Several of the Jewish prophets, notably Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel, were called upon to carry out symbolic actions in order to reinforce or explain their messages, and in this way they were able to secure attention which mere words would not have evoked from the particular audiences to which they spoke. The most tremendous parable of this kind in the Old Testament is, however, that of the prophet Hosea, for it is set against the background of the prophet’s whole life, and its theme is his domestic tragedy The time of Hosea’s prophesying corresponded with the last days of the Northern Kingdom of Israel, when iniquity grew steadily worse until the Assyrian captivity brought an end to the misuse of the prophets. The prophet brooded deeply over the lawlessness of his countrymen, and his life was colored by it.
His story begins with his marriage to Gomer Bath Diblaim (possibly meaning daughter of fig cakes ), probably in early life He was told to take a wife of whoredoms Whether this means that he knew before he married Gomer that she was a harlot (possibly a temple prostitute) or whether it was only later, when comparing her conduct with that of Israel, that he perceived the hand of God in his affairs, is uncertain The narrative would suggest the former, but the unfolding of his parable indicates the latter, or at least that he was ignorant of her true character.
The first child of the marriage was a boy, and the name given to him was symbolic He was called Jezreel or God sows Jezreel had been the capital of Israel during the reign of the dynasty established by Jehu Elisha had welcomed Jehu’s apparent movement to overthrow Baalism, but later events had shown that Jehu’s destruction of the Baal worshippers has had no high religious motive, but was only the removal of those who threatened his power Therefore, his blood shedding would be avenged by the destruction of his dynasty This occurred when King Zechariah was assassinated by Shallum Thus God, using the evil desires of men, sowed punishment for impiety.
Hosea’s second child was a girl She received the figurative name Lo ruhamah or ‘ Unpitied,’ because God no longer had sympathy for Israel. Later, another son was born and was called Lo-ammi or ‘Not my people,” for God had cut off Israel The names suggest a definite progression First, the rejection of the ruling house, then the withdrawal of the divine sympathy, and finally, complete rejection of the nation This period of Hosea’s life lasted for several years, for it is revealed (chapter 1 8) that Lo ammi was not born until Lo ruhamah was weaned and it was not the practice in those days to wean children until they were two or three.
After the births of the children, the prophets tragedy deepened His wife began to seek her happiness away from him, and eventually she left him altogether Later, she is heard of as a harlot, apparently a slave concubine (chapter 3 1), and the ruin of the house was complete Hosea s love for her was un quenched, however, and the time came when God told him to fulfill his heart’s desire and buy her back again So he redeemed her for fifteen pieces of silver and a homer and a half of barley He spoke comfortably to her of all that might still be, but said that before she could be restored to full marital rights, she must undergo a period of probation ‘Thou shalt abide for me many days thou shalt not play the harlot, and thou shalt not be for another man so will I also he for thee’ (verse 3) With tenderness he brought her from her shame, and if the conclusion of the real life parable corresponded with the conclusion of its interpretation, still to be explored, we may reasonably think that the prophet’s great fidelity, constancy and gentleness met its due reward in a future which amply redeemed the past.
In the interpretation of the parable, Hosea represents God, and Gomer represents Israel. In his later chapters the prophet shows graphically what God had done for Israel previously. In a succession of expressive figures, he tells how God had taken Israel when a child and had delivered her from Egypt (chapter 11: 3). He had taught her to walk and led her by the hand (Chapter 11:5); He had brought her into His own land of Canaan (9:3); He had given her corn, wine, and oil, as well as silver and gold (2-8); He had provided His law (4:6); and had sent His prophets to guide her (6:5). Why had God done this? Running throughout Hosea’s prophecy is the figure, familiar in Old Testament literature, of a marriage. Israel was the bride of God, and in His tender love for her, He had wooed her and made her His wife. What He asked in return was only that Israel should carry out the duties of a wife in responding to her husband’s love. No insincere protestations of affection for Him were satisfactory. He desired mercy, loyalty, and kindly affection, not merely sacrifice, and knowledge of Himself rather than burnt offerings.
How did Israel respond? Just as Gomer was unfaithful to Hosea, so Ephraim forsook Jehovah, and, following the chosen figure, preferred other lovers. This infidelity showed itself in two ways. The first was the rejection of the worship of Jehovah. A besetting sin of Israel throughout their history was the tendency to fall into Baal worship. Attempts were made by prophets and even by some of the kings to turn them away from such worship, but neither was successful for very long. The fascination was too great to be resisted. So it was in the time of Hosea. Baal and calf worship claimed many adherents (chapter 8:5,6). Even in referring to Jehovah by name, the people spoke of Him as Baali—”my Baal” or “my Lord” (2:16).
