I always find it fascinating when God names something, or instructs parents to name their children, or especially when a name gets changed. Many study Bibles contain a footnote by these names to give you the Hebrew or Greek definition, so don’t breeze by those too quickly!
You can also find this list from the Faithlife Bible by clicking here.
[I originally posted this about 10 years ago(!), but recently came across it as I was studying the book of Ezekiel. I hope you (re)enjoy this classic.]
Here’s what God said to His people—five times!—through the prophet Ezekiel, “I will judge you according to your conduct.”
It’s not what I believe. It’s not what I discuss. It’s not what I intend to do. It’s not what I know is right and wrong. It’s what I do.
I have to give an account for my conduct. I have to answer to God for how I lived out my beliefs. I have to show God what I did with what I believed about Him. I have to put into practice what’s in my heart.
Do I believe God is God? Do I have idols?
Do I believe God is holy? Do I sin?
Do I believe God forgives? Do I repent?
Do I believe God looks after orphans and widows? Do I?
Do I believe God is my Provider? Do I steal? Do I get jealous or envious?
Do I believe He is Lord? Do I give Him control of everything?
Do I believe I should do something for the hungry, thirsty, naked, sick and imprisoned? Do I actually do something?
What God judges is not just godly beliefs, but godly actions motivated by those godly beliefs.
Hosea is the only prophet from Israel (he calls the Israelite king “our king” in 7:5), and along with Amos he is the only prophet to address the northern kingdom exclusively. Hosea addresses the northern tribes of Israel with brutal honesty—he calls them an adulteress wife! Hosea isn’t alone in saying this, as Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel all same the same thing too.
But Hosea alone is called on to live out his message in a most unusual way: God instructs him to marry “an adulterous woman”! The question is: was she already a promiscuous woman before they married? Or did she become unfaithful after they were married?
I believe that she became unfaithful after marriage. When Gomer gives birth to their first son, Hosea writes that “she bore him a son”—indicating he is the father. But with Gomer’s second and third pregnancies, Hosea simply writes, “she gave birth,” leading me to think that Hosea wasn’t the father of those children.
Jezreel—This boy’s name means “God sows.” It is a neutral word meaning either sowing good seed and reaping a healthy harvest, or sowing godlessness and reaping punishment.
Lo-Ruhamah—Her name means “not pitied.” God indicates that He will bring a judgment on Israel that is deserved justice. He has been patiently calling them to repentance but they kept running farther away from Him.
Lo-Ammi—This boy’s name is saddest of all. It means “not My people.”
How sad! Can you imagine Hosea’s heartache?! Can you imagine God’s heartache?! God tells Hosea the penalty for their adulterous life (Hosea 2:2-13), which the apostle Paul would later sum up in these straightforward words: the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23).
“YET” and “THEREFORE”…
In the middle of God expressing His heartache over His wayward wife He says two amazing words “Yet” and “Therefore” (1:10; 2:14).
“Yet I will bless you and reverse your misfortune”
“Therefore I will allure you and speak tenderly to you”
This is UNBELIEVABLE!! Who would respond like this to such vile unfaithfulness?!
God would.
God did! But God shows and clearly proves His own love for us by the fact that while we were still sinners, Christ—the Messiah, the Anointed One—died for us (Romans 5:8).
Hosea—whose name means salvation—is called on to do exactly what Jesus did for us. Hosea buys back his wife from her master. Hosea pays the price for Gomer’s sin, just as Jesus paid the price for our sin.
What amazing love God has for us!
You have never lived an unloved day in your life. Not a single one! God loves you more than the best husband could ever love his wife. He paid for your forgiveness and your freedom. Will you receive that forgiveness and restoration today?
This is a weekly series with things I’m reading and pondering from Charles Spurgeon. You can read the original seed thought here, or type “Thursdays With Spurg
e search box to read more entries.
Rejoicing In God’s Unchangeableness
“But He is unchangeable, and who can turn Him? And what He wants to do, that He does” (Job 23:13 AMP).
Some shallow thinkers dream that the great plan and design of God was thrown out of order by the fall of man. The fall they consider all accidental circumstances, not intended in the divine plan, and thus God, being placed in a delicate predicament of requiring to sacrifice His justice or His mercy, used the plan of the atonement of Christ as a divine expedient. … I am persuaded that the very fall of man was a part of the divine purpose: that even the sin of Adam, though he did it freely, was nevertheless contemplated in the divine scheme and was by no means such a thing as to involve a digression from His primary plan. …
And when later the gospel was sent to the Jews, and they resisted it and Paul and Peter turned to the Gentiles, do not suppose that God had to take down His book and make an eraser or an amendment. No, the whole was written there from the beginning. He knew everything of it. He has never altered a single sentence nor changed a single line of the divine purpose. …
It is a sweet consolation to the mind of one who muses much upon these deep matters that God never has changed in any degree from His purpose.
From The Infallibility Of God’s Purpose
God has a plan for all of His creation. ALL of His creation—that includes you!
You were made on purpose and for a purpose. God’s original plan of sending Jesus for your salvation still stands. God’s original plan for your particular life—with all of your talents, gifts, personality, and uniqueness—is unaltered by any circumstance.
