Resource Detail

2026 Hosea Lesson 1

A SHOCKING LOVE STORY

Hosea 1:1-11

Key Verse: 1:2

1. What does Hosea 1:1 reveal about the historical and geographical setting of Hosea’s prophetic ministry? What specific command does the LORD give to Hosea, and why (2)? What enabled Hosea to obey this difficult and painful command from God (3a)?
2. Why might the name Jezreel be a powerful and disturbing name in Israel’s history (3b-4)? What does “breaking Israel’s bow” symbolize in this context (5)? What does the name Lo-Ruhamah reveal about Israel’s relationship with God at this point (6)? Why do you think God contrasts Israel and Judah so sharply in these verses (7)?
3. How do the name Lo-Ammi and the words “I am not your God” together describe the breakdown of Israel’s covenant relationship with God (8-9)? How does God’s promise here reverse the judgment expressed by the name Lo-Ammi (10)? Why is it significant that Judah and Israel are described as coming together (11)?
4. How does Hosea 1 show that God judges unfaithfulness but does not give up on His people? How does this chapter invite you to return more fully to God in trust, faithfulness, and love?

2026 New Year Message Juan Seo (Jan 11, 2026)

A SHOCKING LOVE STORY

Hosea 1:1-11

Key Verse 1:2

“When the Lord began to speak through Hosea, the Lord said to him, “Go, marry a promiscuous woman and have children with her, for like an adulterous wife this land is guilty of unfaithfulness to the Lord.”

Happy New Year, everyone! Do you remember our church’s key verse for this year? It’s Deuteronomy 6:5. We’ve been coming back to it again and again. Let’s say it together one more time: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.” I know—I keep asking you to memorize this verse. Every meeting, every gathering. Some of you might be thinking, “Pastor, we already know it!” But there’s a reason. When God’s word is repeated, it doesn’t just stay in our memory—it begins to sink into our hearts. And when this verse is written on our hearts, it begins to work in our lives so that we can love God wholeheartedly.

Starting today, we are beginning a new sermon series on the book of Hosea. When you hear the name Hosea, what is the first thing that comes to your mind? Most likely, the story of God commanding Hosea to marry a promiscuous woman. Yes, that’s usually what we remember first. And honestly, it is shocking. Many people read this and immediately ask, “How could God give such a command to someone?” Others think, “There is no way I could obey God if He asked me to do that.” Those reactions are very natural. This is not an ordinary story. Today, I want us to step into this story together.

Verse 1 gives us the historical and social setting of Hosea’s ministry: “The word of the Lord that came to Hosea son of Beeri during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and during the reign of Jeroboam son of Jehoash king of Israel.” Do you know what the name Hosea means? The name Hosea actually comes from the same root as Joshua and Jesus. Hosea, Joshua, and Jesus all carry the meaning of “He saves,” “salvation,” or “deliverance.” God sends a prophet whose very name means “salvation” to the people who desperately needed to be saved from their broken relationship with God. In verse 1, four kings of Judah are listed: Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. But for the northern kingdom of Israel, only one king is mentioned: Jeroboam. The Jeroboam mentioned here is Jeroboam II. Hosea began his ministry in the later years of Jeroboam II, and he continued serving in northern Israel for more than thirty years, until Samaria—the capital of Israel—was destroyed by the Assyrian Empire in 722 BC. He delivered God’s message to the people of Israel during the darkest period of the northern kingdom, when the nation was heading straight toward destruction.

Let’s read verse 2: “When the Lord began to speak through Hosea, the Lord said to him, ‘Go, marry a promiscuous woman and have children with her, for like an adulterous wife this land is guilty of unfaithfulness to the Lord.’” Let me ask you this: Could you marry an unfaithful woman? Or an unfaithful man? I don’t think so. We would refuse to marry someone we don’t love. Some of us might be thinking, “What if God gives me a command like that?” I don’t think that will happen. This command was given in a particular context to communicate God’s heart in a powerful, unforgettable way. While I was serving in Venezuela, one brother came to me and said he had a dream about marrying a particular girl, and he believed it was God’s will. Then he asked me to help him marry her. Do you know what I said to him? “If God showed you in a dream that you should marry her, then God is also capable of showing her in a dream that she should marry you. Until that happens, wait.” I think he had that dream because he really liked the girl. Hosea’s marriage was not about romance or personal desire. It was about God using one man’s life to show His heart to an unfaithful nation. Through Hosea’s painful marriage life, God revealed His broken heart over Israel’s unfaithfulness.