Israel’s unfaithfulness or adultery found another expression also. This took the form of disregarding the oft-repeated promise of divine protection from enemies without, in favor of an endeavor to find security by playing off the power of Assyria against that of Egypt. While these intrigues and counter intrigues were natural enough from a human point of view, they required considerable diplomatic skill to maintain successfully. Such skill seems to have been lacking, and the necessary bribery, such as that offered by Menahem, one of the usurpers of Hosea’s time, to Tiglath Pilesser III (2nd Kings 15:19) brought no permanent relief. The chief condemnation of those tactics, however, was that they were a forsaking of Jehovah. From the divine point of view, expressed by the prophet, they were both pathetic and wicked. On the one hand, they presented a spectacle of Israel as a silly dove fluttering helplessly between Assyria and Egypt, deriving true help from neither (Ch. 7:11). On the other hand, they were an offence against the love of God, and an adulterous hiring of lovers (8:9).
For all this unfaithfulness, God must cast them away. Already in Hosea’s lifetime the signs of coming doom were seen. First, the struggle for the throne showed that God was sowing His punishment for infidelity. After the death of Jeroboam II, who was reigning when Hosea commenced to prophecy, there were three kings in a year, two of whom attained the position by murder (2nd Kings 15:8-14). The court was so depraved that anything might happen there (chapter 7:5-7). In the country there was nothing but killing and stealing and committing adultery (chapter 4:2), and lust and liquor robbed men of their wits (4: 11). Small wonder that the people should be Lo-ruhamah (“Unpitied”) and Loammi (“Rejected”). The climax of divine rejection was not long delayed. The diplomatic scheme of courting Assyria or Egypt as the situation suggested was broken through by Shalmaneser of Assyria, who brought the kingdom to an end summarily. The prosperity of Ephraim was dried up as a fertile country is dried up by an east wind from the desert and by lack of water (chapter 13: 15). What happened to Hosea in the upheaval is not known.
Was this the end? It could not be. Just as Hosea could not forget Gomer in spite of her shame, so God could not forget Israel. “How shall I give thee up, Ephraim?” are the words spoken for Jehovah by the prophet (chapter 11:8). Of old, He had avouched them to be His peculiar people, and if their punishment was inevitable, it was not final. First, their God would cast them away and they should be wanderers among the nations (chapter 9:17). They should abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and even without any of the trappings of their backsliding religion: image, ephod (not, in this case, the priestly garment, but a kind of image—see Judges 8:24-27) or teraphim (household gods—chapter 3:4). Then God would allure them and bring them into the wilderness and speak comfortably unto them (Hosea 2:14). Finally, He would bring them back to their own land, and there they would avow their follies, confessing that neither foreign alliances nor idols could save them. God would heal their backsliding and would love them freely (chapter 14:3,4 and 8).
All the old evil processes, typified largely by the names of Hosea’s children would be reversed. Israel should hear Jezreel (chapter 2:22). God should sow again, not this time a crop of punishment for unfaithfulness, but a sowing of righteousness bringing a harvest of happiness, typified by abundance of corn, oil and wine. The names of Jezreel’s sister and brother would be amended to become Ru-hamah and Ammi, so that God would have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy (Lo-ruhamah), and He would say to them which were not His people (Lo-ammi), Ammi (“Thou art my people”), and they should say in reply, “Thou art my God” (chapter 2: 23). God would betroth them unto Him forever; yea, He would betroth them unto Him in righteousness, in judgment, in loving kindness, in mercies and in faithfulness (chapter 2:19,20). The people would no longer refer to Jehovah by the name Baali, “my Lord,” but should speak of Him as “Ishi” or “husband” chapter 2:16). Thus on the huge canvas of a man’s life sorrows was painted the word picture explaining God to Israel. Those who lived when the events were taking place were, perhaps, too near the picture to perceive its full meaning, though the more reflective among them must have seen in Hosea’s interpretation of his trials a “door of hope.” We who stand away from the painting, however, can easily see its design and understand its message that whatever has gone wrong in the past, God will, at His own time, still “be as the dew unto Israel.”
It has its lessons for us, too. The marriage figure is not confined to the Old Testament. It has great prominence in the New. There the new Israel are represented as the bride of Christ. The story will not have the full working out in captivity as happened in Israel, after the flesh. Nevertheless, the requirement of Jesus from His betrothed, even before marriage, is the same as that of Hosea from Gomer and of God from Israel. Loyalty and kindly affection are still the sovereign virtues. Let us not be unfaithful as some of them were unfaithful, and were rejected of God. A heavy price of woe was paid by Hosea for the lessons which he taught by the parable of his life. He must have been a man of singular charm and longsuffering, and most resolute to obey the voice of God. Jesus found his words helpful, and twice quoted his greatest single expression, “I will have mercy and not sacrifice” when justifying the doing of good on the Sabbath (Matthew 9:13 and 12:7); while the Apostle Paul definitely connects that part of his parable which relates to his children’s names with the call of the Gentiles: “Even to us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles. As he saith also in Osee, I will call them my people, which were not my people; and her beloved, which was not beloved. And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people; there shall they be called the children of the living God” (Romans 9:24-26).
The parable of Gomer is well summed up in the concluding words of her noble and forgiving spouse: “Who is wise and he shall understand these things? prudent, and he shall know them? for the ways of the Lord are right, and the just shall walk in them: but the transgressors shall fall therein?.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One