"Then said [God], Call his name Lo-ammi: for ye [are] not my people, and I will not be your [God]. Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, [that] in the place where it was said unto them, Ye [are] not my people, [there] it shall be said unto them, [Ye are] the sons of the living God." Hosea 1:9-10 (Read Hosea, chapter one)
God sent Hosea the prophet to warn the people of Israel of His coming judgments for their unfaithfulness to Him. Like a wife who had played the harlot and been unfaithful to her husband, so the people of Israel had been unfaithful to the LORD God who had redeemed them and taken them as His own people and bride.
God had Hosea illustrate His message by taking a wife who had been a prostitute and have children by her, giving them names which testified to God's judgments: Jezreel because God was about to avenge the blood of Jezreel on the house of Jehu; Lo-ruhamah because God was no longer to deal with the house of Israel in mercy but, instead, exercise His judgment upon them for their unfaithfulness; and Lo-ammi because God no longer regarded the people of Israel (the northern kingdom) as His people.
But God also said: "Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, [that] in the place where it was said unto them, Ye [are] not my people, [there] it shall be said unto them, [Ye are] the sons of the living God."
Though the people of Israel were being cut off for their unfaithfulness, the LORD was going to fill His kingdom. Where it was said of people that they were not God's people, they would be called sons of the living God. People who were not God's people would be called God's people (cf. 1 Peter 2:9-10).
Though God's judgment came to pass and the people of the northern tribes of Israel were swept away by the Assyrians, yet God has shown mercy unto us. We, for the most part, are not physical descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. We were not among God's chosen people. Yet the LORD God has shown us great mercy in revealing to us His Son and all Christ Jesus has done for us by His innocent sufferings and death upon the cross. He has graciously adopted us as His own dear children, bringing us to faith in Christ Jesus through the hearing of the Gospel (cf. Eph. 1:3ff.; 2:11ff.; Col. 1:19ff.; Gal. 3:26ff.).
While the children of Israel were ammi (God's people), through their whoredoms and idolatry they became lo-ammi (not God's people). And we, who were lo-ammi, are now ammi and have obtained unfathomable mercy from the LORD God in Christ Jesus our Savior!
The prophecy of Hosea is a warning to all who turn away from the LORD that His mercy can be taken from them. Instead of dealing with them as sons, He may finally have to judge them as His enemies.
But the prophecy brings great comfort to us in that God has shown us, who were not God's people, great mercy, forgiving all our sins for Jesus' sake. Instead of dealing with us as our sins deserve, He graciously forgives and accepts us as His own dear children for the sake of Jesus' sufferings and death on the cross in our stead (cf. Ps. 103:8-12).
O gracious and merciful God, keep us from unfaithfulness to You and grant us Your mercy and grace for Jesus' sake. Amen.
[Devotion by Randy Moll. Scripture from the King James Version of the Bible. More devotions at www.goodshepherdrogers.org.]
Editorial on 10/01/2014