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After Solomon in 931BC, Israel splits to two houses and their backsliding continues for 200 years. In 762BC, the prophet Amos declares God’s judgement on the two houses. We see Judah and Israel listed as the last in line of various nations that receive God’s judgement after a ‘shaking of nations’ occurs during the reign of Azariah (Uzziah), who reigned until 750BC. God stirs these nations for His purposes and brings judgement on His people for their backsliding. In Amos 1, we see this stirring/shaking on Assyria (Damascus), Philistia (Gaza), Tyre, Edom, as well as the Ammonites and the Moabites in Amos chapter 1. In Amos 2, we see the judgement on the two houses, Judah and Israel.
Amos 1 begins:
The words of Amos, who was among the shepherds of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.
Amos 1:1 ESV
The word earthquake is H7493 – rehash, which means vibration, bounding, uproar, commotion, or shaking. In the KJV, it is translated as fierceness, rushing, confused noise, and a rattling in addition to being a literal earthquake. The verse implies that the book of Amos was written in the time of Uzziah 2 years prior to this commotion or shaking of nations began. While a literal earthquake is possible, it is also possible that a stirring of nations may symbolically represent an earthquake. If so, such earthquakes in prophecy may take on additional interpretations. In Haggai 2, some 200 years after this warning in Amos, we read:
6 For thus says the Lord of hosts: Yet once more, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land. 7 And I will shake all nations, so that the treasures of all nations shall come in, and I will fill this house with glory, says the Lord of hosts. 8 The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, declares the Lord of hosts. 9 The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, says the Lord of hosts. And in this place I will give peace, declares the Lord of hosts.
Haggai 2:6-9 ESV
Likewise, in Zechariah chapter 2, the same ‘shaking of nations’ is referenced. And as we’ll see later, this shaking of nations is also referenced as a pre-requisite to bring about Christ’s return in Zechariah 14:4-5,9.
8 For thus said the Lord of hosts, after his glory sent me to the nations who plundered you, for he who touches you touches the apple of his eye: 9 “Behold, I will shake my hand over them, and they shall become plunder for those who served them. Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me.
Zechariah 2:8-9 ESV
This may have implications for the earthquakes mentioned in eschatology (see Matthew chapter 24, Revelations chapters 6, 11, 16).
Returning then to the book of Amos, we see the first judgements for transgressing God fall on Assyria, Philistia, Tyre, Edom, and Ammon. In effect, God is stirring these nations to become instruments for His judgement on Israel. So after the outer nations are stirred, we arrive at the judgements on the House of Judah (south) for their lies and rejection of the law of God, and the House of Israel (north) for their greed and rejection of the needy in Amos chapter 2:
4 Thus says the Lord: “For three transgressions of Judah, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because they have rejected the law of the Lord, and have not kept his statutes, but their lies have led them astray, those after which their fathers walked.
6 Thus says the Lord: “For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because they sell the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals.
Amos 2:4,6 ESV
Interestingly, recall from the previous section that the north desired mercy on their debt to the south, while the south forsook God’s laws of forgiveness to adhere to their own statutes (1 Kings 12:3,14,19 ESV). And ironically, in Amos 2 above, we see the south judged for forsaking the law, and the north judged for giving no mercy to others.
This parallel continues in Amos chapter 5 and 8 respectively, where the prophet references God’s judgement on the northern House of Israel for their lack of mercy toward the needy and their abject greed:
12 For I know how many are your transgressions and how great are your sins—you who afflict the righteous, who take a bribe, and turn aside the needy in the gate.
Amos 5:12 ESV
4 Hear this, you who trample on the needy and bring the poor of the land to an end, 5 saying, “When will the new moon be over, that we may sell grain? And the Sabbath, that we may offer wheat for sale, that we may make the ephah small and the shekel great and deal deceitfully with false balances, 6 that we may buy the poor for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals and sell the chaff of the wheat?”
Amos 8:4-6 ESV
In essence, the north desired mercy from the south, yet gives no mercy to others. The south desired strict adherence to their statute from the north, but forsook God’s statutes. We see the north defined as those who sought mercy and grace but gave none to others, and the south defined as those who sought strict legalism, but could not adhere to God’s law themselves.
