God’s Feast of Tabernacles is a vision of the World Tomorrow, a time when every evil in this present age will be swept away and replaced with peace, joy and abundance under God’s government. Christ will rule from Jerusalem, and the Earth will be filled with the knowledge of God as the waters cover the sea (Isaiah 11:9).
In a dangerous age, we must keep this vision in our minds. The prophecies of the Bible show us why our world is in such trouble and what has to happen before that glorious future world arrives.
The book of Hosea is living prophecy for our day. It focuses on three modern nations of Israel and, more specifically, on God’s own Church in this end time. God puts the people in the Church first, and that is the way it should be. The Prophet Hosea warns us of the consequences of spiritual adultery, national rebellion and misplaced trust. He also shows the hope of restoration for all who repent. His message is one of warning, and of hope, from God to His people.
For Our Day
Anciently, Hosea was a contemporary of Amos. That is interesting because we know that Amos’s prophecies are for our day (request The Lion Has Roared to learn more). For example, there is a modern-day Amos, Jeroboam and Amaziah (Amos 7). The people of Israel again are being warned by Amos’s prophecy.
You can say the same about Hosea. His prophecy begins: “The word of the Lord that came unto Hosea, the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel” (Hosea 1:1). So this prophecy also applies to the time of King Jeroboam ii, and as I have said for years, that role is being fulfilled by United States President Donald Trump today.
A reference on Hosea from the Hebrew-Greek Key Word Study Bible: KJV says, “Hosea began prophesying at the end of a period of material prosperity under King Jeroboam ii of Israel (2 Kings 14:23-27). Unfortunately, however, during most of Hosea’s lifetime, the people were spiritually bankrupt. Their leaders permitted them to practice idolatry (2 Kings 15:35; 2 Chronicles 27:2) and commit spiritual ‘harlotry’ against the Lord (Hosea 1:2; 2:8; 4:12-15).
“They refused to recognize that God had provided them with the wealth that they possessed (Hosea 2:8). In fact, they attributed their prosperity to the idols (Hosea 2:5; 10:1). The people had become covetous and greedy, oppressing those who were least able to defend themselves (Hosea 4:2; 10:13; 12:6-8).” They were blind to the fact that their national strength was about to collapse.
The kingdom of Israel was only a type of what is happening today in three modern nations descended from Israel: the United States (Manasseh), Britain (Ephraim) and the Jewish state in the Middle East (called Israel). (To prove these national identities, request our free book The United States and Britain in Prophecy.) These nations have received blessings unlike any in history: vast resources, strategic dominance, unprecedented freedoms. Yet they have turned from the God who gave it all to them.
Hosea warns that their sins will bring the worst suffering in human history. Like Hosea, we must get this message out and do all we can to give people every opportunity to turn to God.
2 Kings 14:26-27 show that there was an effort to blot out the name of Israel, which represents God’s plan of salvation! That is about as evil as it gets. Satan wants to blot out God’s great plan, and he works through men to do that, as he has done in this end time.
Hosea’s prophecy reminds us that Satan is doing everything he can to blot out the name of Israel forever! And we are fighting to preserve that name—so they will see it forever, whether they like it or not.
Spiritual Adultery
That reference book continues, “Despite the punishment that God promised to bring upon them (Hosea 5, 9, 10), there is a strong attitude of hope that is evident throughout the book. Just as Hosea bought back his unfaithful wife, Israel will be redeemed by God in the last days (Hosea 1:10-11; 2:14-23: 3:4-5; 11:10-11; 14:4-7)” (emphasis mine).
This is crucial—because who is Christ’s wife today? It is the true Church of God (Revelation 19:7).
Hosea 1:2 contains the central theme of his book: “[T]he land hath committed great whoredom, departing from the Lord.” God had married Israel, but she broke that covenant by committing spiritual adultery. Today, God is married to His Church, and the warning is the same. We must remain faithful to our Husband, Jesus Christ, or face grave consequences!
Hosea’s prophecy strikes first at the Church of God. Judgment begins at the house of God (1 Peter 4:17). Before God punishes the nations, He first addresses His own people. Hosea’s message is aimed directly at us. Hosea 3:5 shows it is for “the latter days.” We need to understand this because it is talking about the Philadelphia Church of God (pcg) specifically, and also two other churches that are Laodicean. He describes a great whoredom here to show us what the rest of God’s people are doing and how they are acting. They are the Bride of the great omnipotent God—and they are acting the harlot!
