Hosea 1:8-9

Two or three years later, after Gomer had weaned Lo-ruhamah (cf. 1 Samuel 1:23; 2 Maccabees 7:27), she bore Hosea another son. The reference to weaning is a detail that would seem superfluous if this were an allegory or vision. This time the Lord told Hosea to name the boy "Lo-ammi," meaning "not my people." The Lord no longer regarded the kingdom of Israel as His people or Himself as their God. He did not mean, of course, that He would break His unconditional promises to His people (e.g., Exodus 6:7; Leviticus 26:12; Deuteronomy 26:17-18), but that the relationship that they had enjoyed so far would come to an end. The last phrase of Hosea 1:9 literally is "I [am] not I AM [’ehyeh] to you" (cf. Exodus 3:14). The Lord would withdraw the covenant He had so dramatically made with the revelation of this same name. He would remove protection that He had formerly provided and allow another nation to invade and discipline His people.

This passage contains four symbolic names: the names of Hosea’s three children and Yahweh’s new name, "not your I AM," indicating His rejection of Israel. Positive names were the rule in the ancient Near East, yet the last three of these names are bluntly negative. The collective impact of these four names is the message of this pericope: Israel’s unfaithfulness had become so obnoxious to Yahweh that He would not tolerate her any longer.

"Hosea 1:2-9 functions as a summarizing preface to the entire book. It presents an overview, in stark and moving terms, of the prophet’s proportionately dominant message: God has given up his people. The theme of restoration after this judgment then follows immediately in Hosea 2:1-3 [in the Hebrew Bible, Hosea 1:10 to Hosea 2:1 in the English versions]." [Note: Stuart, p. 35.]