WELCOME TO The Bible Instructor Study # 8
This is the eighth study in a series of presentations designed to reveal how God will purify the SDA church and empower it for the finishing of the Gospel work in all the world.
Prayer Thought
Testimonies Vol. 8, p. 250, 251
“Unless the church, which is now being leavened with her own backsliding, shall repent and be converted, she will eat of the fruit of her own doing, until she shall abhor herself. When she resists the evil and chooses the good, when she seeks God with all humility and reaches her high calling in Christ, standing on the platform of eternal truth and by faith laying hold upon the attainments prepared for her, she will be healed. She will appear in her God-given simplicity and purity, separate from earthly entanglements, showing that the truth has made her free indeed. Then her members will indeed be the chosen of God, His representatives.” {8T 250.3}
To What Time does the Prophecy Apply?
Hosea 2: 18-22
18. And in that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven, and [with] the creeping things of the ground: and I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the earth, and will make them to lie down safely.
19. And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies.
20. I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the LORD.
21. And it shall come to pass in that day, I will hear, saith the LORD, I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth;
22. And the earth shall hear the corn, and the wine, and the oil; and they shall hear Jezreel.
The prophecy reaches beyond our time.
Hosea’s Visionary Marriage
Hosea 1: 1, 2
The word of the LORD that came unto 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.
The beginning of the word of the LORD by Hosea. And the LORD said to Hosea, Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms: for the land hath committed great whoredom, [departing] from the LORD.
The marriage (wife and children) was visionary. It portrayed the sad and abominable condition, which then obtained in Israel. According to
Lev. 21: 13-15
And he shall take a wife in her virginity.
A widow, or a divorced woman, or profane, [or] an harlot, these shall he not take: but he shall take a virgin of his own people to wife.
Neither shall he profane his seed among his people: for I the LORD do sanctify him.
1Cor.6:16
“What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh.”
God would not literally have His prophet marry a prostitute.
Jezreel, Hosea’s First Born Son
Hosea 1: 3-5
So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim; which conceived, and bare him a son.
And the LORD said unto him, Call his name Jezreel; for yet a little [while], and I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu, and will cause to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel.
And it shall come to pass at that day, that I will break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel.
Jezreel the first-born son of Hosea’s visionary marriage foreshadowed
the termination of the ten-tribe Kingdom Israel (2 Kg. 10: 32; 17: 23; 18: 11), and
the place in which its army was to be defeated – in the valley of Jezreel (2Kg. 10: 11) for
the shedding of the blood of Jezreel, a symbol of the prophets whom Israel rejected and killed (1Kg. 18:13).
The “breaking of the bow” of Israel, signifies the destruction of the princes of the nation when Jehu slew all seventy sons of Ahab and all that pertained to Ahab’s house – 2Kings 10: 1-7, 11.
Lo-ruhamah (not having mercy)
Hosea 1: 6, 7
And she conceived again, and bare a daughter. And [God] said unto him, Call her name Loruhamah: for I will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel; but I will utterly take them away.
But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah, and will save them by the LORD their God, and will not save them by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, by horses, nor by horsemen.
Lo-ruhamah (not having mercy) foreshadowed no mercy upon the house of Israel, its end had already come.
The 10 tribe kingdom had been spared until the birth of Lo-ruhamah. The coming destruction upon the house of Israel was accomplished when the king of Assyria scattered them (2Kings 18:11). Thus was fulfilled the prediction made at Jezreel’s birth.
However, the house of Judah, the two-tribe Kingdom was to have mercy and be delivered by a miracle. This was demonstrated when Sennacherib came to take Judah captive. Through the prayer of Hezekiah, Judah was saved (2 Kg. 18: 13, 17; 19:1, 15, 19, 20, 35).
Lo-ammi (not my people)
Hosea 1: 8, 9
Now when she had weaned Loruhamah, she conceived, and bare a son.
Then said [God], Call his name Loammi: for ye [are] not my people, and I will not be your [God].
The third child, Lo-ammi (not my people) foreshadowed the departure of God’s mercy even from the house of Judah, because of their continual course of backsliding. The fulfillment of this took place when, as a nation, they
rejected Christ (Matt. 23: 37, 38),
crucified Him and choose Barabbas (Luke 23:18).
This verse (Hosea 1: 9) brings us to the Christian era.
The Reacceptance of Israel and Judah
Hosea 1: 10, 11
Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, [that] in the place where it was said unto them, Ye [are] not my people, [there] it shall be said unto them, [Ye are] the sons of the living God.
