Hosea 1:9
Then said God, Call his name Loammi: for ye are not my people, and I will not be your God.
Lo-ammi "Not My people." It is demonstrated from Scripture that Israel alone, with one exceptional case, is called "People"; the nations of the earth are never so-called except in the plural - "peoples." To one nation only has the title "My People" ever been given, and that is Israel. The exception is found in Titus 2:14, where The Church is spoken of as a peculiar people, but that title is used while Israel themselves are "lo-ammi," not My people. At the time of Acts, twenty-eight Israel passes off the scene, and the parenthetical Dispensation of The Mystery begins. See "The Acts 28 Crisis".
With this great Dispensational feature indicated by the words lo-ammi, we approach under the following headings:
- The testimony of Acts thirteen to the lo-ammi period that was approaching.
- The O.T. illustration provided in the Book of Judges.
- The prophecy of Hosea, where the name lo-ammi occurs.
Acts thirteen records the opening of Paul's great missionary activity. A Jew who withstood the preaching of The Gospel to the Gentiles is blinded, and a Gentile is a saved one in dramatic fashion of the sequel found in Acts twenty-eight, where the nation of Israel is blinded and salvation sent to the Gentiles. Acts 13:16-41 is the record of Paul's witness in the synagogue at Antioch, and it opens and closes with a reference to Israel, which involves the recognition of the "lo-ammi" principle.
The prophet Hosea supplies us with the title of Israel, 'Lo-ammi,' that provides a key to the fulfillment of prophecy and to the understanding of the present parenthetical Dispensation of The Mystery.
Hosea
The restoration of Israel symbolized and promised.
The prophecy of Hosea follows those of Jonah and Amos so far as chronological order is concerned but stands at the head of the twelve minor prophets in the Hebrew canon. The name Hosea is the Hebrew word for "salvation" and appears in chapter one of the Promise;
"But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah, and will SAVE them by the Lord their God, and will not SAVE them by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, by horses, nor by horsemen" (Hosea 1:7).
This promise might well be taken as the key promise of the prophecy. The word reappears in the closing section of the prophecy.
"Thou shalt have no god but Me; for there is no SAVIOUR beside Me" (Hos. 13:4).
"I will be thy King: where is any other that may SAVE thee in all thy cities?" (Hos. 13:10).
"Asshur shall not SAVE us; we will not ride upon horses; neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, Ye are our gods: for in Thee the fatherless findeth mercy" (Hos. 14:3).
The reader will not fail to observe how this last reference perfectly balances the first, even with the inclusion of the word "mercy." This insistence upon the words "salvation" and "save," suggested by the name of the Prophet, is a feature that is noticeable in another grouping of the prophets in the Hebrew canon. The term "prophet" covers some books that are historical rather than predictive and opens with the book of Joshua and closes with the book of the minor prophets, considered as one book. The "prophets," therefore, of the Hebrew canon open with "Joshua," the Salvation of the Lord, the Captain, and closes with "Joshua," the Salvation of the Lord, the High Priest. The whole prophetic section of the O.T. is bounded by the name borne by THE Saviour, for "Jesus" is but the Greek spelling of Joshua, as a reference to Acts 7:45 and Hebrews 4:8, will show.
A discussion on such a theme as "the nature of God" is naturally outside the scope of studies such as this, but none should be able to read the words "I will . . . save them by the LORD their God" (Hos. 1:7) without being struck by its peculiar phraseology. It is "The LORD" Who is the speaker, verse 4, "And the LORD said . . . I will avenge. . . I will break. . . And (God, the word supplied by the A.V.) said. . . I will no more. . . I will utterly. . . I will have mercy &c. and will save." If the passage had read, "I will save them by Myself," it would have been readily understood. It must be remembered that of "God, Absolute, and Unconditioned," we know and can know nothing. He Himself is greater than all His names and by His very nature Unnameable. In this verse in Hosea, we see, as it were, God Himself referring to Himself in the realm of the manifest and the conditioned. He is "Jehovah THEIR God," Who in the fullness of time became Man and was known as "The Man Christ Jesus."
The opening chapters of Hosea (1-3) are chiefly characterized by the fact that the Prophet enacts in his own family life the message that he has to tell, and this is followed by another section (4-14) in which the Prophet, while still using the symbol, speaks the message by word of mouth.
"The beginning of the word of the LORD by Hosea. And the LORD said to Hosea, Go take unto thee a wife" (Hos. 1:2).
"Go yet, love a woman" (Hos. 3:1).
"Hear the word of the LORD, ye children of Israel" (Hos. 4:1).
