Hosea Children Come

Hosea has married a prostitute, just as God commanded him to do. Now, children come from this union. And GOD names them.

Have you ever heard the Johnny Cash song, Boy Named Sue? That is what jumps to my mind when I read the names God gave Hosea and Gomer’s children. I wonder kind of lives they had with those names. Did they think about the separation or the promise of reunification? And how long into their lives did the prophecy of reunification come? “Sue” had a lot of fighting to do, thanks to his dad. What did Jezreel, No Mercy, and Not My People have to look forward to?

Let’s rejoin Hosea and his growing family as they live out the message that God has for His people. Holy Spirit, thank You for the path You have set for this story. Continue to lead the way as Your story unfolds. Show me what to take from Your story for my own life.

♥ ♦ ♥

Hosea and Gomer start their journey as man and wife. Gomer is thrilled with being a wife instead of… what her former life was. She tries not to think about her past, but that’s not always possible. For starters, she is reminded of her past every time she goes to the well or the market. People move away from her, especially the women, as if she has some dreaded disease.

One morning, an encounter at the well leaves Gomer fearful. Two women are talking as Gomer approaches. They don’t notice her and their conversation carries to where she works.

“You KNOW that God doesn’t bless a woman with children unless she is pure. You must have done something to anger Him, or you would already be with child.”

“I know, and I have searched my heart for my sin. It has been two years since my marriage and I am still empty. There must be a sin I’m not aware of. I would repent in sackcloth and ashes, if I knew the sin I’m being punished for.”

Gomer’s heart sinks. She KNOWS her sins, and they are many. She has repented since being brought to Hosea’s family’s home, but is that enough. “Will Hosea’s God truly forgive me and grant me children? From the beginning, Hosea said he wants children. What will he do with me if I cannot produce children for him? Will he throw me away” Gomer asks herself.

Gomer finishes her task and hurries home. She sits with this fear all day. As she turns this over in her mind, she also thinks of the stories of prostitutes who had to leave the profession because they became pregnant. Their children seemed to be a punishment more than a blessing though, because they had no way to feed themselves and their children.

Gomer doesn’t know how to pray, so she simply speaks her heart, and hopes that Hosea’s God is listening. “God of my husband, I don’t know the proper way to bring my requests before You. I hope You can hear my heart. PLEASE allow me to bear children for my husband. I feel selfish in asking this, as You have already blessed me beyond what I could ever have imagined by providing a husband for me; a wretched and sinful woman. Continue to teach me how to be a good wife to my husband. And, Lord, if it is possible, cleanse me from all my past sins.”

God has heard Gomer’s heart. He heard it the first time she asked for forgiveness. And He has a plan for her life. “Yes, Gomer. You will bear children” God whispers into ears that haven’t yet learned to hear His voice yet.

Gomer doesn’t realize it yet, but God has already answered her prayer. A week later she suspects this as her monthly flow is absent. She waits until she has missed two full cycles before sharing the news with her husband.

Hosea sits at the table, enjoying his morning meal. Gomer waits patiently for him to finish. She craves his full attention for the announcement she is about to make. As soon as he is finished, but before he can rise to begin his day, Gomer stands beside him with her hands placed protectively over her stomach.

“My husband, I need to speak with you about an important matter.”

Hosea looks up at Gomer’s face. He sees happiness, with just a tinge of worry etched across her face. Her smile seems almost hesitant and her eyes pleading.

“Speak my wife. You have my full attention.”

“I am with child.”

“That’s wonderful!” Hosea’s brows wrinkle. “Is there something more? You look frightened.”

“It is wonderful news, my husband. And Your God has certainly blessed me. But will He take this away from me because of my past?”

“When God told me who to marry, He already knew your past. And He has promised me children. I believe with ALL MY HEART that this is just the beginning of our future together as parents.”

Gomer’s fears melt at Hosea’s words. “If for no other reason than to bless my husband, God is surely giving me a child” she says to herself.

Gomer’s pregnancy brings another kind of response from those around her. The strongest reaction is from the woman who was overhead a few months ago. As Gomer’s condition becomes obvious, this woman becomes envious and bitter.

“How is it that God blesses HER with a child and not me” she cries to her friend.

“I don’t know. Maybe you should ask her.”

“NEVER! I would NEVER speak with such a woman.”

Gomer overhears these words too, but says nothing. She is content to be silent and let the Lord work in her life.

Labor and delivery are so easy for Gomer that she wonders about the stories she has heard. When the midwife lays her son in her arms, Gomer is beside herself with joy! As she looks into his face, feels the pull of his lips on her breast, and fingers his little hands, she instantly falls in love. “I never knew true love until I met you, little one” she whispers to him.