God commanded the Prophet Hosea to marry “a wife of whoredoms”—a woman named Gomer (Hosea 1:2). This marriage was a parable of God’s relationship with His people. Hosea, representing Christ, entered into a covenant with a woman who would betray him again and again. Gomer represents the Church in this end time who “gave birth” to three major groups: the faithful remnant (the pcg) and the two large Laodicean groups that broke away after the death of Herbert W. Armstrong.
God gave His people His truth, His Spirit and the most exalted calling in the universe—to become the Bride of Christ. Yet many have chosen to commit spiritual adultery, uniting themselves with the false doctrines, false teachers and ways of this world. Like Gomer, they leave their Husband to consort with lovers who cannot provide what He offers.
“So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim; which conceived, and bare him a son. And the Lord said unto him, Call his name Jezreel; for yet a little while, and I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu, and will cause to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel” (verses 3-4).
The first child Gomer bore, Jezreel, was Hosea’s own son. Jezreel means “God sows.” It reminds us that God plants His message in the world through His chosen servants. This child pictures the pcg, which publicizes God’s warning message so the nations have every opportunity to repent before calamity strikes.
“[G]reat shall be the day of Jezreel” (verse 11). God truly does love His people. And though there are few of us, God empowers us to do a great Work! “And it shall come to pass in that day, I will hear, saith the Lord, I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth; And the earth shall hear the corn, and the wine, and the oil; and they shall hear Jezreel” (Hosea 2:21-22). Soon the whole Earth is going to hear the message of Jezreel—our work! They are going to be amazed at what we are teaching and all that is unfolding in this short span of time in the last era of God’s Church. We must deliver this message today—that is our duty.
Two Illegitimate Children
The next two children Gomer bore—a daughter named Loruhamah (Hosea 1:6) and a son named Loammi (verse 9)—were illegitimate. Hosea was not the father of either of them. This wife was unfaithful to her godly husband!
This shows us what betrayal looks like from God’s perspective. Spiritual adultery is treachery against the God who gave everything for us! When the Church turns away from her Husband and seeks satisfaction from the world or from false religion, she is being treacherous like Gomer!
Gomer’s two illegitimate children represent two large Laodicean groups: the United Church of God and the Living Church of God.
The name of the first, Loruhamah, means “no mercy.” When people persist in rebellion despite repeated warnings, God withdraws His protection. When you have no more mercy from God, that is a terrible predicament to be in! We live having that mercy with us continually! But this church doesn’t have it.
The second, Loammi, means “not my people.” This is an ugly, despicable picture of people of God, and it shows how devastated God is when people who had the Spirit of God turn against Him!
There was a blood-curdling tragedy here that God wants to remedy. But He still is doing everything He can for those Laodiceans because they are His Bride!
God promises that those who repent will again be called “the sons of the living God” (verse 10). Those are the Laodiceans who repent in the Great Tribulation. They will go from God telling them, “You are not my people,” to, “You are my people—you are the sons of the living God!” He loves those people! They will lose their headquarters positions, but God is still excited to bring them into His Family.
Verse 11 points forward to a time when “the children of Judah and the children of Israel be gathered together, and appoint themselves one head ….” That “Head” is Jesus Christ, ruling over a reunited Israel in the Millennium.
Christ Redeems His Bride
Even after Gomer’s repeated betrayals, Hosea was commanded to buy her back (Hosea 3:1-2). In the same way, Christ will redeem His wayward Bride. God has not given up on His people.
God says He will strip away false securities and pleasures if they stand between His people and Him. He will “hedge up thy way with thorns” to stop them from pursuing destructive paths (Hosea 2:6). In verse 11 God warns, “I will also cause all her mirth [or joy] to cease, her feast days, her new moons, and her sabbaths, and all her solemn feasts.” The Laodiceans are keeping the holy days but are still rebelling. God is taking away all the joy in their false worship.
We come to the Feast to build more and more joy in what God is giving us! It should fill us with genuine joy, the very joy of Christ!
Verses 12-13 show more punishment God will bring on the Laodiceans to lure them away from their false gods. “Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably [tenderly] unto her” (verse 14). He truly does want to turn them around, restore their joy, and renew the marriage covenant!
