Hosea 11:1-11 – God’s Love for Israel

Reverend Leo H. McCrary II

God’s love for Israel shows us just how great His love is for all of us , as God has no desire to let us go.

Introduction

God has cared for us before we breathed our first breaths.  The love that God had for you back then has not changed; your trials, tribulations, and afflictions are proof of God’s love because He has brought you through them.  Even in all our disobedience, God never gives up on His children, which is what we will once again see the Lord say through the prophet Hosea.  This week’s Sunday School commentary covers Hosea 11:1-11. 

What we will focus on learning in this week’s Sunday School commentary:

1. God’s continued love for Israel
2. What God’s continued love means for followers of Christ.

God’s Love from the Beginning

This week’s Sunday School commentary comes from the prophecy of Hosea.  Hosea prophesied before the fall of the northern and the southern kingdoms.  Hosea 1:1 dates his prophecy to the days of both the kings of Judah and Israel; Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah were kings of Judah, and Jeroboam was the king of Israel during his prophecy.  

This Jeroboam was Jeroboam II, since he was the son of Joash.  I will touch more on Jeroboam II later on in this commentary.

In Hosea 11:1, the Lord speaks of how He loved Israel when Israel was a child, in Egypt.  This statement speaks of the nation of Israel, which was born through the seeds of Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel after he wrestled with the preincarnate Christ (Gen. 32:24-28).  If you really think about it, God loved Israel before Israel was even a nation.

Now, the reference to Egypt speaks of the days when the children of Israel were enslaved (Ex. 1:8-11).  When the Lord sent Moses to go before Pharaoh, God told him to tell Pharaoh, “Thus says the Lord: “Israel is My son, My firstborn.  So I say to you, let My son go that he may serve Me (Ex. 4:22-23).”  

The love that God spoke with for Israel sounds like the kind of love that would run through walls for one’s child or children, doesn’t it?  The Lord also told Moses to say to Pharaoh, “If you refuse to let him go, indeed I will kill your son, your firstborn (Ex. 4:23).”  

Those are the kind of words that a loving parent says when it comes to someone who is troubling their children!  The scary part about those words is that God’s threats are promises, and He does not fail to keep what He promises.  As we know, the firstborn of Pharaoh was killed because Pharaoh refused to let the children of Israel go (Ex. 12:29).

God’s Love for the World

Now, before I get too far into this commentary, I know this question will be asked by some of you: Does the Lord love those outside of Israel with the same love?  

If you’re one who questions or thinks that God only loves Israel with such love, I will point you to words that Jesus shared with Nicodemus.  In John 3:16, we see that Jesus told Nicodemus that God loved the world and gave the world His only begotten Son.  When Jesus spoke of the world, He spoke of God loving every nation, not just one singular nation.

To understand the depth of love that God has for every nation, you should consider why Jesus was given.  Jesus was given to be the atonement offering for the sins of all people.  

I feel that we don’t appreciate what it means that God gave His only begotten Son to be a sacrifice for a world that, for the most part, doesn’t appreciate what was done.  Do you think it’s an easy thing to give up your only child for people who would be ungrateful?  That is the kind of love that Paul said nothing can come in between and separate us from the Lord (Rom. 8:38-39).

Everyone in the world today ought to know that God has loved us before we breathed our very first breath.  I think of Jeremiah 1:4-5, when Jeremiah said that the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.”

Before you and I were formed in the wombs of our mothers, God had already given His only begotten Son for us.  Yes, sure, we must believe in Him so that we can receive the Holy Spirit and be born again.  However, like Jeremiah, and just like Israel, we can all say that the Lord loved us from our beginning.  

Now, the question that we, along with those of the nation of Israel, have to answer is whether or not we will appreciate God’s love for us, or will we push Him away?  I would certainly hope that you will appreciate more that God’s love for you is so deep that He is willing to give His only begotten for you.

God’s Love Continues through Sin and Neglect

When we take a look at Hosea 11:2-9, the depth of God’s patient love comes to the forefront.  I often say this because I believe it to be true:  We don’t value God’s patience enough.

Think about this:  When we sin, God has every right to throw His hands in the air and give up, doesn’t He?  If you think not, I would ask you: How quickly do you grow tired of people who repeatedly use or wrong you?  Our patience can run thin and will eventually run out when we have been wronged enough times.

It doesn’t take long for us to disobey and sin against God.  From the first moment we lied or tried ot hide something we did, knowing it was wrong, we sinned against God.  God could easily look at mankind and the mess of the world that we have made and be done with us, yet He is merciful.

Why is God so merciful towards mankind?  The answer is shown to us through the Lord’s mercy towards Israel because if there is a nation that God has every right to give up on, it would be the nation that knowingly broke their covenant with Him.

Yet, in Hosea 11:3, the Lord speaks of how He, like a loving parent, taught Ephraim how to walk, taking them by their arms.  The Lord spoke of how He healed Ephraim, but they didn’t know it.  Then, in Hosea 11:3-4, the Lord spoke of how He led them gently with love and cared for them with love.

