are my wages that my lovers have given me.’ So, I will make them a forest, and the beasts of the field shall eat them. 13 I will punish her for the days of the Baals to which she burned incense. She decked herself with her earrings and jewelry and went after her lovers; But Me she forgot,” says the LORD. 14 “Therefore, behold, I will allure her, will bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfort to her. 15 I will give her her vineyards from there, and the Valley of Achor as a door of hope; She shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, as in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt. 16 “And it shall be, in that day,” says the LORD, “That you will call Me ‘My Husband,’ and no longer call Me ‘My Master,’ 17 For I will take from her mouth the names of the Baals, and they shall be remembered by their name no more. 18 In that day I will make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, with the birds of the air, and with the creeping things of the ground. Bow and sword of battle I will shatter from the earth, to make them lie down safely. 19 “I will betroth you to Me forever; Yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and justice, in lovingkindness and mercy; 20 I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness, and you shall know the LORD. 21 “It shall come to pass in that day that I will answer,” says the LORD; “I will answer the heavens, and they shall answer the earth. 22 The earth shall answer with grain, with new wine, and with oil; They shall answer Jezreel. 23 Then I will sow her for Myself in the earth, and I will have mercy on her who had not obtained mercy; Then I will say to those who were not My people, ‘You are My people!’ And they shall say, ‘You are my God!’”
I had a bad experience that in a way is like what our Precious Holy Spirit teaches us in today’s chapter. You know it is quite interesting that the same issues non-believers are invested with occur within the church. I think the only difference is that non-believers are not affected so deeply like believers are when caught in sinful behavior.
Stop and think for a moment the reactions of believers and non-believers face when one is caught in adultery. I have learned there are some similar responses and reactions but over the years I have witnessed a different and deeper insanity to the sin. Yes, we look at what happened as sin while non-believers look at it as an affair, or a mistake. Am I right or am I right?
If the apostle Paul can air out his complaints, then let me also join in. I am sick and tired of people not listening to me when I point out danger. Then they go and do what I suspected and warned, and ultimately the sin is revealed. But what really irks me is that they come back wanting me to fix the whole mess. I really have a hard time when this happens.
Let me give you an example. In our church there were two couples who were close friends with each other. The four were always together doing things and they ever went on vacation together. I told them and other church leaders that what they were doing was not good. Everyone dismissed my concerns. So far, listening to what I am telling you are you in agreement with the whole crowd or with me?
Well let me tell you why I warned them. For I strongly discerned that one guy and the wife of the other guy will somehow get strong sexual feelings toward each other.
How did you vote? For me or the crowd. If you voted for me, you win a cookie. Exactly what I predicated happened. The one husband had a sexual affair with his so-called buddy’s wife.
Like David the two adulterers tried to keep everything secret. It is amazing how things turn out. The one woman who participated in the affair had two boys. The baby she conceived was a girl. The precious little girl was born but as you can guess did not look like her dad or mom but looked the other guy.
We read in the book of Numbers chapter 5 that our Holy Lord God gives men a spirit of jealousy when something is not right. Let us look at this, “11 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 12 “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘If any man’s wife goes astray and behaves unfaithfully toward him, 13 and a man lies with her carnally, and it is hidden from the eyes of her husband, and it is concealed that she has defiled herself, and there was no witness against her, nor was she caught— 14 if the spirit of jealousy comes upon him and he becomes jealous of his wife, who has defiled herself; or if the spirit of jealousy comes upon him and he becomes jealous of his wife, although she has not defiled herself— 15 then the man shall bring his wife to the priest. He shall bring the offering required for her, one-tenth of an ephah of barley meal; he shall pour no oil on it and put no frankincense on it, because it is a grain offering of jealousy, an offering for remembering, for bringing iniquity to remembrance. 16 ‘And the priest shall bring her near, and set her before the LORD. 17 The priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel and take some of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle and put it into the water. 18 Then the priest shall stand the woman before the LORD, uncover the woman’s head, and put the offering for remembering in her hands, which is the grain offering of jealousy. And the priest shall have in his hand the bitter water that brings a curse. 