| Old Testament prophecy | New Testament fulfillment |
| "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) | "As he saith also in Osee, I will call them my people, which were not my people; and her beloved, which was not beloved." (Romans 9:25) |
| "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." (Hosea 1:10) | "And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people; there shall they be called the children of the living God." (Romans 9:26) |
Hosea was a minor prophet of Israel. He wrote two great prophecies of the Gentile Christian Church in Hosea 1:10 and 2:23. These prophecies were given in 785 B.C.
What is remarkable about these prophecies is the fact that in the First Covenant God dealt almost exclusively with Israel. Israel was actually called God’s "son" by the same prophet (see Hosea 11:1). But Hosea put on his prophetic glasses and saw like a true seer. He saw when the Gentiles would be God’s very own children and sons. To a Jew living in the 8th century B.C. that would have been completely absurd. But Jesus Christ's coming and crucifixion changed everything: because he was and is "the Christ, Saviour of the world" (John 4:42 KJV). The "world", not just Israel. God has been saving Gentiles for the last 2,000 years since Acts 8, Acts 10, Acts, 13, Acts 14, and Acts 16, etc.; and he sent the Apostle Paul to be “the apostle to the Gentiles” (Rom. 11:13). Therefore it is not a surprise that Paul, being a master rabbi of the Hebrew Scriptures, (and now serving Christ as an evangelist to the world after his conversion [see Acts 9],) would pick up on these prophecies concerning the Gentiles that Hosea wrote about. These prophecies Hosea wrote in 785 B.C. were a confirmation to Paul that he was to evangelize the Gentiles and that if the Gentiles accepted Christ and his Gospel: they would become the children of God. As a matter of fact these prophecies were so impressive to Paul that he quoted them in his Epistle to the Romans in Romans 9:25-26. Paul wrote Romans in 60 A.D., the same time his exploits in the Book of Acts are recorded. What does that mean? Paul practiced what he preached. He wrote about the inclusion of the Gentiles and also preached to them and got them saved.
So what is the lesson we see here? God’s power and knowledge! God knew he would call the Gentiles in the future and he told Hosea that. And then when the time was fulfilled (cf. Gal. 4:4); God had the right man (Paul) to fulfill the prophecies and put them into action. And because God wanted this to happen we have had the Christian church for the last 2,000 years. And we see all this unfold while reading our Bible. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.