But why did God choose this way? Couldn’t God have simply told the people, in words, how much He loved them? The truth is, a message shown through action is much more powerful than a message spoken only with words. While I was living in Venezuela, some people from Korea visited. I warned them again and again not to walk around at night. But they liked going out at night anyway. Then one night, they were robbed. After that, they no longer went out at night. People often don’t listen when they are only told with words. But when they see it with their own eyes, when they experience it themselves, they understand much more deeply. God chose to show His love not only with words, but also with visible actions. Through Hosea’s marriage, God showed what His love looks like. Hosea’s wife, Gomer, leaves her husband and goes after other men. And yet, Hosea does something shocking. He goes after her. He brings her back. He forgives her again and again. Hosea did not give up on his unfaithful wife. He continues to love her, even after her repeated unfaithfulness. This was not just Hosea’s personal story. This was God’s message. Through Hosea’s costly love, God showed how deeply He loved His unfaithful people, Israel. Love is not just something we say. Love is something we do. When we truly love someone, we want to give our time, our attention, our energy. Even when we are busy, we make time. When there is a need, we respond. Love shows itself through action.

Now, let me ask you another question: why did God use “marriage” to show His love for Israel? It’s because the relationship between a husband and a wife closely reflects the relationship between God and His people. Marriage is a special gift God gave to humanity. If we go back to Genesis chapter 2, we see that God looked at Adam and saw that it was not good for him to be alone. So God made a woman from Adam’s rib and brought her to him. God Himself arranged the first marriage. And how did Adam respond? He said, “You are bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh.” If we say it in today’s language, it’s like Adam was saying, “You are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen.” At that time, Eve was the only woman in the world! The two loved each other and were married, and God was pleased with their marriage. Then God gave them this word: “That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.” That phrase, “be united” and “become one flesh,” is not just about physical union. It means a whole-person union—heart, mind, emotions, and spirit. That’s the first marriage covenant.

When we get married, we stand before God and make a vow. We say words like this: “I take you to be my wife (my husband). Before God and these witnesses, I promise to love you, to honor and respect you, to care for and protect you, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, as long as we both shall live.” Marriage is a covenant to love one another in every situation. Marriage is a covenant where one man and one woman promise to be faithful to each other. And a covenant is meant to be kept. That is why marriage is such a powerful picture. But today, many people do not take this vow seriously. Marriages break down over personality differences, over conflicts, or over many other reasons. Some husbands and wives break the covenant through unfaithfulness. We are living in a time when the true meaning of marriage has been deeply weakened.

God made a covenant with Israel at Mount Sinai. The heart of that covenant was clear and powerful: “I will be your God, and you will be my people.” God chose Israel to be His people. And He promised that if they loved Him with all their heart, soul, and strength, He would bless them. And how did Israel respond? With one voice, they made a collective promise. They said, “We will do everything the Lord has said.” (Exodus 19:8) That is how the covenant relationship between God and Israel was established. However, Israel broke their covenant with God and committed spiritual adultery by serving other gods. From God’s perspective, idolatry is not a small issue. It is unfaithfulness that breaks the covenant relationship with God. It is betrayal. They walked away from the Lord who had saved them, and instead, they turned to idols. They stopped fearing the one true God. And God did not stay silent. Again and again, God called out to His people. Through the prophets, He pleaded with them: “Come back to me. Return. Repent.” This was the voice of a faithful God calling His people home. But Israel did not listen. They ignored God’s voice. They refused to give up their idols. Their hearts became hard, and their worship became empty. Finally, God made a painful decision. He chose to bring judgment—not because He stopped loving them, but because they would not return. And through Hosea, God repeated this message of judgment again and again, hoping that even at the last moment, His people might wake up and turn back to Him.

