Session 7 Hosea 1:2-9; 3:1-5

OBEDIENCE DEMONSTRATED (HOSEA 1:2-7)

God’s directions to Hosea.

2 When the Lord first spoke to Hosea, he said this to him:
Go and marry a woman of promiscuity, and have children of promiscuity,
for the land is committing blatant acts of promiscuity by abandoning the LORD.

3 So he went and married Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.
4 Then the LORD said to him:
Name him Jezreel, for in a little while I will bring the bloodshed of Jezreel on the house of Jehu
and put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel.
5 On that day I will break the bow of Israel in Jezreel Valley.

6 She conceived again and gave birth to a daughter, and the Lord said to him:
Name her Lo-ruhamah, for I will no longer have compassion on the house of Israel.
I will certainly take them away.
7 But I will have compassion on the house of Judah, and I will deliver them by the Lord their God.
I will not deliver them by bow, sword, or war, or by horses and cavalry.

DISCUSS:

• How does Hosea’s marriage mirror the relationship between God and His people? (p. 63).

REFLECT:

highlight the names of Hosea’s children and what their names meant.
Note how the meaning of the names relates to God’s concerns and plans for His people.

• Jezreel, represented the judgment that would come upon the kingdom of Israel in general and specifically upon the house of Jehu,
• Lo-ruhamah, meaning “not loved” or “no mercy.”

TRANSITION:

Gomer gave birth to a third child,
and that child carried a name that classified God’s relationship with Israel.