19 And the priest shall put her under oath, and say to the woman, “If no man has lain with you, and if you have not gone astray to uncleanness while under your husband’s authority, be free from this bitter water that brings a curse. 20 But if you have gone astray while under your husband’s authority, and if you have defiled yourself and some man other than your husband has lain with you”— 21 then the priest shall put the woman under the oath of the curse, and he shall say to the woman—“the LORD make you a curse and an oath among your people, when the LORD makes your thigh rot and your belly swell; 22 and may this water that causes the curse go into your stomach, and make your belly swell and your thigh rot.” ‘Then the woman shall say, “Amen, so be it.” 23 ‘Then the priest shall write these curses in a book, and he shall scrape them off into the bitter water. 24 And he shall make the woman drink the bitter water that brings a curse, and the water that brings the curse shall enter her to become bitter. 25 Then the priest shall take the grain offering of jealousy from the woman’s hand, shall wave the offering before the LORD, and bring it to the altar; 26 and the priest shall take a handful of the offering, as its memorial portion, burn it on the altar, and afterward make the woman drink the water. 27 When he has made her drink the water, then it shall be, if she has defiled herself and behaved unfaithfully toward her husband, that the water that brings a curse will enter her and become bitter, and her belly will swell, her thigh will rot, and the woman will become a curse among her people. 28 But if the woman has not defiled herself, and is clean, then she shall be free and may conceive children. 29 ‘This is the law of jealousy, when a wife, while under her husband’s authority, goes astray and defiles herself, 30 or when the spirit of jealousy comes upon a man, and he becomes jealous of his wife; then he shall stand the woman before the LORD, and the priest shall execute all this law upon her. 31 Then the man shall be free from iniquity, but that woman shall bear her guilt.’
I know it take two to tango and you might say that this is unfair but let me point out that the other guy is not left off the hook. In the book of Proverbs, we learn that, “Wrath is cruel and anger a torrent, but who is able to stand before jealousy?”.
I do not think I need to tell you the horrible outcomes when a husband finds out about his wife’s affair. In this case especially when it was occurring with his so-called best friend.
Just a last note toe let you know what the end of this situation was. The husband kept getting more and more suspicious things were not right. He became very jealous and ultimately arguments kept breaking out between him and his wife. Ultimately, in anger she told him that the little baby girl was not his child (who was over 2 years old now). The other guy’s wife was notified and told what had gone on. This lady divorced the guilty man. The woman who was involved in the adulterous had to be admitted to a mental institution and her husband additionally divorced her. My sympathy went out to the kids who did nothing wrong but had to suffer from the sins of their parents.
Our Precious Holy Father Adoni Yahweh went through the pain of an unfaithful love one and that was what His elect people were doing to Him. We are going to see that a few children were born through this unholy relationship.
1 Say to your brethren, ‘My people,’ and to your sisters, ‘Mercy is shown.’
Please notice how the names of the three children have been repeated, combining 1.11, with its mention of Jezreel, and this verse with the mention of Ammi and Ruhama. The positive note brought out here would serve to confirm that ‘Jezreel’ in 1.11 relates to restoration. And the consequence of ‘the day of Jezreel’ will be that Jezreel will be able to say to all his brothers, ‘My People’ and to all his sisters, ‘Beloved’. The names of the children of portent will be changed by dropping the negative, and the new names will be given to the whole family as representing the whole nation, because God’s attitude towards His people will have changed. They will again be His people and beloved.
2 “Bring charges against your mother, bring charges; For she is not My wife, nor am I her Husband! Let her put away her harlotries from her sight, and her adulteries from between her breasts; 3 Lest I strip her naked and expose her, as in the day she was born, and make her like a wilderness, and set her like a dry land, and slay her with thirst.
The context now has in mind Israel’s state rather than that of Hosea’s family. It is based on the hope of once again being accepted that the people of Israel are to contend with their mother (clearly here the state of Israel as the fallen wife of YHWH) because of her proved unfaithfulness. That unfaithfulness is the reason why she is no longer His wife, and he is not her husband. The words ‘she is not my wife, nor am I her husband’ have the ring of an official pronouncement of divorce, although probably to be not yet pronounced. Unless she repents, the marriage covenant between them is about to be quashed. And the contention of her children is to be that she should put away her unfaithfulness, and her idolatry, lest she be totally exposed in the sight of the nations by having her nakedness exposed, and by being desolated and turned into a semi-desert. The indication is that repentance is still open to Israel even now, if only she will turn before it is too late.
