Fri.’s Devo - Promise and Hope

Read: Isa. 12:1-6; Isa. 17:1-17; 2 Chron., 28:16-28; 2 Kings 16:10-18, 115:30-31, 17:1-4 18:1-8; Hosea 1:2-2:13
Ahaz, king of Judah, and Hoshea, king of Israel were both evil kings that led their nation into idolatry. God sent Hosea to be a living word picture of what was going on spiritually. God told Hosea to marry a prostitute, so that some of her children would be children not his, but products of her infidelity. This would be a picture of how Israel and Judah were married to the Lord but chose to give their affection to other gods and the product of their false worship was like these illegitimate children of Hosea’s.
Hosea chose to marry Gomer whose name means “completion”. She was to show God’s people the completion of their sin. She got pregnant and it says that she bore Hosea a son. He named him Jezreel which means “it will be sown of God”. Jezreel was the place where Jehu chastised King Ahab for taking Naboth’s vineyard and prophecied his fate and downfall. Once again, God was warning of judgment to come because of the sin that began with Ahab.
The next child Gomer had was a daughter. It doesn’t say it was Hosea’s so I have to think that it was conceived out of her life of prostitution. They named her Lo-ruhamah which means “not shown mercy” because God was not going to show mercy towards his offspring. The next baby she had was a son which I would think was also not Hosea’s. They named him Lo-ammi which means “for you are not my people”. This son was not Hosea’s and God was saying that these people were not his either.
But….God always gives promise when he brings judgment. One day these people’s offspring would be shown mercy and God would take them as his people. They would be the sons of the living God. The curse would be turned to a blessing.
We have gone through a season of pruning, fire, trials, testing, you name it. We can rest assured that God will turn our curses to blessings and we will come out of the fire because we are sons of the living God and God will have mercy on us and our nation and our posterity.
Lord, thank you that you always end with a promise. We stand on your promises of life and hope.