Hosea and other Prophets

Hosea and Gomer his Wife

(Adapted from a summary of "Hebrew Bride.")

After the death of King Solomon, the 12 Tribes of Israel separated into two separate Kingdoms. In the north was the kingdom of Israel and in the south the Kingdom of Judah. The northern Ten Tribes were to be exiled by the Assyrians. They lost awareness of their ancestry and became known as "The Lost Ten Tribes of Israel." The Prophet Hosea lived at the time the Ten Tribes were exiled. He himself was a born member of them. Hosea was commanded to marry a loose woman named "Gomer." He had children by her. The names given to this offspring are seen to foreshadow matters concerning the Ten Tribes in their places of Exile and future return from it. We know that Hosea is speaking about the Lost Tribes and not about Judah since Hosea specifically excludes Judah from the predicted misfortunes: "But I will have mercy upon the House of Judah" (Hosea 1:7).

The name of "Gomer" wife of Hosea signifies an association of the exiled Israelites with nations descended from the three sons of Gomer son of Japhet son of Noah. The sons of Gomer were Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah (Genesis 10:3). The Sons of Gomer gave rise to entities that are today mainly found in Central and Western Europe.The Book of Hosea indicates a union of the exiled northern Israelites with the descendants of Gomer. The name 'Gomer' was also the name given to the Cimmerians. The Cimmerians were a people who first appeared on the fringes of the Assyrian Empire shortly after the Israelites had been exiled. From the Cimmerians emerged the Scythians and Guti i.e. Goths.

Rabbinical traditions trace the Lost Ten Tribes to three different places one of them being Daphne of Antiochia. The other two are given as either: (1) Beyond the Sambation River, and Clouds of Darkness; or (2) Besides the Sambation River; and the Mountains of Darkness. These names are shown elsewhere to be referring to the three same approximate areas. These were also regions associated with the Sons of Gomer son of Japhet.

Rabbi Yisrael Alter (1895-1977) in his work "Beis Yisroel" ('VeYechi,' 5710, ca. 1950-51, Genesis 47:28) wrote that the Children of Israel, were known as Gomer and in the plural as "Gomrim" (Gomerites). This, he says, especially applies in associated with Joseph, i.e. the Ten Tribes, and Future Redemption.

The Cimmerians themselves moved at an early date to Western Europe and merged with what became Celtic Civilization. The Cimbri in Scandinavia and the Cambri in Britain testify by their names to Cimmerian origins. Wales in Welsh is Cymru (pronounced "Kamru" meaning "Land of the Cymry") or sometimes spelt and pronounced as "Gomru." Later, the Scythians and Goths who too had once been part of the Cimmerians also moved west. They gave rise to the Scandinavian and some of the Germanic peoples. "Gomer" was in fact one of the sons of Japhet (Genesis 10:2). "Gomer" (Hosea 1:2), as we mentioned, is also the name given to the wife of Hosea whom the Prophet used as a simile for the House of Israel and whose three children represented the Ten Tribes in Exile. Peoples identified in Talmudic sources as descended from Gomer of Japhet are placed in areas where these same sources state the Ten Tribes were to be found in. In addition to this, there remains the fact that the name given to the Israelite exiles by the Assyrians was in effect identical to that applied to the Cimmerians.

The Kingdom of Israel had been conquered by the Assyrians. Its inhabitants were exiled in stages to different areas in the Assyrian Empire. The exile was complete. Very few remained and most of these moved to the Kingdom of Judah. The Assyrians however also invaded Judah and took many captives who attached themselves to the Ten Tribes in their places of Exile. The Tribes from the northern Kingdom had been taken to several regions. These are designated by Biblical, Talmudic, and Rabbinical sources. One of the places the Israelites were deported to is Mannae (Targum Yehonathan on Amos 4:3). The area of Mannae corresponded to that of Adiabene which the Talmud (Yebamot 17) equated with Habor where the Ten Tribes were taken to (2-Kings 17:6). The Gimirri-Cimmerians were first reported by the Assyrians as being in the Land of Mannae. The Israelites were also taken to the Cities of the Medes (2-Kings 17:6) meaning Media. Here too, Cimmerians were to be found.