In verse 15, God speaks of giving His repentant Bride “the valley of Achor for a door of hope”—turning a place of trouble into the beginning of restoration. She will sing again “as in the days of her youth,” remembering the joy she had when she first entered that marriage covenant. Malachi 2:14 reminds the Laodiceans of “the wife of thy youth,” speaking of the Church under Herbert W. Armstrong. “[T]he day when she came up out of the land of Egypt” (Hosea 2:15) is about how God brought His people out of this world.
God promises to break the bow and end all war, to make His people “lie down safely.” Then He says, “And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies. I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness; and thou shalt know the Lord” (verses 19-20). He says this three times in two verses! What a promise! Even for those who have been unfaithful, God’s love for His Bride is fierce and unyielding. He will do everything He can to win her back!
The marriage will happen. The only question is whether we will be there! Christ will not share His throne with an unfaithful Bride. But those who have made themselves ready, Christ really is going to marry! (Revelation 19:7). And we will sit beside Him on the throne of David forever!
Is this marriage real to you? It is the only thing that is real in this crazy world full of fakery!
“And I will sow her unto me in the earth; and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to them which were not my people, Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God” (Hosea 2:23). That is a wonderful conclusion for the Laodiceans.
Notice: God never says anything here about the 50 percent who never repent and lose their salvation. He just rejoices over those who do repent. Surely it is painful for God to lose them—but what can He do? He must make sure He takes care of the rest of the Family.
Sadly, Satan was able to “blot out the name of Israel” with 50 percent of the Laodiceans! It can easily be lost—but it shouldn’t. God empowers us and helps us every way He can because He loves His Family! But He can only work with those who will obey Him.
The warning could not be more sobering: Spiritual adultery can lead to the loss of everything forever! We must not take our calling lightly.
Blow the Trumpet!
The same sins that brought down ancient Israel—arrogance, idolatry, reliance on human alliances instead of God—are leading our nations toward disaster today.
“And the pride of Israel doth testify to his face: therefore shall Israel and Ephraim fall in their iniquity; Judah also shall fall with them” (Hosea 5:5). These three nations of Israel—America, Britain and the Jewish state—are all going to fall together. We see many factors leading to that outcome today. This prophecy is real, and it is in the process of being fulfilled—unless they hear our message and repent. That is their only hope.
“They shall go with their flocks and with their herds to seek the Lord; but they shall not find him; he hath withdrawn himself from them. They have dealt treacherously against the Lord: for they have begotten strange children: now shall a month devour them with their portions” (verses 6-7). That will get their attention, you can be sure! It is already in the process.
Here’s what God wants us to do: “Blow ye the cornet in Gibeah, and the trumpet in Ramah: cry aloud at Bethaven, after thee, O Benjamin” (verse 8). We must get the message out there! “Set the trumpet to thy mouth,” God commands in Hosea 8:1. We have a message to deliver to this world. This takes devoted support and dedication from all of God’s people. That is the only way we can complete this job! God will do it through us if we do our part.
“Ephraim shall be desolate in the day of rebuke: among the tribes of Israel have I made known that which shall surely be” (Hosea 5:9). These prophecies are real—they will surely come to pass! They are revelation directly from God to His people so we can proclaim them to the world. We must blow the trumpet and cry aloud to help people come to their senses and stop building their lives around emptiness!
Judah’s Wound
These modern nations of Israel must know about the coming punishment. “The princes of Judah were like them that remove the bound: therefore I will pour out my wrath upon them like water. Ephraim is oppressed and broken in judgment, because he willingly walked after the commandment. Therefore will I be unto Ephraim as a moth, and to the house of Judah as rottenness” (Hosea 5:10-12).
The next verse reads: “When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah saw his wound, then went Ephraim to the Assyrian, and sent to king Jareb: yet could he not heal you, nor cure you of your wound” (verse 13). Judah’s “wound” is a fatal flaw in national policy: the so-called peace process, which has led Israel to negotiate with people who have sworn to destroy it! This policy has brought a lot of blood in Judah and many wrong outcomes for Ephraim and even Manasseh.
Melanie Phillips wrote on July 25, 2024, “Israel accordingly went along with the ‘peace process’ orthodoxy that required it to negotiate with genocidists in the belief that they don’t speak for the majority of the Arab and Muslim world, who only want jobs and security. This fantasy was institutionalized through the 1993 Oslo Accords, which created structures designed to lead to a Palestine state and a ‘two-state solution’” (jns.org). Such a peace plan is madness! They think all they need is a two-state solution—but the Arabs have rejected it three times! And if you have two states, one will be the Jews, and the other, Hamas! That will lead to October 7-type violence forever! Two states is no solution. America thinks it is; Britain thinks it is. But that’s Judah’s wound!
