3

Romans 9:24-26 (NASB)

[24]even us, whom He also called, not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles. [25]As He says also in Hosea, "I will call those who were not My people, 'My people,' And her who was not beloved, 'beloved.'" Romans 9 [26]"And it shall be that in the place where it was said to them, 'you are not My people,' There they shall be called sons of the living God."

This is the reference as quoted by Paul in Romans

Hosea 1:9-10 (NASB)

[9]And the Lord said, "Name him Lo-ammi, for you are not My people and I am not your God." [10]Yet the number of the sons of Israel Will be like the sand of the sea, Which cannot be measured or numbered; And in the place Where it is said to them, "You are not My people," It will be said to them, "You are the sons of the living God."

Hosea 2:23 (NASB)

23"I will sow her for Myself in the land. I will also have compassion on her who had not obtained compassion, And I will say to those who were not My people, 'You are My people!' And they will say, 'You are my God!'"

Emphasis added

Paul quotes Hosea as also referring to the Gentiles in his letter to the church at Rome,but it seems Hosea was only addressing the Jewish nation.

Does Hosea refer to the Gentiles at all?

Improve this question
5
  • 1
    Gentiles, being grafted in are Israel (Rom 9:6 ;11:16-25; Jer 31:31-32), or as St. Paul says (using it as a synonym for 'God's people'): "the Israel of God" (Gal 6:16).
    – Sola Gratia
    Commented Sep 4, 2017 at 18:51
  • Hosea was not referring to gentiles but rather only the northern 10 tribes who had gone into captivity and been "lost" to the nations. Originally all 12 tribes were His people but God divorced the northern kindom and they became not his people (anymore). He will yet regather the lost 10 tribes and they will once again be His people.
    – moron
    Commented Jul 27 at 7:57
  • There has always been "physical" Israel and also "spiritual" Israel. Spiritual Israelites can be of any nationality, gentiles, Jews or northern kindom Israelites. But most Jews and northern kindom Israelites (descendants of Ephraim) are decidedly not spiritual Israelites.
    – moron
    Commented Jul 27 at 8:01
  • Gentiles are nowhere to be found in the first chapter of Hosea. It is all about God divorcing Isreal (the northern kindom), having mercy on Judah (not divorcing them) and finally bringing Israel (Ephraim) and Judah (the Jews) back together under one leader. No gentiles in mind by Hosea.
    – moron
    Commented Jul 27 at 8:28
  • Paul does in fact bring gentiles into view in his restatement of Hosea in Romans, pointing out that gentiles, who never were God's people, can now be grafted into Spiritual Israel. So in that sense gentiles have that much in common with Ephraim. But Paul does not contradict or change the original meaning in Hosea, he adds to it.
    – moron
    Commented Jul 27 at 8:31

5 Answers 5

Reset to default
2

I'm of the opinion that it is the last phrases of 9:25 and 9:26 that include the gentiles:

NASB Romans 9:[24]even us, whom He also called, not from among Jews [Judeans] only, but also from among Gentiles. [25]As He says also in Hosea, "I will call those who were not My people, 'My people,' And her who was not beloved, 'beloved.'" Romans 9 [26]"And it shall be that in the place where it was said to them, 'you are not My people,' There they shall be called sons of the living God."

At the time of the writing of Hosea both the Northern Kingdom (Israel) and the Southern Kingdom (Judah) existed:

NIV Hosea 1:1The word of the Lord that came to Hosea son of Beeri during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and during the reign of Jeroboam son of Jehoasha king of Israel:

He speaks of the end of the Northern Kingdom (Israel):

NIV Hosea 1: 4Then the Lord said to Hosea, “Call him Jezreel, because I will soon punish the house of Jehu for the massacre at Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of Israel.

He promises to continue to "show love" to Judah:

NIV Hosea 1: 6Gomer conceived again and gave birth to a daughter. Then the Lord said to Hosea, “Call her Lo-Ruhamah (which means “not loved”), for I will no longer show love to Israel, that I should at all forgive them. 7Yet I will show love to Judah; and I will save them—not by bow, sword or battle, or by horses and horsemen, but I, the Lord their God, will save them.”

Additionally, he says Israel won't be his People but Judah will:

NIV Hosea 1: 8After she had weaned Lo-Ruhamah, Gomer had another son. 9Then the Lord said, “Call him Lo-Ammi (which means “not my people”), for you are not my people, and I am not your God.