YOU have immeasurable value and worth because God created YOU.
“When you bring Me prayer requests, lay out your concerns before Me. Speak to Me candidly; pour out your heart. Then thank Me for the answers that I have set into motion long before you can discern results. When your requests come to mind again, continue to thank Me for the answers that are on the way. If you keep on stating your concerns to Me, you will live in a state of tension. When you thank Me for how I am answering your prayers, your mind-set becomes more positive. Thankful prayers keep your focus on My presence and My promise.” —Jesus (in Sarah Young’s 40 Days With Jesus)
Tim Challies has a highly practical guide to helping you learn how to be more productive for God’s glory. Check out my full book review by clicking here.
“Productivity is not what will bring purpose to your life, but what will enable you to excel in living out your purpose.”
We all have the same 168 hours in our week, but why does it seem like some people get so much more done in the same amount of time? No, there isn’t a secret formula, but Tim Challies does share some insightful principles that can help all of us Do More Better.
Tim’s approach is a spiritual one. He wants us to be more productive and effective not so we can receive accolades, but so that God is glorified in our lives. If a Christian is disorganized or unproductive, a watching world can’t see God as clearly. But a thoughtful, purposeful, productive Christian gets others’ attention and points them to God’s glory.
Tim begins by helping us understand what productivity is and isn’t. From that foundation, he guides us through how to look at our lives in all its different roles, and then shares tools and techniques for doing more better in every area of our lives. Along the way, Tim shares both some online tools and some paper-and-pen tools that can be used to help us keep our productivity humming along.
This isn’t a long book nor a difficult book to process. In fact, you will be able to start making steps toward greater productivity right from chapter one! If you want to do more better—and glorify God in the process—check out Do More Better.
Check out some bonus resources that go along with this book by clicking here.
The minor prophets in the Bible are pretty cool! But we have to be careful with man-made titles. For example, the “old” in Old Testament doesn’t mean outdated; nor does the “new” in New Testament mean something updated to modern times.
In the same way, the minor prophets are only called “minor” because of the volume of their writing, not the quality of their message. In fact, their messages are actually quite major!
The minor prophets cover a span of about 300 years, from 760 BC (Amos) to 450 BC (Malachi). You can check out this side-by-side chart to see where these prophets fit in the history of Judah and Israel.
Here are some interesting tidbits about the minor prophets:
In the Hebrew Bible, these books are referred to simply as “The Twelve.”
All of these prophets identify themselves in the first verse of their writing except Jonah, but he is identified in 2 Kings 14:23-25.
The prophets consistently give us some historical context in their writings to help us place when, where, and to whom their ministry took place.
The Twelve also show up quite liberally in the New Testament. Every one of them has either direct quotations or has their writings implicitly referred to throughout the New Testament. Here’s just a small sampling…
Micah 5:2 tells us where Jesus would be born (Matthew 2:6)
Hosea 11:1 says Jesus would spend time in Egypt (Matthew 2:15)
Malachi 4:5 says an “Elijah” would precede Jesus (Matthew 17:10-11)
Zechariah 9:9 foretells Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem (Mark 11:1-10)
Jonah 1:17 was used by Jesus to predict His own resurrection (Matthew 12:39-42)
Joel 2:28-32 was quoted by Peter on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:16-21)
Amos 9:11-12 foretold all peoples coming to Jesus (Acts 15:16-17)
Hosea 13:14 was quoted by Paul to show how death was defeated (1 Corinthians 15:53-57)
Habakkuk 2:4 was also quoted by Paul to tell how righteous people live (Galatians 3:11)
Haggai 2:6 foretells the end times (Hebrews 12:26-29)
I look forward to diving deep into the major lessons in the minor prophets over the next several weeks, but in preparation for that let me give you 3 overarching lessons for all Bible studies:
Christianity is rooted in history.The Bible is a historical record of real people, saying and doing real things in real places in the world. It’s not a collection of fables, myths, or legends.
We need to study the whole counsel of God’s Word. All of Scripture is interdependent on all the other parts of Scripture, and every part reinforces and amplifies every other part. Don’t limit your Bible reading to just one or two parts.
Looking back in wonder and gratitude builds faith for today and hope for tomorrow. When we see what God has done in the past, and we realize that He is still the same God today, it builds our faith for today. And when our faith today is strengthened, it gives us a bright hope for tomorrow.
I am standing upon the seashore. A ship at my side spreads her white sails to the morning breeze and starts for the blue ocean. She is an object of beauty and strength. I stand and watch her until at length she hangs like a speck of white cloud just where the sea and sky come to mingle with each other.
Then someone at my side says, “There, she is gone!”
“Gone where?”
Gone from my sight. That is all. She is just as large in mast and hull and spar as she was when she left my side, and she is just as able to bear her load of living freight to her destined port.
Her diminished size is in me, not in her. And just at the moment when someone at my side says, “There, she is gone,” there are other eyes watching her coming, and other voices ready to take up the glad shout, “Here she comes!” —Henry Van Dyke
In studying for our ongoing series Major Lessons From Minor Prophets, I came across this chart in my Faithlife Illustrated Study Bible. This isn’t an exhaustive list by any means, but it is a good list to get you started on your own Bible study. 
Craig T. Owens 