“Israel has paid for this terrible error in blood,” Phillips continued. “From 1994 until today, more than three times as many Israelis have been murdered by Palestinian Arabs than between the formation of the State of Israel in 1948 and the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993.
“The lesson taught so agonizingly since October 7 is that Israel can never achieve security through diplomatic means.”
Melanie Phillips knows what Judah’s wound is! She just doesn’t believe the prophecy in Hosea 5:13, apparently.
She concluded by writing, “This default position of Western liberalism has resulted in the murder of thousands of Israelis and is exposing the West to existential danger.” Yes, it is a way of life. They keep fighting and trying to bind Judah’s wound.
In the end, when it all fails, modern Britain and Judah will look for security from foreign powers—in particular, Germany, of all nations! They can trust Germany, but they can’t trust God! If they trusted God, everything would be so much easier!
We must trust God! Trust His every word, and you will be given all kinds of blessings! Every word proclaimed from the mouth of God must be kept! The Bible is Christ in print. And He and the Father are one.
Europe, particularly Germany, is positioning itself to play a decisive role in the Middle East. Strategic footholds such as Cyprus—a member of the European Union located only minutes by air from Israel—are being quietly strengthened. (You can read about that in my January 2024 Trumpet article “As You Watch Gaza—Watch Germany,” theTrumpet.com/28621.) Psalm 83 foretells an unprecedented alliance of Arab states with Germany for the purpose of “cutting off” Israel’s name forever. Events in the region are already moving in that direction.
God is allowing hostile powers to gain strength as a tool of correction for His people. In Hosea’s day, Israel sought help from Assyria and was ultimately destroyed by it. Modern Israelite nations are making the same mistake! They will learn—in the most painful way—that there is no lasting security apart from God.
“For I will be unto Ephraim as a lion, and as a young lion to the house of Judah: I, even I, will tear and go away; I will take away, and none shall rescue him. I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early” (Hosea 5:14-15). That is wonderful news regarding Ephraim and Judah! After correction comes repentance.
“Come, and let us return unto the Lord: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up” (Hosea 6:1). He will heal us! That’s a wonderful attitude. They can see that they’ve turned away from God and that He is chastising them. And they come to see that God will heal us if we just turn to Him and not to men!
“After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight” (verse 2). What a wonderful conclusion to Hosea 5:5! God is going to bless them unimaginably.
Hosea’s Glorious Vision
Hosea closes with some of the most hope-filled verses in all prophecy. After chapters of warning, judgment and correction, God declares His intent to heal, restore and bless His people beyond anything they have ever known.
“I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him. I will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon” (Hosea 14:4-5). God promises to refresh His people like the morning dew, to make them flourish like the lily. He is going to make Lebanon beautiful once again! It used to be a paradise, but man has bombed it to death! Most of the state is a pile of rubble. This God has not overlooked.
God will give these peoples the strength and beauty of the olive tree, and He will restore the fragrance and abundance of Lebanon (verses 6-7). Those who once chased idols will say, “What have I to do any more with idols?” (verse 8). These nations will be reconciled to God and will thrive under His rule.
This is the picture of the Feast of Tabernacles: a world at peace, healed from centuries of rebellion, governed by the law of God from Jerusalem. The curse will be lifted. The knowledge of God will cover the Earth as the waters cover the sea. The ruins will be rebuilt into gardens. Former enemies will live together in harmony. War will be a relic of the past.
The wonderful World Tomorrow is not a dream—it is the certain outcome of God’s plan! And Hosea’s prophecy shows how we get there: through warning, correction, repentance and restoration. It is a vision we must hold fast to, especially as the world plunges deeper into chaos.
“Who is wise, and he shall understand these things? prudent, and he shall know them? for the ways of the Lord are right, and the just shall walk in them: but the transgressors shall fall therein” (verse 9). The wise will heed the warning, embrace the hope, and walk in the ways of God. That is the path to life—now and forever.
As we keep the Feast, let us see beyond the troubles of this present age to the great day of Jezreel, when the Bride of Christ will reign at His side and the Earth will finally be at peace.