So Israel:

  • will no longer be his People while Judah will continue to be his People
  • will no longer be loved while Judah will continue to be loved

There is no gentile "People of God". The Jews are his only People. However, as Paul says, not only do the sons of Israel become the Beloved but gentiles also. They don't become his People but they do become "sons of the living God".

I prepared this Venn Diagram to help clarify:

Venn Diagram of My People vs Beloved

UPDATE!

Since writing this I believe I have come to better understand Paul's metaphors and am now persuaded that while initially Jesus came only after the lost sheep of the northern kingdom (Matthew 10:6; Matthew 15:24) who were the 144,000 elect first fruits, afterwards he sent Paul to go to the gentiles and they did in fact join themselves to the People of God. They were "grafted in" to resurrected Israel aka the Israel of God, the Kingdom of God, the Bride of the Messiah, etc. But it was necessary to first resurrect Israel and reunite them with Judah per Ezekiel 37 and to eliminate the ethnic, Torah based obstacles by recapitulating God's People under the headship of the Messiah:

[Eph 1:5, 10-11, 22-23 DBY] (5) having marked us out beforehand for adoption through Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, ... (10) for the administration of the fulness of times; to head up all things in the Christ, the things in the heavens and the things upon the earth; in him, (11) in whom we have also obtained an inheritance, being marked out beforehand according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his own will, ... (22) and has put all things under his feet, and gave him to be head over all things to the assembly, (23) which is his body, the fulness of him who fills all in all:

Improve this answer
4
  • Who is represented by the pink part of the upper circle (not Gentiles and not of Judah). Who is represented by the intersection of Gentiles and Judah My people?
    – enegue
    Commented Oct 20, 2017 at 22:38
  • @enegue I suppose that the top would be the "Israelis that once were the children of God" and that the gentiles that are not intersecting would be the idolatrous heathen. The lower non-intersecting circle would be unbelieving proselytes.
    – Ruminator
    Commented Oct 20, 2017 at 22:44
  • [Isa 56 NLT] [6] "I will also bless the foreigners who commit themselves to the LORD, who serve him and love his name, who worship him and do not desecrate the Sabbath day of rest, and who hold fast to my covenant. [7] I will bring them to my holy mountain of Jerusalem and will fill them with joy in my house of prayer. I will accept their burnt offerings and sacrifices, because my Temple will be called a house of prayer for all nations. [8] For the Sovereign LORD, who brings back the outcasts of Israel, says: I will bring others, too, besides my people Israel." But see @Joshua 's comment.
    – Ruminator
    Commented Jan 5, 2023 at 17:15
  • God put an end to the northern kindom of Israel (Ephraim) but not a permanent end. He ultimately will make them again His people. God divorced Ephraim but will undivorce them. He never divorced the Jews (Judah) because the Jews, despite their many sins, have always kept the seventh day Sabbath and the Torah in general. Ephraim discarded those things so God divorced Ephraim but God will reconcile Ephraim to Himself.
    – moron
    Commented Jul 27 at 8:11
3

Those of the Single-intent school must say that Hosea only spoke of Israel.

However, from the Sensus Plenior school, all things speak of Christ. God used words, histories, prophecies, types, shadows, riddles, etc to speak of Christ.

Therefore the histories are literal histories, but God put them in scripture because in the telling of the history he embedded a hidden picture of Christ.

Improve this answer
4
  • 1
    The key I believe is Hosea was speaking specifically to 10-tribe Israel/Joseph/Ephraim. Ephraim was Jacob's (Israel's) spiritually adopted firstborn (Gen 48, Jer 31). Ephraim is lost to the nations (goyim/ethnos/often improperly "Gentiles"). Paul can be speaking to nations and calling God's chosen out from them to be united with Judah (Ez 37). In this context the grafting back in of wild branches makes much more sense. It's not the church and Israel to Paul, neither is it the church replacing Israel. Rather "gentiles" and Judah reunited in one church/Israel.
    – Joshua
    Commented Mar 31, 2019 at 15:45
  • But then what of Ephraim? Lost to the nations? The vast majority of God's original nation of Israel lost to the nations? Did God lose track of them? Did God write them off, oh well so much for them? Really?
    – moron
    Commented Jul 27 at 7:36
  • Hosea 5:3 - "I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hid from me". God never lost track of Ephraim although the rest of the world did. Ephraim lost the Sabbath and that primarily is why they got "lost". The Jews never lost the Sabbath and the Torah and so the world never lost track of the Jews.
    – moron
    Commented Jul 27 at 7:44
  • But because the Jews never lost the seventh day Sabbath people came to believe that the Jews of today are all of Israel and not just the Jews of the one tribe of Judah. It became as though the other 10 tribes never existed or dematerialized or were vaporized. They're still out there and their modern identity will yet be revealed.
    – moron
    Commented Jul 27 at 7:48
2

I appreciate Ruminator's response.

