Table Of Contents...

The Prophet Hosea In The 21st Century.

When the ETERNAL spoke at first by Hosea, the ETERNAL said to Hosea, "Go, take
for yourself a wife of prostitution and children of unfaithfulness; for the land
commits great adultery, forsaking the ETERNAL". (Hosea 1:2). (WEB).
 

The Prophet Hosea In The 21st Century
Hosea is as important today, as He was in ancient times.

Chapter One

I have heard people make the statement that. "I wished I lived in Bible times." Let me be the first to tell you that you do! Because this is an era of Biblical epic events of suffering, heartache, and anguish for freedom loving peoples everywhere. America has been violated, we have come under attack, and all freedom and liberty hangs in the balance.

Some people say that we are part of the "Lost Ten Tribes of Israel." Without arguing that point now, we can learn something from the experiences Of Hosea in the "Old Testament" (Hebrew Scriptures). Let us look at the people of ancient Israel and make some observations of their society, as we are like them in many respects. For example King David, who is called "a man after The Mighty One's own heart," led his nation during a time when they were close to their CREATOR. Then under King Solomon, who made images of wood, metal, and stone for his foreign wives, the country slipped away from being close to their CREATOR. Under Solomon's son, Rehoboam, the northern tribes rebelled and Jeroboam, their king, set up golden calves for them to worship. Some centuries after that, they were taken into captivity by the Assyrians and supposedly lost to history.

Names play an important role in the book of Hosea as they all have an allegorical meaning. For example, the name of Hosea's father, "Beeri" means a "source of water as a spring." "Hosea" means "the ETERNAL saves." Thus taken together they mean, "ETERNAL is the source of living water that saves." Therefore, since it means "saved or salvation" and only The Mighty One is able to save His people Israel[1] (Isaiah 45:17, Jeremiah 26:3). The theme for the book is "Redeeming Love."

Scofield states: Hosea was a contemporary of Amos in Israel, and of Isaiah and Micah in Judah, and his ministry continued after the first, or Assyrian, captivity of the Northern Kingdom in 722 BCE.[2]

The historical background for Israel, the Northern Kingdom, is composed of ten tribes of Israel. The Northern Kingdom, was taken into captivity in the 8th Century BCE. The records show that the Assyrians carried 200,150 captivities back to Assyria. The captives were men, women, and children. No one was spared.

The capture of Israel happened during the time of Hosea who lived before, and after, their captivity. The thrust of the book is that the ETERNAL is bringing His people (both Northern and Southern Kingdoms) back from the north countries to the Promised Land. Thus, we know this is a "latter day prophesy." How do we know that? Because it has not yet been fulfilled.

Jeremiah was living in Judah, the Southern Kingdom when they were taken into captivity in the 6th Century BCE. The Babylonians carried 10,000 captives back to Babylon; again men, women, and children with no one spared. A further uprising in Jerusalem led to the destruction of the city and Temple in 587 BCE.

The Jews of the Southern Kingdom of Judah were captured and some of them returned home after 70 years. However, Hosea is not speaking to those ancient Jews of his time, because in the end times both the Northern and Southern Kingdoms, will be brought back together to the Promised Land at the same time.

Scofield's Notes state: The theme of the opening chapters of Hosea's prophecy is the unfaithfulness of Israel, set forth in terms of the marriage relationship, which is a familiar figure of speech depicting [the] ETERNAL's[3] relation to His chosen people. Israel's forsaking of the ETERNAL was brought home to Hosea in the adulterous acts of his own wife, so that his personal experiences became an allegory of the ETERNAL's experience with Israel.

There are four reasons for prophecy:

1. An indictment of Israel or Judah and a warning/request for them to repent.
2. Retribution upon Israel or Judah.
3. The Mighty One's unceasing love for Israel and Judah is shown when they come to Him with a broken and a contrite heart.
4. The prophecy also sets the limit that satan can not cross.

The historical setting of the book is that Israel was surrounded by enemies, but instead of driving them out as The Mighty One had commanded, they formed alliances with them. Because of this, these nations, particularly the Philistines, (who lived in Gaza), became an obstacle to the Israelites back then. We see they are still an obstacle to the Jews today, but now known as the Palestinians (who still live in the Gaza strip).

When the prophet Hosea came on the scene, Israel was enjoying the greatest peace and prosperity since the time of their division into two separate nations. They were living in luxury and splendor. If we could have a newspaper from Israel back then, it would be similar to ours of today. The articles would show how much material wealth they/we have, how good the economy is, how the stock market is going up, how people are living in comfort, and daily life is better than it has ever been before.

On the other hand, their world then as well as ours now is still filled with violence and evil to the degree that its unimaginable. They were constantly embroiled in little wars, just as we are today. The same things that were going on in Israel at that time are still going on in Israel at this time. Which is why, in my opinion, the book of Hosea is so very important today.

The ETERNAL had a marriage relationship[4] with Israel, but Israel had turned to other 'gods'[5] and in addition had made alliances with other countries and adopted their pagan cultures. Consequently physical Israel became Lo-ruhama (meaning "not having obtained mercy from the ETERNAL") and Lo-ammi (meaning "not the ETERNAL's people"). In other words, they were cut off from the ETERNAL, they were divorced.

Israel then/now was/is commanded to repent and turn to the ETERNAL in humble repentance. However, this did not happen then and it will not happen now, until we are well into "The Time of Jacob's Trouble" (the great tribulation). It will take a period of destruction and captivity to bring stiff-necked Israel to a point of a humble and contrite heart before the ETERNAL.

The ETERNAL used Hosea to make a point that is really heart rendering when you stop to think about it. Thus maybe, just maybe, we can see how our Father looks at both these situations (Israel-then/Israel-now). We will start in Hosea chapter one verse one.

(Hosea 1:1)[6] (TLB) These are the messages from the ETERNAL to Hosea, son of Beeri, during the reigns of these four kings of Judah: Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah; and one of the kings of Israel, Jeroboam, son of Joash.

In King Hezekiah's time the Scrolls of Moses had been lost for about a hundred years. They were lost under Ahaz because he had destroyed much of the inside the Temple. Hezekiah had begun to repair the Temple and in his tenth year, the lost Scrolls were found.

The point for us today is that we are like Hezekiah and his people who were coming out of sin. They had just found the Book of the Law and were unbending the knee to 'baal', asking the ETERNAL to have mercy and forgive them even as they learn His truth. Although they had the Temple it was not up and running at the time that they found the Scrolls. Today we are in the same boat of having just found the scrolls.

In the days of Hosea, the king of Israel (Northern Kingdom) was Jeroboam II and Ahaz was King in Judah (Southern Kingdom). During Ahaz's reign Israel (Northern Kingdom) was taken into captivity. Hezekiah succeeded Ahaz and he had observed the captivity of Israel, which probably helped his attitude in turning to the ETERNAL, when the Scrolls were found during his reign.

In a time comparison, we today would be living during the time of Jeroboam II and Ahaz, just before Israel's fall. The six o'clock news would be about the same in both ages. There was relative peace and prosperity with minor skirmishes outside the country. Morality is about the same in both eras, with unbelievable evil going on; sacrificing babies (today we have abortion and stem cell research), men with men, murder, stealing from the widows and orphans, with mayhem on every corner. We, just like Israel of old are steeped in 'baalistic' Sunday worship.

Hosea's word of an "Indictment" of both Houses of Israel, would fit then, just as it does today and that is what makes this book so interesting and valuable. We today, like those in Hosea's time are not quite to the "Retribution" stage upon Israel; we are in the cusp but not quite yet in the vortex of "Jacob's Trouble."

Hosea's Marriage and 1st Child.

Turn to verse two if you would:

(Hosea 1:2) (TLB) Here is the first message: The ETERNAL said to Hosea, Go and marry a girl who is a prostitute, so that some of her children will be born to you from other men. This will illustrate the way my people have been untrue to me, committing open adultery against me by worshiping other 'gods'.