The picture of Israel which is drawn is vivid. It depicts a harlot with painted face, welcoming lovers to her breasts because she has rejected YHWH and chosen to entertain false religion (Yahwism tainted with Baalism), with the consequence that she will be stripped naked and exposed in the burning sun unless she changes her ways.
4 “I will not have mercy on her children, for they are the children of harlotry. 5 For their mother has played the harlot; She who conceived them has behaved shamefully. For she said, ‘I will go after my lovers, who give me my bread and my water, my wool and my linen, my oil and my drink.’
The consequences of Israel’s behavior will be that her sons and daughters will suffer with her. They too will receive ‘no compassion’ because they are the result of their mother’s whoredom.
Because of His people’s unfaithfulness to Him YHWH will move ‘her’ (His people) to a place where she is unable to have contact with ‘her lovers’, that is, with the false aspects of religion which she had introduced beside Yahwism such as images of Baal and Asherah. Then she will be unable to find them and will thus determine to return to her initial husband. But because she had failed to recognize that it was really YHWH Who had provided for her, she will lose all His provision, will be exposed in her folly, and will receive the due consequence for her behavior. The words have exile in mind.
The picture is of Israel thirsting after false religion because they were confident that it was that which, along with cult prostitution, ensured fertility, and resulted in their plentiful supply of bread and water, wool and flax, oil and drink. They gave all the credit for YHWH’s provision to their false rituals.
6 “Therefore, behold, I will hedge up your way with thorns, and wall her in, so that she cannot find her paths.
The outcome would be that the way to her lovers would be blocked. Thorn hedges would block the way, forming a wall which would prevent her from finding her path. The high places would become a wilderness, because she would have been taken far away.
7 She will chase her lovers, but not overtake them; Yes, she will seek them, but not find them. Then she will say, ‘I will go and return to my first husband, for then it was better for me than now.’ 8 For she did not know that I gave her grain, new wine, and oil, and multiplied her silver and gold—which they prepared for Baal.
While she may still seek to follow her lovers, she will not be able to catch up with them, and she will seek them and not find them. All access to them will have been lost. There would be no Baalism to worship in exile. It will always be so with earthly ‘lovers.
The result of this will be that she will be brought to her senses and will recognize how foolish she has been. She will recognize that she had not realized that it was YHWH who had provided her grain and new wine and oil. And she will therefore determine to return to her first husband, acknowledging that things had been far better when she had been faithful to Him.
Thus once again, after judgment is to come deliverance. But Hosea will not let Israel off the hook yet. And he leaps back from her moment of repentance to the consequences that will result before repentance. He was under no illusions. He knew very well that that repentance was a long way off.
Hosea has one more thing to add. YHWH had also been the One Who had provided her with wealth. And what had she done with it? She had squandered it on Baal. The living God had been far from her thoughts. That was why judgment had to come.
9 “Therefore I will return and take away My grain in its time and My new wine in its season, and will take back My wool and My linen, given to cover her nakedness.
So, because she had failed to recognize that it was YHWH Who had given her all her good things, and had given the silver and gold that resulted from it to Baal, He would now take them away from her. The land would become such that it no longer produced grain when it was expected, or new wine at its appointed time. Nature would be thrown out of rhythm (so much for the effectiveness of Baal, the nature god), and she would have no wool and no flax to cover her nakedness.
10 Now I will uncover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and no one shall deliver her from My hand.
For naked she was to become. God would uncover her lewdness and unfaithfulness in the sight of her chosen lovers, but they would be unable to do anything to help her. Baal and Asherah would be helpless. The land would become barren and a wilderness (because the people had been exiled) and its nature gods would be powerless to do anything about it. Their futility would be proved. And the people themselves would be exposed before strangers.
11 I will also cause all her mirth to cease, her feast days, her New Moons, her Sabbaths—all her appointed feasts.
All her celebrations, and her rituals, and her feasts would cease. The round of new moon celebrations, Sabbath celebrations and solemn assemblies would be no more. Israel would become a desolate land with a failed religion which had ceased to operate.
12 “And I will destroy her vines and her fig trees, of which she has said, ‘These are my wages that my lovers have given me.’ So, I will make them a forest, and the beasts of the field shall eat them.