Selim F. ADAL remarks:

# The Cimmerians in Media were also dispersed. .. Some Cimmerians allied with the Manneans and posed a danger to places in Media. The Cimmerians were a considerable force in Media. #

The Cimmerians developed into different groups. One section settled in southeast Europe and then continued to the north. Others went further westward at an early stage and became part of Celtic Civilization.

In the End Times the Ten Tribes and Judah meaning the Jewish People will re-unite.

Hosea 1: 11 Then the children of Judah and the children of Israel Shall be gathered together, And appoint for themselves one head; And they shall come up out of the land, For great will be the day of Jezreel!

The link between the Almighty and His People Israel will be renewed. Judah and the Ten Tribes will gather together in their places of Exile under one leader and go up to the Land of Israel. The name "Jezreel" had previously been given to one of the sons of Hosea by his wife Gomer. Previously this appellation in Hebrew reflected the meaning of "scattered" or "cast away." In the future the same word receives alternative meanings of "gathered in" or "sown anew" in the Land of Israel, cf.

Hosea 2:25 Then I will sow her for Myself in the earth, And I will have mercy on her who had not obtained mercy; Then I will say to those who were not My people "You are My people!" And they shall say, ˜You are my God!"

A name meaning almost the same in Akkadian (language of Assyria) as Jezreel and sounding almost the same was applied by the Assyrians to the Cimmerians or a portion of them.The Children of Hosea were each given names reflecting the destiny of the northern Tribes in the kingdom of Israel.

Hosea 2: 1 Say to your brethren, My people [ami], And to your sisters, Mercy [Ruchama] shall be given.

God will once again show HIS mercy to the Ten Tribes of Israel. The son of the Prophet Hosea who had been called Lo-Ammi ("Not My People" will now be named "Ammi" (Hosea 2:1) meaning "My People." The Ten Tribes in the End Times will be acknowledged as the Chosen People of the Almighty. The girl formerly known as "Lo-Ruhammah" will have received the new name "Ruhamah" i.e. "Having Been Shown Mercy To."

In the End Times, Israel and Judah shall return together.

Jeremiah 3:18 IN THOSE DAYS THE HOUSE OF JUDAH SHALL WALK WITH [go unto] THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL, AND THEY SHALL COME TOGETHER OUT OF THE LAND OF THE NORTH TO THE LAND THAT I HAVE GIVEN FOR AN INHERITANCE UNTO YOUR FATHERS.

The Midrash says:

"Behold thou art fair, my love, yea pleasant, also our bed is green" (Song of Solomon 1;16).

"Israel says: Behold thou art fair, my love When you will take retribution from the worshippers of idols. Yea pleasant when you pay the reward of those who fear you. Also our bed": These are the "Ten Tribes." [In Hebrew the word for bed is "eres" while ten is "eser" and uses the same letters:"our bed" (erseynu) sounds like "our ten" (esereynu).] They are those who were exiled beyond the Sambation River. The exiles of Judah and Benyamin [i.e. the present-day "Jews"] are destined to go unto them and bring them back in order to merit with them the Messianic Era and life in the World-To-Come. This is as it says, "In those days the house of Judah shall go unto the house of Israel and they shall come together out of the land of the north unto the land that I have given for an inheritance unto your fathers" (Jeremiah 3:18).

-Yalkut Shimeoni, Song of Solomon 905.

Jeremiah 3:18 should be read according to the above as:

"THE HOUSE OF JUDAH SHALL GO UNTO [rather than "walk with"] THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL." People from Judah and Benjamin (i.e. legal Jews) shall go unto the Lost Ten Tribes who are beyond the Sambation River. Historically the Sambation River could be identified with the Upper Zab River in Northeast Mesopotamia. Ptolemy records a people named Sambatae on its banks. The name "Sambation" was also applied to the Don River in southern Russia. Individuals with this name were recorded in Greek inscriptions from the area. In our other works (e.g. "Ephraim", "The Tribes", and "Hebrew Warriors. The Khazars") we explained that the Sambation River symbolizes Israelite Exiles who migrated to the west. The simple meaning is that Jews from Judah will go unto the Lost Tribes to bring them back.