Then shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel be gathered together, and appoint themselves one head, and they shall come up out of the land: for great [shall be] the day of Jezreel.
Verse 10 depicts the multiplication of Israel and Judah and their reacceptance as individuals into the Christian church (1Pet.2: 9, 10; Rom.9: 25, 26). Thus the present identifiable Jews of today are not necessarily those that are seen in the fulfillment of this prophecy
After the scattering and rejection of Israel, the nation consequently lost their racial identity as they were assimilated by the Gentile nations. Thus, many of them became Christians, and are unidentified in the world today.
Verse 11 shows the gathering of God’s saints in the last days and their organization into a theocratic government ruled by antitypical David (Dan. 2: 44, 45; Hos. 3: 4, 5).
Change of Names
A Division of Church History
Hosea 2: 1-5
Say ye unto your brethren, Ammi; and to your sisters, Ruhamah.
Plead with your mother, plead: for she [is] not my wife, neither [am] I her husband: let her therefore put away her whoredoms out of her sight, and her adulteries from between her breasts;
Lest I strip her naked, and set her as in the day that she was born, and make her as a wilderness, and set her like a dry land, and slay her with thirst.
And I will not have mercy upon her children; for they [be] the children of whoredoms.
For their mother hath played the harlot: she that conceived them hath done shamefully: for she said, I will go after my lovers, that give [me] my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, mine oil and my drink.
Ammi and Ruhamah represent the laity (the church members) both brothers and sisters. This is brought out from the fact that the children are here pluralized. (Brethren and Sisters).
The mother to whom the children are commanded to take the message is symbolic of that part of the church which is responsible for bringing converts, the ministry. Since it is the children (laity) not the mother (ministry) who deliver the message, it is clear that it is a message of revival and reformation to the church (1SM 128).
This description portrays a reformatory movement in the church as a result of “mother” (the ministry) playing the harlot.
Testimonies Vol. 8, p. 250, 251 “Who can truthfully say: “Our gold is tried in the fire; our garments are unspotted by the world”? I saw our Instructor pointing to the garments of so-called righteousness. Stripping them off, He laid bare the defilement beneath. Then He said to me: “Can you not see how they have pretentiously covered up their defilement and rottenness of character? ‘How is the faithful city become an harlot!’ My Father’s house is made a house of merchandise, a place whence the divine presence and glory have departed! For this cause there is weakness, and strength is lacking.”” {8T 250.2}
Jezreel must be the one to whom God is speaking since this is the only name omitted from this verse.
Jezreel delivers a message from God to the laity, who in turn delivers it to the church.
Jezreel must therefore be God’s mouthpiece–a prophet.
Children of whoredoms are untrue converts
Testimonies Vol. 6, pp. 370, 371 “The Lord does not now work to bring many souls into the truth, because of the church members who have never been converted and those who were once converted but who have backslidden. What influence would these unconsecrated members have on new converts? Would they not make of no effect the God-given message which His people are to bear? {6T 370.3}
Review and Herald May 21, 1901 par. 7
Only when the Church is composed of pure, unselfish members, can it fulfill God’s purpose. Too much hasty work is done in adding names to the church roll. Serious defects are seen in the characters of some who join the church. Those who admit them say, We will first get them into the church, and then reform them. But this is a mistake. The very first work to be done is the work of reform. Pray with them, talk with them, but do not allow them to unite with God’s people in church relationship until they give decided evidence that the Spirit of God is working on their hearts. {RH, May 21, 1901 par. 7}
Review and Herald Jan. 10, 1893
“We have great need to search the Scriptures that we may be representatives of Christ, and act our part as laborers together with God to build up the church in the most holy faith. There is not enough careful, prayerful, painstaking investigation in accepting members into the church…. There is one thing that we have no right to do, and that is to judge another man’s heart or impugn his motives. But when a person presents himself as a candidate for church membership, we are to examine the fruit of his life, and leave the responsibility of his motive with himself. But great care should be exercised in accepting members into the church; for Satan has his specious devices through which he purposes to crowd false brethren into the church, through whom he can work more successfully to weaken the cause of God.” {RH, January 10, 1893 par. 2}
The Church’s Experience
Hosea 2: 6-11
6. Therefore, behold, I will hedge up thy way with thorns, and make a wall, that she shall not find her paths.
7. And she shall follow after her lovers, but she shall not overtake them; and she shall seek them, but shall not find [them]: then shall she say, I will go and return to my first husband; for then [was it] better with me than now.
8. For she did not know that I gave her corn, and wine, and oil, and multiplied her silver and gold, [which] they prepared for Baal.