For the north, we see some descriptions in Amos 9 below that are later referenced in the New Testament in Acts 15. We see a destruction decreed on God’s people, specifically the House of Israel, but a remnant preserved as a booth (or tent) of David, which represents a reconciliation of the 12 tribes that were under David’s authority.
13 After they finished speaking, James replied, “Brothers, listen to me. 14 Simeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles, to take from them a people for his name. 15 And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written, 16 “‘After this I will return, and I will rebuild the tent of David that has fallen; I will rebuild its ruins, and I will restore it, 17 that the remnant of mankind may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles who are called by my name, says the Lord, who makes these things 18 known from of old.’
Acts 15:13-18 ESV
Here is the scripture in Amos 9 which James references as to the identity of the gentiles coming to Christ:
8 Behold, the eyes of the Lord God are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from the surface of the ground, except that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob,” declares the Lord. 9 “For behold, I will command, and shake the house of Israel among all the nations as one shakes with a sieve, but no pebble shall fall to the earth. 10 All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, who say, ‘Disaster shall not overtake or meet us.’ 11 “In that day I will raise up the booth of David that is fallen and repair its breaches, and raise up its ruins and rebuild it as in the days of old, 12 that they may possess the remnant of Edom, and all the nations who are called by my name,” declares the Lord who does this. 13 “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when the plowman shall overtake the reaper and the treader of grapes him who sows the seed; the mountains shall drip sweet wine, and all the hills shall flow with it. 14 I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel, and they shall rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and drink their wine, and they shall make gardens and eat their fruit. 15 I will plant them on their land, and they shall never again be uprooted out of the land that I have given them,” says the Lord your God.
Amos 9:8-15 ESV
So who are the gentiles (foreigners/nations) that are called by His name? Who are the remnant of Edom (foreigners) who return to Israel in the New Testament? Are these Christian believers tied to the shaking of the northern House of Israel?
We will return to this thought later on, but what’s important to realize at this point, is that in/around 760BC, we have Amos, a prophet to the northern 10 tribes, warning the House of Israel of a scattering that is to take place if they do not turn form their ways. They are characterized as being proud, unmerciful, overconfident, and safe from God’s wrath. They believe that disaster will not overtake them (compare Amos 9:8-15 with Isaiah 28:15). Their fitting judgement is that they will be scattered and lose their relationships with each other and God. Even so, God is a loving God, for despite being shaken out among the nations, God will remember the northern house and will rebuild them as He recalls them from out of Edom (a reference to the wicked nations derived from Esau’s lineage). We will see later that Christ is the mechanism whereby this reconciliation occurs. While both Houses forsake God, God’s discipline takes the form of staggered judgements. First on the house of Israel, then on the house of Judah. God preserves the southern house to act as a remnant to save the north (Christ and the line of Judah). He then gives mercy to the north through Christ, who then judges the south for their legalism and adherence to the doctrines of men as though they were from God (see Mark 7).
The north desires mercy but gives none to others. As such, God gives them no mercy. But looking forward, God will grant them mercy through Christ. Recall that in 1 Pet 2:9, Peter referenced God’s people as a holy nation, set apart by God (in reference to Exodus 19:5-6). Importantly, in the next verse, Peter states, “10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” (1 Pet 2:10 ESV). In speaking to Christians, Peter states that they became a scattered people (not a people) and received no mercy. With this in mind, we arrive at a pivotal prophecy in the book of Hosea. Hosea was a prophet to Israel around the time of Amos, roughly 770-727BC.