Ephraim is referenced in this scripture because they were the most influential tribe of the northern kingdom.   The northern kingdom was initially made up of ten tribes before the Levites returned to the southern kingdom.  Because of their influence, we see Hosea refer to the northern kingdom not as Israel, but as Ephraim.  Similarly, the southern kingdom was known as Judah because the tribe of Judah was more influential than Benjamin and Levi.

Now, with that being said, God never desired for the house of Israel to be divided into two kingdoms.  The division occurred after the death of Solomon, but it was Solomon’s sinful living that led to this judgment of the Lord (1 Kgs. 11:9-12).

God could have turned away from Ephraim, but He didn’t do so.  In Hosea 11:2, there is a mention of the nation of Israel sacrificing to the Baals and burning incense to carved images. Idol worship was prominent in the northern kingdom and was brought in by kings like Jeroboam I.  

1 Kings 12:25-33 speaks of how Jeroboam I made golden calves and set up high places/temples so that the people of the northern kingdom didn’t have to venture down to the temple in Jerusalem.  Jeroboam II also did evil in the sight of God, but it is pointed out in 2 Kings 14:27 that God didn’t blot out the name of Israel from under heaven, but saved them by the hand of Jeroboam II.  Jeroboam II enjoyed quite a few military successes, though his reign was a wicked one.

God’s love for Ephraim (Israel/northern kingdom) endured idolatry, though the northern kingdom was conquered by the Assyrians, as mentioned in Hosea 11:5-6.  In Hosea 11:7, the Lord spoke of how His people were “bent on backsliding”, even though they religiously called to the Most High, their hearts weren’t for Him.  Yet, Hosea 11:8-9 points out that the Lord even endured their backsliding and false religion.

Why didn’t God give up on Ephraim?  In Hosea 11:8, there is mention of Admah and Zeboiim.  Mentions of Admah and Zeboiim in Scripture connect both cities to both Sodom and Gomorrah; they were all plain cities.  Sodom and Gomorrah are well known for being destroyed by the Lord.  However, Admah and Zeboiim were also cities of the plain that were laid waste by the Lord, as mentioned in Deuteronomy 29:23.

The implication of Hosea 11:8 is that God could have easily laid waste to Ephraim and had every reason to do so because they lived wickedly.  Yet, the Lord said He couldn’t bring Himself to do so because His sympathy was stirred for Ephraim.  Sympathy from God once again shows how deep His love ran for Ephraim.  No matter what, we must remember that Israel was/is God’s chosen people!

This, of course, will once again raise the question about those who don’t share the blood of Israel.  Does the Lord’s patience run out quicker for those who are not of the blood of Israel?

I would have to answer such a question by posing this question:  Has the Lord destroyed the world yet?  The sun is still rising and setting on this world, isn’t it?  The world still spins about on its axis, and life continues onward.  No matter how much we, mankind, try to destroy each other, we are still here.

God’s Hope and Desire

How do you suppose it’s possible that we, mankind, are still here?  Do you think it is by chance or coincidence?  If you think it is by chance or coincidence, you truly have the Lord mistaken. 

God’s sympathy is still stirred for mankind.  God desires to dwell with mankind for everlasting life.  God gave His only begotten Son so that He can dwell with those who are worthy to dwell with Him, whether they are of Israel’s blood or not.  

Now, to be clear, those who are worthy to dwell with the Lord are those who have made the choice to believe in His only begotten Son.  As we have seen in recent lessons, there will be a remnant of Israel who will endure to the end and take part in the earthly promise that God has made with Israel.  The remnant of Israel will endure to the end because God’s love will endure to the end.

God’s hope and desire is why we, mankind, continue to enjoy God’s mercy and grace!  In the closing verses of this week’s lesson, Hosea 11:10-11, we will see God’s hope speak loudly.  The Lord said, “They [Israel] shall walk after the Lord.”  Then the Lord said, “He will roar like a lion.  When He roars, then His sons shall come trembling from the west; like a dove from the land of Assyria.  And I will let them dwell in their houses.”

This is scripture that causes me to think of the Samaritans, and I will explain why.  The Samaritans are the brothers of the Judah, but the Jews treated them with great hostility because Israel bred with their captors, and those who occupied the land of the northern kingdom.  

Yet, there was one who was of Judah who didn’t do as other Jews did and traveled about so as not to go through the cities of the Samaritans.  No, this one went to the Samaritans and ministered to them, calling for repentance, and encouraging them to believe in Him.  Regardless of what others do, the Lord will go and get His sheep because He is the Good Shepherd.

Israel will walk after the Lord the day when Christ returns and sets foot on Zion.  The remnant of Israel will be saved because God’s love is patient and fights for His children.  

This is the kind of lesson that should fill all believers with hope and joy because the love that God has for Israel is the same love He has for His church.  God gave His only begotten Son for us, and that is not something to take lightly.  God’s love for Israel shows us just how deep the Lord’s love is for us all believers, and that is something we ought to certainly be grateful for.