“What’s in a name?” is a quote from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, from Romeo himself as the swooning lovestruck lad asserts that language and naming is arbitrary. A rose is a rose no matter what you call it is the example in the play. He might be right to the degree that if we called a rose by a different set of consonants and vowels it wouldn’t matter. Where Romeo is wrong, though, is once something has a name, that name carries great meaning, just read Hosea 1! Lo-Ruhamah, the daughter of Hosea and Gomer, would certainly disagree with Romeo’s lovestruck speech, after all her name means “not loved.” Imagine going through life with that name! Her name and her brother’s name, “Not my People,” are the stern warnings that kick off the book of Hosea. The first object lesson of Hosea is his marriage to the promiscuous Gomer. The Lord uses this as a comparison to Israel being unfaithful. By Old Testament standards, that was grounds for divorce. We see in the Gospel of Matthew that Joseph was going to call off his engagement to Mary when he thought she had been unfaithful. God’s point: “I could leave you! Yet I haven’t.” In Hosea 3 the prophet is called to pursue Gomer again and bring her back, foreshadowing that Israel and Judah will be called back even after the years of exile. Hosea and Gomer’s first child is called Jezreel. The full story of that valley is in 2 Kings 9-10, and includes 1 Kings 21’s telling of Naboth’s vineyard. Jezreel was a valley of judgment, treachery, betrayal, and killing. It is a grizzly place, and to name a child “Jezreel” would be a foreboding omen. That’s one among many chapters that God’s people do not want to repeat. Then we have “Not loved” and “Not my people,” as Hosea 1:9 tells us, “For you are not my people and I am not your God.” There are points in a covenant relationship where we might say, “I love you, but I don’t like you right now,” or “I love you, but I don’t like what you’ve done.” Hosea’s message from the Lord is that the people are pushing the limits towards God not recognizing them anymore. Set apart to worship Yahweh, instead they’re worshiping foreign gods just as much if not more! Something needs to change, because this just isn’t working. One theme of the minor prophets we’ll see again and again is that there is a need for something different. For the people to be saved, they need a Savior. What’s in a name? Jesus means “Savior” for “he will save his people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:21) What does your name mean? If you don’t know, look it up. How can you live into the best of your name, or if the connotation isn’t so favorable, how can you defy your name? How we live into our names ought to always have an eye towards who Christ has called us to be and the life we are called to live, for we are God’s people, both chosen and loved, a special possession. (1 Peter 2:9-10) The precious name of Jesus makes it so. - Pastor Steven