Several times in the Bible the figure of a Husband is used to represent the relationship of the Almighty to Israel. An example of this symbolism is found in the Book of Ezekiel. In chapter 23 of Ezekiel the Almighty speaks of two women who are depicted as if they became His, i.e. His wives. One was named Ohalah and the other Oholibah. We are told that "Ohalah" represented Samaria i.e. the Ten Tribes and "Oholibah" meant Judah.

Ezekiel 23: 4 Their names were Oholah the elder and Oholibah her sister. And they became Mine, and they bore sons and daughters. And as for their names, Samaria is Oholah and Jerusalem is Oholibah.

Oholah represented Samaria i.e. the Northern Ten Tribes of Israel. She committed adultery with the Assyrians. Consequently the Assyrians killed her and "took her sons and her daughters" (Ezekiel 23:10). Oholibah, i.e. Judah, in the time that Ezekiel was prophesying was acting in the same way her sister had and is warned that the Babylonians and others will do unto her as was done to Oholah. This took place when the Jews were exiled to Babylon. They returned from Babylonian Exie under Ezra and Nehemiah. The Ten Tribes did not return.

In Isaiah 54:4 the Almighty depicts HIMSELF as a Husband to Israel. According to the context in this case he is referring primarily to Judah at the time of their Exile and Future Redemption. The Ten Tribes may also be intended.

In the Book of Hosea (chs. 1 & 2) the union of Hosea and Gomer is used as a prototype for the relationship between the Almighty and the Ten Tribes in their Period of Exile. Meanwhile the Israelites in their places of Exile had confederated with a group of non-Israelite peoples named after Gomer son of Japhet. Conventionally these are identified as the Cimmerians and Scythians both of whom were referred to by the Assyrians as Gimirri. The Prophet Hosea had taken Gomer to wife and his relationship became a metaphor for that of the Almighty and Israel. We find other passages elsewhere in the Bible where God is likened unto a husband to Israel.

Jeremiah uses the same analogy of husband and wife for the Ten Tribes. In Jeremiah 3:1 the Almighty says that Israel is like a promiscuous woman who has been divorced but later (against accepted practice) is to be taken back again by her husband. God is that husband. The specific case here concerns the Ten Tribes in their early stages of Exile. The whole chapter of Jeremiah 31 contains several important points that prove the Lost Ten Tribes in the End Times will be found amongst Western Peoples especially those of British descent and their associates.

Similarly, Jeremiah chapter 3 refers to God as a husband to the whole House of Israel and then to both Judah and Israel as separate entities:

Jeremiah 3:1 'If a man divorces his wife and she leaves him and marries another man, should he return to her again? Would not the land be completely defiled? But you have lived as a prostitute with many lovers, would you now return to me?' declares the LORD.

The northern Tribes of Israel had committed adultery. The Almighty divorced them. Judah had imitated the idolatrous practices of the northern Tribes. The Almighty reproved Judah and under the leadership of King Josiah the Land was purified of idolatry and the people of Judah repented, at least in part (2-Kings 22-23).

The Book of Micah, chapter 5, describes the Ten Tribes as being exiled, becoming shepherds or protectors of the Assyrians, and later progressing to destroy the Assyrian cities as revenge for the destruction of Samaria. In other words Micah describes the Israelites as having played the same role secular historical sources attributed to the Scythians. Amongst the Scythians we find private names, tribal names, legends, Hebraic customs, specific styles of artistic craftsmanship, and other indications of Israelite ancestry. In continuation the Cimmerians and Scythians split up into different groups. Some went to the west almost immediately. Others went to the north and east and then returned westward. Ultimately they all converged on Western Europe.

Hosea 3:4 For the children of Israel shall abide many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar, without ephod or teraphim.

George Louis, King of Hanover, was second cousin to Anne, Queen of Great Britain and Ireland. He became King of Britain in 1714. George was the first British monarch who was not really a ruler. Henceforth the British Government ruled and the monarch would be consulted. Technically however the monarch bequeaths the right to rule in his name on the parliament.

