Meaningful Names

O. T. #2029  " Meaningful Names"

Sept. 21, 2021

Hosea 1-Part 3

And the LORD said unto him, Call his name Jezereel; for yet a little while, and I will avenge the blood of Jezereel upon the house of Jehu, and will cause to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel. (verse 4)

LET IT GLOW

What does your name mean? Are you a descendant of one with the same name as yours? Does your family still continue with that name in generations? I found out that my  granddaughter has a similar name as my great-grandmother. I need to tell her, although not done on purpose. That same name is found in my ancestors on both sides of my family. I find it interesting.

Names had meanings back in biblical times. They seemed to signify what the person would be like or their future would be for them. Today we will discover the meanings of several names mentioned in this chapter. They definitely had importance, especially the name of Hosea's three children. so not only was the marriage of Hosea (deliverer; salvation) and Gomer (completion) but also the children were going to present a real spiritual lesson for the nation of Israel.

Do you know what your name means? In Spanish, my name means "beautiful". Not sure I have lived up to that.

Jesus' name means "salvation." Are we using His name in loving ways? So many people us it in a cursing way. I as them to not do so. God is my Heavenly Father and Jesus is my Savior.

 

LET IT GROW

God told Hosea what to name his children for that specific purpose. Let's take a look at the name its meaning of Hosea's first son.

Jezereel means God will sow or God will scatter.

• God was going to scatter the house of Israel, the 10 northern tribes.
• God was to bring the bloodshed of Jezereel on the house of Jehu.

To better understand this, we need a little history lesson, looking back at 2 Kings 9-10. What happened at the Valley of Jezereel?

• King Ahab was married to Jezebel, who worshiped Baal, a pagan god. He continued to worship of idols in Israel. This king and queen had caused people to be killed. Jezebel had Naboth, who owned his family's land in Jezereel, killed so Ahab could own its vineyard.
• The land of the Valley of Jezereel is very fertile soil for various crops even today. It is about a 10 mile valley surrounded by mountains, reaching from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea. (Nations covet this piece of land.) Note that this valley or plain is also named Armageddon, where the last battle of good and evil will take place during the Tribulation.(Christ is the victor and will establish His thousand year reign, afterwards.)
• Also, Jezebel had many of God's prophets killed, so God used Jehu to kill the family of King Ahab, including his 70 sons, evil wife, relatives. (Ahab had a summer palace in this valley where the killings occurred.) This was predicted some 20 years earlier by Elijah. (1 Kings 21)
• Jehu continued to wipe out significant people in Israel's history, so he carried the killings too far by God's standard. He became king of Israel, but a few years later.

How sad it is that Israel broke away from Judah in the first place, but to turn to idolatry meant God would wipe them off. Later on, Judah became the Israel that God intended-worship only God and obey His commands, keeping His festivals, being a witness to other nations.

Have you thought about the fact that God saw what was happening in Israel throughout all those 200 years that the majority of Israel did not worship God? He appointed prophets to warn them of the consequences of their sins, yet they would not repent and turn away from idols.

Is anything more important to you than worshiping Jesus on the Lord's Day? So you attend church services faithfully? Are you obeying the Bible?

LET IT GO

Let go of things, spend time in the word, love our neighbor.

Share with our family how God has been faithful in our life down through the years.

Be faithful to serving God.

Share salvation with those in our little world.