Hosea had two sons and one daughter through Gomer. But the Bible is not clear about whether these children are actually Hosea’s biological children. Scripture intentionally leaves that unclear. That ambiguity itself tells us something. Hosea’s family life was deeply broken because of Gomer’s unfaithfulness. Trust was damaged. Even the most basic question—“Are these my children?”—is left unanswered. When the first son is born, God tells Hosea to call him Jezreel. Jezreel was a place where God’s judgment had been carried out in Israel’s history. God says that in the Valley of Jezreel, He will break Israel’s bow—meaning their military power and their strength. When the second child, a daughter, is born, God tells Hosea to call her Lo-Ruhamah. The name means “not loved” or “no mercy.” It is a painful name. It tells Israel that God would no longer show love to Israel. Then the third child, a son, is named Lo-Ammi, which means “not my people.” It declares that the covenant relationship between God and Israel has been broken. God says, “You are not my people, and I am not your God.”

Now, think about this. Normally, parents want to give their children beautiful names—names full of blessing and hope. But God tells Hosea to give his children names filled with warning and judgment. Why? It was because God wanted the people to wake up. Every time someone called those children by name, they were hearing a message from God. Each name was a warning. Each name was a call to repentance. God was using even the children’s names to urge His people to turn back before it was too late.

The fact that God kept repeating the message of judgment is itself a sign of God’s love. God desperately wanted the people of Israel to return to Him. Think about it this way. If God had completely given up on Israel, He would not have warned them at all. He would not have sent prophets. He would not have spoken. He would have simply judged them without saying a word. But God kept speaking. He kept warning. And He repeated His message again and again. That repetition reveals a God who refuses to give up. Imagine your husband or your wife is having an affair—meeting another man or another woman again and again. What would you do? You would warn them, right? You would say, “If you see that person one more time, we’re done.” Now imagine they go again. Someone with a lot of patience might warn them one more time: “If you do this again, this is really the end.” But imagine they go again. No apology. No repentance. No request for forgiveness. At that point, most of us would be completely done. Our love would be exhausted. We would say, “That’s it,” and go straight for the divorce papers.

But God is different. In that kind of situation, God does not stop speaking. He does not walk away. He continues to warn. He continues to call. He continues to say, “Come back to me.” That is love. God chose to love them—despite their unfaithfulness. God did not love Israel because they were pure or faithful. He loved them even when they were not. This love is not just emotional love. It is a decided love. God made a commitment to love His people. Do you remember the Hebrew word chesed ( חֶסֶד ) [ḥé·sed] that we talked about last week? chesed ( חֶסֶד ) [ḥé·sed] means covenant-based love—faithful love, loyal love, love that keeps its promise. God, who is faithful, did everything to keep that covenant. God forgave them again and again. He kept pursuing them. He kept holding on. This is where we see God’s patient love. A love that does not quit. A love that endures betrayal. A love that keeps choosing faithfulness even when the other side does not. This is the love of our God. And God did not stop there. God ultimately demonstrated His love by sending His one and only Son, Jesus, into this world. Jesus did not just talk about love—He died on the cross for our sins. That is why Romans 5:8 says, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

God entered into a covenant relationship with us through the love of Jesus Christ. In that sense, God bound Himself to us in a marriage-like covenant. We were moved by God’s love, and we promised that we would serve God alone. But if we are honest, how often have we betrayed that promise? How often have we walked away from God? How often have we chased after the idols of this world—success, money, comfort, approval—and pushed God to the side? And yet, God has not stopped loving us. Through Jesus Christ, God keeps coming after us. God keeps searching for us. God keeps waiting, hoping, longing for us to return. Even when we are unfaithful, God remains faithful. Even when we leave, God does not. He continues to stand at the door, calling our name, ready to receive us again.

Therefore, now is the time for us to remember God’s love and return to Him. Now is the time to remove our idols and decide to love God with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our strength. Now is the time to receive God’s love, to be forgiven, and to be restored before Him. Let’s all return to our faithful God! May our relationship with God be restored in the love of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.