Scofield states: The ETERNAL permitted Hosea to carry out his desire to marry Gomer. [Yet] warning him that she would be unfaithful, and using the prophet's tragic experience as a basis for portraying the ETERNAL's relation to Israel during a period of unfaithfulness. Hosea's marriage is no less historical because his children were given symbolic names as a message to Israel.

Think back to the time that the ETERNAL called His son Israel, out of Egyptian paganism. Yet, when He brought them out, He said, "they are now new, fresh, and they are a virgin bride." However, they very quickly went back into paganism and this is what Hosea's experience was to portray.

When the ETERNAL's children worship other 'gods', our Father, the ETERNAL looks upon that as "adultery" against Him. The land had committed great harlotry just as we do today. Understand that the 'baalistic' sun worship was of composed of sacrificing (often a child) to an idol and included the congregation indulging in a fertility sexual orgy. Interestingly, the sexual activities continued until the time of the Romans who stopped that form of "worship." However, it has continued forward in today's churches symbolically, i.e. rabbits and eggs as fertility symbols.

(Hosea 1:3) (TLB) So Hosea married Gomer, daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.

The Companion Bible[7] states the Hebrew name "Diblaim" means "a double cake of figs [or raisins], symbolic of sensual pleasure." The Hebrew name "Gomer" means "completion or to the full."

Thus, their names together mean that Gomer would give Hosea "sensual pleasure to the full." In addition, Gomer's name symbolically means "the filling up the measure of idolatry which included the sexual pleasures." Thus, right in front of His face, the ETERNAL's once new, fresh, virgin people Israel would "engage in the sensual pleasures of idolatries to the full." Repeating the last verse, and picking up two more:

(Hosea 1:3-5) (TLB) ³So Hosea married Gomer, daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son. ⁴And the ETERNAL said, Name the child Jezreel, for in the valley of Jezreel I am about to punish King Jehu's dynasty to avenge the murders he committed; ⁵in fact, I will put an end to Israel as an independent kingdom, breaking the power of the nation in the valley of Jezreel.

Let that sink in. The Mighty One said, that the Northern Kingdom of Israel would cease to be an independent nation.

The Companion Bible points out that the usage of the Hebrew words for Israel and Jezreel are a play on words, that have a great meaning:

Israel (Yisra'el "yis-raw-ale'") and Jezreel (Yizre'e'l "yiz-reh-ale') are the repetition of words similar in sound, but not in meaning." In this case, it is prophetic of the coming judgement and future mercy. Jezreel is a homonym, having two meanings; 1) may the ETERNAL scatter (Jeremiah 31:10) and 2) may the ETERNAL sow (Zechariah 10:9).

Jezreel the "fruitful valley" had been defiled with blood (2 Kings 9, and 2 Kings 10), Israel was scattered then, and the Commonwealth of Israel today will also, be scattered, and resown among the nations. But, when the ETERNAL's Words are ripe, Israel shall be resown in their own land.

Jehu had carried out the judgement of the ETERNAL on the house of Ahab, but he was guilty of murder because it was not executed according to the will of the ETERNAL. After disposing of Ahab and Jezebel, [Jehu] practiced the [same] idolatries for which Ahab had been judged.

Jehu, succeeding Ahab, did not remove the idolatry from Israel and he left the golden calves in Dan and in Gilgal. Therefore, even though he had done part of what he was suppose to do, he did not do it all; and the part that he had done, was with great vengeance and thus what he did was considered murder. Consequently, all of the Northern Kingdom of Israel suffered captivity.

Jezreel means "CREATOR sows," He first sows destruction, then He sows seeds of prosperity after the destruction.

Holmon's states: Jezreel is to a major valley, the low-lying area separating the mountains of Galilee from the mountains of Samaria. Militarily the valley was an important site, for many battles were fought there and Saul and Jonathan died there. The geography of Palestine made Jezreel a major route for travel from north to south and from east to west. It would be natural to think of it as the site of the last and greatest battle of all, which will release Israel and Judah from their upcoming and captivity and then the ETERNAL will sow seeds of prosperity.[8]

Hosea serves as symbolism of the ETERNAL as a husband who is compassionate and forgiving. Although judgement is the main theme of the book, it is interwoven with the golden strands of mercy and love.

Divorce; The Beginning of the Retribution.

(Hosea 1:6) (TLB) Soon Gomer had another child, this one a daughter. And the ETERNAL said to Hosea, "Name her Lo-ruhamah (meaning 'No more mercy') for I will have no more mercy upon Israel, to forgive her again.

Lo-ruhamah means "I will have no more mercy upon the house of Israel" and He did utterly take them away and they are now known in history as the Lost Ten Tribes.

Gomer's first child, a son, was Hosea's, but the second child, a daughter was born out of wedlock, as an example of Israel adulterating herself away from the ETERNAL. And that is the same unrepentant Israel that we are in today, because Israel still has not turned to the worship of The One True CREATOR, thus Israel is still divorced, thus we are not His people!

You cannot appreciate the feelings of a person whose mate has committed adultery unless you have experienced it and gone through it. It is such a gut wrenching and heart breaking experience that you have no idea of the depression and anxiety with which it saddles a person. It has to be more heart wrenching than the death of a mate. Why? Death brings a finality, but in a divorce, you not only have the loss of a loved one, you also have the rejection and shame that accompanies it. In addition, the ex-mate is always in the background, due to family functions, it is never over.

If you have been through the situation, you can understand what Hosea was going through. Now take that feeling and greatly multiply it and then maybe, just maybe, you can begin to understand what our loving, kind, gentle CREATOR was and is going through with His Bride Israel (Ezekiel 16).

(Hosea 1:7) (TLB) But I will have mercy on the tribe of Judah. I will personally free her from her enemies without any help from her armies or her weapons.

ETERNAL spared Judah from prolonged captivity and orchestrated their returning to the land after seventy years, for David's sake, not Judah's. Nothing the Jews did could change the matter as the ETERNAL was fulfilling a promise to King David.

That was not true for Israel who was captured by the Assyrians. Israel was dislodged and relocated on Assyria's western flank, as a barrier against the mongrel forces. When Babylon, to Assyria's east, began to rise in power the Assyrians decided they would rather switch than fight, so they moved westward. This pushed the Israelites on their western flank further west into northern Europe, the British Isles, and finally to America and most of the rest of the world. Both Israel and Judah (as we will soon see) will be taken away captive in "The Time of Jacob's Trouble."

You Are NOT My People.

(Hosea 1:8-9) (TLB) ⁸After Gomer had weaned Lo-ruhamah, she again conceived and this time gave birth to a son. ⁹And the ETERNAL said, Call him Lo-ammi [meaning 'Not mine'], for Israel is not mine and I am not her SOVEREIGN.

The imagery here is powerful. In the Valley of Jezreel ancient Israel was told "Lo-Ruhamah for I your CREATOR, will no longer show love to the House of Israel," and the people were taken into captivity in the Valley of Jezreel.

During the long years of separation from then until now, The Mighty One said of Israel, "You are Lo-Ammi, for you are not My people, and I am not your SOVEREIGN." We need to let that sink in very deeply, as it is a profound statement. The ETERNAL does not consider any nations of the Northern Kingdom to be His people any longer.

The next statement is very hard hitting. The Mighty One of Israel DOES NOT CONSIDER AMERICA, ENGLAND, OR OTHER ANGLO-SAXONS TO BE HIS PEOPLE TODAY! Why would I dare say that? Because we are descendants of the people of the Northern Kingdom, that the ETERNAL divorced. We are now Lo-ruhamah (meaning 'No more mercy') and The Mighty One said, "I will have no more mercy upon Israel, to forgive her again." In addition, we are now Lo-ammi (meaning 'Not mine') and The Mighty One said, "For Israel is not mine and I am not her SOVEREIGN."

