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Sunday School
An Unfaithful Bride (Hosea 1)
unusual request. He was told, “Go, marry a promis- cuous woman and have children with her.”Hosea 1:1-3a. God went on to say, “for like an adulterous wife this land is guilty of un- faithfulness to the Lord.” Hosea got it. So Hosea mar- ried Gomer, a well-known prostitute.
The children played an important role, and their names really matter to this Hebrew narrative. Gomer conceived and bore him a son.Hosea 1:3b-9. In fact Gomer bore Hosea three children in all, two sons and one daughter. The first son was named Jezreel. His name meant “God sows.” But what God would sow would be judgment and de- struction.
Gomer’s daughter would be called Lo (not) Ruhamah (loved). God’s grace is not unending. It does have its limits. God would no longer show love to Israel. He would allow them to be cap- tured. But he would con-
tinue, for the time being, to show love for Judah (which Hosea 11 shows). God would even save Judah, but the saving would be done his way—not by military power.
Gomer’s third child was a son who was named Lo (not) Ammi (people). God’s people were not acting like God’s people. The rest of the book shows this. The people were destroyed for lack of knowledge (4:6). They left God in “a spirit of prostitu- tion” (v. 12). Their love for God was as short-lived as the morning dew (6:4). They became as detestable as the gods they loved (9:10). They were bent on turning away from God (11:7).
The names of the children indicated the unfaithfulness of God’s people. But some day the descendents would be called children of the liv- ing God (Romans 9:25, 26).
The future of the unfaith- ful bride is actually quite bright. Hope always springs forth from God. Even though it could be inter-
preted that Gomer would be unfaithful again (Hosea 3:1- 5), Hosea’s love (and God’s) was steady (11:1-12). God re- membered his covenant with Abraham (Genesis 12, 15, 17) as evident by the phrase, “The Israelites will be like the sand on the seashore.” People not previ- ously belonging to God would be brought under his loving reign. In other words, by the power of resurrec- tion, God would bring forth his new people. They would have one new leader (Mes- siah) who would bring them up out of their spiritual exile. With a word play on Jezreel, God would be sow- ing something other than destruction. He would sow to reap a harvest of right- eousness.
The God of Scripture al- ways brings life out of death, order out of chaos, and a bright future out of the most unfaithful circumstances. He always leads with cords of kindness and bands of love (Hosea 11:4).
The saying goes, “Beauty is only skin deep, but ugli- ness goes all the way to the bone.” When it is spiritual ugliness, it goes deeper still. The minor prophet Hosea experienced spiritual ugli- ness. Like many of God’s prophets, his life got inter- twined with his prophecy.
Last week’s lesson about a most beautiful bride con- trasts with this week’s les- son about an unfaithful bride. God can work through beautiful people, but he specializes in re- deeming unfaithful people. This lesson holds hope for the unfaithful.
Hosea prophesied prima- rily in the northern king-
dom, even though the kings identified in verse 1 were from the southern kingdom. All the kings of Israel (northern tribes) were bad. King Jeroboam was really bad. Ahaz was one of the worst kings of Judah. Jotham was not too bad. Uzziah and Hezekiah were good. This roller coaster of royalty made Hosea’s job even more challenging. But the bigger challenge would be in his own family.
God made the unfaithful- ness of his people personal for the prophet. Early in his ministry when the word of the Lord came to him (when he would speak by God’s au- thority), Hosea received an
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