Hosea is finally allowed into the room to meet his son. His smile is so great that it nearly tears the skin at the corners of his mouth. He gazes down at mother and child in true wonder. As he gazes on them, he hears the voice of his Lord.

“Call his name Jezreel, for in just a little while I will punish the house of Jehu for the blood of Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel. And on that day I will break the bow of Israel in the Valley of Jezreel” (Hosea 1:4-5).

“I will Lord” Hosea says in his spirit.

As the days pass before the circumcision ceremony, Gomer tries to discuss names with Hosea. She suggests a few but Hosea always shakes his head and says, “Not that name.”

The morning of the eight-day dawns and Gomer is struggling with not having a name for their child. “My husband, our son needs a name. How are we to speak it at his ceremony if he has none.”

“The Lord has given me the name we are to call him, and the reason. I will speak it at the appointed time.”

Gomer nods. She will obey her husband in all things.

After completing the circumcision act, the priest looks to the parents and asks; “What is this child’s name?”

Hosea speaks his name for all to hear. “His name is Jezreel. For the Lord says, ‘for in just a little while I will punish the house of Jehu for the blood of Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel. And on that day I will break the bow of Israel in the Valley of Jezreel.’”

Gomer is surprised by the prophecy delivered at her son’s circumcision but says nothing. Again, she will obey the God of her husband.

Jezreel is a beautiful baby. He is even tempered and sleeps through the night after only a month. The talk of the prophecy at his circumcision dies down rather quickly and life is good in the home of Hosea and Gomer.

At the age of two and a half, Jezreel weans himself and the family celebrates his accomplishment. The event is joyous but the crowd is small. It is still difficult for their neighbors to overlook Gomer’s past. And Gomer has learned not to be bothered by those that won’t move forward. She has no time for their pettiness.

Gomer quickly becomes pregnant again after weening Jezreel. She nearly glows as she goes to the well to collect water. God is indeed blessing her. The women who are still jealous quickly turn their heads away. Those that have come to accept Gomer strike up easy conversations with her. It feels good to be part of the community.

Gomer has a harder time with this labor and delivery. It takes ten hours of hard labor before this babe makes her entrance into the world.

“You have a daughter” exclaims the midwife.

Gomer smiles as she receives her daughter from the arms of the midwife. “I will not treat my daughter the way I was treated” she vows to herself as she snuggles her infant daughter and buries her nose in her thick curly hair. It is still wet from her entrance into the world, but Gomer doesn’t care.

Hosea enters to greet his new daughter and congratulate his wife on her hard work. As he gazes at the baby, he hears the voice of the Lord speak.

“Call her name No Mercy, for I will no more have mercy on the house of Israel, to forgive them at all. But I will have mercy on the house of Judah, and I will save them by the Lord their God. I will not save them by bow or by sword or by war or by horses or by horsemen” (Hosea 1:6-7).

Hosea’s eyes widen and then he slams them shut. “Surely not, Lord! She is just a child. I cannot… Yes, Lord. I will do as you command” he says silently to the Lord.

“Welcome daughter. The Lord has chosen a name for you.”

Gomer watches her husband with anticipation.

After a moment’s hesitation, Hosea pronounces his daughter’s name, and the reason behind it. “You shall be called No Mercy, for the Lord says; ‘I will no more have mercy on the house of Israel, to forgive them at all. But I will have mercy on the house of Judah, and I will save them by the Lord their God. I will not save them by bow or by sword or by war or by horses or by horsemen.’”

Tears well in Gomer’s eyes. “Hosea! That is not a name for a beautiful girl. Just look at her hair and her perfect little fingers. Surely, you can come up with a more suitable name than… No Mercy” pleads Gomer.

“The Lord has chosen her name and I will not go against Him.”

Gomer drops her eyes and her argument. Her daughter’s name will stand.

When No Mercy is presented to her extended family and her parents’ friends, they have the same reaction as Gomer’s. But, any who approach Gomer to try and get her to change her daughter’s name are met with the same resolve Hosea faced Gomer with on the day of her birth.

“The Lord has chosen her name and we will not go against Him.”

Gomer tries no to call out her daughter’s name too often. Deep down it still bothers her and she feels guilty when she repeats it. “No Mercy is a beautiful child who deserve mercy with such a name” she tells herself. However, she does NOT allow No Mercy, mercy, when discipline is required. No Mercy learns early on to be a well-behaved child. She also instills in her daughter confidence and explains the purpose behind her name. She isn’t sure No Mercy truly understands. She prays that she will some day.