This is the continuance of the prophecy of Hosea. The word translated as "beginning" is not the same as that found in Genesis 1:1. It is the Hebrew chalal and is found again in the margin of Hosea 8:10, where the text reads "sorrow." It may appear strange to the casual reader that a word can mean either "beginning" or "sorrow," but the fact is that the idea of a "beginning" is a derived meaning, the primary idea of chalal being "to perforate," thence by stages "to lay open," "to give access and so profane or defile," and eventually "to begin" in the sense of "opening."
While a verbal connection between the word "beginning" and the subsequent strange episode in the life of the prophet would not be evident to the English reader, Hosea, who was commissioned by God to "take a wife of whoredoms" (Hos. 1:2) would scarcely fail to note the word "beginning" was derived from the word meaning "to lay open, profane, defile," and employed by Moses and other writers for the very pollution and profanation he was called upon to exhibit (Lev. 21:7, Lev. 21:9, Lev. 21:14, Lev. 19:29).
It does not necessarily follow that Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim, was an immoral woman. It means that she was of "Israel" as distinct from "Judah," for Israel, that is, the Ten Tribes, had become idolaters, having their own sanctuary at Beth-el. We have already learned about the "altars of Beth-el" from the prophet Amos, and Hosea refers to Beth-el in Hos. 10:15 and Hos. 12:4 in a markedly contrasted manner.
The two marriage contracts into which Hosea entered are highly significant and must now be examined.
- A Hos. 1:2. "Go take a wife of whoredoms"
- B Hos. 1:2. Meaning, the departure of the land from the LORD
- C Hos. 1:3. Hosea takes Gomer
- D Hos. 1:4-2:23.
- E Hos. 1:4-9. The three children.
- Prophetic Significance
a Jezreel'" I will avenge" - b Lo-ruhamah "Not. . . mercy"
- c Lo-ammi "Not My people"
- F Hos. 1:10-11, Hos. 2:1. Prophetic import of the three names
- F Hos. 2:2-22. The prophetic fulfillment of three names
- E Hos. 2:23. The three children.
- a Jezreel "I will sow"
- b Ruhamah "Mercy"
- c Ammi "My people"
- A Hos. 3:1. "Go yet love . . . an adulteress"
- B Hos. 3:1. Meaning. Israel, who looks to other gods
- C Hos. 3:2. Hosea buys her, with the price of a slave
- D Hos. 3:4,5
- E Hos. 3:4. Many days
- Prophetic Significance
- F Hos. 3:4. Abide without a king etc.
- E Hos. 3:5. Afterwards
- F Hos. 3:5. Return. . . Lord and David, their king
- E Hos. 3:5. Latter days.
It is evident by this disposition of the subject matter that these two marriage contracts entered into by the Prophet were intended to set forth in symbol the relationship of the Lord to (Prophetic Significance) Israel, their defection, the long period of their estrangement, and their final restoration.
The names of the three children who were born were most certainly given because of their typical meaning. The name of the wife, Gomer, does not appear to have been chosen because of its meaning but because of its association. Gomer was the name of a northern people of Japhetic origin (Gen. 10:2). Some believe that from these descended the Cimerii, the ancestors of the Cymry or the Welsh. Israel, by their sins and idolatry, had put themselves in the position of the far-off Gentiles. The three children of this marriage were named by God's instruction Jezreel, Lo-ruhamah, and Lo-ammi (Hos. 1:4, Hos. 1:6, and Hos. 1:9).
Jezreel. First, it should be observed that there is in this name a paronomasia between Israel (Yisrael) and Jezreel (Yizrael). Then, it must be remembered that two words similar in sound provide a further prophetic foreshadowing. The Hebrew word "to sow" is zara, and the Hebrew word "to scatter" is zarah, so the expressions "may God sow" and "may God scatter" appear very similar to the eye and ear in the original. Israel was to be "scattered" among the nations (Lev. 26:33, Jer. 31:10), but eventually, they were to be "sown" again in their own land (Jer. 31:27). The prophet Zechariah uses the word "sow" with the meaning equivalent to "scatter" (Zech. 10:9). The scattered tribes of Israel were known as "the dispersion" (Ezek. 12:15, John 7:35) and "the twelve tribes scattered abroad" (Jas. 1:1) where the Greek word for "seed" spora enters into the composition of the word diaspora "the dispersed or scattered."
In this name, therefore, of Hosea's firstborn son, the whole of Israel's history is compressed. They shall be scattered, but they shall at last be gathered. The names of the two children that followed are prophetic of the condition of Israel during this scattering, Lo-ruhamah meaning "not having obtained mercy," Lo-ammi meaning "not My people."