Yes, I know that He has blessed us tremendously. Yes, I know that He has made us a mighty people. Yes, I know that He has protected us and given us the gates (militarily strategic places on the earth) of our enemies. However, you should know that He has not done that because of anything that we have done. He has done that IN SPITE of what we have done. You may be asking, why would He do that? It is an excellent question and the answer is simple. The Mighty One has blessed us to fulfill the promises that He gave to our forefather Abraham.[9] One of the promises (Genesis 15:5) states that Abraham's seed would be as the stars in the heavens and the sand on the beach.

(Hosea 1:10) (TLB) Yet the time will come when Israel shall prosper and become a great nation; in that day her people will be too numerous to count, like sand along a seashore! Then, instead of saying to them, You are not my people, I will tell them, You are my sons, children of the Living CREATOR.

Not to worry or be upset for this has a beautiful ending.

Remember that "in that day" refers to the Time of Jacob's Trouble. When taken back into captivity, Ephraim's[10] immediate history will have been that of a great and powerful nation, a superpower. However, the Commonwealth of Israel (including Judah known as the state of Israel today) will be defeated and her citizens will be taken away captive (Ezekiel 4-8).

Then the Mighty One comes down to earth and stands on the Mount of Olives and it splits in half. David (the Mashiach) and Elijah (the Prophet) are brought up from their graves. Then in a great and mighty war, all of those who are still alive in the tribes of Israel are brought out of captivity. They are brought to the Valley of Jezreel and:

(Hosea 1:10-11) (TLB) ¹⁰Yet the time will come when Israel shall prosper and become a great nation; in that day her people will be too numerous to count, like sand along a seashore! Then, instead of saying to them, You are not my people, I will tell them, You are my sons, children of the Living CREATOR. ¹¹Then the people of Judah and Israel will unite and have one leader; they will return from exile together; what a day that will be, the day when the ETERNAL will sow his people in the fertile soil of their own land again.

Then the people of Judah[11] and Israel will unite and have one leader. They will return from exile together; what a day that will be, the day when The Mighty One of Israel will sow His people in the fertile soil of their own land again.

(Hosea 2:1) [12] (TLB) O Jezreel, rename your brother and sister. Call your brother Ammi (which means Now you are mine); name your sister Ruhamah (Pitied), for now the ETERNAL will have mercy upon her!

Just as the ETERNAL divorced the Ten Tribes in the Valley of Jezreel, it is there that He will remarry the remnant of them again.

Who are these people, this remnant, in verse ten, that the ETERNAL brings out of captivity and then says to them, "You are now My people?" Although as nations, Israel was not the ETERNAL's people, they were divorced with no part in Him, foreigners so to speak. Yet there is a faithful remnant of individuals that He will bring to His Holy Mountain and His House of Prayer (Isaiah 56:6-7).

Who were these people, this remnant? They are people who sigh and cry over the abominations done in Israel (Ezekiel 19:4-6) enough to warn them of the coming disaster, even if it brings condemnation to themselves. Those that keep the Sabbath as a Sign (Ezekiel 20:12, Ezekiel 20:20). In addition, they keep all of His Commandments (Leviticus 22:31) and the sign of circumcision (Genesis 17:11) that goes with it. Those who love the ETERNAL and His ways with all their heart, soul, and strength (Deuteronomy 6:1-5) and is summarized in (Isaiah 56:1-7). These are those, our loving SOVEREIGN will bring through the upcoming captivity. Are you a part of that remnant?

To recap to this point.

Both the Northern Kingdom (ten tribes of Israel) and the Southern Kingdom (tribe of Judah, Benjamin, and part of Levi) anciently, were both taken into captivity. In the 8th century BCE, Israel was captured in the Valley of Jezreel and has never returned to the Promised Land. In the 6th century BCE, Judah was also taken captive. However, they were brought back not for anything that they did, but for David's sake, so that his line of successors would remain intact.

The book of Hosea is primarily prophecy for Israel, the divorced wife at that time (Jeremiah 3:8, Jeremiah 3:14). Some few, a righteous remnant of Israel and Judah, will be brought out of the latter day captivity to the wilderness before the Valley of Jezreel, with a very humble attitude and a contrite heart. Then the ETERNAL will tell the remnant of both houses, "Now you are Ammi (now, you are mine) and Ruhamah (loved of the ETERNAL). Then there in the wilderness the ETERNAL will separate the righteous ones from all of the mixed multitude brought out of captivity, and the righteous will go into the Promised Land (Ezekiel 20:33-38) together.

Before Israel's retribution, the number of her people shall be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or numbered. We know that did not happen before the first captivity, so that makes it a latter day prophecy!

Israel's Indictment for Her Sin.

The indictment begins with Hosea sending the children to talk to their mother:

(Hosea 2:2) (TLB) Plead with your mother, plead, because she is not my wife, and I am not her husband. Let her put away her whoring from before her, and her adultery from between her breasts.

Scofield states: Marriage is one of many figures used in Scripture to emphasize the relationship of CREATOR to [humankind]. This illustration is used to picture love, intimacy, privilege, and responsibility. In verse 2 above, and (Hosea 2:16-23), Israel is described as the wife of the ETERNAL, though now disowned because of disobedience. Nevertheless, eventually, upon repentance, Israel will be restored to her rightful place.

However, both Gomer and Israel scoffed at the idea of changing their ways and were told that penalties always accompany lawbreaking:

(Hosea 2:3-4) (TLB) ³If she doesn't, I will strip her as naked as the day she was born and cause her to waste away and die of thirst as in a land riddled with famine and drought. ⁴And I will not give special favors to her children as I would to my own, for they are not my children; they belong to other men.

The book of Hosea is filled with a lot of imagery about adultery and nakedness. Physically, the book is referring to Hosea's situation with Gomer, who deserted him by going after other men. Allegorically, it is referring to our CREATOR and how Israel has forsaken Him and gone after false 'gods':

(Hosea 2:5) (NIV) Their mother has been unfaithful and has conceived them in disgrace. She said, I will go after my lovers, who give me my food and my water, my wool and my linen, my olive oil and my drink.

That is her price, she is selling herself for these items. She has boldly posted her price and said she will continue in her role of a harlot:

Israel's Retribution for Her Sin.

Gomer, thus Israel, was told:

(Hosea 2:6-7) (TLB) ⁶But I will fence her in with briars and thornbushes; I'll block the road before her to make her lose her way, so that ⁷when she runs after her lovers, she will not catch up with them. She will search for them but not find them. Then she will think, I might as well return to my husband, for I was better off with him than I am now.

This "Time of Jacob's Trouble" is described in detail in Joel and Amos along with the sorrows of captivity and nuclear war (Joel 2:30).

Notice though, that all she has to do, when it finally comes down to the bottom line, is return to her husband. This is what our CREATOR is doing with Israel and when Israel finally gets to the point that she wants to return to the Mighty One, upon repentance, she can. Notice there is no mention whatsoever of human sacrifice of a half-'god' half-man being sacrificed or crucified. No mention that if they ate his flesh and drank his blood (John 6:53-54) that it would vicariously apply to them, or no mention of an animal blood sacrifice. The only requirement is that she repents and says, "I will return to my husband for it was better with me then, than now." Now let us flip over to Isaiah:

(Isaiah 54:5-11) (TLB) ⁵for your Creator will be your husband. The CREATOR Almighty is his name; he is your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, the CREATOR of all the earth. ⁶For the ETERNAL has called you back from your grief, a young wife abandoned by her husband. ⁷For a brief moment I abandoned you. But with great compassion I will take you back. ⁸In a moment of anger I turned my face a little while; but with everlasting love I will have pity on you, says the ETERNAL, your Redeemer. ⁹Just as in the time of Noah I swore that I would never again permit the waters of a flood to cover the earth and destroy its life, so now I swear that I will never again pour out my anger on you. ¹⁰For the mountains may depart and the hills disappear, but my kindness shall not leave you. My promise of peace for you will never be broken, says the ETERNAL who has mercy upon you. ¹¹O my afflicted people, tempest-tossed and troubled, I will rebuild you on a foundation of sapphires and make the walls of your houses from precious jewels.

