Welcome to this Daily PBJ devotional. Read 2 Samuel 23, Hosea 1, and
1 Timothy 5. This devotional is about Hosea 1. This is the word of the Lord
that came to Hosea son of Beri in the days of Uzziah, Jotham,
Ahaz, and Hezekiah kings of Judah, and of Jeroboam son of Jehoash
king of Israel. When the Lord first spoke through
Hosea, he told him, Go, take a prostitute as your wife and
have children of adultery, because this land is flagrantly prostituting
itself by departing from the Lord. So Hosea went and married
Gomer, daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a
son. Then the Lord said to Hosea,
Name him Jezreel, for soon I will bring the bloodshed of Jezreel
upon the house of Jehu, and I will put an end to the kingdom of
Israel, and on that day I will break the bow of Israel in the
valley of Jezreel. Gomer again conceived and gave
birth to a daughter, and the Lord said to Hosea, Name her
Lo-Ruhemah, for I will no longer have compassion on the house
of Israel, that I should ever forgive them. Yet I will have
compassion on the house of Judah, and I will save them, not by
bow or sword or war, not by horses and cavalry, but by the Lord
their God. After she had weaned Lo-Ruhamah,
Gomer conceived and gave birth to a son. And the Lord said,
Name him Lo-Ami, for you are not my people, and I am not your
God. Yet the number of the Israelites
will be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured
or counted. and it will happen that in the
very place where it was said to them, You are not my people,
they will be called sons of the living God. Then the people of
Judah and of Israel will be gathered together, and they will appoint
for themselves one leader, and it will go up out of the land,
for great will be the day of Jezreel. This is God's word. The Lord told some of his prophets
to do difficult things. He allowed others to experience
difficult things as a result of their prophecies. The ministry
he called Hosea to do has to have been among the most difficult.
Hosea's marriage was to serve as a metaphor for the Lord's
relationship to Israel. As we saw in today's reading,
God commanded him to marry a woman and told him in advance that
she would be unfaithful to him. Then, when she bore children,
each child was given a difficult name. His firstborn son Jezreel
was named after a valley. That's verse 5. But it was a
valley where Jehu was killed, and where Israel would suffer
a great defeat. Hosea's daughter was named Not-Loved,
and his final son was named Not-My-People. Imagine the jeering his children
took from other kids because of their names. Imagine how difficult
everything about Hosea's family life must have been. Despite
this difficult object lesson of judgment, however, chapter
one ends with words of hope. It says, in the place where it
was said to them, you are not my people, they will be called
children of the living God. That's in verse 10, according
to the NIV. Although Israel was unfaithful
to God through their idol worship, and that unfaithfulness would
cause separation in their relationship with God, the separation would
be temporary. True to his word, God reaffirmed
his commitment to Israel and promised again that he would
complete the promises of his covenant. Let this encourage
you if you are feeling defeated by sin and wondering if God will
forgive you. God's nature is to be faithful
and loving, and that means he is forgiving to those who claim
his promises by faith. So claim his promise. and turn
to him for forgiveness. If you thought this devotional
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God bless you. Hope you have a great day today.