“Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God.”
My Notes
What Does Hosea 1:10 Mean?
Hosea prophesies a stunning reversal: the children of Israel — whose number had been reduced through judgment — shall become as the sand of the sea, uncountable. The reduction is temporary. The multiplication is permanent.
"Which cannot be measured nor numbered" — the growth exceeds calculation. The same imagery God used with Abraham (Genesis 22:17) is applied here to a nation that had been decimated.
"In the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God" — the very location of rejection becomes the location of restoration. The same place. The same people. But the identity has changed: from not my people to sons of the living God.
Paul quotes this verse in Romans 9:26, applying it to the Gentile inclusion. The people who were not God's people — the Gentiles — become the sons of the living God. The reversal extends beyond Israel to the world.
Reflection Questions
- 1.How does the reversal happening 'in the same place' as the rejection magnify the restoration?
- 2.What does Paul applying this to the Gentiles mean for your inclusion as 'sons of the living God'?
- 3.Where have you felt like 'not my people' — and how does this verse reverse that?
- 4.How does 'as the sand of the sea' describe the scope of what God is doing through restoration?
Devotional
Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea. After the judgment. After the reduction. After the exile and the decimation. The number will become like sand — uncountable, overwhelming, exceeding all expectation.
In the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people. The very place of rejection. The exact spot where the verdict was: not my people. That place.
There it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God. The same place. The new verdict: sons of the living God. The rejection is reversed in the same location where it was pronounced. The not my people becomes sons. The living God claims what he had rejected.
Paul takes this verse and applies it to the Gentiles (Romans 9:26). The people who were never God's people — every non-Jewish nation — are now called sons of the living God. The reversal extends to the ends of the earth.
If you have ever felt like not my people — rejected, excluded, outside the family — Hosea says the reversal is coming. The very place of your rejection is where the new identity will be announced. The not my people becomes sons. The excluded become family. The sand that could not be numbered includes you.
The living God is claiming what was rejected. That is the gospel in an Old Testament prophecy. And you are the sand.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered,....…
Yet - (literally, and) the number of the children of Israel ... Light springeth out of darkness; joy out of sorrow;…
We have here a prediction,
I. Of the rejection of Israel for a time, which is signified by the name of another child…
10 2:1. Predicted alteration of Names
Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be However sad the present…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture