Hosea 1 – 7 and New Tool Case

Hosea 1 – 7

From the first verse of Hosea, we learn that he was a prophet during the years Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah were kings of Judah and Jeroboam son of Jehoash was king of Israel.

In order to show “how Israel acted like a prostitute by turning against the Lord and worshiping other gods,” the Lord had Hosea marry a prostitute “so some of her children would be conceived in prostitution.”

Just as Isaiah obeyed God and walked around naked and barefoot for three years, Hosea was an obedient prophet and married the prostitute Gomer. The two of them had a son that God told him to name Jezreel because the Lord intended to break Israel’s military power and punish King Jehu’s dynasty for the murders he carried out in Jezreel.

Hosea and Gomer’s second child was a daughter named Lo-ruhamah – ‘Not Loved’ because the Lord wanted demonstrate two things:

• He would no longer show love to the people of Israel or forgive them
• He would show love to the people of Judah and free them from their enemies by his power

A prolific couple, Hosea and Gomer’s third child was a son, named Lo-ammi or ‘Not My People.’ This illustrates that Israel was no longer the Lord’s people and the Lord was not their God. But God would also unite Israel and Judah and they would choose one leader for themselves and return from exile together. This would be called the “Day of Jezreel.”

The Lord continues to use Hosea and his wife to illustrate what he will accomplish for Israel and Judah, in the end, winning her back again wand in that day, Israel will call God ‘my husband’ instead of ‘my master.’ Then, God would make Israel his wife forever. “In the last days, they will tremble in awe of the Lord and of his goodness.”

Hosea does issue a number of warnings to both Israel and Judah.

Tomorrow, we’ll be reading Hosea 8 – 14.

New Tool Case

Last week, I bought an angled-utility knife, but didn’t realize until I got it home that the blade is exposed at all times. It is a great tool and really helps with cutting leather.

Since I don’t trust myself having sharp instruments around, I decided to make a case for it:

Now, I just tuck this case in a handy pocket in my tool bag. It works great. 

Until next time…