1) Name the four kings of Judah and the one from Israel during Hosea’s call to ministry.Hosea 1:1
2) What did the Lord call Hosea to do and what was His reasoning?Hosea 1:2
3) God ordered Hosea to do something that was not only strange then but now as well. If in Hosea’s place what would have been your reaction and response to God’s call?
4) Just because God called Hosea to marry someone promiscuous does not give everyone the license to marry anyone who fulfil their carnal desires. Nor does it mean we can do great acts of “strangeness” in God’s name without His approval. Read the scriptures below and explain how God controls a person’s life.Philippians 2:13-15 Jeremiah 29:11-14 Proverbs 3:5-8 Psalm 25:8-10
5) Who did Hosea marry?Hosea 1:3
6) What was the name of Hosea and Gomer’s first child?Hosea 1:4-5
7) What was the daughter’s name?Hosea 1:6-7
8) Give the third child’s name.Hosea 1:8-9
9) Hosea children’s names were immediately identifiable with God speaking to the people. When people get to know you what message from God do they see or experience?
10) The names given to the children were a message to God’s people. This meant they were walking sermons for God to the Israelites. What messages are needed for yourself, the city, church, and country to help them change for the better?
11) In spite of all of this, what proclamation was put onto the people and their future?Hosea 1:10-11
Just A Thought
Go and marry a prostitute. Hearing those words must have been confusing and outlandish to Hosea but there were times when God had an interesting request for His servants. He told Moses to inform a head of state to free his slaves. Noah was ordered to build a boat during a time of no rain. The Lord promised an elderly man named Abraham that children would come from him that will last generations. Hosea knew that God called previous patriarchs and prophets to a variety of jobs but, marrying a prostitute on purpose must have been an odd request.
Gomer wasn’t a reformed prostitute or someone trying to change her lifestyle. Instead Hosea was to go and get someone in the business and then marry them. If left up to Hosea he probably would have assumed he was hearing God incorrectly and not proceed with the act. God pushed him to complete this mission. Marrying Gomer wasn’t about carnal pleasure or passions. Instead it was about showing the people of Judah and Israel God’s relationship with them. Hosea was the visual and real-life metaphor of God’s love to an unfaithful nation.
Hosea’s message to Israel and Judah is not a requirement that God calls everyone to do. We cannot look at Hosea and assume that a similar mission applies. Purposefully finding a spouse who is a street prostitute or porn star is not the message that God wants us to learn from Hosea. There was a specific assignment given to Hosea to marry a particular person for a Divine reason. While reading the rest of Hosea marinate on the message God places on our hearts to tell others. Hosea’s audience were his countrymen. For everyone studying this book, their audience can be self, family, friends, co-workers, church members, neighbors, or those on the internet.