Again all that is required is repentance, no sacrifices of any kind; just a contrite and humble heart (Psalm 34:18; Psalm 51:17). We have just covered what would happen if she repented. Back to Hosea with the ETERNAL speaking:

(Hosea 2:8) (TLB) She doesn't realize that all she has, has come from me [the ETERNAL]. It was I [the ETERNAL] who gave her all the gold and silver she used in worshiping 'baal', her 'god'!

Our loving CREATOR, has given Israel many gifts throughout the millennia since their creation, but Israel has always used them to worship at the feet of the 'baals'.

(Hosea 2:9-10) (TLB) ⁹But now I will take back the wine and ripened corn I constantly supplied, and the clothes I gave her to cover her nakedness, I will no longer give her rich harvests of grain in its season or wine at the time of the grape harvest. ¹⁰Now I will expose her nakedness in public for all her lovers to see, and no one will be able to rescue her from my hand.

In this context nakedness has to do with the sin of harlotry and idolatry, so the ETERNAL is going to strip away her sustenance, and show her for what she is, an adulteress.

(Hosea 2:11) (CEB) I will end all her [religious] celebrations, her festivals, her new moons, her Sabbath days, and all her sacred seasons.

Notice that the ETERNAL calls them "her" festivals and "her" new moons etc. The part of the world that keeps a lunar calendar, observes the dark of the moon or the crescent moon as the new moon, for the beginning of the month. Whereas on the Observational Biblical Calendar, it is the full moon[13] that begins the month. Thus the appointed festivals that she observes are the holidays of the Mystery Religion of the church in Rome and not the Pilgrim Feasts of the Mighty One of Israel.

Restoration of Israel, the Adulterous Wife.

After Israel has been carried away in captivity in the upcoming "Time of Jacob's Trouble" and humbled, then the ETERNAL will set His hand to save her.

(Hosea 2:14-16) (KJV) ¹⁴But I will court her again and bring her into the wilderness, and I will speak to her tenderly there. ¹⁵There I will give back her vineyards to her and transform her Valley of Troubles into a Door of Hope. She will respond to me there, singing with joy as in days long ago in her youth after I had freed her from captivity in Egypt. ¹⁶In that coming day, says the ETERNAL, she will call me 'My Husband' (H376) instead of 'My Master' (H1180).

The ETERNAL brings all of Israel out of the "latter day captivity" to the wilderness before the Valley of Jezreel; they will have a very humble attitude and a contrite heart. Then the ETERNAL will tell both houses, "Now you are Ammi (now, you are mine) and Ruhamah (loved of the ETERNAL). Then there in the wilderness the ETERNAL will separate the righteous ones from all of those brought out of captivity, and the righteous ones will go into the Promised Land (Ezekiel 20:33-38). Then her Valley of Troubles (Valley of Jezreel) will become her Door of Hope, isn't that beautiful?

(Hosea 2:17) (KJV) For I will take away the names of 'Baalim'* out of her mouth, and they shall no more be remembered by their name.

Here is a partial list of some of the false 'gods' that Israel was, and still is, worshiping. While all these names appear in scripture, in the future, they will no longer be mentioned or remembered:

When the ETERNAL gives us a new language, we won't be able to speak these pagan names anymore, because they will no longer be a part of the new language. However, in the meantime it seems the church in Jerusalem, and the one in Rome, are trying to slip them in at every corner [christmas, easter, hanukkah, lent etc.], knowing full well that the ETERNAL expressly prohibits it:

(Exodus 23:13) (KJV) And in all things that I have said unto you be circumspect: and make no mention of the name of other gods, neither let it be heard out of thy mouth.

Once Gomer (i.e. Israel) repents, she has more things bestowed upon her than she had ever gotten by her idolatry. In addition the ETERNAL stated, "I will speak tenderly to her and I will give back her vineyards." Then, there in the Valley of Trouble it shall be as the day of hope, and she shall sing there as in the days of her youth. Then it shall be as the time I brought her out of the land of Egypt. Now, notice several verses of the Day of Hope in the Wonderful World Tomorrow:

(Hosea 2:18-23) (TLB) ¹⁸At that time I will make a treaty between you and the wild animals, birds, and snakes, not to fear each other anymore; and I will destroy all weapons, and all wars will end. Then you will lie down in peace and safety, unafraid; ¹⁹and I will bind you to me forever with chains of righteousness and justice and love and mercy. ²⁰I will betroth[14] you to me in faithfulness and love, and you will really know[15] me then as you never have before. ²¹In that day, says the ETERNAL, I will answer the pleading of the sky for clouds, to pour down water on the earth in answer to its cry for rain. ²²Then the earth can answer the parched cry of the grain, the grapes, and the olive trees for moisture and for dew, and the whole grand chorus shall sing together that the CREATOR sows! He has given all! ²³At that time I will sow a crop of Israelites and raise them for myself! I will pity those who are not pitied, and I will say to those who are not my people, Now you are my people; and they will reply, You are our SOVEREIGN!

In the Valley of Jezreel, Israel found her "waterloo," in that Valley of Trouble. Jezreel means "the CREATOR scatters and the CREATOR sows" and the events will play upon the literal meaning of the names.

The ETERNAL told Israel "Lo-ruhamah" meaning "I will no longer show you love and mercy." Israel was taken into captivity and has never returned to Jezreel. From the 8th century until now, we have been "Lo-ammi" by the Word of the Almighty which means, "you are not My people, and I am not your SOVEREIGN."

In these latter days when all of Israel goes back into captivity, we will be brought from the north country to the Valley of Jezreel (the Valley of Trouble). This time it will be our DOOR OF HOPE and we will be told that we will no longer be "Lo-ruhamah" but "Ruhamah" and this means, "you are My loved ones." We will no longer be "Lo-ammi" but "Ammi" which means, "Now, you are My people." How wonderful that will be, Praise the ETERNAL that He will soon bring us to our Door of Hope. In Hosea chapter three, we will see what that entails.

In The Future Davidic Kingdom Israel Will Reverence the ETERNAL.

(Hosea 3:1) (TLB) Then the ETERNAL said to me, Go, and get your wife again and bring her back to you and love her, even though she loves adultery. For the ETERNAL still loves Israel though she has turned to other 'gods' and offered them choice gifts [others say wine or raisin cakes].

This brings us back to the symbolism of the name of "Diblaim" meaning "a double cake of figs [or raisins], symbolical of sensual pleasure" and of "Gomer" meaning "completion or to the full." The two names together mean that Gomer would "sensual pleasure to the full." In addition, "Gomer's" name symbolically means "the filling up the measure of sexual idolatry," so that right in front of His face the ETERNAL's once new, fresh people Israel would "engage in the sensual pleasures of idolatries to the max."

(Hosea 3:2-3) (NIV) ²So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and about a homer and a lethek of barley. ³Then I told her, You are to live with me many days; you must not be a prostitute or be intimate with any man, and I will behave the same way toward you.

I hope you can try to imagine how Hosea must have felt. Now he has to pay at the door, just like the others, to be with his wife; who had gone back into prostitution and had two children by other men. I am sure his feelings towards her must have been pure rage underlying his love for her. Going back over that from the Living Bible:

(Hosea 3:2-5) (TLB) ²So I bought her back from her slavery for a couple of dollars and eight bushels of barley, ³and I said to her, You must live alone for many days; do not go out with other men nor be a prostitute, and I will wait for you. ⁴This illustrates the fact that Israel will be a long time without a king or prince, and without an altar, Temple, priests, or even idols! [KJV says 'teraphim' (H8655) and leaves it untranslated]. ⁵Afterward they will return to the ETERNAL their SOVEREIGN and to the Messiah [i.e. the Mashiach or the anointed one], their King [David], and they shall come trembling, submissive to the ETERNAL and to His blessings in the end times.