"In the place" should not be taken lightly. "Galilee of the Gentiles" a borderland of the Northern Kingdom was precious to Jesus, and in His day was a crossroads of nations/cultures. Jesus wanted to tread physically in Galilee after His Resurrection specifying to His disciples that He would meet them there "at the mountain".

He appeared after His resurrection primarily to those who had been with Him from the beginning, largely from Galilee. Perhaps David's designated heir Solomon worked a prophetic act when he gave to Hiram 20 cities of Galilee. Hiram apparently referred to them as "worthless", which in redemptive sense may have also been a prophetic work of God.

Jesus visited the area of Caesarea Philippi [Paneas] as well as "the region of Tyre and Sidon" - unclean Gentile Galilean territories. Sozomen wrote of a tradition that the woman healed of the bleeding disorder was from Paneas and erected there a statue commemorating Christ [legend, but it is what it is].

Paneas at the foot of Mt Hermon was a 'seat' of pagan spirituality and the region of 'Bashan'/Hermon is frequently seen as a high-conflict zone throughout the OT. The battles over that region are not resolved to this very day. Perhaps Jesus tread upon and laid claim not only to the Samaritan & "lost 10 tribes" regions but to a focal point of the dominion of the lesser gods over all Gentiles.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galilee#/media/File:Ancient_Galilee.jpg.
By William R. Shepherd (1871–1934) - Wikimedia Commons

Improve this answer
2
  • 1
    I have broken up the block of text into paragraphs, and added the image. You can re-edit to make any changes.
    – enegue
    Commented Oct 20, 2017 at 22:28
  • However, it is only in Mark and Matthew that Jesus meets with them in the Galilee. In Luke-Acts, they are charged by Jesus to remain in Jerusalem until they were endued with power. In John, Jesus appears visibly to a small gathering and breaths on them. No concept of Pentecost. So it is necessary to distinguish which author. It may have been important for Mark and Matthew that he appear in the Galilee but it was apparently more important for Luke-Acts to have them in Jerusalem.
    – Ruminator
    Commented Jan 5, 2023 at 17:31
1

Hosea is talking about the northern kingdom of Israel. God said about them that they were not His people and not His beloved. Paul applies it to the gentiles also, since the gentiles are also not God's people and not His beloved.

Improve this answer
2
  • I agree. But those of the northern kingdom of Israel are not gentiles and never were gentiles. Similarly those of the northern kindom are not Jews and never were Jews, as Jews were from the southern kindom of Judah. Some think that the northern kindom Israelites eventually became gentiles but that is false. There has always been a sharp delineation between Jews, northern kindom Israelites and gentiles. Gentiles upon conversion become "spiritual" Israelites, or spiritual "Jews" which means the same thing, but that is an entirely different subject.
    – moron
    Commented Jul 27 at 7:20
  • The kindom of Judah aka the Jews, even to this day, are not and never were as numerous as the grains of sand of the seashore or the stars of the sky. Some believe that but it's patently absurd. The far more numerous people of the House of Israel (northern Kindom) did become that numerous but their identity is not generally known today.
    – moron
    Commented Jul 27 at 7:27
1

Jesus is the lion from the tribe of Judah. If Judah is His people so then are the Gentiles. For all who are in Christ is a new creature/creation no longer Jew or Greek. Ephesians says He tore down the wall of separation and made the two one, Jew and Gentile one in Christ. So the who were not my people are His people not just sons but also citizens of His Kingdom. Gentiles are a part of his people in Christ.

Improve this answer
2
  • Hi Vaughn, welcome to BH-Stack Exchange, we are glad you are here. Please be sure to take the site tour and read our code of conduct. Thanks!
    – Daniel Dahlberg
    Commented Sep 16, 2021 at 7:36
  • Your answer could be improved with additional supporting information. Please edit to add further details, such as citations or documentation, so that others can confirm that your answer is correct. You can find more information on how to write good answers in the help center.
    – Community Bot
    Commented Sep 16, 2021 at 18:50

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.