9. Therefore will I return, and take away my corn in the time thereof, and my wine in the season thereof, and will recover my wool and my flax [given] to cover her nakedness.
10. And now will I discover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and none shall deliver her out of mine hand.
11. I will also cause all her mirth to cease, her feast days, her new moons, and her sabbaths, and all her solemn feasts.
Verse 7 shows that instead of the Church Christianizing the heathen, “overtaking” her “lovers”, the heathen paganized the church. Thus we see that because of a departure from God, the early Christian church was to suffer adverse circumstances as a means of calling her back. This was the reason for the Dark Ages of religion from 538 to 1798 A.D. By permitting Rome to gain control of the church, the true Sabbath was lost and substituted by a false one. Dan. 7:25.
Hosea 2: 12-14
12. And I will destroy her vines and her fig trees, whereof she hath said, These [are] my rewards that my lovers have given me: and I will make them a forest, and the beasts of the field shall eat them.
13. And I will visit upon her the days of Baalim, wherein she burned incense to them, and she decked herself with her earrings and her jewels, and she went after her lovers, and forgat me, saith the LORD.
14. Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her.
In fulfillment of these verses, the church fled into the wilderness, into the lands of the Gentiles. See Rev. 12:6.
The Valley of Achor
Hosea 2: 15
15. And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope: and she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt.
- The only door of hope for the church, the only way out of her present predicament.
- It was in the typical Valley of Achor that Joshua stoned the sinners in Israel–Achan and his household. (Joshua 7:24-26).
- The significance of the valley is that God is to thoroughly purge his house, cutting off the sinners in her midst just as in the case of Achan. Then she shall return to her former position of purity.
Testimonies Vol. 5, p. 157
“We profess to be governed by the same principles, to be influenced by the same spirit. But instead of giving all for Christ many have taken the golden wedge and a goodly Babylonish garment and hid them in the camp. If the presence of one Achan was sufficient to weaken the whole camp of Israel, can we be surprised at the little success which attends our efforts when every church and almost every family has its Achan?…” {5T 157.1}
Testimonies Vol. 3, pp. 265, 270
“…One sinner may diffuse darkness that will exclude the light of God from the entire congregation…” {3T 265.1}
“…God’s displeasure is upon His people, and He will not manifest His power in the midst of them while sins exist among them and are fostered by those in responsible positions. {3T 270.2}
Testimonies Vol. 5, p. 157
“We profess to be governed by the same principles, to be influenced by the same spirit. But instead of giving all for Christ many have taken the golden wedge and a goodly Babylonish garment and hid them in the camp. If the presence of one Achan was sufficient to weaken the whole camp of Israel, can we be surprised at the little success which attends our efforts when every church and almost every family has its Achan?…” {5T 157.1}
Testimonies Vol. 3, pp. 265, 270
“…One sinner may diffuse darkness that will exclude the light of God from the entire congregation…” {3T 265.1}
“…God’s displeasure is upon His people, and He will not manifest His power in the midst of them while sins exist among them and are fostered by those in responsible positions. {3T 270.2}
The Church is Married to Her Lord
Hosea 2: 16, 17
16. And it shall be at that day, saith the LORD, [that] thou shalt call me Ishi; and shalt call me no more Baali.
17. For I will take away the names of Baalim out of her mouth, and they shall no more be remembered by their name.
After the hypocrites and sinners are taken out of her, the church shall no longer call the Savior Baali (Lord), but she shall call him Ishi (husband). She will then truly become his wife, indicating a much closer relationship.
Hosea 2: 18-23
18. And in that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven, and [with] the creeping things of the ground: and I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the earth, and will make them to lie down safely.
19. And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies.
20. I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the LORD.
21. And it shall come to pass in that day, I will hear, saith the LORD, I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth;
22. And the earth shall hear the corn, and the wine, and the oil; and they shall hear Jezreel.
23. And I will sow her unto me in the earth; and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to [them which were] not my people, Thou [art] my people; and they shall say, [Thou art] my God.
- Peace and prosperity will be in all her borders.
- When these events take place the Lord is to be in the midst of His people. That is, His presence is to be manifested among His people. (9T:16).
- There shall be no want of spiritual food, for the earth shall hear Jezreel, a symbol then of the church leadership messengers (144,000 included). This is the crowning event in the finishing of the Everlasting Gospel.
Conclusion: Thus we see that God’s plan for ancient Israel will be fulfilled through their descendants today who become Christians, particularly SDA Christians, and who start a revival and reformation in the church which will at last restore peace and happiness to God’s family, and complete the proclamation of the gospel.