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Inspiration by E-Mail for the Week of June 27, 2004

THREE STRANGE NAMES

Now when she had weaned Lo-Ruhamah, she conceived and 
bore a son. Then God said: "Call his name Lo-Ammi, for you 
are not My people, and I will not be your God." (Hosea 1:8-9)

Hosea the Prophet had a unique and difficult job - God told him to 
marry a prostitute as a way to illustrate the relationship between 
God and His people. When they married, like any husband Hosea 
hoped that their mutual commitment to each other would keep them 
together - but his wife (named Gomer) didn't give up her prior 
profession. Because of his cheating wife, Hosea had a unique 
perspective on how God felt about cheating Israel, who didn't 
faithfully love God the way that God loved them.

In the course of time three children were born to this unhappy 
family, and each child is mentioned in Hosea 1. The first son born 
to Hosea and Gomer was named "Jezreel" and his name spoke of 
two things. First, Jezreel means "Scattered," and Israel would soon 
be scattered in exile by a conquering Assyrian army. Second, 
Jezreel refers to the Valley of Jezreel, where Jehu - the founder of 
the dynasty that currently ruled Israel - massacred all the 
descendants of the previous dynasty, thus establishing his throne 
(2 Kings 10:11). God directed Hosea to name his son Jezreel to 
confirm His promise to avenge the bloodshed of Jezreel by judging 
the house of Jehu.

The second baby was a girl, and named Lo-Ruhamah. Her name 
meant "No Mercy." Every call to this child with the unfortunate 
name reminded Hosea and everyone else of coming judgment and 
exile. For the northern kingdom of Israel, God's time of mercy had 
expired. He extended mercy for hundreds of years, but now it was 
time for no mercy.

Then Gomer gave birth to a second son, whose name was Lo-
Ammi. The name Lo-Ammi means "Not My People." Every call to 
this unfortunately named child reminded Hosea and everyone else 
that the people of Israel had pushed away the Lord God, and 
should no longer be considered His people.

Since Gomer did not give up her prostitution, there may have been 
a cruel irony in the name Lo-Ammi. Perhaps this son really was not 
the son of Hosea, but of another man. Perhaps the appearance of 
the child made this evident. You can almost picture Hosea and 
Gomer walking down the street pushing the baby carriage with little 
Lo-Ammi, who didn't look anything like either one of them. 
Someone asks about the name of the baby and Hosea answers, 
"Not My People." The message God had to deliver to Israel through 
Hosea was hard enough, but God also made Hosea live the 
message.

Summing up the meaning of the name Lo-Ammi, God said this to 
Israel through Hosea: For you are not My people, and I will not 
be your God: This was not so much of a sentence or a penalty, as 
it was a simple stating of fact. It wasn't as if the people of Israel 
really wanted to be the people of God, yet God would not have 
them. Instead, the people of Israel rejected God, and here the Lord 
simply recognized the fact. He would not play "let's pretend": "You 
pretend to be My people and I will pretend to be your God." The 
time for those games was over.

When we think about the relationship between Hosea and Gomer, 
there was a lot of pretending. Hosea pretended not to notice when 
she went out to prostitute herself. She came back pretending 
nothing ever happened. As much as they could, they pretended to 
be a happy family. God used the pretence in Hosea's family as an 
illustration of the pretence between Himself and His people. This 
brings it back to your relationship with God. Is it filled with 
pretence? Are you really a follower of Jesus Christ, or are you more 
than a pretender? What God did through Hosea shows us that God 
will allow that to continue for a time, but there comes a day when 
the pretence must end. Today should be that day.

By David Guzik