Folks, here's the deal. Hosea was a prophet during the time of the northern kingdom of Israel, and God told him to marry a woman who was going to be unfaithful. Now, that's no malarkey. See here, Jack, it was meant to be a sign to the people of Israel. They had been unfaithful to God, and the marriage was supposed to be a symbol of that.

God also told Hosea to name his children something that would remind the people of their unfaithfulness. So Hosea had a son and named him Jezreel, which means "God sows," because God was going to scatter the people like grain. He also had a daughter and named her Lo-Ruhamah, which means "not loved," because God would no longer show them love. And then he had another son and named him Lo-Ammi, which means "not my people," because God was going to reject them.

I'm not joking, folks. Hosea was supposed to remind the people of God's faithful love, but they just kept on breaking his heart. I tell you what, c'mon, man! But then God said that he'd still love them and forgive them. Literally, my father used to say that God is good like that. And then God promised that someday he would restore Israel, and he'd make them his people again. That's the way it goes, excuse me. What was that? Nothing's gonna happen until the people turn back to God, or uh, you know, until he decides to do something about it.