Names you may not know

Jezreel, Lo-Ruhamah, and Lo-Ammi

Somehow these names don’t pop to the forefront of our “familiar Bible characters” list, probably because we don’t have any particular stories about them to keep them in our memory. I wondered why God would choose to name these three, apparently insignificant characters, but then I realized that these names and their meanings are an important part of the parallel God makes between the story of Hosea and the story of Israel as a nation.

Hosea 1 (New King James Version)

 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 began to speak by Hosea, the LORD said to Hosea:

      “Go, take yourself a wife of harlotry

      And children of harlotry,

      For the land has committed great harlotry

      By departing from the LORD.”

 3 So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son. 4 Then the LORD said to him:

      “Call his name Jezreel,

      For in a little while

      I will avenge the bloodshed of Jezreel on the house of Jehu,

      And bring an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel.

       5 It shall come to pass in that day

      That I will break the bow of Israel in the Valley of Jezreel.”

6 And she conceived again and bore a daughter. Then God said to him:

      “Call her name Lo-Ruhamah,

      For I will no longer have mercy on the house of Israel,

      But I will utterly take them away.

       7 Yet I will have mercy on the house of Judah,

      Will save them by the LORD their God,

      And will not save them by bow,

      Nor by sword or battle,

      By horses or horsemen.”

8 Now when she had weaned Lo-Ruhamah, she conceived and bore a son. 9 Then God said:

      “Call his name Lo-Ammi,

      For you are not My people,

      And I will not be your God.

    10 “Yet the number of the children of Israel

      Shall be as the sand of the sea,

      Which cannot be measured or numbered.

      And it shall come to pass

      In the place where it was said to them,

      ‘You are not My people,’

      There it shall be said to them,

      ‘You are sons of the living God.’

       11 Then the children of Judah and the children of Israel

      Shall be gathered together,

      And appoint for themselves one head;

      And they shall come up out of the land,

      For great will be the day of Jezreel!

          Hosea 1 (New King James Version)

Jezreel means "God sows," and is also the name of a couple of cities, one in Issachar, and one in Judah. Lo-Ruhamah means "no mercy," and Lo-Ammi means "not my people." The meanings of these names are significant, the last two making a turn around, when God's people return to Him. See the change between the name meanings, "No mercy" and "not my people" to the opposite affirmations by God - and His people - in the verse below:

23  Then I will sow her for Myself in the earth,
      And I will have mercy on her who had not obtained mercy;
      Then I will say to those who were not My people,
      ‘You are My people!’
      And they shall say, ‘You are my God!’”

  Hosea 2:23 (New King James Version)

God used the names Jezreel, LoRuhamah, and LoAmmi, to show His people how He would draw them back to himself, in spite of their rejection of Him. He uses names to teach us, to show us He has a plan for us. His plan for us is Salvation, and He made sure we would never forget, by giving the name Yeshua to His Only Begotten Son. Yeshua, "Salvation."