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Bible Text ​ |​ Hosea 2:16-23 BIBLE TEXT | HOSEA 2:16-23 _______________________________________________​___​__________________________________________________________ 16 “And in that day, declares the Lord, you will call me ‘My Husband,’ and no longer will you call me ‘My Baal.’ 17 For I ​ ​ ​ will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, and they shall be remembered by name no more.18 And I will ​ ​ make for them a covenant on that day with the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the creeping things of the ground. And I will abolish the bow, the sword, and war from the land, and I will make you lie down in safety. 19 ​ And I will betroth you to me forever. I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. 20 I will betroth you to me in faithfulness. And you shall know the Lord. ​ ​ 21 “And in that day I will answer, declares the Lord, I will answer the heavens, and they shall answer the earth, ​ 22 and the earth shall answer the grain, the wine, and the oil, and they shall answer Jezreel, ​ 22 and I will sow her for myself in the land. And I will have mercy on No Mercy, and I will say to Not My People, ‘You ​ are my people’; and he shall say, ‘You are my God.’” DEVOTIONAL FOR HOSEA 2:16-23 _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ AUTHOR: BETTY BACHTEL These verses are a part of a tender and beautiful love song sung by God to his unfaithful wife, Israel. In the previous two verses, (vv. 14-15) God pursues or allures his rebellious wife to come home. Continuing in verse 16, "you will call me ‘My Husband’ and no longer will you call me ‘My Baal’. The word “Baal” here has a double meaning. As the next verse shows, it means one of the false gods of Israel’s idolatry. Verse 16 means: “You will no longer include me as one of many gods, or many lovers; you will consider me as your only true God and husband.” However, consider this sense of the word Baal: Fifteen times in the Old Testament the word “Baal” simply means “husband”, but in the sense of an owner or lord. The Baals were Israel’s hard masters as well as her lovers, and Israel assembled often to try to get benefits from The Baals (like the prophets of Baal in Mt. Carmel in 1 Kings 18:28). When Israel chose a Baal for her significant other, she would choose a cruel and merciless lord. So the other primary meaning of verse 16 is “Relate to me as loving husband, not as a harsh master or owner.” With great anticipation, God looked forward to the day when a relationship would be genuinely restored with his people. He desired a love-based, commitment-based relationship with Israel, and promises hope and safety for Israel, if His estranged people (wife) will come home. God will even make a pact with the animals, lest they do no harm, he will protect her from all violence and conflict (vs. 18). These are no doubt words that God speaks into the heart of his wife in the lonely place. “It will be so, so good! Put away your harlotry and come home.” To His faithless bride God says, "I will betroth you to me forever." Israel will be treated as a holy, unspotted bride without blemish or flaw. Three times “I will betroth you” is stated in this text. God will take His people to Himself as if she has never sinned, nor been a sinner. The sin of Israel's adultery will be forgiven. Hosea is willing to start over, lay a fresh foundation of righteousness, justice, steadfast love, mercy, and faithfulness with His wife, Gomer, and God is willing to do the same with Israel. “And you shall know the Lord” really stood out to me. Let’s recall the peculiar use of the word “know” in the Bible. In Genesis 4:1 “Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain.” In Matthew 1:25, “Joseph knew her [Mary] not until she had borne a son.” In the context of a broken relationship or marriage being renewed with new vows of betrothal, the words “and you shall know the Lord” would mean the ultimate, intimate relationship with God. With that deep intimate relationship, God would restore His people to abundance and blessing (Matthew 6:33). As we reflect on knowing God deeply, we know that God will transform Israel’s scattering into a time of sowing. In His compassion, he will make those that were not a people, a people. God’s compassion and God’s mercy are real, and Hosea makes it perfectly clear that God establishes his covenant with the nation of Israel. He also will show compassion on all nations, tribes, and tongues. God’s covenant of salvation even includes us, the Gentiles. We are reminded of God’s graciousness to us in 1 Peter 2:9 “You are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 10 who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.” 1 John 4:19 “We love Him because He first loved us.” Through no merit of our own, God forgives us and makes us right with him. God did not, and does not, save us because of anything good in us, but because He is righteous and good. Questions: 1. How is your relationship with God? Are there ways that you have been unfaithful to Him? 2. What is God’s promise for Israel’s future? How should this give Hosea, or others in a struggling marriage hope? 3. List several passages showing that the New Testament is a covenant. .
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