No Mercy is weened at the age of two. Gomer is happy that she is a girl, as she can remain at home instead of being thrust out into the world with all its cruelty. She can be sheltered at home, interacting only with family and friends who love her.

Not long after No Mercy is weened, Gomer recognizes the signs of pregnancy again. “Please let it be a son” she pleads, believing that Hosea will be kinder with naming a son than a daughter.

Gomer brings No Mercy with her on her daily tasks, including her trips to the well. The women look at No Mercy with pity and the older children tease her. No Mercy is strong and stands in the face of her adversaries with courage.

“My abba’s God gave me my name, and He is a GOOD God. He loves me!” These are the words her mother has instilled in her since the beginning.

Gomer goes into labor with her third child. This labor is everything horror stories are spoken about. She labors for two days and is torn severely before her son is finally born. Even after all the pain, she still has a radiant smile for her son.

“Shalom, little one. I pray that your abba will give you a glorious name, when the time comes.”

Hosea comes to see his wife and son. He is beautiful. His hair has a red sheen to it, just like his grandabba’s did. Just seeing his hair brings back so many good memories. He smiles down at his wife and strokes his son’s head. He already knows that God will name this child as well. He waits, with a fair dose of anxiety, for Him to speak his son’s name.

“Call his name Not My People, for you are not my people, and I am not your God” (Hosea 1:9).

Hosea’s knees nearly buckle after hearing the Lord’s pronouncement of his son’s name. He is glad he doesn’t have to speak the name today. He will need time to get used to this name.

Before Hosea composes himself, Gomer sees his anguish. She knows what has happened. The Lord has again chosen a ‘meaningful’ name for her child. She resolves to stand strong, no matter what it is.

Hosea and Gomer share weak smiles with one another for the next several days. Each knows what the other is feeling. On the morning of the eighth day, Gomer puts her hand on her husband’s arm.

“It will be as the Lord has chosen. I will not argue.”

Hosea nods, then wraps her in his arms. He still will not speak the name of his son out loud. He has practiced it in his heart many times, but it is still hard and hurts each time. “How can God say we are ‘not His people’? Haven’t I served Him all my life” he wonders to himself.

As the priest turns to Hosea for the child’s name, a peace beyond understanding falls on Hosea. He speaks his son’s name without hesitation, and the prophecy behind it. “His name is Not My People, for the Lord says to Israel; ‘You are not My people, and I am not your God.’”

Gasps fill the room. Gomer holds her head up high and says nothing. She takes her son back and finds a place to comfort him with her breast.

The celebration following the circumcision of Not My People is subdued. The people don’t know how to respond to the child’s name or the prophecy.

“Is God really saying that we are not His people? How can that be?” “WHY would he say that?” “It must be a false prophecy.” These are some of the comments whispered by those who heard God’s words.

Some realize that these words have been spoken before by other prophets. “Israel has turned from God. WE chose to be ‘not His people’. Our sins have brought this on us.”

As the celebration is coming to a close, Hosea stands before the people gathered there with another word from the Lord.

“Thus says the living God; ‘Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or numbered. And in the place where it was said to them, “You are not my people,” it shall be said to them, “Children of the living God.” And the children of Judah and the children of Israel shall be gathered together, and they shall appoint for themselves one head. And they shall go up from the land, for great shall be the day of Jezreel’ (Hosea 1:10-11).”

Gomer teaches Not My People the same thing she taught No Mercy. They bring Jezreel into the same understanding of his name. It takes strength of character for Hosea and Gomer’s children to wear these prophetic names.

It has been two years since Not My People has been weened and Gomer is still not with child. She seeks out the midwife to understand why.

“It was easy to bear children to my husband before. Why not now?”

After a thorough examination, the midwife brings Gomer to the table. She pours her a cup of soothing tea. She has news that no woman wants to hear, and needs Gomer in a calm frame of mind to share it.

The midwife settles across the table from Gomer, with her own tea. She reaches out and takes Gomer’s hands in her gnarled hands. “You will not be bearing any more children for your husband. Your last child left you with scars that make this impossible.”

Gomer drops her head and silently weeps. She pulls her hands out of the midwife’s and covers her empty belly with them. Gomer thanks the midwife and then leaves.

Gomer vows to be content with the children she has. But she wonders if her husband will still want her? “When he asked me to marry him, he said it was to have children. Now that I can’t have children, I am useless to him.”

Gomer begins to shrink in on herself daily. Hosea is so busy with his work that he doesn’t notice. The children are all growing up, the youngest, Not My People, is already working in the fields with his abba. No Mercy is almost seven years old. She has mastered many skills she will need to become a good wife. And, Jezreel is nearing his tenth birthday. That is the age her own father sent her away to be a prostitute.

