Hosea 1

Hosea ministered in the northern Jewish kingdom of Israel from about 750-722 BC. Assyrian invaders from what is now northern Iraq overran the kingdom in 722 BC, dissolved the government, deported the leading citizens who survived the war, and annexed the land as a new province of the empire. The empire was unable to capture Jerusalem.

It’s unclear if the woman, Gomer (verse 3), made a living with sex or treated it as a hobby. The Hebrew word, zenunim, can refer to a hooker or to someone who sleeps around, flirts with bedroom eyes, or reaches under the dinner table to grab the thigh of another person’s spouse. Hosea could have married a hooker, flirter, or grabber. Whatever Gomer was it wasn’t monogamous.

Uh, really? God told a devoted prophet to marry a woman with a Bad Girl reputation, which was practiced and well-deserved. Long before the birth of Christ and Christianity, Jewish scholars debated Hosea’s marriage. Some said the marriage was just part of his vision.  God often spoke in dreams, called visions of the night. Others said, no, Hosea literally married a prostitute or perhaps just a Loosie Goosy who liked guys a little too much. Either way, the marriage was a metaphor to reflect the Jewish people’s spiritual infidelity. As a nation, Israel had taken a vow of devotion to one God: “You can’t have any gods but me” (Exodus 20:3). But they started sleeping around with other gods. In some religions, the sex was literal. Worshipers had sex with shrine prostitutes and priests, as a worship ritual.

We’re left to guess whether this child or any that follow belonged to Hosea.

“Jezreel” means “God plants.” Jezreel is the name of a wide valley—fertile farmland in northern Israel.

Jehu was an Israelite commander of a chariot corps a century earlier. He led a coup against King Ahab’s son and successor, King Jeroboam. Jehu killed the king and the king’s infamous mother, Jezebel. Then he ordered all the men in the family—70 of them—executed. He ordered their heads piled up at the front gate of Jezreel—a royal getaway retreat. He killed the king’s family, friends, and public officials as well. And then he declared himself king, the first of a new family dynasty.

Lo-Ruhamah, is Hebrew for “Not Loved.”

Lo-Ammi, is Hebrew for “Not Mine.”

What does “a great day for Jezreel” mean? Here’s one of many educated guesses. The Jezreel Valley was famous for two things: battles and farming—which Hosea may have used as metaphors. God would plant a garden of Jews by bringing the exiles of Babylon back to their homeland. And they would become a military might. Napoleon called the sprawling valley the “perfect battlefield.” Gideon fought Midianites there. Deborah’s army defeated an invading chariot corps. Jezreel was the ancient version of our “Gettysburg” or “Pearl Harbor” or “Omaha Beach.” The valley, even today, is Israel’s breadbasket of primo farmland. Jezreel, once infamous for the murder of Ahab’s family dynasty, would become part of a respected and powerful nation.