Paraphrased from Scofield "This prediction has been remarkably fulfilled in the condition of [the Lost Ten Tribes of] Israel. Scattered, they (Israel not the Jews) have lost their identity," beginning when Assyria took Israel into captivity in the Valley of Jezreel.

However, we are still practicing idolatrous worship of sacred-stones or idols, and are living in a Babylonian economic religious society. We are still "Lo-ammi (meaning 'Not mine') and it will not change until we return to the "Valley of Jezreel," after the very soon coming "Time of Jacob's Trouble." Jezreel will become our Door of Hope and we will be Ammi (meaning ' you are My loved ones') and again we will have a righteous King (David)[16], Priests, Altar, Temple, and personal access to our Father.

Chapter Two
The ETERNAL's Charge Against Sinful Nations.

(Hosea 4:1-2) (TLB) ¹Hear the word of the ETERNAL, O people of Israel. The ETERNAL has filed a lawsuit against you listing the following charges: There is no faithfulness, no kindness, no knowledge of the CREATOR in your land. ²You swear and lie and kill and steal and commit adultery. There is violence everywhere, with one murder after another. [KJV says, 'blood toucheth blood'].

If you look at television and newspapers, all you see is crime and sin of every description.

(Hosea 4:3) (TLB) That is why your land is not producing; it is filled with sadness, and all living things grow sick and die; the animals, the birds, and even the fish begin to disappear.

What is happening to our animals? Mad Cow, West Nile, upset weather, etc. To read the rest of this sad story, see (Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28-30).

(Hosea 4:4-5) (TLB) ⁴Don't point your finger at someone else and try to pass the blame to him! Look, priest, I am pointing my finger at you. ⁵As a sentence for your crimes, you priests will stumble in broad daylight as well as in the night, and so will your false 'prophets' too; and I will destroy your mother, Israel.

We cannot point and say, "It is this group, or that group is the problem." We the sheeple are following the false priests and preachers and worshipping the "sun-god." on the "sun-day." Another thing, there is no place of refuge that we will escape to, whether physical (some magic place on earth) or spiritual (some magic place "up there"). When Israel goes into captivity, we all go into captivity! There are no favorites who will escape. The priests and preachers are causing you to stumble when they tell you of a false escape.

However, remember we spoke of a "remnant" that comes out of the tribulation and goes back to the Valley of Jezreel. This remnant is righteous and are protected through it all because it is stated a thousand will fall at your side and ten thousand on your right (Psalm 91:7).

(Hosea 4:6-9) (TLB) ⁶My people are destroyed because they don't know me, and it is all your fault, you priests, for you yourselves refuse to know me; therefore, I refuse to recognize you as my priests. Since you have forgotten my laws, I will forget to bless your children. ⁷The more my people multiplied, the more they sinned against me. They exchanged the glory of the ETERNAL for the disgrace of idols. ⁸The priests rejoice in the sins of the people; they lap it up and lick their lips for more! ⁹And thus it is: Like priests, like people, because the priests are wicked, the people are too. Therefore, I will punish both priests and people for all their wicked deeds.

That is exactly what is happening today, the priests of 'baal' rejoice in the sins they have caused, for their heart is set on iniquity as they tell you the Law has been done away and nailed to a cross, which it has not.

(Hosea 4:10-12) (NIRV) ¹⁰My people will eat. But they will not have enough. They will have sex with prostitutes. But they will not have any children. That's because they have deserted me. ¹¹They have sex with prostitutes. They drink old wine and fresh wine. Their drinking has destroyed their ability to understand. ¹²My people ask a wooden statue[17] of a 'god' for advice. They get answers from a stick of wood. They are as unfaithful as prostitutes. They are not faithful to their CREATOR.

This is speaking allegorically, it is physically whoredom, but primarily it is speaking of spiritual adultery, against our CREATOR. That is what Israel is all about, worshipping the calf idol 'baal', then and now.

The next couple of verses are somewhat graphic, but this is needed to help sink into your mind, the understanding of what idolatry really is. It is describing what Israel was doing, which is similar to the action of Israel at the foot of Mt. Sinai with the golden calf. At the urging of their priest the people brought sacrifices, ate, drank, cast off their clothes, and rose up to play. A typical worship service, to any idol includes both physical whoredom and spiritual adultery against our CREATOR.

(Hosea 4:13) (TLB) They sacrifice to idols on the tops of mountains; they go up into the hills to burn incense in the pleasant shade of oaks and poplars and sumac trees. There your daughters turn to prostitution and your brides commit adultery.

These were open-air pagan shrines of heathen sexual religion. Today we are enlightened and do not practice these heathen sexual religious practices. Interestingly they were finally stopped by the Romans. However, the church of Rome and her proselytising daughters still have the symbols of these ancient religious fertility cult practices. For example, eggs, rabbits, mistletoe, steeples, and valentines are all fertility symbols. Nevertheless, fertility cults are still plentiful all over the Commonwealth of Israel.

After the Messianic Kingdom is set and people are brought forth from their graves, what will the little old ladies think when told that they walked through a phallic symbol (the steeple) to enter the church of their choice on the day of the sun. Skipping down:

(Hosea 4:15) (TLB) But though Israel is a prostitute, may Judah stay far from such a life. O Judah, do not join with those who insincerely worship Me at Gilgal and at Bethel. Their worship is mere pretense.

If only that had happened, but Judah slipped worse than Israel (Jeremiah 3:7-11). Hosea (Chapter Five) is subtitled "Impending Judgment on Israel and Judah", and you should read it all. Skipping down:

A remnant in the Last Days.

(Hosea 5:15-Hosea 6:3) (JUB) ^5:15I will go and return to my place until they acknowledge their guilt and seek my face; in their affliction they will seek me early. ^6:1Come, and let us return unto the ETERNAL; for he has torn, and he will heal us; he has smitten, and he will bind us up. ²After two days he shall give us life: in the third day he will resurrect us, and we shall live in his sight. ³And we shall know and follow on in knowing the ETERNAL; his going forth is prepared as the dawn; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth.

That may be stating that Israel will suffer for two years in captivity [a day equals a year of punishment] and then in the third year The Mighty One of Israel will set His hand to save us. However, remember that captivity happens well into of The Time of Jacob's Trouble.

In the next few verses the ETERNAL is lamenting Israel's sin; as I am sure Hosea lamented Gomer's returning to prostitution to the point that he had to pay to be with her:

(Hosea 6:4-7) (TLB) ⁴O Ephraim and Judah, what shall I do with you? For your love vanishes like morning clouds, and disappears like dew. ⁵I sent my prophets to warn you of your doom; I have slain you with the words of my mouth, threatening you with death. Suddenly, without warning, my judgment will strike you as surely as day follows night. ⁶I don't want your sacrifices, I want your love; I don't want your offerings, I want you to know me. ⁷But like Adam, you broke my covenant; you refused my love.

The warning here is that we must walk in the light and we must be careful, for what does our CREATOR say He wants? Does He say "I desire a human sacrifice and I want you to drink his blood and eat his flesh as stated in (John 6:53-54)"? Is that what He says He wants? NO, IT IS NOT. I feel for you people who worship 'baal' because the ETERNAL emphatically states that He does not want sacrifice and no blood sacrifices of any type.

He "desires mercy, not sacrifice, and He wants us to have the knowledge of the ETERNAL, the One True SOVEREIGN, The Mighty One of Israel, our Savior, and our Father. If we turn to Him, He will forgive us and bring us home to Jezreel. Jumping to chapter seven:

Ephraim's Iniquity.