A year goes by in the blink of an eye for the family of Hosea, but Gomer feels every dragging minute of it. As she cannot bear children any longer, her husband visits her bed less often. He doesn’t even realize he is doing it. Gomer’s confidence and self-worth drain from her like a leaky bucket.

One of the hired hands, Kane, notices the change in Gomer. He begins finding excuses to spend time near her. Little by little he gets her to trust him and makes her feel desirable again. Within three months she is laughing in his presence, but the feelings of joy don’t last outside of his orbit.

Kane comes to Gomer’s door to ‘repair the hinges on her bedroom door’. Gomer invites him in and shows him to her chambers where he can begin the work. As he crosses the threshold behind Gomer, Kane takes a quick look around to ensure that none of the children are nearby. Seeing none of them, he closes the door behind him.

Gomer’s eyes grow larger and her heart beats faster as Kane advances on her. In seconds, they are pressing their bodies together like long lost lovers. They fall together onto the bed and after fumbling around like teenagers, their desires are sated.

Gomer feels a tinge of shame as Kane leaves, but the memory of their time together drowns it out. Four more times, Kane takes Gomer in her own chambers. All feelings of guilt have fled by now. Gomer is in love. This isn’t like when she and Hosea were first married. Kane does things to her that no other man has ever done!

Today, as Kane lies on the bed next to her, he says; “Come and live with me. I will make you happier than you have ever been.”

Gomer thinks about it for a minute. “What about my children?”

“They can stay with their abba. They are old enough. They don’t really need you anymore.”

Gomer nods her head in excitement and anticipation.

“I will come and get you tonight, after everyone is asleep.”

Gomer has a hard time maintaining her calm demeanor the rest of the day. After the children are in bed, she packs her clothes into a small bag and waits for Kane.

About midnight, Kane raps quietly on the window of Gomer’s room. She rushes to the pane to see him standing there. He smiles and motions her to come to him. Gomer slips quietly from the house and steals off into the night with Kane.

Morning comes and Gomer is not in the kitchen preparing a meal for her family. No Mercy takes on the task without a word.

Hosea comes into the kitchen to find the change in routine. “Where is your ima?”

All three children look up at him and shake their heads. “We don’t know Abba. We thought she might have been with you.”

“Maybe she had to run out early to do some chore”, Hosea says while shaking his head. He smiles at No Mercy and thanks her for taking on the task of preparing their morning meal.

Gomer doesn’t return that day or the next. Hosea is concerned. He has no idea where to look. On the third day, the hand boasts to one of his fellow workers about having Gomer as his own. This news quickly makes it way to Hosea.

Hosea is hurt, angry, and shocked all at the same time. “Why would she do this to me? Does she not remember the years of her youth and how I brought her out of that depravity? What is she hoping to gain that I did not already provide for her? And, what of our children?”

Hosea sends word that Kane is to be fired immediately. “Give him his wages and send him on his way. He is not to return to any of my family’s fields.”

That night, Hosea gently breaks the news to his children. “Your ima has chosen to live somewhere else. We will have to make due on our own.”

“Will she come back, abba” asks No Mercy.

“I don’t know, but probably not. Once she left our home, she became to property of another man.”

Kane is angry over being let go when he returns home. He vents his anger on Gomer. “It’s your fault! Your husband fired me because you left him!”

“You called me to come away with you. I didn’t leave on my own.”

“It doesn’t matter how it happened. And I’m sure he has poisoned the whole valley against me.”

Day after day, Kane becomes angrier and angrier at his loss of work. He begins taking his anger out on Gomer through physical violence. Bruised and battered after weeks of enduring Kane’s rages, Gomer considers going back to Hosea.

“Would he even take me back? I am dirtier than I ever was before. But I will die here. Kane will surely kill me in one of his rages” she tells herself.

While Gomer wrestles with her future, God speaks to Hosea.

“Go again, love a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress, even as the Lord loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love cakes of raisins” (Hosea 3:1).

Hosea knows that this is not going to be an easy thing to do, for anyone. He will follow the Lord’s command and bring his wife home. Things will be different though.

Hosea gathers the price of redemption. He chooses, instead of paying all in silver, to add a measure of barley equal to the silver equal to its worth. Hosea brings fifteen shekels of silver and a homer and a lethech of barley. These he packs and brings to the home of Kane.

Kane sees Hosea approaching and goes out to meet him.

“What do you want” he snarls.

“I have come to redeem my wife.”

“Why should I let you redeem her. She is mine now.”

“Have you married her? I did not give her a writing of divorce.”

“No. I didn’t marry her. Who would want to marry such a worthless whore.”

