Have you ever read Hosea? Have you heard a sermon series preached on it? As I planned a series for Term 2 this year, I wracked my brain trying to remember if I'd ever heard a series before. And I think I had—but from memory it only got as far as the first three chapters. Which is surely not good enough! So with great enthusiasm I began preparing to preach through the whole of this book which heads the Book of the Twelve (aka the Minor Prophets). But I quickly encountered a little problem: while there's a great story in chapters 1-3, I was not prepared for the eleven chapters which followed! The characters of the prophet Hosea, his wife Gomer, their three children Jezreel, Lo-Ruhamah and Lo-Ammi who dominate the first three chapters just disappear into the ether, and I wasn't sure what the connection was supposed to be between their story and the rest of the book.
Well, after doing a little more work on the book and digging a little deeper, there are some fascinating connections which show how the book holds together despite the stark differences between the story of 1—3 and the prophecies in 4—14. Let me briefly take you through the story and the way the names are important, and then show you some elements in the rest of the book which ties those final chapters together with the opening three.
The characters in 1-3
The eponymous character Hosea is the one we meet first up, as a prophet to whom God speaks. As with the major prophets, Isaiah, Ezekiel and Jeremiah, his life will be an example to his nation. His name comes from the verb "to save" (yasha'), which is obviously meaningful for a nation on the brink of destruction by a foreign army (Assyria is on the near horizon). However, Hosea's name occurs only three times, and that's only in the first three verses of the introduction. Thereafter Hosea is simply referred to as "he" (1:3,4,6). But while his name is not mentioned again, salvation is. So we read in 1:7
“Yet I will show love to Judah;
and I will save them—not by bow, sword or battle, or by horses and horsemen,
but I, the LORD their God, will save them.” (NIV11)
Hosea then, is a sign that Yhwh will save at least Judah; Israel must hold on a bit longer for a positive word.
Although we will have more to say on her later, sadly Hosea's wife, Gomer, is only mentioned the once (1:3), and we don't meet the related verb "to finish/complete" (gamar) at all in the book. Indeed, Gomer as a character recedes so far into the background, that when it seems we meet her again in chapter 3, we aren't even sure if it's a retelling of chapter 1, a recommitment, or a new wife.
Jezreel, the name of their first son, is probably the most flexible of the names. It can refer to
- a proper name (as in 1:4b, the son of Hosea and Gomer)
- the events of 1 Kings 21 and 2 Kings 9 (as in 1:4c, the bloodshed at Jezreel)
- a place name (as in 1:5c, the valley of Jezreel).
And beyond these, in chapter 2, we see a fourth use related to the verbs behind Jezreel: "to sow" (zara') and "God" (el), so that God can promise to "sow her for [him]self in the land" (2:23). Jezreel's name is a promise of transformation, from bloodshed to fruitfulness.
Lo-Ruhamah is their daughter, and in 1:6-7 we see both her name and the meaning explained:
Name her Lo-ruhamah,
for I will no longer have compassion (lo ... arahem) on the house of Israel. I will certainly take them away.
But I will have compassion (arahem) on the house of Judah," (Hosea 1:6b–7a CSB17)
In the following chapter, compassion, or the lack thereof, comes up several times. Their current situation is a time without compassion, but a time of compassion will follow (2:4 now, but 2:1, 2:33 are promised).
Lo-Ammi is their final child, explained in 1:9, "Call his name Lo-Ammi, for you are not my people." At the end of the chapter this is reversed, as "Lo-Ammi will be called sons of the living God," (1:10), and their brothers are to be called "my people (ammi)," (2:1, so too 2:23).
This wordplay is quite in your face in chapters 1—3, although translators have to choose between keeping mixing Hebrew and English and potentially missing the connections, or just translating to make some connections explicit while missing others.
Congratulations! You've made it through Hosea 1—3. Now what? Where did Hosea and Gomer (their celebrity couple name is obviously Homer), and their three kids go? Well, buckle in, because I think they might still be around. Let's work through the names again, and have a think about where we might see evidence of their presence in how Hosea 4—14 is written and the images are explained.
Uncovering the characters in 4—14
People (Am), from Lo-Ammi's name, remains an important theme throughout Hosea, especially in chapter 4 (4:4,6,9,12,14). Yhwh was right to punish his am, because they so thoroughly rejected him as their God. Yhwh also makes a promise to restore ammi (6:11), which echoes the promises spoken in the earlier chapters.