The Rabbinical Commentators [Rashi, Radak, Metsudat David] explained this verse (Hosea 3:4) to mean [in paraphrased form]:
Many days the Israelites will abide without acknowledging the Almighty as King and without worshipping an idol.
In other words the situation would be similar to what it is today.

The Prophets pictured the distant future by describing events from their own experience or time period. They would use them as prototypes for what will occur in the End Times. Jeremiah describes how Israelites will greatly increase in the Land (3:16). Jerusalem shall be called The Throne of the LORD (3:17). Emissaries from Judah will go to the Lost Tribes to bring them back.

Jeremiah 3:18 'In those days the house of Judah shall walk with [go unto] the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I have given as an inheritance to your fathers.

In Jeremiah 31:32 the Almighty describes Himself as having been a husband to Israel.

* Reconciliation. Jeremiah speaks of the ingathering of the Ten Tribes (31:1 to 31:22); he speaks of the Redemption of the Jews (31:23-26); and he recalls the re-unification of Judah with the Lost Ten Tribes (31:27-37) who will return in the Last Days.

* Location of the Ten Tribes in the West. The Ten Tribes and the Exiles of Judah will return from every place they are found in. Their chief places of residence at the Last Times will be in North America (Jeremiah 31:8), in Europe, and at the geographical extremities of the Continental Masses (31:8), and in the British Isles (31:10). The Lost Ten Tribes will be concentrated in the said regions. This is where they will be found just before the Messianic Era. They will return by modern means of transport such as airplanes that are capable of transporting the incapacitated and women in childbirth (Jeremiah 31:8). The Lost Ten Tribes in the End Times will be dwelling independently in their own lands (31:17). This indicates that in those places where they will be concentrated they will be the majority of the population or at least the most influential elements in their own areas.

The Lost Israelites from the Ten Tribes will have lost their Identity until the End Times. Eventually, their Identity will be restored and they will come back (Jeremiah 31:15-16).

* Ephraim is the ANGLOS! Ephraim is described as an untrained bull-calf, an Aegel (31:18). This same word was used in Western Europe as an alternative for someone from the Angli who gave their name to England.

* Megalithic Monuments and a Pathway of Migration. The dolmens and megalithic monuments form a path of movement that will serve in the future as proof of origin. (See Jeremiah 31:21 in the light of the Radak, Abarbanel, and others). These edifices reaching from the Land of Israel through the Mediterranean, Spain, France, Britain, Ireland, Holland, and Scandinavia. They show a path of migration of Israelites to the West. This path was either set down (as seems certain) by the migrating Israelites or at the least was to be adopted by them in the future as a sign of the path they followed and by which path they are to return to the Land of Israel. They are to use the monuments (dolmens and megalithics) as signs of the path to the lands and cities in the Land of Israel that they were exiled from and to which they will return.

Hosea Warns Ephraim!

Hosea has outlined for us that at first the Children of Israel will be symbolized by the children of a loose woman named Gomer. At the beginning they shall be disowned, but later they shall be reconciled. Towards the End Times they shall once more be recognized as the People of the Almighty. The Prophet Hosea then returns and continues to remonstrate with his wayward wife named Gomer. The symbolism has changed. Up until now it was the Children of the woman Gomer who represented the Exiled Israelites. Now it is that not only the children but Gomer herself stands for the Exiles. Scripture explicitly tells us that Gomer and her children represent the Ten Tribes of Israel in their places of Exile.

Hosea 2: 2 Bring charges against your mother, bring charges; For she is not My wife, nor am I her Husband! Let her put away her harlotries from her sight, And her adulteries from between her breasts
3 Lest I strip her naked And expose her, as in the day she was born, And make her like a wilderness,
And set her like a dry land, And slay her with thirst.
4 I will not have mercy on her children, For they are the children of harlotry.
5 For their mother has played the harlot; She who conceived them has behaved shamefully.For she said, I will go after my lovers, Who give me my bread and my water, My wool and my linen, My oil and my drink.

The Israelites will have traded with other nations, invested in them, been invested in by them, done good for and by them, and have built up an infrastructure dependent on them. The Israelites will find that these former "lovers" will abandon them in their hour of need.