The vines and fig-trees, concerning which she had boasted that their fruitfulness was given to her by Baal in consequence of her worship, would become a wild, untamed forest, and the wild fruit that they produced would be eaten by the beasts of the field (the wild animals roaming the empty countryside).
13 I will punish her for the days of the Baals to which she burned incense. She decked herself with her earrings and jewelry and went after her lovers; But Me she forgot,” says the LORD.
Israel will have judgment visited on her for all the times when she had decked herself up in her splendor for the Baals, on ‘the days of the Baalim’ (the days of religious celebration), and had burned incense to them and had gone after them and had forgotten YHWH.
The message of judgment on Israel is laid on without mercy. Because of her past behavior Israel is doomed. She has no way of escape. Her only hope can be that once her punishment has been full meted out God may yet show compassion on her. But that would not be for a long time. Sin once it has matured brings forth death.
But just as He had done in the deliverance from Egypt, YHWH will one day woo His people and bring them into the wilderness, and from the wilderness He will provide them with vineyards, and with a door of hope in the very place of their previous failure. There is an indication here that the treachery of the people at this time was to be comparable with the treachery of Achan, suggesting also that similarly to there, there would be a price to pay before forgiveness would be possible.
But once that price was paid YHWH would restore their loving relationship with Him, and Baal would be forgotten. Baal would no more be connected in any way with Yahwism but be totally set aside so that his name was no longer invoked in any way. YHWH would no more be addressed as Baali (my lord, husband), but as Ishi (my man, husband) to remove even the remotest possibility of connection with Baal. In that day Paradise would be restored by a covenant with all living creatures and His people would be betrothed to Him forever. YHWH would respond to His people and it would be as though the names of Hosea’s children had been reversed. Jezreel would become ‘God sows’ instead of a symbol of vengeance; ‘no compassion’ would be replaced by ‘compassion’; and ‘not my people’ would become ‘you are My people’. Total harmony would be restored.
14 “Therefore, behold, I will allure her, will bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfort to her.
The picture now changes sharply to one where YHWH seeks again to woo Israel, as he had done in the wilderness when He had delivered them from Egypt. The sudden alteration in attitude takes us by surprise, for we would have expected further words of judgment, but such a sudden alteration is typical of Hosea as we have already seen in chapter 1.9-10. It is a feature of God’s dealings with His people that He often takes them by surprise. His ways are not our ways, and His thoughts not our thoughts.
His final intention is once again to entice her (His people) into the (metaphorical) wilderness, as He had literally done when she was in Egypt. And there He would speak words of love to her. The idea of being drawn into the wilderness is that he would take them to a place where all the distractions of sophisticated life and false religion would be removed. It was those attractions which had led her to her unfaithfulness, therefore it was necessary for her to be removed by bringing her into a place where they were no longer a problem.
Our Holy God often works in such a way with individuals when seeking to bring them to Himself. Once in exile they would be in a situation where they could think over their past and their folly regarding their Holy and Loving God.
When the exiles did finally return that also would be to a place which had become a wilderness, for Jerusalem was at that time in ruins and the land around desolate. They had been enticed there by God solely based on the promises of what He would do for them. They had nothing materially to gain by it at the time. It was an act of faith. All they had to go on were His words of love as worship was restored. And there He did speak reassuringly to them through such men as Haggai, Zechariah, Ezra and Nehemiah.
Similarly, when our Precious Lord Jesus came His words were to men outside the great cities. Rather did He go into the countryside and the small towns. And they regularly came to Him in the wilderness where He wooed them to His Father and to Himself (Mark 6.35).
There is a reminder to us here that if we would truly know God fully we too must allow Him to entice us into the wilderness away from all the outward enticements of life. We must put aside all that tends to hinder our fellowship with Him and withdraw into a quiet place in order that He might become the center of our thoughts and of our love.
15 I will give her vineyards from there, and the Valley of Achor as a door of hope; She shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, as in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt.
It would be out of that wilderness into which He had enticed her that He would give to her vineyards. The point is that they would be a gift of the God of Sinai and would have their source in YHWH and not in Baal. The idea of vineyards out of the wilderness would also be a reminder of the manna and quails that He had once provided in the wilderness. Such an idea may indicate that no other than God could produce vineyards in the wilderness, or that it was only when the wilderness experience had purified them that they would again have fruitful vineyards provided by YHWH in the land. And the fruitfulness of such vineyards would be totally dependent on YHWH. In our case too it is regularly when we have been ‘in the wilderness’ that God gives us His choicest fruits, and it was equally true in the early church.