(Hosea 7:1-4) (TLB) ¹I wanted to forgive Israel, but her sins were far too great, no one can even live in Samaria[18] without being a liar, thief, and bandit! ²Her people never seem to recognize that I am watching them. Their sinful deeds give them away on every side; I see them all. ³The king is glad about their wickedness; the princes laugh about their lies. ⁴They are all adulterers; as a baker's oven is constantly aflame, except after he kneads the dough and waits for it to rise again, so are these people constantly aflame with lust.

The condemnation is that Israel has constantly been worshiping these pagan 'gods' and is still in a 'baalistic' religion. This is what happens to a 'baalim' based society:

(Hosea 7:5-7) (TLB) ⁵On the king's birthday, the princes get him drunk; he makes a fool of himself and drinks with those who mock him. ⁶Their hearts blaze like a furnace with intrigue. Their plot smolders through the night, and in the morning it flames forth like raging fire. ⁷They kill their kings one after another, and no one cries out to me for help.

(Hosea 7:13-14) (TLB) ¹³Woe to my people for deserting me; let them perish, for they have sinned against me. I wanted to redeem them but their hard hearts would not accept the truth. ¹⁴They lie there sleepless with anxiety but won't ask my help. Instead, they worship heathen 'gods', asking them for crops and for prosperity.

Jumping on over to chapter eight, this an interesting part and is the reason why I wanted to go into this today.

Reaping the Whirlwind.

(Hosea 8:1) (TLB) Sound the alarm! They are coming! Like a vulture, the enemy descends upon the people of the ETERNAL because they have broken my treaty and revolted against my laws.

Let us stop and ponder this verse by a practical example. What if someone knew, just before 911, what was to happen, whose job would it be to sound the alarm? If we see the enemy coming upon the ETERNAL's people like a vulture, whose job is it to sound the alarm? The answer is elementary, whoever sees and understands what is coming upon the ETERNAL's people, must sound the alarm!

If you see the smoke of turmoil on the horizon, hear the war beats of distant drums, and can hear the pounding of the war horses' hooves as they are now in the pasture and coming closer and closer. If you see the enemy coming, if you understand the truth being explained, if you know there is only one single CREATOR, if you know that His people are sinning horrendously, and you know that He is allowing "The Time of Jacob's Trouble" fall upon His people in full furry, then you are responsible, and it is your job. It is not your job alone, but to join with others in giving the warning. One Paul Revere riding and shouting will not get the job done this time. The keywords are SOUND THE ALARM AS A WARNING and this is not a "soul winning" exercise.

The book of Hosea covers a long period of time. It began before time the Northern Kingdom of a stiff necked Israel was taken captive in the Valley of Jezreel for worshiping 'baal' (the bull), notice:

(Hosea 8:2-6) (NIV) ²Israel cries out to me, Our CREATOR, we acknowledge you![19] ³But Israel has rejected what is good; an enemy will pursue him. ⁴They set up kings without my consent; they choose princes without my approval. With their silver and gold they make idols for themselves to their own destruction. ⁵Samaria, throw out your calf-idol! My anger burns against them. How long will they be incapable of purity? ⁶They are from Israel! This calf, a metalworker has made it; it is not the ETERNAL. It will be broken in pieces, that calf of Samaria.

The Messiah of the church in Rome is represented by a "white calf"[20] that was sacrificed for sin. Also remember in Gilgal, Jeroboam I had set up two bull calves for Israel to worship and that is how the Northern Kingdom came into idolatry after the splitting of Solomon's Kingdom.

(Hosea 8:7-9) (TLB) ⁷They have sown the wind, and they will reap the whirlwind. Their cornstalks stand there barren, withered, and sickly, with no grain; if it has any, foreigners will eat it. ⁸Israel is destroyed; she lies among the nations as a broken pot. ⁹She is a lonely, wandering wild ass. The only friends she has are those she hires; Assyria[21] is one of them.

Our country is truly a wandering wild ass. The two English words "wild ass" come from the Hebrew word "pere'" (Strong's #H6501 "peh'-reh) and means "running wild" and that comes from (#H6500) which means, "being fruitful." Together they mean Israel is as a "wild running prostitute knowing no boundaries in lawlessness." That describes our countries of Israel quite well because we have lost our moral rudder. Spiritually it means, "we are as a broken pot containing nothing of value" and the ETERNAL states "Israel will be destroyed."

(Hosea 8:10-11) (TLB) ¹⁰But though she hires 'friends' from many lands, I will send her off to exile. Then for a while at least she will be free of the burden of her wonderful king! ¹¹Ephraim [Israel] has built many altars, but they are not to worship Me! They are altars of sin!

Consider America today, the nations who are halfway friends with us are the ones we pour out billions of dollars too. The majority of nations we give money to, vote against us in the UN.

Are you aware that the trillions of dollars given in foreign aid are considered off budget? Therefore, when they talk about balancing the budget, they are not even considering foreign aid. We give away billions to foreign harlots, but we have nothing left for our own people who are old, our sick, and our children. Entitlement programs, NASA, education, domestic police actions, and veterans' benefits these are on budget. War and foreign aid are not on the budget. Therefore, when the government haggles over Social Security it is a shell game, for money is leaving the country by the shipload.

(Hosea 8:12) (TLB) Even if I gave her ten thousand laws, she'd say they weren't for her, that they applied to someone far away.

In every church on Sunday it has often been said, "Those laws do not apply to us, we are Gentiles."

(Hosea 8:13) (TLB) Her people love the ritual of their sacrifices, but to Me it is meaningless! I will call for an accounting of their sins and punish them; they shall return to Egypt.

Back then, Israel performed the actual pagan sacrifices of drinking of the blood and eating of the flesh of a sacrificial bull, which is symbolic of the pagan deity 'baal'. Now it is the ritual of the Eucharist substituting, bread and wine, which the ETERNAL also hates.

(Hosea 8:14) (TLB) Israel has built great palaces; Judah has constructed great defenses for her cities, but they have forgotten their Maker. Therefore, I will send down fire upon those palaces and burn those fortresses.

As for defenses in Judah,[22] consider the wall the Jews are building between them and the Philistines [Palestinians]. However, the ETERNAL said He will destroy these fortresses. We are now into "The Time of Jacob's Trouble" (tribulation). Skipping down:

Retribution Upon ALL OF ISRAEL.

(Hosea 9:7) (TLB) The time of Israel's punishment has come; the day of recompense is almost here, and soon Israel will know it all too well. "The prophets are crazy"; "The inspired men are mad". Yes, so they mock, for the nation is weighted with sin and shows only hatred for those who love the ETERNAL.

I know this is true because I have gotten letters and phone calls from many of you saying, that people, including family, tell me I am crazy for saying, "There is only one CREATOR and He is THE Savior." Why? "Because," they say, "Since, everybody knows that j-sus is g-d, these people must be mad!"

(Hosea 9:8-9) (TLB) ⁸I appointed the prophets (KJV says watchmen[23]) to guard My people, but the people have blocked them at every turn and publicly declared their hatred, even in the Temple [KJV says in the house of their 'god'] of the ETERNAL. ⁹The things My people do are as depraved as what they did in Gibeah [Judges 19:7-30] long ago. The ETERNAL does not forget. He will surely punish them.

(Hosea 9:10) (TLB) O Israel, how well I remember those first delightful days when I led you through the wilderness! How refreshing was your love! How satisfying, like the early figs of summer in their first season! But, then you deserted Me for 'Baal-peor'[24] to give yourselves to other 'gods', and soon you were as foul as they.

(Hosea 9:15) (TLB) All their wickedness began at Gilgal; there I began to hate them. I will drive them from My land because of their idolatry. I will love them no more, for all their leaders are rebels.

Many things happened at Gilgal, it was originally a place of worship for Abraham, the place where Joshua crossed the river and made a circle of twelve stones, where Elijah and Elisha had their headquarters. After the split of Israel and Judah, Jeroboam set up one of the golden calves at Gilgal. Thus, this was their place of idol worship and the beginning of their wickedness and of their Lo-ruhamah and Lo-ammi.

