“‘Yet the Israelites will be like the sand on the seashore, which cannot be measured or counted. In the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ they will be called ‘sons of the living God.”’’
~ Hosea 1:10
Hi James and Ellen,
What do you hope that the person will be like who you will someday marry? Your grandpaa is sure that you are not thinking right now about what the person will be like who you will someday marry. While your grandpaa one day was in his high school English class, your grandpaa’s English teacher asked the guys and gals in her class if they were hoping to get married one day. When your grandpaa did not say anything, Mrs. Schultz – your grandpaa’s English teacher, asked your grandpaa if he hoped to get married someday. Your grandpaa told Mrs, Schultz that if he ever met a gal who was willing to marry him that your grandpaa would marry that gal. Your grandpaa when he was in high school was not looking for a gal to marry. Your grandpaa, grandmaa and a sister of your grandpaa were students from the fall of 1961 to the spring of 1962 at Dordt College in Sioux Center, Iowa. God really blessed your grandpaa when He had your grandpaa meet your grandmaa when Catie – your grandpaa’s sis, had your grandmaa come with her over a weekend to her home that is on a farm outside Volga, South Dakota. Your grandpaa’s sis and your grandmaa roomed in the same dorm house in Sioux Center. Your dad’s Uncle Tom told your grandpaa one day that your grandpaa marrying your grandmaa was the best thing that your grandpaa has ever done in his life. Your grandpaa knows that having your grandmaa marry him was the best thing that will ever happen in his life. Your grandpaa knows that you know how special that your grandmaa is. Your grandmaa and grandpaa have been married for over 56 years as of this editing. What do you think will be the best thing that will ever happen in your lives?
Ask your dad and/or ma to explain to you what a prostitute is. A prostitute makes a living selling her body to guys. Your grandpaa is sure that you do not know a prostitute. Your grandpaa does not know a prostitute. Your grandpaa has seen prostitutes. Would you ever want to marry a gal who makes a living selling her body to guys so that . . . your grandpaa believes that a prostitute has to be a very desperate or hurt gal to do what she does to make a living. God told Hosea to marry a prostitute. Hosen for about thirty-five years was one of God’s prophet spokesmen. God had Hosea take messages to His specially chosen guys and gals who were living in Israel’s northern kingdom. Israel’s northern kingdom was known as Israel while Israel’s southern kingdom was known as Judah. God’s specially chosen guys and gals who were living in Israel’s northern kingdom had turned their back on God and had turned to worshipping false, inanimate gods that were made by hand from wood, stone and metal. God saw those false, inanimate gods that were made by hand from wood, stone and metal as prostitutes. God did not like it that His specially chosen guys and gals who were living in Israel’s northern kingdom worshipped ‘prostitutes’ instead of worshipping Him. Through guys like Hosea, God kept warning His specially chosen guys and gals who were living in Israel’s northern kingdom to stop doing what they were doing but . . . so God used Hosea to illustrate how He saw them behaving. Hosea was a trustworthy prophet who to the very best of his ability served God. Hosea personally knew other faithful prophets – such as Isaiah, Amos and Micah. How do you think that Hosea felt when God told him to marry an adulterous gal – Gomer, who lived an unfaithful, immoral life? Hosea put his reputation and testimony on the line when he married a prostitute.
Hosea and Gomer had three kids. God used the kids who were born to Hosea and Gomer to get messages to His specially chosen guys and gals who were living in Israel’s northern kingdom. The first kid who was born to Hosea and Gomer was a boy. Hosea named the kid Jezreel. Jezreel means God scatters. God wanted His specially chosen guys and gals who were living in Israel’s northern kingdom to know that He was going to one day real soon scatter them among an enemy nation. God through the name Jezreel was warning His specially chosen guys and gals who were living in Israel’s northern kingdom that the Valley of Jezreel was where He would have them captured and taken away by an enemy nation. Hosea named his next kid – who was a gal, Lo-Ruhamah. Through the name Lo-Ruhamah God was saying to His specially chosen guys and gals who were living in Israel’s northern kingdom that He no longer loved them. Hosea and Gomer had another boy who Hosea named Lo-Ammi. God’s message through the name Lo-Ammi to His specially chosen guys and gals who were living in Israel’s northern kingdom was that He no longer saw them as His specially chosen guys and gals and that He was no longer going to be their God. Do you think that God’s specially chosen guys and gals who were living in Israel’s northern kingdom – that was called Israel, really cared what God was saying to them and showing them through Hosea? Even though it seemed like God was giving up on them, God continued to care about His specially chosen guys and gals. God through Hosea in verse 10 promised His specially chosen guys and gals who were living in Israel’s northern kingdom “‘Yet the Israelites will be like the sand on the seashore, which cannot be measured or counted. In the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ they will be called ‘sons of the living God.”’’ God’s specially elected guys, gals and kids today are the ‘sons of the living God.’ Guys, gals and kids who God leads to make a decision of faith to believe in His Son – Jesus Christ, become God’s adopted kids. To know God is to know that He blesses the guys, gals and kids who follow Him and that He does not bless the guys, gals and kids who do not follow Him. To not follow God is to pull a Gomer. Gomer implies being lost. Do you want to live your lives with hope or without hope?
Hosea 1 (339)