HOSEA LESSON 1


     The prophet Hosea is the penman of the book of Hosea. He was a
prophet about the same time as Isaiah and Micah of Judah, and Amos of
Israel. He prophesied just before the fall of Israel to Assyria.  The
name "Hosea" means deliverance, or salvation. It is very similar to
the name "Joshua". Hosea was the last of the prophets that God sent,
to cause Israel to repent before her destruction. Israel fell to
Assyria about 100 years, before Judah and Jerusalem fell to Babylon.
These prophets, like Hosea, were sent to warn their people of what
would happen, if they did not repent and turn back to God.

     There is much discussion about whether the book of Hosea is to be
taken literally. Some believe this is a book giving us a picture of
Israel's relationship with God. It does not matter for our study here.
We are looking into the spiritual side of the Scripture in these
studies. We do know from studying previous prophets, that the prophet,
many times, experiences in the flesh, what the nation is experiencing
in the spirit.

     His days of prophecy were considerably longer than most of the
other prophets.

     I personally believe the book is showing the unfaithful wife of
God {Israel}. They sought false gods, which is spiritual adultery.

     Let us now begin in Hosea 1:1 "The word of the LORD that came
unto 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 kingdom has split at this time. Hosea is a prophet to the
ten tribes, spoken of as Israel. The other two tribes were spoken of
as Judah. It was hard for the people to hear his warnings, because
there were good times in the land. This is Jereboam the second, spoken
of here. He raised Israel to great splendor, but was very evil. His
father, Joash was evil, also. One tremendous difference in Judah and
Israel, is that more of Judah's kings followed after God, than did
Israel's evil kings. All of Israel's kings were evil. Hosea prophesied
during the reign of all four of the kings of Judah, above mentioned.
He prophesied in Israel, not in Judah, however. It is believed by some
that he prophesied for about 70 years.

     Hosea 1:2 "The beginning of the word of the LORD by Hosea. And
the LORD said to Hosea, Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and
children of whoredoms: for the land hath committed great whoredom,
[departing] from the LORD."

     This seems like such a ridiculous thing for Hosea to do. We must
remember, that the prophet experiences in the flesh, what is going on
with the people in their relationship to God in the spirit. Israel was
the harlot wife of God in the spirit, so Hosea, the prophet must
experience this relationship in the natural. God plainly gives the
reason for this {for the land hath committed great whoredom, departing
from the LORD}.

     Hosea 1:3 "So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim;
which conceived, and bare him a son."

     The meaning of the people's names are very important in this.
The name "Gomer" means completion.  This means. then, that God has
sent them final warning.  They have gone too far, with their
unfaithfulness to God.  "Diblaim" means two cakes. If we put the names
together, we would see that the woman was a pleasure, but not a true
wife. She was full of sin. Thank goodness the son, here, is Hosea's
son.

     Hosea 1:4 "And the LORD said unto him, Call his name Jezreel; for
yet a little [while], and I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the
house of Jehu, and will cause to cease the kingdom of the house of
Israel."

     The name "Jezreel" means God will sow. "Israel" means prince with
God, or he will rule as God. "Jehu" means Jehovah is He. The blood of
Jezreel that was to be avenged, probably, had to do with Ahab and
Jezebel, who were severely punished for their evil deeds. This is
saying, that God will remove the house of Israel from their kingdom.
In Isaiah, God named Isaiah's children for what was going on in the
country at the time.  This is true here, as well. God named these
children to reveal an extra message to the people.

     Hosea 1:5 "And it shall come to pass at that day, that I will
break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel."

     This valley of Jezreel has been the location of many battles.
This is the very same place, where Gideon defeated the Midianites. We
see in this Scripture above, that this is to be the location of
Israel's defeat, as well. "The breaking of the bow" shows their
helplessness in battle.

     Hosea 1:6  "And she conceived again, and bare a daughter. And
[God] said unto him, Call her name Lo-ruhamah: for I will no more have
mercy upon the house of Israel; but I will utterly take them away."

     The "she", in the verse above, is speaking of Hosea's wife.
Perhaps, the reason this child is a female, is to show that not only
the males in Israel are guilty of spiritual adultery and deserve to be
punished, but the females as well. The name "Lo-ruhamah" means not
pitied. This name tells us that God will not pity these evil people,
{Israel}. He will let them go into captivity to punish them for their
spiritual adultery {worship of false gods}.

     Hosea 1:7 "But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah, and
will save them by the LORD their God, and will not save them by bow,
nor by sword, nor by battle, by horses, nor by horsemen."