He would give her the Valley of Achor (Joshua 7.26) as a door of hope. The Valley of Achor was the place where Achan was punished for keeping for himself that which had been devoted to YHWH when Israel had first entered the land (Joshua 7). The last thing that Israel would have seen it as was a door of hope. There is a suggestion in this that the Israel to whom Hosea was speaking was equally as reprehensible as Achan. But it was in the Valley of Achor that the curse was removed by the death of the victim, and that hope was therefore renewed. YHWH’s words here thus indicate that the reversal of YHWH’s curse on Israel must follow the pattern followed in that valley. There would need to be deaths and a release from cursing, deaths which did occur in large numbers in Assyria’s treatment of Israel. But what had been Israel’s shame would eventually, through expiation, become a door of hope. They could thus be sure that one day God’s curse on their present behavior would be removed. It would be as though they had never sinned. That was something which in part did happen through the Exile (Isaiah 40.1-2) but as we learn by comparison between Isaiah 40.3-6 and Luke 3.3-6, that was only a precursor to what would happen more fully when the Lamb of God came and would be slain for the sins of the world.
The last thing that Israel would ever have expected was that that dark valley of Achor, which spoke of unforgivable sin and gross disobedience, would become a source of hope. It was an indication to them of how God could transform the darkest situation. And that is what He promised that He would do for them once He had restored them to the land, the land which had become theirs after the incident of the Valley of Achor. For in the very place which was a memorial of gross disobedience (the land of their inheritance) He would restore their obedience, granting a certain hope for the future. And there they would respond to Him, as they had in the days of their youth as a nation when they were in the wilderness, and as they had in that time when they came up out of the land of Egypt. The picture is one of future glorious deliverance by YHWH and great response from Israel as they ‘made answer’ to Him.
That Valley of Achor has a deeper meaning for us. For we too were also under a curse (Galatians 3.10). And it was because of our Lord Jesus Christ bearing our curse on the cross (Galatians 3.13) that a door of hope has been opened for us.
16 “And it shall be, in that day,” says the LORD, “That you will call Me ‘My Husband,’ and no longer call Me ‘My Master,’
YHWH promises that ‘at that day’ (the day when His promises were fulfilled) they will call Him Ishi (my husband) and will no longer call Him Baali (my lord). There is an indication here of just how distorted Yahwism had become. YHWH was being hailed by the name of Baal. It was so easy to take a word that meant ‘my lord’ and apply it to YHWH. But the problem was that YHWH and Baal then became mixed up in their thinking, with the result that YHWH was being reduced to a nature god.
However, in the future all that will be reversed, and any connection with the word Baal removed, as Israel come back to YHWH and see Him as their ‘husband’, and a tender relationship is renewed between them.
17 For I will take from her mouth the names of the Baals, and they shall be remembered by their name no more.
The point behind all this is that, therefore, the name of Baal will be eradicated from their thinking, so that his name will, as it were, be ‘taken out of their mouths’. They will no longer want to mention him, for they will see him as a thing of shame. This was precisely what happened because of the Exile and was also true for all who became Christians while under the influence of idolatry, for they ‘turned to God from idols, to serve the living and true God, and to wait for His Son from Heaven’ (1 Thessalonians 1.9).
18 In that day I will make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, with the birds of the air, and with the creeping things of the ground. Bow and sword of battle I will shatter from the earth, to make them lie down safely.
We can contrast here Leviticus 26.21. ‘If you walk contrary to Me ---I will also send wild beasts among you, --- I will bring a sword upon you --- and I will make your cities waste and bring your sanctuaries into desolation,’ and Deuteronomy 28.15, ‘if you will not listen to the voice of YHWH your God --- YHWH shall cause you to be smitten before your enemies --- and your carcass shall be meat to all the birds of the air, and to the beast of the earth, --- your vineyards -- the worms will eat them ---all your trees and fruit of your land will the locusts consume.’ In those verses’ curses were invoked on Israel if they failed to respond to YHWH and His covenant. And Hosea has already warned that those curses would now be fulfilled. But ‘in that day’, the day of God’s future action, those very curses will be reversed, for God will bind the wild creatures, beasts, birds and ‘creeping things’ by a covenant to prevent their harming the land in any way, and will break the weapons of their enemies and remove warfare from the land so that His renewed people can lie down in safety knowing that they are fully secure. In other words, He will put a stop to anything that could cause them harm.
