Hosea preached in the northern kingdom of Israel in its last decades before Assyria destroyed it. The Lord asked him to live out a painful parable. He married Gomer, who broke her marriage covenant and went after other lovers, in Hosea 1–2. Their children got names that sounded like verdicts. Lo-ruhamah means “not pitied.” Lo-ammi means “not my people.” That’s 1:6–9. Then the Lord told Hosea to go love her again. Hosea paid fifteen pieces of silver and some barley to bring her home, in 3:1–2. The point was never the scandal. The Lord was showing Israel how He felt about them. They’d gone after other gods, and He still wanted them back.
The turnaround is stunning. The Lord promises to lead His people into the wilderness and “speak comfortably” to them. He’ll turn the valley of Achor, which means “trouble,” into “a door of hope,” in 2:14–15. He flips the children’s labels. Those called “not my people” will be called “the sons of the living God,” in 1:10 and 2:23. Teens carry labels from school, screenshots or their own mistakes. That reversal is powerful. The Lord pictures Himself teaching a toddler to walk and drawing His people “with bands of love,” in 11:3–4. He promises, “I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely,” in 14:4. He also promises to “ransom them from the power of the grave,” in 13:14. Jesus Christ fulfills that.
Hosea also warns about shallow faith. Israel’s goodness was “as a morning cloud” that burns off by midday, in 6:4. The Lord said, “I desired mercy, and not sacrifice,” in 6:6. Jesus quoted that verse twice when religious people cared more about appearances than people, in Matthew 9:13 and 12:7. Joel says the same thing with a different picture. After a terrible locust plague, the Lord calls His people to turn to Him with all their heart. He says, “rend your heart, and not your garments,” in Joel 2:12–13. Tearing your clothes was the public sign of grief. The Lord wanted the inside to change. It’s a natural bridge to the filtered versions of ourselves that social media rewards.
Joel then promises the Lord will “restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten,” in 2:25. He’ll pour out His Spirit on all flesh: “your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,” in 2:28. Peter quoted this at Pentecost, in Acts 2:16–18. The angel Moroni quoted it to Joseph Smith in 1823 and said it was about to be fulfilled. That’s Joseph Smith—History 1:41. For fourteen- to sixteen-year-olds, the Holy Ghost isn’t just for adults. The Lord named young people specifically. For the Strength of Youth teaches that repentance is the Savior’s way of freeing us, not a punishment. When we keep falling into the same mistake, we keep turning to Him.
