Anyone who is paying attention to current events knows that Jewish people are going through hard times.
I’ve heard the term “pogrom” used in more than one newscast. It is an accurate term, seeing the persecution and violence Jewish people face.
The word is of Russian origin and this past week we saw widespread violence against Jews with the local Russian authorities turning a blind eye to the violence.
Horrific events are nothing new to Jewish people. They are as old as the events during the days of the Old Testament prophets.
Hosea began speaking to the northern kingdom, Israel, in 760 B.C., during a time of prosperity.
Jeroboam II was the king of Israel, but there was another king, Tiglath-Pileser III. This king ruled the powerful nation Assyria and was bent on conquering the whole of the Middle East.
Hosea’s message was that the days of prosperity were about to end and defeat was at hand. Tiglath-Pileser III would be God’s instrument of judgment on the nation.
God loved His people so much that He had to put an end to their idolatry. He chose the Assyrian king to correct His beloved people.
No one wants to hear that the God they serve will use a sinful nation to execute his judgment, but about one-fourth of Hosea’s message stated that fact.
No wonder the prophets were hated and persecuted!
About one-tenth of the book is devoted to God’s future blessings. The people will not escape God’s punishment, but judgment is not the last word for the nation.
After punishment, there will be a blessing. After exile will come a return to the land. After death there is resurrection.
A Message of Blessing
God promised Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel: “I will surely do you good and make your offspring as the sand of the sea, which cannot be counted because of their number” (Genesis 32.12).
After Hosea named his children, “Jezreel,” “No mercy,” and “Not My people,” he promised name changes that reflected the fulfillment of God’s promise to Jacob/Israel.
Yet the number of the people of Israel shall be like the sand of the sea, which can be neither measured nor numbered, and in the place where it was said to them,
“You are not my people,” it shall be said to them, “Children of the living God.”
The people of Judah and the people of Israel shall be gathered together, and they shall appoint for themselves one head, and they shall rise up from the land, for great shall be the day of Jezreel.
Say to your brothers, “Ammi,” and to your sisters, “Ruhamah.” (Hosea 1.10-2.1)
What do these promises mean?
Jezreel – Three Dramatic Reversals
“Jezreel” has two meanings. It can refer to fertility when the land is sown with crops. It can also refer to a place where death and destruction reigned.
The day of Jezreel reverses death and destruction and promises the unification of Israel and Judah under a single leader, return from exile, and revival.
Ezekiel pictures this time of restoration with an inspiring promise.
“Therefore prophesy and say to them: Thus says the Lord God: I am going to open your graves and bring you up from your graves, O my people, and I will bring you back to the land of Israel.
“And you shall know that I am the Lord when I open your graves and bring you up from your graves, O my people.
“I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken and will act, says the Lord” (Ezekiel 37.12-14)
New Names
The time will come, after the fullness of punishment is complete, that Israelites will call their fellow citizens and brothers and sisters “my people/Ammi” and “shown compassion/Ruhamah.”
When we take a long view of history, we realize that Israel’s Messiah, Jesus, initiated these events.
Paul understood the relationship between the message of the prophets and the activity of Jesus better than anyone else. He used three chapters in Romans (9 through 11) to proclaim the good news of God’s grace.
Chapter 9 quotes from the passage we are studying today. I recommend you prayerfully read all three chapters, but two verses will help us with Paul’s argument.
So I ask, have they stumbled so as to fall? By no means! But through their stumbling salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous.
Now if their stumbling means riches for the world and if their loss means riches for Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean! (Romans 11.11-12).
Israel has not been rejected by God. Gentiles are not more righteous than Jews. Israelites are God’s servants through whom God’s grace reaches all humans.
Because of God’s work through His Messiah and Israel, all humans can be called “children of God.” We are as numerous as the sand of the sea. We have found mercy and are God’s people.
For this, we thank God’s servants, the Jews, and praise God for his grace.
YouTube Video
Rudy Ross and I discuss this passage on YouTube today. It is on the Bob Spradling channel.
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