In Hosea, we see that he is told by God to marry (either physically, or metaphorically) a prostitute/harlot who is to mother his children. Exekiel 16 and 23 help us identify this harlot mother, who represents the total kingdom of Israel (all 12 tribes). Hosea names his 3 children with the prostitute; Jezreel, which means God will scatter, Lo-Ruhamah, which means No Mercy, and Lo-Ammi, which means Not My People. These are named in succession after each one is weaned, as though they are a series of events. So to we first have the harlot wife Israel, then the 3 children in succession as God will scatter, No mercy, and Not my people. So who do these children represent? We will read the whole passage first, and then determine an interpretation:
The word of the Lord that came to Hosea, the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel. 2 When the Lord first spoke through Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea, “Go, take to yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom, for the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the Lord.” 3 So he went and took Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son. 4 And the Lord said to him, “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. 5 And on that day I will break the bow of Israel in the Valley of Jezreel.” 6 She conceived again and bore a daughter. And the Lord said to him, “Call her name No Mercy, for I will no more have mercy on the house of Israel, to forgive them at all. 7 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.” 8 When she had weaned No Mercy, she conceived and bore a son. 9 And the Lord said, “Call his name Not My People, for you are not my people, and I am not your God.” 10 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.” 11 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 1:1-11 ESV
To understand who Hosea’s children represent, we need to get a little more history from the time of Hosea. In the passage, he mentions Jezreel and Jehu, so let’s start there. Jezreel represents the northern capital controlled by Ahab and Jezebel, the wicked rulers of the northern kingdom. Jehu is a military commander used by God to bring about an end to wicked Ahab and Jezebel. In scripture, Jehu represents Assyria, who will conquer the northern tribes in 722BC.
With that background in mind, we see that Jezreel, is the first child of the harlot mother. This is the initial warning that God will scatter anyone who does not follow His ways (see Lev 26:33, Deut 28:62-64).
So we have a united Israel whoring after other gods represented by the harlot mother. Her first child becomes a representation of the offshoots of Israel, the houses. They are warned of a scattering (Jezreel) should they abandon Him. The north abandons God first, and so they are scattered and receive no mercy. The very thing they sought from the southern house for their debts. Thus they are the 2nd child, Lo-Ruhamah, which means No Mercy.
We see that in 722BC, the Lord grants Assyria (who is Jehu in Hosea’s prophecy) its desires to destroy the north (representative of Ahab and Jezebel). However, Jehu as Assyria, while an instrument God uses to bring judgement on the House of Israel, is not innocent and must be judged. We see that Jehu must be judged for holding on to idolatry (see 2 Kings 10:29,31, 12:26-30). Likewise, the House of Israel (northern tribes) do not turn from their ways and heed the warning of Jezreel (to scatter) given in Leviticus 26:33 and Deuteronomy 28:62-64, and are shown No Mercy (Lo-Ruhamah) by Assyria.
Yet, despite judgement on the northern House of Israel, God states that he will have mercy on the House of Judah. We know that through the line of Judah, a savior will come, and prophecy must be fulfilled. So while God grants mercy to the southern house, we know from Ezekiel 23 that they are not immune to God’s wrath, for they saw what their sibling was doing, and still whored after other gods. So they will be the 3rd child of the harlot mother, Lo-Ammi, or Not My People after their role is fulfilled to bring about Christ through their lineage. They will then fall into judgement until the 2 houses are reconciled in the eyes of God and unite for themselves one head, who is Christ. Given this background for the prophecy, lets take each section from Hosea alone:
1 The word of the Lord that came to Hosea, the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel. 2 When the Lord first spoke through Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea, “Go, take to yourself a wife of whoredom [all 12 tribes] and have children of whoredom, [the scattered offspring] for the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the Lord.” 3 So he went and took Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son. 4 And the Lord said to him, “Call his name Jezreel, [the promise to all of Israel that God will scatter] for in just a little while [not yet occurred] I will punish the house of Jehu [Assyria] for the blood of Jezreel, [God’s instrument of wrath will itself be judged] and I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel. 5 And on that day I will break the bow of Israel in the Valley of Jezreel.” [the promise to scatter and to judge has been laid against the northern House of Israel, but has not yet occurred] 6 She conceived again and bore a daughter. And the Lord said to him, “Call her name No Mercy, for I will no more have mercy on the house of Israel, to forgive them at all.