     This is just saying, that Judah will not be overrun by Assyria.
They will be spared from this, because they have not been as
unfaithful to God as Israel {10 tribes} has been. They would be taken
captive, but not by Assyria, and not until about 100 years later. They
had a few godly leaders, and Israel did not. They will not be saved in
battle, they will be saved from battle. Judah will not have to depend
on weapons to save them. God will save them. Perhaps, this refers to
the battle where Sennacherib, king of Assyria, lost 185,000 men in one
night {2 Kings chapter 19 verse 35}. The angel of the Lord killed
them.  God won the battle for Judah. This was during the reign of
Hezekiah.  This is the very same army that had overrun Israel {10
tribes} and defeated them.

     Hosea 1:8  "Now when she had weaned Lo-ruhamah, she conceived,
and bare a son."

     This period of time represented by the time she was weaning this
baby, is showing God waited for the punishment, to see if they would
repent. Mothers generally nurse their babies about two years, so this
was an interval of about two years. God did not want to punish His
people, but He could not let them continue worshipping false gods.

     Hosea 1:9 "Then said [God], Call his name Lo-ammi: for ye [are]
not my people, and I will not be your [God]."

     In this, God had divorced them. He no longer wanted them as His
wife. They were unfaithful. The name "Lo-ammi" means not my people.
Because of their unfaithfulness to be His, He will no longer be their
God. He will not overrule their will and be their God. There is a
lesson in this for us. We must, of our own free will, invite God to be
our God.

     Hosea 1:10  "Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as
the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it
shall come to pass, [that] in the place where it was said unto them,
Ye [are] not my people, [there] it shall be said unto them, [Ye are]
the sons of the living God."

     This speaks of a time, when God will forgive them, and take them
back as His wife. God is faithful to keep every promise He ever made.
He had promised Abraham that his seed would be as the sand of the sea,
and He will do it. The punishment that Israel suffers, is to make them
repent and return to God. In Jesus Christ, God makes a way of
restoration for His people. To become sons of God, we must receive
Jesus Christ as our Saviour. John 1:12 "But as many as received him,
to them gave he power to become the sons of God, [even] to them that
believe on his name:"  Romans 8:14 "For as many as are led by the
Spirit of God, they are the sons of God."

     Hosea 1:11 "Then shall the children of Judah and the children of
Israel be gathered together, and appoint themselves one head, and they
shall come up out of the land: for great [shall be] the day of
Jezreel."

     This is looking far into the future, until the time when Jesus is
the head of both. The mention of Jezreel, here, is speaking of the
same place we call the valley of Armegeddon. This will be the time
when Jesus will reign as King of kings and Lord of lords. This is,
also, the same thing spoken of as the two sticks that come together in
Ezekiel chapter 37. The following Scriptures explain it very well.
Romans 11:25 "For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of
this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that
blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the
Gentiles be come in." Romans 11:26 "And so all Israel shall be saved:
as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and
shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:" Romans 11:27 "For this [is]
my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins."










































                          Hosea 1 Questions


1.  Who is the penman of Hosea?
2.  What prophets in Judah were about the same time as Hosea?
3.  What prophet in Israel was about the same time?
4.  When did Hosea prophesy?
5.  What does the name "Hosea" mean?
6.  What name is it similar to?
7.  How many years before Judah fell to Babylon, did Israel fall to
    Assyria?
8.  What were the prophets sent, by God, to do?
9.  What do many believe about the book of Hosea?
10. What do the prophets, many times, experience in the flesh?
11. What does the author personally believe about the book of Hosea?
12. To seek false gods is ____________ _____________.
13. What has happened to the 12 tribes at this writing?
14. How were they split?
15. Why did Israel not believe Hosea's warning?
16. Which Jereboam is spoken of here?
17. Approximately how long did Hosea prophesy?
18. Who did Hosea prophesy to?
19. What did God tell Hosea to do, that seems ridiculous in the
    natural?
20. Why did God tell him to do this?
21. What does "Gomer" mean?
22. What does "Diblaim"
23. If the two names are put together, what message is in them?
24. What does the name "Jezreel" mean?
25. What does "Jehu" mean?
26. The blood of Jezreel to be revenged, in verse 4, is possibly,
    speaking of whom?
27. The names of Isaiah's children showed what?
28. What does "the breaking of the bow" show?
29. What famous battle was fought at Jezreel?
30. Why was the second child a female?
31. How many years after Assyria attacked Israel, did Babylon attack
    Judah?
32. The angel of the Lord killed how many of Judah's enemy one night?
33. Who won the battle for Judah?
34. Why was there, approximately, 2 years between the second and third
    child?
35. What is verse 9 speaking of?
36. What lesson must we learn from verse 9?
37. What is verse 10 speaking of?
38. In ________ ________, God makes a way of restoration for His
    people.
39. Quote John chapter 1 verse 12.
40. Quote Romans chapter 8 verse 14.
41. What time is verse 11 speaking of?
42. Jezreel and ______________ are the same.
43. What is spoken of in Ezekiel chapter 37, that is the same as this?
44. Quote Romans chapter 11 verses 25 through 27.
45. What did you learn from this lesson?