Tehillah Generation Chapel
Daily Manna | Thursday, June 14, 2018 | Topic: Conscience 45
Scripture: My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me. And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children. Hosea 4:6
Note: The rather uncharacteristic name given to the second child, Loruhamah, “I will no more have mercy,” was expectedly bound to attract questions from those who care as well as their neighbours, who may want to interrogate the root cause of the strange name from Hosea. The naming of Loruhamah was an indirect public announcement to the nation of Israel. Aside possibly, indirectly exposing the infidelity of Gomer to the prying public due to her persistent refusal to heed to the constant warning of Hosea, the people of Israel needed to hear of their own fate with Yahweh.
The shift in Hosea’s attitude to Gomer was the cry of Yahweh against Israel. Continual disobedience had warranted this harsh treatment towards Gomer and hence, Israel. Mercy was no more on the table for discussion and neither was it to be expected. Both Gomer and Israel had called for this avoidable, harsh treatment. What was expected to extract a sober reflection of repentance from Gomer and Israel, seemed not to be a bother to the affected parties. Both of them persisted in their decidedly stubborn ways to the shocking amazement of Hosea and Yahweh. They were in a state of rebellion, driving in the same direction to destruction without blinking an eye.
No sooner had Gomer weaned Loruhamah before she was found to have conceived again through one of her numerous lovers. The grave picture of the public backlash that began from her husband had not succeeded in restraining her from her disgraceful habit, even if temporarily. Gomer probably meant to spite her husband the more with another contraband baby. This time, the baby was a boy, and God instructed Hosea to name him Loammi: “For you are not my people, and I will not be your God.” Hosea 1:9
The second boy in the marriage, a child born out of harlotry, was symbolic of Israel’s alienation from Yahweh. If ever Gomer needed the full force of public humiliation whilst she was still within the confines of her matrimonial home, Loammi simply fulfilled all her outrageous wishes in the most disgusting, disingenuous and humiliating manner. Gomer’s adulterous escapades were now officially public knowledge, confirmed by Hosea. Gomer had now officially become a brand of a woman previously unheard of among Israel. She aptly represented the harrowing and disheartening sins of Israel in her spiritual marriage with Israel.
Food for thought: Persistent chastening from God isn’t a sign of loss of liberty but a demonstration of the immense love of God.
Declaration: He that being often reproved, yet stiffens his neck, will suddenly be broken without remedy. Proverbs 29:1
©Author: Rev Fred Aboe