Hosea 1:2-6 ESV
So God allows conquest of the northern house of Israel as the child No Mercy and will have mercy on the House of Judah. Despite Judah’s trespasses, they will be somewhat preserved from Assyria, but we read in Hosea that it will not be through fighting/conquest of their own accord. After judgement rendered to the northern tribes through the conquest of Assyria (Lo-Ruhamah – no mercy), we continue with Hosea chapter 1:
7 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 1:7 ESV
As will be discussed later on, after the northern 10 tribes are scattered in 722BC, the southern 2 tribes (Judah and Benjamin) are overrun by Babylon, but only briefly exiled when Jerusalem and the 1st Temple are destroyed in 586BC. They are shown a measure of mercy and brought back to continue the line of Judah so that Christ will be the fulfillment of that prophecy from Genesis 49:8-12. But the sins of the southern house are not overlooked (we will see this to be the case Ezekiel 23), but they are preserved from being completely scattered in order to fulfill their role as the line of Judah. Interestingly, the House of Judah are not brought back by their power (as by the sword, or horseman), but by a merciful decree from King Cyrus after Babylon falls to Medo-Persia in the mid-6th century BC. The House of Judah ends up exiled 70 years before completing the 2nd temple in roughly 516BC, and are given a decree to rebuild the wall and the remainder of Jerusalem in 445BC. The northern House of Israel, however, are completely scattered and do not ever return as unified, identifiable tribes.
So what of Hosea’s 3rd child? We continue on:
8 When she had weaned No Mercy, she conceived and bore a son. 9 And the Lord said, “Call his name Not My People, for you are not my people, and I am not your God.”
Hosea 1:8-9 ESV
Not My People vs Not A People
Not My People is a distinct group from another prophecy in Deuteronomy 32:21 for Not A People. The former, represents the southern house, while the latter, the norther. In Hosea 1:8 we have the word ‘people’ (H5971) rendered with a pronomitive suffix ‘my,’ which translates to ‘my people,’ and it is the only place in scripture where it is used in this possessive manner. In contrast, in Deut 32:21, the word ‘people’ (H5971) is rendered absolute without the possessive suffix, and is translated simply as ‘people’ or ‘a people’. Recall Deut 32:21, “21They have made me jealous with what is no god; they have provoked me to anger with their idols. So I will make them jealous with those who are no people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.” (Deut 32:21 ESV).
The difference in suffix between Hosea and Deuteronomy suggests these two entities ‘Not MY people’ and ‘Not A people’ are not meant to be the same prophetically speaking. In one sense, we have an identifiable group that are God’s people, who reject Him to become ‘Not my people’, and in the other sense, we have God’s identifiable people being made jealous by an unidentifiable group, who are described as ‘Not a people’. These are not the same groups in prophecy. Lo-Ammi (Not My People) are the identifiable southern tribes of Israel, while Lo-Am (Not A People) are the unidentifiable northern tribes who are utilized to make the south jealous for Him.
One could argue that the 2nd child is the northern tribes who are shown no mercy and conquered by Assyria, and that the 3rd child is also the northern tribes who are then scattered by this same conquest, but in the context of Hosea’s other writings, it makes little sense that the 2nd and 3rd children represent the same group. The 2nd child, Lo-Ruhamah (No mercy) is fully weaned prior to the 3rd child Lo-Ammi, (Not my people). So separating out their Assyrian conquest from their Assyrian scattering makes little sense. Lastly, in the next chapter in Hosea, there are two distinct children of harlotry spoken of who are the offspring of their one harlot mother. So are these two children to represent an Assyrian conquest and then an Assyrian exile? That makes little sense. These two children of their harlot mother represent the 2 houses of a backslidden Israel. Hosea 2 reads as a warning of what must be done to avoid the calamity prophesized in Chapter 1:
“[So] Say to your brothers, “You are my people,” and to your sisters, “You have received mercy.” 2 “Plead with your mother, plead—for she is not my wife, and I am not her husband— that she put away her whoring from her face, and her adultery from between her breasts;
Hosea 2:1-3 ESV
Hosea’s prophecy in Chapter 1 represents the totality of judgement on God’s people and His redemptive plan. God warns Israel (the harlot mother) they will be scattered if they do not follow His ways. This comes in the form of the 1st child, Jezreel. Then God scatters the North for falling away. This comes in the form of the 2nd child, Lo-Ruhamah. But God preserves the south for a time to fulfill their role in prophecy, and they are given a measure of mercy. Yet their sins will not go unpunished, for they are made Lo-Ammi (Not my people) with the birth of the 3rd child. Their preservation is decreed so they can bring in Christ the Messiah, but they do not escape judgement for their actions in Israel’s split, and they stumble on His cornerstone and are rendered Not my people as He is not their God. We continue on in Hosea and see the promise to unify God’s children and multiply them in accordance with Gen 12:1-3, 15:5, 22:15-18, 26:3-5, and 28:14:
10 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.”