(Hosea 9:16) (TLB) Ephraim is doomed. The roots of Israel are dried up; she shall bear no more fruit. And if she gives birth, I will slay even her beloved child.

(Hosea 9:17) (NIV) My SOVEREIGN will reject them because they have not obeyed Him; they will be wanderers among the nations.

The time is soon coming when all thirteen tribes of Israel will go into captivity. Later, after the captivity and not before, The Mighty One of Israel will set His hand to save all of Israel and bring us back to the Valley of Jezreel from the north countries. This time Jezreel will be our "Door of Hope" and we will be told that we shall no longer be "Lo-ruhamah" but "Ruhamah" which means "Now, you are My people." We will no longer be "Lo-ammi" but "Ammi" which means, "you are My loved ones." How wonderful that will be, praise the ETERNAL that He will soon bring us to our "Door of Hope."

(Hosea 10:1) (TLB) How prosperous Israel is, a luxuriant vine all filled with fruit! But the more wealth I give her, the more she pours it on the altars of her heathen 'gods'; the richer the harvests I give her, the more beautiful the statues and idols she erects.

They are constantly constructing new buildings with taller steeples.

(Hosea 10:2-3) (TLB) ²The hearts of her people are false toward the ETERNAL. They are guilty and must be punished. The Mighty One will break down their heathen altars and smash their idols. ³Then they will say, We deserted the ETERNAL and He took away our king. But, what's the difference? We don't need one anyway!

What Israel is saying is, It does not really matter, we do not need the CREATOR because we have gotten everything on our own. Thus Israel has completely turned away from the ETERNAL.

(Hosea 10:9-10) (NLT) ⁹The ETERNAL says, O Israel, ever since Gibeah, there has been only sin and more sin! You have made no progress whatsoever. Was it not right that the wicked men of Gibeah were attacked? ¹⁰Now whenever it fits my plan, I will attack you, too. I will call out the armies of the nations to punish you for your multiplied sins.

The next Scripture is one that 'Christianity' has pulled completely out of context to say something that is not even under consideration.

(Hosea 11:1-2) (NIV) ¹When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called My son. ²But the more I called Israel, the further they went from Me. They sacrificed to the 'Baals' and they burned incense to images.

They pull out half of verse one and say "I called My son out of Egypt," then they refer that to the man of Galilee. If the Galilean is the subject here, then he was sacrificing to the 'baals'. Notice 'baals' is plural, and is referring to a trinity of beings that have incense burned before a statue of the mother and son.

(Hosea 11:3-7) (TLB) ³I trained him from infancy, I taught him to walk, I held him in My arms. But, he doesn't know or even care that it was I who raised him. ⁴As a man would lead his favorite ox, so I led Israel with My ropes of love. I loosened his muzzle so he could eat. I Myself have stooped and fed him. ⁵But, My people shall return to Egypt and Assyria because they won't return to Me. ⁶War will swirl through their cities; their enemies will crash through their gates and trap them in their own fortresses. ⁷For My people are determined to desert Me. And so I have sentenced them to slavery, and no one shall set them free.

Reread the first part of this and remember that this is a prophecy for the latter days and "The Time of Jacob's Trouble." Even as you read this we are into the beginning of that great time of trouble.

(Hosea 11:8-9) (NIV) ⁸How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel? How can I treat you like Admah? How can I make you like Zeboiim? My heart is changed within me; all my compassion is aroused. ⁹I will not carry out my fierce anger, nor will I turn and devastate Ephraim. For I am 'god', and not man, the Holy One among you. I will not come in wrath.

The ETERNAL will not be the one that initiates "The Time of Jacob's Trouble" in the end time. The Mighty One of Israel allows "satan" to have its way with His people Israel. "The Day of the Wrath of the ETERNAL" is when the ETERNAL sets His hand to save Israel and makes war on the nations that captured them. Thus after those two events the entire world will finally hold the ETERNAL in great respect and worship Him.

(Hosea 11:10-12) (NIV) ¹⁰They will follow the ETERNAL; he will roar like a lion. When he roars, his children will come trembling from the west. ¹¹They will come from Egypt, trembling like sparrows, from Assyria, fluttering like doves. I will settle them in their homes, declares the ETERNAL. ¹²Ephraim has surrounded me with lies, Israel with deceit. And Judah is unruly against God, even against the faithful Holy One.

Notice the Jews (Judah) are brought back into the story flow and will be a part of the reaped whirlwind:

(Hosea 12:1-2) (TLB) ¹Israel is chasing the wind, yes, shepherding a whirlwind, a dangerous game! For she has given gifts to Egypt and Assyria to get their help, and in return she gets their worthless promises. ²But, the ETERNAL is bringing a lawsuit against Judah.

Judah knows when the Sabbath is, but they do not keep it as a people. Those that do keep it, follow non-Scriptural rituals. The Jews know there is only one SOVEREIGN and not a triple header in one, but they do not follow His Words; they follow the words of the Talmud, Mishnea, Oral Traditions, and their Sages or Rabbis. They have at least four major different competing sects and they all cannot be correct.

Further Reproof of Israel's Sins.

Before concluding there is one more point, that I want to make. Jacob (all 13 tribes of Israel) will be justly punished for his ways:

(Hosea 12:3-5) (TLB) ³When he was born [Jacob], he struggled with his brother; when he became a man, he even fought with the ETERNAL. ⁴Yes, he wrestled with the Angel and prevailed. He wept and pleaded for a blessing from him. He met the ETERNAL there at Bethel face-to-face. The ETERNAL spoke to him, ⁵the ETERNAL, the SOVEREIGN of heaven's armies, ETERNAL is his name.

(Hosea 12:14) (TLB) But Ephraim has bitterly provoked the ETERNAL. The ETERNAL will sentence him to death as payment for his sins.

All of Israel has a problem that is coming up but Ephraim has the largest one. In times gone by, when [Britain, Israel, or America] roared, the nations shook with fear; but now, we are the laughing stock of the world.

(Hosea 13:1) (TLB) It used to be when Israel spoke, the nations shook with fear, for he was a mighty prince; but he worshiped "Baal" and sealed his doom.

That is one of the keys or identifying marks for Israel today, a once mighty nation that worships the sun-'god' on his sun-day. Remember that the white calf was symbolic with the church in Rome for the one they call j-sus.

(Hosea 13:2-3) (TLB) ²And now the people disobey more and more. They melt their silver to mold into idols, formed with skill by the hands of men. "Sacrifice to these!" they say, men kissing calves! ³They shall disappear like morning mist, like dew that quickly dries away, like chaff blown by the wind, like a cloud of smoke.

Now they have a crucifix of a dead Galilean on a stick, and they kiss it, thus still kissing the calf.

(Hosea 13:4-6) (TLB) ⁴I alone am the ETERNAL, your SOVEREIGN, and have been ever since I brought you out from Egypt. You have no SOVEREIGN but Me, for there is no other Savior. ⁵I took care of you in the wilderness, in that dry and thirsty land. But when you had eaten and were satisfied, then you became proud and forgot Me. ⁶But when you had eaten and were satisfied, then you became proud and forgot me.

(Hosea 13:12) (TLB) Ephraim's sins are harvested and stored away for punishment.

(Hosea 13:15-16) (TLB) ¹⁵He was called the most fruitful of all his brothers, but the east wind, a wind of the ETERNAL from the desert, will blow hard upon him and dry up his land. All his flowing springs and green oases will dry away and he will die of thirst. ¹⁶Samaria[25] must bear her guilt, for she rebelled against her SOVEREIGN. Her people will be killed by the invading army, her babies dashed to death against the ground, her pregnant women ripped open with a sword.