19 “I will betroth you to Me forever; Yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and justice, in lovingkindness and mercy;
Here we move to a new picture. Hosea could not betroth to himself his old wife. That would not have been allowed by the Law (Deuteronomy 24.1-4). But God can in the future betroth Israel to Himself again, for they will be made up of totally different people. The idea of betrothal is a powerful one. In Israel betrothal was completely binding and lasted ‘forever’, and release required divorce. It was the sealing of a covenant. Marriage was simply how that betrothal was activated. YHWH was binding them to His heart forever in a new covenant (It will be a better covenant which will actually change the hearts, minds and wills of His people). But it could not happen to them in the state that they were then in. They had to be renovated, for it would be in righteousness, and justice, as well as in loving-kindness and mercies.
Righteousness and justice indicate YHWH’s attitude towards them in the first place, for righteousness and justice are the very foundation of His throne (Psalm 89.14). They represent what He Is. He does always what is right and just. It indicates a requirement from them of full obedience to Him and His requirements. They are to respond from a full heart.
Loving-kindness and mercies indicate both His attitude and action towards them, as He acts towards them in graciousness and compassion, and their responsive loving-kindness and mercies which will be shown to one another. It is a picture of perfect righteous bliss.
20 I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness, and you shall know the LORD.
Furthermore, it would be in faithfulness. They will have a new heart and a new spirit, so that they will truly know YHWH. Faithful response to One Whom they have truly and genuinely come to know in their hearts is required, and will be accomplished in them, a response which will result in full covenant obedience.
This is also what God requires of us, for He requires it of all His people. And it will find its full fulfilment in the eternal kingdom.
21 “It shall come to pass in that day that I will answer,” says the LORD; “I will answer the heavens, and they shall answer the earth. 22 The earth shall answer with grain, with new wine, and with oil; They shall answer Jezreel.
In that day it is God Who will act. It is He Who will commence the process. He will finally give the ‘answer’. He will provide the final solution. His answer will be given to the heavens, so that they may pour rain on the earth, and the heavens will give it to the earth so that it will be responsive to the rain, and the earth will give it to the grain, new wine and oil, so that they will spring forth from the earth, and they will give it to ‘Jezre-el’ (‘El sows’), who represents Israel. Israel will be fully blessed and provisioned. So instead of vengeance Jezre-el will signify reception of blessing as provided by God (El sows). His name will speak of God as sowing blessing. And the whole of creation will be involved (Romans 8.19-23).
Consider how the grain and the wine and the oil, which they had seen as provided to them by Baal, will now be known to have come from YHWH. For now, they will ‘know YHWH’ and acknowledge Him in all His uniqueness.
23 Then I will sow her for Myself in the earth, and I will have mercy on her who had not obtained mercy; Then I will say to those who were not My people, ‘You are My people!’ And they shall say, ‘You are my God!’”
And just as grain has been sown in the earth, so God will sow Israel in the earth. They will be sowed ‘to Him’ and not to any other. They will be wholly His. They will be His people, betrothed to Him, and will be the objects of His full compassion and love. And as a result, they will receive compassion and will again become His people.
Now once again we have a recall of all three children, ‘Jezreel’ because it is God Who will sow blessing; ‘not pitied’ (Lo-ruhama) because the position will be reversed and she will now receive compassion; and ‘not my people’ (Lo-ammi) similarly because they will now become His people. The children here clearly represent Israel.
Again this found fulfilment in part in the inter-Testament days when Israel returned to YHWH and responded to Him, receiving His blessing, experiencing His compassion, and becoming again His people. It found even greater fulfilment through our Lord Jesus Christ as the remnant of an Israel whose religion had become formal responded to Him and became in a new way His people, and in the fact that as the prophets had forecast, the Gentiles were brought into the new Israel and became His people (Romans 9.25-26; 1 Peter 2.9-10; 2 Corinthians 6.16-18). It will find its final fulfilment when the true Israel of all ages, both Old and New Testament ‘churches’ (the totality of true believers), will experience the fullness of His blessing at His second coming, when they will fully experience His compassion, and will finally be His people forever.
