HOSEA 2:8

The Bible says in Hosea 2:8, “For she did not know that I gave her corn, and wine, and oil, and multiplied her silver and gold, which they prepared for Baal.” The “she” in this verse is the nation of Israel, and of course, the verse speaks of Israel not appreciating what God had done for them. The Lord does great things for us. Jesus is a giver of gifts. Every good thing that we have comes from God. It says about Jesus in Ephesians 4:7-8, “But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.[8] Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.” This is talking about spiritual gifts, and the most important spiritual gift is salvation. Paul wrote in Second Corinthians 9:15, “Thanks be to God for his unspeakable gift.” A Christian should never forget what Jesus has done for him or her. Jesus died for us, so that we could live forever. What a gift. The material gifts that He gives symbolize the spiritual gifts, which are far more important. What happened to the Israelites demonstrates the importance of remaining thankful to the Lord for all the gifts that He has given to you, both material and spiritual. How terrible it is when human beings enjoy the blessings of life, but do not give God the glory.

What the Lord giveth, He can take away. That happened to the Israelites. It says in Hosea 2:9-13, “Therefore will I return, and take away my corn in the time thereof, and my wine in the season thereof, and will recover my wool and my flax given to cover her nakedness.[10] And now will I discover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and none shall deliver her out of mine hand.[11] I will also cause all her mirth to cease, her feast days, her new moons, and her sabbaths, and all her solemn feasts.[12] And I will destroy her vines and her fig trees, whereof she hath said, These are my rewards that my lovers have given me: and I will make them a forest, and the beasts of the field shall eat them.[13] And I will visit upon her the days of Baalim, wherein she burned incense to them, and she decked herself with her earrings and her jewels, and she went after her lovers, and forgat me, saith the LORD.” Just as we stated above, the main problem was that the Israelites “forgat” God. You are a terribly ungrateful person if you do not remember what others have done for you, and especially if you do not recognize and remember what God has done.

But no matter how bad the Israelites became, God’s ultimate plan was and is to show them mercy. The Bible says in Hosea 2:14-17, “Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her.[15] And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope: and she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt.[16] And it shall be at that day, saith the LORD, that thou shalt call me Ishi; and shalt call me no more Baali.[17] For I will take away the names of Baalim out of her mouth, and they shall no more be remembered by their name.” God said, “I will allure her.” That is how anyone gets saved. Jesus does it. He calls. He enlightens. He invites. People get saved when Jesus visits someone and allures them to Himself. You cannot convince anyone to get saved unless Jesus convinces them by the Holy Spirit. When a person is turned to the Lord Jesus, notice the words used to describe the experience: hope, singing, and youth. There is nothing greater in heaven or in earth for a human being than to know the Lord Jesus as Savior. And the joy will be multiplied in eternity. It says in First Corinthian 2:9, “But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.”

The Bible says in Hosea 2:18, “And in that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven, and with the creeping things of the ground: and I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the earth, and will make them to lie down safely.” Talking about the day when all Israel will be forgiven of their sins, we are told two other important transformations that will take place. Other passages in the Bible talk about these changes to, and therefore we know exactly when this will happen: at the return of Christ and the setting up of the 1,000 year reign of Christ on the earth. This covenant with the beasts, and the fowls, and the creeping things is undoubtedly talking about the transformation that will take place in the animal kingdom when Jesus returns. Talking about the kingdom of the Messiah, it says in Isaiah 11:1-10, “And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:[2] And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD;[3] And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears:[4] But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.[5] And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.[6] The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.[7] And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.[8] And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice' den.[9] They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.[10] And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious.”

The second great benefit of the kingdom of Christ on earth that is mentioned in Hosea 2:18 is the absence of war. War is a fact of life in the age in which we live because evil is present in the hearts of men. Nations must defend themselves and protect their citizens in this sinful world. Jesus said in Matthew 24:6-7, “And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.[7] For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.” Unfortunately, war is one of the constant characteristics of the age in which we live. But that will not be the case when Jesus is King in the millennial kingdom. It says about the Messiah in Isaiah 2:4, “And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.”

The Bible says in Hosea 2:19-20, “And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies.[20] I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the LORD.” The first phrase of this verse demonstrates two great truths: 1. God’s intent for marriage. 2. Eternal security. God’s will for marriage is that it would last. That is one of the benefits of the Bible. It tells us what the ideal life is. OK. No one’s life is ideal, but the way to improve is to take stock of where we are, and take steps to align our lives the best we can with God’s ideal life. That includes marriage. It is not God’s intent that human beings would get married over and over again. God wants people to get married, to keep loving each other, to be faithful to each other, and to have a relationship that spans their entire life. In a nutshell this is how it is done: pray for God’s will until He leads you to the one that He has created for you, marry that person and treat them kindly always, be faithful to your marriage vows and to your love, and stay married. That is God’s will. It does not mean that your marriage will be perfect, but it will be the best that you can experience in this life, and in a small way your marriage will symbolize Jesus’ great eternal love for us. God’s love for us never ends. God says in Hosea 2:19, “I will betroth thee unto me for ever.” Jesus will never stop loving us or stop forgiving us. Make sure that your love and your forgiveness towards your spouse is more of a mirror of God’s eternal love and forgiveness.

The Bible says in Hosea 2:21-22, “And it shall come to pass in that day, I will hear, saith the LORD, I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth;[22] And the earth shall hear the corn, and the wine, and the oil; and they shall hear Jezreel.” These two verses are tremendous because of the unique way in which this truth is expressed. Both verses use the verb “to hear” several times. Of all of these things that God has put in place that “speak,” none of them are people. The Lord has set up many witnesses to the truth; and so the question is: “Who is listening?” If you listen, you will hear the heavens and you will know the truth from God. If you listen, you will hear the earth, and you will know the truth from God. If you listen, you will hear the corn, and the wine, and the oil, and you will know what truth they are proclaiming. And if you listen, you will hear Jezreel, and you will know its message. The problem is that not enough people “hear.” Jesus knew that was the problem. He said in Mark 4:23, “If any man have ears to hear, let him hear.” That is a big “if.” Sadly, it appears that not many have ears to hear.

If anyone listened to the heavens and the earth, what would they hear? It says in Psalms 19:1-4, “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth his handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard. Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words through the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun.” The glory of God, the power of God, and the creative work of God are al declared clearly by the things that are all around us. Who can look at a beautiful sunset, or a star-filled sky on a clear night, or a beautiful snow-capped mountain range and not think so? Only the hardest of hearts. God speaks through everything that is, but only the wise hear. It says in Second Peter 3:3-6, “Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation. For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished.”

It says in Hosea 2:22 that we should be able to hear “the corn, and the wine, and the oil.” What does that mean? It means that God supplies our need, and we should be able recognize in all that we have God’s loving supply for us. Jesus keeps His promises. Jesus said in Matthew 6:33, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” Paul wrote in Philippians 4:19, “But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” Every good gift and every good thing that you possess cries out with that same truth. Do you hear it each and day?

It also says in Hosea 2:22, “they shall hear Jezreel.” Jezreel was a place where an act of horrible violence took place. It cried out its own message. I think the message was a warning and a demonstration of just how bad human beings can be when they do not serve God. The path of sin is a downward path and it leads to terrible places. What it means is that every person needs to repent and turn to Jesus. That is the only way to stop the downward path that ends in hell. You can find the same message in the crime stories in the newspaper every day. Do you have ears to hear? God uses everything that He has created to declare His message. If you have ears to hear, then you will hear it.

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