Hosea 1 - Hosea's Marriage as a Sign
God commands Hosea to marry an unfaithful wife as a living picture of Israel.
Hosea 1 opens the Hosea overview's central drama: God tells the prophet to marry Gomer and name their three children Jezreel, Lo-ruhamah, and Lo-ammi, each name a verdict on unfaithful Israel.
The word of the Lord which came to Hosea, the son of Beeri, 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.
The start of the word of the Lord by Hosea: And the Lord said to Hosea, Go, take for yourself a wife of loose ways, and children of the same, for the land has been untrue to the Lord.
So he took as his wife Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim, and she gave birth to a son.
And the Lord said to him, Give him the name of Jezreel, for after a little time I will send punishment for the blood of Jezreel on the line of Jehu, and put an end to the kingdom of Israel.
And in that day I will let the bow of Israel be broken in the valley of Jezreel.
And after that she gave birth to a daughter. And the Lord said, Give her the name Lo-ruhamah; for I will not again have mercy on Israel, to give them forgiveness.
But I will have mercy on Judah and will give them salvation by the Lord their God, but not by the bow or the sword or by fighting or by horses or horsemen.
Now when Lo-ruhamah had been taken from the breast, the woman gave birth to a son.
And the Lord said, Give him the name Lo-ammi; for you are not my people, and I will not be your God.
But still the number of the children of Israel will be like the sand of the sea, which may not be measured or numbered; and in place of its being said to them, You are not my people, it will be said to them, You are the sons of the living God
And the children of Israel and the children of Judah will come together and take for themselves one head, and will go up from the land, for great will be the day of Jezreel.