Summary: Hosea was prophet for the northern kingdom of Israel at a time of great prosperity materially but great poverty spiritually speaking. The 'core' sin of Israel was idolatry, but it was not their only sin far from it. The Lord chose Hosea's marriage to illustrate how He felt toward Israel, His adulterous wife. the Lord commanded hosea to marry a woman of whoredom and shows Hosea before hand what she will be like toward him. Each of their childen God then names, again as an illustration of how He felt toward Israel ie the children were the result of a relationship where the husband loved the wife but the wife went away to other men. The first was named Jezreel, which is a place in Israel where there has been great bloodshed and will one day be the location of the final war battle Armageddon. Hosea's other children children showed how the Lord for a time would judge Israel and not show mercy to them for they were no longer considered his people, hence they were called Lo-ruhammah (no mercy) and Lo-ammi (not My people).