Lo-Ruhamah's name is not recalled at all in the book until the final chapter. In 14:3 Yhwh promises that the orphan will find compassion (yeruham) in Yhwh. By encountering this promise at the end, we are immediately drawn back to recall the beginning, and the promise of reversal.
Beyond simply the word raham, there are also related ideas, such as hesed (often translated steadfast love or loyalty), which we met earlier in 2:19, "I will betroth you in ... steadfast love (hesed) and compassion (raham). It is this paired idea which Hosea uses multiple times, for instance in 6:4 and 6:6, where Israel's love has been anything but steadfast in loyal, but Yhwh is ever steadfast, ever loyal, and he calls them to demonstrate their changed heart by living out hesed (12:6).
As with Lo-Ruhamah, Hosea's name is not recalled again until toward the end of the book, where we find it three times:
- 13:4 There is no saviour except for me.
- 13:10 Where then is your king, your saviour?
- 14:3 Assyria will not save us.
Each of these usages points to the frailty of every other potential saviour—be it a local king or a foreign king; only Yhwh is willing and able to save.
The agricultural imagery which is part of Jezreel's name is important throughout the rest of Hosea. The word zara' (to sow) only occurs twice, playing first on Israel's inability to sow anything of value (they sow only wind, 8:12), and then encouraging them to sow righteousness as they wait for Yhwh to respond in kind (10:12).
There is further related imagery in other chapters, such as chapter 9, where the agricultural location of the threshing floor is linked to idolatry (9:1-2), where sin is described as briers and thorns (9:6) as well as dry roots and useless fruit (9:16). And this continues into chapter 10 with a familiar description of Israel as a luxurious and fruitful vine, but sadly the plethora of fruit matched the number of altars, which would in turn be met with a poisonous herb (10:4) and their sacrifices would be covered with thorns and thistles (10:8).
There is however a promise of reversal which was foreshadowed for Jezreel already in chapter 2, where at the end these thorns and thistles are transformed into blossoming like a lily, a tree's deep roots (14:5), splendour like an olive tree, fragrance like a tree of Lebanon (14:6), living grain and sprouting vine (14:7), and a green fir tree brimming with fruit (14:9).
Gomer, whose name we heard only the once, is perhaps surprisingly the one whose identity is most often referred to throughout the book. In 2:1 she was described of a woman of harlotry, who would have children of harlotry, for the land has certainly committed harlotry. This word "harlotry", along with "adultery" and "lovers" occurs more than 20 times between 3:1 and 5:4, and harlotry is linked elsewhere with uncleanness (6:10), while adultery is linked with wickedness and treachery (7:3-4). The literal and the figurative often mix in Hosea, such that the literal harlotry which formed the backdrop of Hosea and Gomer's family is seen to be more broadly related to dishonour and spiritual infidelity.
Gomer also leads us into one last realm of connection which might help you as you try to connect the opening to the rest of the book, which is the language of wife/mother and son/daughter/child. Some key moments here are for instance in 10:14, where the suffering of the innocents reinforces the sadness of the collateral damage which always results from sin. Another instance is in chapter 12 where the Jacob story is recalled, with his marriage to be read in light of the story of Hosea and Gomer. Chapter 11 discusses the children of Yhwh, and chapter 9 discusses childbirth, both of which are again to be read in light of the children of Hosea and Gomer.
Reading the whole of Hosea
Hopefully this little piece is something that will help dispel the fear that might creep in when you turn past chapter 3 of Hosea and wonder where all these fascinating characters have gone. Even though Hosea feels very different across its two uneven halves, the story in the beginning really does set us up to read the rest more deeply. Every time we come across something related, whether it's related words like Hosea and saviour, or related themes like Jezreel and anything to do with plants, we can see how the author of Hosea is trying to recall in our minds the introduction to the book. So while Hosea might get tough or dark in some places, we are still encouraged that the God who declared his people who were no longer his, who said he would no longer show compassion, that this is indeed the same God who adopts as us his children, who has compassion on us, transforming our adulterous hearts into hearts which desire to sow righteousness, and redeeming us through God's anointed one and our saviour, the Lord Jesus.
