Hosea 2

Chapter 2 opens with a thought that is a continuation of chapter 1:10-11. After God has told the northern kingdom that they will cease to exist, that He will have no mercy upon them, that they will no longer be His people, He informs them that there will be a return and that they will be His people again. This is almost surely a Messianic prophecy. Note verses 10 and 11 of chapter 1: “Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or numbered.  And it shall come to pass in the place where it was said to them, 'You are not My people,' there it shall be said to them, 'You are sons of the living God.' Then the children of Judah and the children of Israel shall be gathered together, and appoint for themselves one head; and they shall come up out of the land, for great will be the day of Jezreel!” The “one head” is Christ. We can be certain of this because there is a similar thought in chapter 2:23—“Then I will sow her for Myself in the earth, and I will have mercy on her who had not obtained mercy; then I will say to those who were not My people, 'You are My people!' And they shall say, 'You are my God!'” This definitely pertains to the Christian age because Paul quotes this verse in Romans 9:25-26 and applies it to the Gentiles being called into the church equally with the Jews. So the “children of Judah and children of Israel” in 1:10-11 refer to spiritual Israel, the church, not physical Israel.  Compare the material in the passages above that I have italicized, which also indicates a concurrent meaning.

One more thought in this regard. The word “Jezreel” can mean “to scatter” or “to sow.” The Jews were “scattered” because of their wickedness, but the “sowing” of the Word of God brings all men together under Christ. Notice Jezreel and sowing are found in both 1:10-2:1 and 2:23.

Chapter 2:2-13 is an indictment against the Israel of Hosea’s day, using basically the same figure of harlotry that’s found in chapter 1. Israel has been unfaithful and God will have no mercy. Another key theme is established in 2:8 which comes up frequently in Hosea: “For she did not know That I gave her grain, new wine, and oil, And multiplied her silver and gold-- Which they prepared for Baal.” She did not know…ignorance of God’s word will destroy people every time. God gave Israel wonderful blessings; Israel turned around and offered them to a Canaanite fertility god, Baal. Thus, her punishment (vs. 9-13) was just.

Yet verse 14 picks up the imagery that continues through the rest of the chapter: God will “betroth” Israel to Himself again, but remember, it is spiritual Israel that is meant, not physical Israel (Romans 9:25-26). We simply must, Must, MUST let the Bible interpret itself, and if the Holy Spirit says this applies to the church, then it applies to the church and nobody can change that.  After all, He wrote both Hosea and Romans, so He ought to know what they mean.