SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/31/2015
9:14 PM
My Worship Time Focus: The Names of
their Children
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Hosea 1:3-9
Message of the
verses: “3 So he went and took Gomer
the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son. 4 And the LORD
said to him, "Name him Jezreel; for yet a little while, and I will punish
the house of Jehu for the bloodshed of Jezreel, and I will put an end to the
kingdom of the house of Israel. 5 “On that day I will break the bow of Israel
in the valley of Jezreel." 6 Then she conceived again and gave birth to a
daughter. And the LORD said to him, "Name her Lo-ruhamah, for I will no
longer have compassion on the house of Israel, that I would ever forgive them. 7
“But I will have compassion on the house of Judah and deliver them by the LORD
their God, and will not deliver them by bow, sword, battle, horses or
horsemen." 8 When she had weaned
Lo-ruhamah, she conceived and gave birth to a son. 9 And the LORD said,
"Name him Lo-ammi, for you are not My people and I am not your God."”
This is not the first time that the Lord has been the One
to name an offspring of One of His followers for we read the following in
Isaiah 7:3 and also 8:3 “Then the LORD said to Isaiah, "Go out now to meet
Ahaz, you and your son Shear-jashub, at the end of the conduit of the upper
pool, on the highway to the fuller’s field,”
“So I approached the prophetess, and she conceived and gave birth to a
son. Then the LORD said to me, "Name him Maher-shalal-hash-baz.”
When God names someone He has a reason for doing so and
when we look at the names that He uses we can figure it out most of the times
He names people. The first son was
called Jezreel as seen in verses 4-5 and this name means “God sows” or “God
scatters.” Dr. Wiersbe points out that
Jezreel was a city in the tribe of Isaachar, near MT. Gilboa, and is associated
with the drastic judgment that Jehu executed on the family of Ahab (2 Kings
9-10; and see 1 Kings 21:21-24 and 2 Kings 9:6-10). So zealous was Jehu to purge the land of Ahab’s
evil descendants that he murdered far more people than the Lord commanded,
including King Ahaziah of Judah and forty-two of his relatives (:27-10:14).” The
problem with when a person kills many people can be that they want to continue
to do so and that is what Jehu did. I
don’t believe that David had such a problem for he wanted to obey the
Lord.
Now the reason that God named Hosea’s son Jezreel was
that He was going to avenge the innocent blood that was shed by Jehu and then
put an end to his dynasty in Israel. Dr.
Wiersbe points out that this happened in 752 BC, and this was forty years
before the Assyrian’s defeated Israel, the Northern Kingdom. It was in 752 BC
that Zechariah was assassinated who was the great grand-son of Jehu which ended
his dynasty.
Child number two was a daughter as seen in verses 6-7 of
Hosea chapter one and her name was Lo-ruhamah and this means “unpitied” or “not
loved.” The following statement from Dr.
Wiersbe is very important: God had loved
His people and proved it in many ways, but now He would withdraw that love and
no longer show them mercy. The expression
of God’s love is certainly unconditional, but our enjoyment of that love is
conditional and depends on our faith and obedience. (See Deut. 7:6-12 and 2 Cor. 6:14-7:1.) God would allow the Assyrians to swallow up
the Northern Kingdom, but He would protect the Southern Kingdom of Judah (Isa.
36-37; 2 Kings 19).” I think it is
important to look at the verses in both Deuteronomy and also 2 Corinthians. 6 “For you are a holy people to the LORD your
God; the LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out
of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. 7 “The LORD did not set
His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the
peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples, 8 but because the LORD loved
you and kept the oath which He swore to your forefathers, the LORD brought you
out by a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand
of Pharaoh king of Egypt. 9 “Know therefore that the LORD your God, He is God,
the faithful God, who keeps His covenant and His lovingkindness to a thousandth
generation with those who love Him and keep His commandments; 10 but repays
those who hate Him to their faces, to destroy them; He will not delay with him
who hates Him, He will repay him to his face. 11 “Therefore, you shall keep the
commandment and the statutes and the judgments which I am commanding you today,
to do them. 12 "Then it shall come
about, because you listen to these judgments and keep and do them, that the
LORD your God will keep with you His covenant and His lovingkindness which He
swore to your forefathers.”
“14 Do not be bound together with unbelievers;
for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has
light with darkness? 15 Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a
believer in common with an unbeliever? 16 Or what agreement has the temple of
God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said,
"I WILL DWELL IN THEM AND WALK AMONG THEM; AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND
THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE. 17 “Therefore, COME OUT FROM THEIR MIDST AND BE
SEPARATE," says the Lord. "AND DO NOT TOUCH WHAT IS UNCLEAN; And I
will welcome you. 18 “And I will be a father to you, And you shall be sons and
daughters to Me," Says the Lord Almighty.
1 Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves
from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of
God.”
The
last child was named Lo-ammi and is found in Hosea 1:8-9 and this also was a
son and his names means ‘not my people”
Dr. Wiersbe writes “Not only would God remove His mercy from His people,
but He would also renounce the covenant He had made with them. It was like a man divorcing his wife and
turning his back on her, or like a father rejecting his own son (See Ex. 4:22
and Hosea 11:1).”
John
MacArthur writes the following on verse nine in his study Bible: “The name means ‘not My people’ and symbolizes
God’s rejection of Israel. ‘I am not
your God.’ Lit. ‘I am no longer’ I am’
to you.’ The phrase gives the breaking
of the covenant, a kind of divorce formula, in contrast to the covenant or
marriage formula ‘I AM WHO I AM’ given in Ex. 3:14.”
5/31/2015 9:50 PM
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