Think about who lives in the desert, it is the Arabs and they are "blowing up" quite a stir.

The four-fold purpose of prophecy is to give: An Indictment, what the Retribution will be, show the ETERNAL's unceasing love, and to give the Ultimate Restoration of Israel and thus joyfulness. Flip over one book to (Amos 9:11) and see. However, Hosea does not end that way.

(Hosea 14:1-4) (TLB) ¹O Israel, return to the ETERNAL your SOVEREIGN, for you have been crushed by your sins. ²Bring your petition. Come to the ETERNAL and say, "O ETERNAL, take away our sins; be gracious to us and receive us, and we will offer You the sacrifice of praise. ³Assyria cannot save us, nor can our strength in battle. Never again will we call the idols we have made, 'our gods.' For in You alone, O ETERNAL, the fatherless find mercy" (1st is repentance). ⁴Then I will cure you of idolatry and faithlessness, and My love will know no bounds, for My anger will be forever gone! I will refresh Israel like the dew from heaven; she will blossom as the lily and root deeply in the soil like cedars in Lebanon.

First we must show repentance, and then the ETERNAL will cure us.

(Hosea 14:8) (TLB) O Ephraim! Stay away from idols! I am living and strong! I look after you and care for you. I am like an evergreen tree, yielding My fruit to you, throughout the year. My mercies never fail.

Notice that only those who repent are the ones who are brought to Jezreel. It does not say that everyone will repent. It tells them what to say in verse two and three, and when they do that, then verse nine tells them that if you stay away from idols, My mercies shall never fail.

(Hosea 14:9) (TLB) Whoever is wise, let him understand these things. Whoever is intelligent, let him listen. For the paths of the ETERNAL are true, right, and good men walk along them. But, sinners trying them will fail.

The CREATOR is stating the door is still open. However, we the watchman have a job to do. Because if we do not warn Israel, they will fall! In additionr, it is not a clear-cut decision on who will refuse to repent and fall. Those who repent must first hear the word, and in order for them to hear the word, we have a job to do.

Our job is that we must sound the alarm, and warn Israel of the coming captivity, and that is over and above the interactions we have had so far. We need to warn Israel, all of Israel, all of western christianity, that our problems are of 'baal' worship. If you think it has been bad now, it will get worse, because we must take on the entire western world. Why? Because it is not clear-cut which ones will repent and which ones will not repent. It will be an individual decision that some will make and some will not, but they need this important information, to give them that choice.

Moreover, for those who are sincere and do choose to follow their CREATOR, the ETERNAL will set up King David's Kingdom of eternal peace, but in the meantime this is the present, not the future.

So let us pray to the CREATOR, that He will call more people to do this work, before The Time Of Jacob's Trouble (Jeremiah 30:7), and The Great And Terrible Day Of The Almighty (Joel 2:31).

It appears that it is too late for the thirteen tribes of the Commonwealth of Israel, as nations, but the door is still open for individuals.

Footnotes:

Chapter One

[1] When we refer to Israel, we are referring to the Northern Kingdom of Ten Tribes. Today they are referred to as "The Lost Ten Tribes," wherever they may be.

[2] Those facts are from Scofield's footnotes found the New Scofield Reference Edition of the Scriptures, which is basically a New Kings James Version. If I use something from Scofield's I will just mention it is from him and it can be found by the verse I am referring to.

[3] We prefer to use the word the ETERNAL instead of "Lord" and use CREATOR, SOVEREIGN, The Almighty, The Mighty One, or The Mighty One of Israel in place of the word "God." If we use either of these two words for clarity for the reader, we will put them in double "-" or single '-' quotes or replace the first vowel with a dash.

[4] See (Isaiah 62:4, Jeremiah 3:14, Jeremiah 31:31-32, Ezekiel 16:8, Ezekiel 16:32).

[5] When referring to other 'gods' or names of 'gods', we will use lower case text in 'quotes', as a classification that they were/are not real or alive. They are like the golden calves that Aaron made for the Hebrews to worship. The worshipers might feel good, and even have miracles happen, yet these feelings and miracles have been allowed to happen as a TEST for the ETERNAL's people [Israel]. (Deuteronomy 13:1-5). The ETERNAL wants to know if we will love Him with all our might and all our strength, as He alone is the only LIVING Mighty One. He is the ETERNAL SOVEREIGN, the Mighty One of Israel, our one, and only Savior. Because of this, we will use the words Almighty, CREATOR, ETERNAL, Mighty One, or SOVEREIGN in place of the words 'God', 'Lord', 'Elohim' or 'El', when refering to the ONE and ONLY, ETERNAL CREATOR and SOVEREIGN of the universe. (Isaiah 44:6, Isaiah 44:24):

(Isaiah 44:6) (CEB) The ETERNAL, Israel's king and redeemer, the SOVEREIGN of heavenly forces, says: I am the first, and I am the last, and besides me there are NO 'gods'.

(Isaiah 44:24) (AMP) Thus says the ETERNAL, your Redeemer, and He Who formed you from the womb: I am the CREATOR, Who made all things, Who alone stretched out the heavens, Who spread out the earth by Myself.

[6] The Living Bible (TLB) was quoted for most of the scriptures in this study. [a]All scriptural links point to the Bible Gateway, A Searchable Online Bible In Over 100 Versions And 50 Languages, located at "BibleGateway.Com", a vast biblical resource containing all the major texts and reference materials useful for in-depth bible studies. Most scriptual quotations are from the (KJV) of the Bible, however versions noted in (parentheses) should also be consulted. [b]All Strong's scriptural references point to the Blue Letter Bible Lexicon, located at "BlueLetterBible.Org", another vast biblical resource which has over 4,000,000 links available, pointing to more than 165,000 pages of concordances, lexicons, dictionaries, commentaries, images, and several Bible versions.

[7] The Companion Bible by Zondervan Bible Publishers, pg. 1209.

[8] Holmon's Electronic Dictionary.

[9] Outdated Reference.

[10] The name Ephraim refers to the leading nations of the Commonwealth of Greater Israel. It can refer to all ten tribes since Ephraim was the leading tribe. However, it can refer to Ephraim and Manasseh.

[11] Even though Judah was brought back from the first captivity they will go into the second one for adultery like Israel. (Jeremiah 3:7-11)

[12] In the original Hebrew, there are no chapter and verse breaks so that chapter one flows into chapter two.

[13] See the essay: "Quest for the Hebrew Calendar".

[14] Scofield's The grace of the ETERNAL is beautifully set forth in the verb "betroth" which signifies, in the original, (to woo a virgin.) Cp. (Numbers 23:21).

[15] That is an interesting statement. The English word "know" comes from the Hebrew word "yada" (Strong's #H3045 yaw-dah') and means, "to know in a great variety of senses. The same Hebrew word "yada" is used in (Genesis 4:1) "And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived."

[16] See the essay: "Quest for the Messiah".

Chapter Two

[17] The wood is with the figure of a dead man on it. Wooden idol comes from Strong's #H6086, which comes from #H6095, and together they mean, "a figure attached to a staff of wood."

[18] The capital of ancient Israel, today it would be comparable with Washington or London

[19] We take your son into our heart.

[20] A white bull or white calf" The Women's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets by Barber G. Walker, p126.

[21] For the modern identity of Assyria, see our booklet "The Twofold Promises to Abraham; the United States, Britain, and the Jewish people in prophecy."

[22] As a side note, the ETERNAL was only speaking of Israel but is now including Judah for the rest of this end-time prophecy.

[23] Again that ties us back in to where we are today and whether we understand and know that there is One True Mighty One, that there is one SOVEREIGN, that he is ONE, and that He wants this message to go out to the world. That is what watchmen do, they guard the people.

[24] The Moabites 'god' Israel worshipped when they had illicit sex with the Moabites women. Here we are back to adultery/idolatry again.

[25] Samaria was the capital of Israel and compares today to Washington and London.