“She is NOT worthless. I am ready to pay the price of her redemption.”

Kane looks over the shoulder of Hosea and sees the wagon loaded with goods. “What are you offering for her?”

“Fifteen shekels of silver and a homer and a lethech of barley” offers Hosea.

“Let me see the silver first” demands Kane.

Hosea brings the silver out of his purse and holds it in his hand. Kane reaches to snatch it from him, but he pulls his hand back. “I will see my wife first.”

“Fine” grumbles Kane. He goes back into the house and drags a battered Gomer out into the yard. He throws her at Hosea’s feet. “Here is your wife. Now give me my money.”

Hosea looks down at Gomer and shakes his head. Then he looks back at Kane. “You did this to her. Why?”

Kane shrugs. “Because I could. She is the reason you fired me and no one else would hire me. It’s her own fault.”

“And you bear no responsibility for enticing her away?”

Kane shrugs again and folds his arms over his chest.

Hosea gives Kane the silver and barley. Then he carefully gathers up Gomer and puts her onto the now empty cart.

Gomer opens one swollen eye and looks at Hosea. She can’t believe that he came for her. She tries to speak but Hosea shakes his head. “We are going home now. Nothing more needs to be said right now.”

Gomer lays her head back down and closes her eyes. She has no idea what awaits her, but it has to be better than what she has been enduring.

When they reach the home Gomer and Hosea shared, Hosea calls out for No Mercy.

“Come and help me with your ima.”

No Mercy’s eyes are huge as she looks on the broken form of her ima. She is also afraid to touch her as she is filthy from head to toe.

“Go and prepare a bath for her. I will bring her in to you. Help her bathe and wash her hair. I will have a clean dress waiting for her when you are finished.”

No Mercy does as her abba instructs her. She is careful as she bathes her ima. Many places on her body are raw or open wounds. No Mercy holds her tears back for fear of them falling onto broken skin and stinging her ima.

“I’m so sorry Ima” is all No Mercy can say. Words fail her.

Gomer opens her least swollen eye and gives her daughter a weak smile. She reaches up and touches her cheek. “I’m sorry my beautiful daughter” Gomer slurs between swollen cheeks.

When Gomer is clean, No Mercy helps her into her clothes and lays her down on the bed. She pulls the covers up over her ima, like she used to do for her as a child. No Mercy then goes to find her abba.

“Abba, what happened? Is she going to live?”

“I don’t know, my daughter. I believe so. The man she was with hurt her badly. It will take time for her to heal.”

“Is she home for good?”

“Yes. The Lord told me to bring her home. I have paid the redemption price and she is restored as my wife.”

Hosea goes into Gomer’s room to speak with her. He is certain that she is awake when he enters. He stands near her bed. “You must dwell as mine for many days. You shall not play the whore, or belong to another man; so will I also be to you” (Hosea 3:3).

Gomer slowly moves her head in a barely perceptible nod. “I will remain forever” she carefully says through her swollen face.

When the people hear that Hosea has redeemed Gomer, they come to him asking why. He gives them the Lord’s words concerning Israel.

“For the children of Israel shall dwell many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or pillar, without ephod or household gods. Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the Lord their God, and David their king, and they shall come in fear to the Lord and to his goodness in the latter days” (Hosea 3:4-5).

With a far away look, Hosea continues. “And in that day I will answer, declares the Lord, I will answer the heavens, and they shall answer the earth, and the earth shall answer the grain, the wine, and the oil, and they shall answer Jezreel, and I will sow her for myself in the land. And I will have mercy on No Mercy, and I will say to Not My People, ‘You are my people’; and he shall say, ‘You are my God’” (Hosea 2:21-22).

It takes Gomer almost a month before all her physical wounds heal and she is healthy again. The emotional ones will take MUCH longer to heal.

The children see mercy acted out before their very eyes. Hosea prophesies to the people of God’s anger with them and His love for them as well. Hosea, Gomer, and their children live out the very message God is giving to his people.

♥ ♦ ♥

I don’t know what Gomer and Hosea’s life looked like after her redemption. I don’t know if they ever had husband and wife relations again. If God permitted it. I believe that He would have. God redeemed Israel several times and restored her to His side. He promises to do so again in the last days. And when Jesus redeems us through His blood, He does not hold us at arm’s length. He welcomes us into His presence. EVEN AFTER WE SIN again. He is a God of restoration. And He calls to ALL MEN to come and find new life with Him.

Father God, thank You for restoring me. It is not something I could do on my own. It is ONLY through the blood of Jesus; Your Son. Thank You for binding up all my broken places and making me new. Not as I was before, but brand new in You!