The "lo-ammi" period of Israel's scattering is of the utmost importance to the right understanding of the dispensational place of The Mystery and The Church of the One Body. Israel became "lo-ammi" at the time of Acts 28:28 when, for the first time in history, it could be said "the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles" independently of Israel. In God's good time, a complete reversal will be made of all the conditions that are now associated with Israel's blindness, which reversal is the subject of Hosea 2:23. -
"I will sow," Jezreel, the second meaning attached to the Hebrew name;
"I will have mercy," removing the negative "lo" from the name Lo-ruhamah and
"My people," removing the negative "lo" from the name lo-ammi. Great shall be the day of Jezreel when this blessed reversal takes place (Hos. 1:11).
The second relationship of Hosea is given in chapter three. The word translated "friend" in Hosea 3:1 is the Hebrew rea, which differs from the word translated "evil" in the vowel points and is usually translated as ra. The LXX translators translate this verse as "go yet, and love a woman that loves evil things and an adulteress," and it is in line with the truth for which this symbol stands that these words should refer to the same woman - Gomer - who had acted unfaithfully even as Israel had done. We sincerely hope that by so concluding, we have not said evil of an innocent person and must, of course, leave the matter to the judgment of the reader or, better still, to the judgment of "that day."
The woman in view had evidently become seriously involved, for the price paid by Hosea was the price demanded for the liberation of a slave. The symbolism of this new marital transaction is then explained:
"For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a King, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim. Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the LORD their God, and David their king: And shall fear the LORD and His goodness in the latter days" (Hos. 3:4-5).
The interval of the "many days" is to be characterized by a mutual "abiding" or "waiting." The woman was to "abide" without further unfaithfulness; the man would abide and wait also. This waiting negative attitude is explained by the sixfold negation of verse 4. Israel has had no "king" since the days of their captivity. On the other hand, the very scattering among the nations has made it impossible for any foreign prince to rule over them. Since the destruction of Jerusalem, Israel has been deprived of the right to offer sacrifice, but since the days of their captivity, they have never again fallen under the old spell of idolatry; they have had no priest in the true sense of the word, but neither have they teraphim.
The Bible student needs no explanation of these terms, except perhaps the last, teraphim. This word is variously explained, but always with a consciousness that much to do with its origin and intention is unknown. Dr. J. E. Shelley contributed a suggestive article to the Bible League Quarterly in 1939 in which he speaks of the "generations" that compose the bulk of the Book of Genesis and suggests that these "ancestral tablets" were called teraphim by association with Terah the father of Abraham, and says that "certain Jewish legends represent Terah as actually a maker of idols." The word "teraphim" occurs but six times in the English of the A.V. All the references, apart from Hosea three, are found in Judges seventeen and eighteen. The word occurs, however, fifteen times altogether in the O. T., being translated as "image," "idolatry," and "idol." It was the teraphim that Rachel stole and hid (Gen. 31:19-35). It was the teraphim that Michal placed in the bed vacated by David (1 Sam. 19:13-16). In 1 Samuel 15:23, Ezekiel 21:21, and Zechariah 10:2, it will be seen that the teraphim were consulted and associated with witchcraft and divination.
"When the temple in Jerusalem was burned in A.D. 70, all the genealogical records of Israel's tribes were utterly destroyed. There is no man among the Jews today who can prove definitely of which tribe he is, by giving his genealogical records" (Dr. J. E. Shelley). Current DNA technology has begun to unravel the genealogical membership.
Israel had long been without a king when they entered their lo-ammi condition in Acts twenty-eight. The last thing to go at the destruction of the temple would have been their genealogical records. Since that date, Israel has "waited" and must wait until a priest stands up with Urim and Thummim - in other words until the Lord Himself returns.
The words of Hosea 6:1-2 suggest that the period covered by this "abiding" will be "two days," which in the symbolical use of the term may cover the two thousand years that may intervene before their complete restoration. As we have no certain knowledge as to when this period actually started, it is useless to attempt to compute the date of Israel's restoration, but we can read the signs of the times.
The return of Israel, with the confession that they will make, constitutes the closing chapter of this prophecy. All is graciously reversed. Instead of being lo-ammi and lo-ruhamah, the fatherless find mercy (Hos. 14:3). Their backsliding is healed, and this restored people grow as the lily, have the beauty of the olive, the odor of Lebanon, with their fruit derived alone from the Lord.
Finally, let us never forget that not only will Israel be "not My people" during this dark period of their history, but God declared, "I will not be your God."
Let those who treat the record of Acts twenty-eight with scant concern think again what the intervening nineteen hundred years would have been like had no parenthetical dispensation come into being.