Hosea 1:10 ESV
So we see that the southern house will be eventually forgiven, and participate in the Abrahamic promise along with the northern house. Verse 11 then closes the prophecy with the 2 children of harlotry (north and south) brought together and unified, as they appoint for themselves one head, who is Christ over them. Their sins are forgiven and they go up from the land into a New Jerusalem.
11 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 1:11 ESV
So we are left with two components of God’s people. One that is scattered abroad with no identity (No Mercy – 10 tribes of the northern House of Israel), and one that receives mercy and stays more or less consolidated for a time (2 tribes of the southern House of Judah) in order to fulfill their role in prophecy and to maintain the line of Judah and God’s commandments. Just as Paul states in Romans 9, had a remnant not been preserved, they would be as Sodom and Gomorrah and completely lost (see Rom 9:29). Once Messiah is brought in through the line of Judah, the southern house falls into judgement for their role dividing God’s people and are made ‘Not My People’. Yet God will reconcile His split people by making the southern aspect of His people jealous for Him through a group of people who seem to possess no intrinsic identity (Deut 32:21), the lost northern tribes.
Admittedly, this interpretation is the minority view. In fact, I’m not sure anyone has held it. The mainstream interpretation is that this passage (in its entirety), speaks to a fallen Northern House only. That No Mercy, as well as Not My People, both represent the Northern House. The children are separate because it is an example of Hebraic parallelism, where different instances build on the previous, or are a reiteration. This may be the case, one cannot be sure, but I find it more compelling in the former interpretation, as there is one mother harlot, Israel, a warning (her firstborn, Jezreel), a scattered north (her second born, Lo-Ruhamah) and a rejected south (her third born, Lo-Ammi). If we take the view that Hosea’s prophecy only deals with the northern house in judgement, it would appear that the southern house is somewhat blameless prior to the anointing of one head, in Christ. Yet we know that both houses incurred the wrath of God in judgement when we read Ezekiel 23 of the two harlot sisters. The south did not escape judgement, and for this reason, in my humble opinion, the former interpretation as Lo-Ammi, Not My People, as a representation of the southern house, seems more fitting with the entirety of scripture. Lastly, scripture was not originally written in the chapter form that we see today, and Hosea continues his prophecy in chapter 2 originally without pause, where it seems he intended No Mercy and Not My People to be distinct entities that will each receive reprieve. For he says, that No Mercy is to receive Mercy, and Not My People are to be called sons of the living God. This does not seem like parallelism, but distinct groups. Once again, Hosea 2:1:
“Say to your brothers, “You are my people,” and to your sisters, “You have received mercy.”
Hosea 2:1 ESV
And later in the chapter, note another distinction Hosea is making in the two houses or two groups, namely No Mercy and Not My People:
23 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 2:23 ESV.
Later in Chapter 6, Hosea further distinguishes these two groups in his writings as Ephraim (the north) and Judah (the south). And we see Christ foretold here as He who will rise from the dead on the 3rd day. Some have interpreted this 3rd day as the millennial kingdom, which coincides with a 7th day rest from creation. Also note through the book of Hosea, we see God prioritizing the heart over the practices of religion (see faith above lineage and heart matters).
“Come, let us return to the Lord; for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up. 2 After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him. 3 Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord;
his going out is sure as the dawn; he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth.” 4 What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? Your love is like a morning cloud, like the dew that goes early away. 5 Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of my mouth, and my judgment goes forth as the light. 6 For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.
Hosea 6:1-6 ESV
God desires a true heart from His believers, and He holds to His promises to Israel. So while they deserve judgement, He staggers His discipline on Israel in order to save both houses. They are intermittently shown mercy in order that one may save the other. If both were judged at the same time, Israel would cease. If both were given leniency, there would be no discipline for His people. In God’s wisdom, by staggering judgements, both are disciplined and both are saved.
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