MidnightCall Magazine
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News From Israel MagazineHosea 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” (Hosea 1:1).
The English translation of Hosea is “help” or “salvation.” The first three chapters of the book of Hosea describe Israel’s unfaithfulness, portrayed in Hosea’s marriage to the adulterous Gomer. Something unusual is written in verse 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.” It is unusual because Hosea did not protest; he did as he was told. Also unusual is that God had strictly forbidden such a union. Hosea followed God’s instruction to “Go and take unto thee a wife of whoredoms” because He was an obedient child of God who did what he was told. (Incidentally, the command to “go” is one of the three most important words — in addition to “come” and “do”— parents can use when teaching their children how to behave.) Let’s look at an example in the New Testament. Here a Roman centurion testified: “I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it” (Matthew 8:9). Note that this Roman soldier first admitted to being under someone’s authority,
and he also had authority over his soldiers. The centurion’s soldiers obeyed him because they saw that he obeyed others. (This also illustrates that it is difficult for parents to exercise authority over their children when they have been disobedient to God or to man.)
Here is how Hosea reacted: “So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim; which conceived, and bare him a son” (verse 3). The couple had a son whom the Lord named Jezreel: “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” (verse 4). We must again
consider the proper context of the term “house of Israel.” Jehu was king of the 10-tribe house of Israel. But Judah is also described as “house of Israel.” Daniel, for example, was identified as one of “the children of Israel” (Daniel 1:3). When Daniel confessed the sins of his people, he said, “Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy law” (Daniel 9:11). Or in verse 20: “whiles I was speaking, and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel.” Later in history, on the day of Pentecost, the Apostle Peter said: “Ye men of Israel…let all the house of Israel know assuredly…ye men of Israel…to all the people of Israel…” (Acts 2:22,36; 3:12; 4:10). But he was addressing Judah, the Jews in Jerusalem. Subsequently, they are the “house of Israel.”
It is important to stress the separation between Israel/Judah and the 10-tribe Israel. If we do not, then we will fall for the deceptive theory proclaimed within Churchianity that Israel has been rejected. This teaching says that Israel is no longer biblically significant, that it is out of the picture. But that is not the case. The 10-tribe rebellious kingdom of Israel came under total judgment, thus we read: “and will cause to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel. And it shall come to pass at that day, that I will break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel” (Hosea 1:4-5). This is the end of the military/political power structure of 10-tribe Israel.
Hosea’s wife gave birth to a daughter: “And she conceived again, and bare a daughter. And God said unto him, Call her name Loruhamah: for I will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel; but I will utterly take them away” (verse 6). Loruhamah has a message: “not under grace…no mercy…not having obtained mercy.” Hosea’s children with Gomer are a picture of God’s judgment upon 10-tribe Israel: “I will utterly take them away.”
Although some commentators would disagree, I do like to point to the next verse, which clearly shows the diff e rence between the 10-tribe house of Israel and the house of Judah: “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” (verse 7). Note the mercy Judah will experience is not a political or military achievement; it will purely be an act of grace: “not…by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, by horses, nor by horsemen.” That means the entire military force will not be effective nor will it participate in the act of mercy.
If the Jews had taken note of such prophecies, they would not have rebelled against Babylon, the Persians, the Greeks or the Romans; there would not have been a Judah/Maccabee revolt or the tragedy at Masada.
Israel will have to wait — but for what? They are waiting for the Promised One, the Messiah of Israel, to be revealed. This waiting is the strength of the Jews.
I am reading a book now by Ludwig Stern, who writes: “I confirm with perfect honesty the absolute assurance that I am waiting for the coming of the Messiah, though He may delay long, I shall patiently wait for Him daily until He comes.”
That is what many believers call the “imminency of the Lord’s return.” We are not waiting for a certain day, date or Jewish holiday, nor are we waiting for signs and wonders. We are waiting for the coming of Jesus in the clouds of heaven. The Lord Himself admonished. “Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh” (Matthew 24:44).
Another child was born: “Now when she had weaned Loruhamah, she conceived, and bare a son. Then said God, Call his name Loammi: for ye are not my people, and I will not be your God” (verses 8-9). God also named the third child Loammi, which means “not my people.”
Immediately following this devastating prophecy is an amazing statement of hope and salvation: “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” (verse 10). This should confirm our belief that Israel collectively — that is, Israel/Judah and the remnant of the 10-tribe Israel — is still referred to as “the sons of the living God.”
Obviously, there is no outward evidence of such at this moment. Much can be said — good and bad — about the outside of the boundaries of time as we understand it; for Him, a thousand years are as one day and one day is as a thousand years. That statement negates all mathematical theories because it goes far beyond any of our reasonable calculations.
Israel’s existence is actually based on the existence of the universe, as we read in Jeremiah 31:35-36: “Thus saith the LORD, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The LORD of hosts is his name: If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the LORD, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever.” Although Israel ceased to be a nation as a visible manifestation on earth for more than 2,000 years, from God’s perspective Israel never ceased to be a nation and it never will.
Jews today. Yet that does not change God’s eternal resolutions. We mustn’t make the mistake of trying to jam the fulfillment of prophecy into our understanding of earthly time. God exists Then finally, “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” (verse 11). Here we see the gathering of the remnant of the children of Israel to the tribe of Judah. Thus, today Jews in general do not identify themselves by tribe, but all are called Jews.
When the Lord saves Judah with the remnant of the 10-tribe Israel, He will do it based on His grace, as we read in verse 7. Then they will “appoint themselves one head.” That one head is the One they shall mourn for, as documented in Zechariah 12:10: “And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.”
We do not know what the new year will hold, but we know who holds the future in His hand. Blessed are those who keep their spiritual ears tuned to the precious, Holy Word of God. They will not be ashamed at His coming.
With these words, we at Midnight Call Ministries wish you the Lord’s blessings by and through His presence during the new year!