Hosea 2:
6 Therefore, behold, I will hedge up your way with thorns, And wall her in, So that she cannot find her paths.
7 She will chase her lovers, But not overtake them; Yes, she will seek them, but not find them. Then she will say, I will go and return to my first husband, For then it was better for me than now.

The Israelites will have enjoyed great material prosperity (Genesis 27:28) along with national stability, international power and prestige (Numbers 24:4, Micah 5:7). This had been promised to all the Israelites especially to Joseph (Genesis 49:25 Deuteronomy 33:16). Fulfillment of these blessings to some degree had been unconditional (Genesis 22:16) and was necessary for the Israelites to fulfill their national destinies, cf. "Abraham shall become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him" (Genesis 18:18-19). These blessings in the intermediate stage will have been fulfilled through the Lost Ten Tribes who will not be aware of their ancestry nor will they possess a proper understanding of the God of Israel. They will be judged and found guilty for not fulfilling all of the goals they should have. A lacking of necessities and scarcity of vital substances will be visited upon them. Those of spiritual inclination amongst them will realize that they have displeased the Almighty. Their solution however will be to propose a return to the former synthesized forms of worship they previously had. They will not realize that at this stage the demands on them will have changed. The Almighty will be demanding from them a return to worship of HIMSELF and not to any kind of adulterated pseudo-compromise such as that of their former practice.

Hosea 2: 8 For she did not know That I gave her grain, new wine, and oil, And multiplied her silver and gold Which they prepared for Baal.

The Lost Israelites in Exile will have enjoyed great material prosperity: corn, wine, oil, multiplied silver and gold. The first marital union (described in chapters one and two) of Hosea was with the loose woman called Gomer. This was taken to represent the exiled Israelites becoming identified as, or uniting with, the peoples of Gomer. Indications are that the Lost Ten Tribes are to be found amongst the British and their American and other offshoots, the Irish, Dutch, Scandinavians, French, Swiss, Belgians, and others. The Khazars were also from the Ten Tribes. They had been in the Turkic sphere.

Hosea 3:4 For the children of Israel shall abide many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar, without ephod or teraphim.

The Rabbinical Commentators [Rashi, Radak, Metsudat David] explained this verse (Hoseto mean [in paraphrased form]: Many days the Israelites will abide without acknowledging the Almighty as King and without worshipping an idol. In other words the situation would be similar to what it is today.

The Ten Tribes have the Status of Non-Jews

The Ten Tribes at the present time have the religious status of non-Jews. They were exiled because of their sins (Jeremiah 3:6-7 cf. 2-Kings chapters 17 and 18). The exiled tribes had been divorced by God (Jeremiah 3:8). Legislatively, their membership in Israel as a collectively obliged body was suspended. They are no longer legally obligated by the Mosaic Code (cf. Hosea 1:9, Talmud Yebamot 17). This will change in the future.

The Identity of the Ten Tribes was to Remain Unknown to Themselves and Judah until the End Times. This means that they are not obligated by all the technical requirements of the Law though in the future they may be. As descendants of Israel who were exiled for a reason and had a task of their own to fulfill they have rights and national duties beyond those applying to ordinary Gentiles. The Lost Ten Tribes will return. The Jews of Judah will meet the return of the Lost Ten Tribes with mixed reactions:

Isaiah 49:
21 Then you will say in your heart,
Who has borne me these?
I was bereaved and barren,
exiled and put away
so who has reared these?
I was left all alone
where then have these come from?

In other words, the Jews will ask where were all those now identified as Israel when the Jews needed help and were alone? According to the Midrash (Pesikta Rabati 32;10) this reaction of the Jews will take place WHEN THEY SEE THE THREE EXILES OF THE LOST TEN TRIBES RETURNING!

Hosea 3:
Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the LORD their God and David their king. They shall fear the LORD and His goodness in the latter days.

The Midrash relates these verses to the Lost Ten Tribes who turned their backs on God, the Temple in Jerusalem, and the ruling House of David. When Israel returns to search out and want these things that they formerly rejected then will Redemption come.
There is another Midrash that says that when Israel returns to seek God, the Temple, and the Kingdom of David then the Redemption will come.

See: Hosea in 4 Books.