"For you once were NOT A PEOPLE, 

but now you are THE PEOPLE OF GOD;

you had NOT RECEIVED MERCY,

but now you have RECEIVED MERCY."

I Peter 2:10

I love these verses.  They represent the expanding love of God, like He took a deep breath after a sigh, and His heart expanded.  These verses are lifted from the story of Hosea, a stunning story of a prophet.  Can you imagine God telling His prophet to "Go, take to yourself a wife of harlotry, and have children of harlotry; for the land commits flagrant harlotry, forsaking the Lord. What?

His first child was a boy named, Jezreel, "for yet a little while, and I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel, And it will come about on that day, that I will break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel."

Then his second child was a girl.  "And the Lord said to him, 'Name her Lo-ruhamah, for I will no longer have compassion on the house of Israel, that I should ever forgive them...But I will have compassion on the house of Judah."

Finally, "When she had weaned Lo-ruhamah (She has not obtained compassion), she conceived and gave birth to a son.  And the Lord said, 'Name him Lo-ammi (He is not my people), for you are not My people and I am not your God."

Heavy words to the children of Israel, heavy enough for psychologists to have a field day: how this would damage a child's self-worth and how critical a father's role in their lives has.  But Hosea's life is like an Old Testament reality show.  His whole life is to be an example to show how God feels about His espoused, His children.  

"Say to your brothers, 'Ammi,' (My people) and to your sisters, 'Ruhamah' (She has obtained compassion).  Contend with your mother, contend, For she is not my wife, and I am not her husband; And let her put away her harlotry from her face...Also, I will have no compassion on her children, Because they are children of harlotry.  For their mother played the harlot; She who conceived them has acted shamefully, For she said, 'I will go after my lovers.'" 

Hosea is stating that his children were not conceived by him, but by his wife's lovers.  Therefore, everything was taken from her, her gifts from her husband and her lovers until her nakedness was no longer alluring. "Therefore, behold, I will hedge up her way with thorns.  (Have you ever heard someone pray for a hedge around someone?  This is one place where it is taken from, not necessarily a pretty picture.)  But this is not the end.  

The next episode of Hosea's reality show says, "Therefore, behold, I will allure her...And will speak kindly to her...That you will call Me Ishi (my Husband) And no longer call Me Baali (my Master.)  Wow, this flips the ancient man-woman relationships on their head (i.e. under Napoleon, a woman's adultery was punishable by imprisonment, while an adulterous man was left unpunished.)  Here, God states, He wants His bride to call Him husband rather than Master.

All this is to show that God is more loving and gracious than anyone in creation since Adam and Eve.  Then, "And I will betroth you to Me forever; Yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and in justice, In lovingkindness and in compassion, (Those are the most tender words of love in the Hebrew language) And I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness.  Then you will know (intimately) the Lord...And I will have compassion on her who had not obtained compassion, and I will say to those who were not My people, You are My people."  I think we are no longer talking about Hosea and Gomer.  Remember, the purpose of Hosea's life is to show the love God has for His people. 

Hosea's life reveals that all have been born in sin.  Yet, God's willing to have compassion and desires to adopt us and to call us to be His people.  His heart churns for us as Hosea 11 describes,  "Yet it is I who taught Ephraim to walk, I took them in My arms; But they did not know that I healed them.  I led them with cords of a man, with bonds of love...And I bent down and fed them." (verses 3-4)  "How can I give you up, O Ephraim?  How can I surrender you, O Israel?"

Did you know that when you adopt a child, they are given a new birth certificate?  In fact, their names can be changed at this time.  We gave our children the chance to change their middle names if they so chose to do so.  I suggested to our teenage daughter that she could choose, "Ammi" or "Ami."  In other words, she could choose her name to be "My people," and she did.

So, there you have it, in one little verse in II Peter 2, we are reminded of God's heart towards us.  It puts the previous verse in context that it is not about us, but about His great love for us.  We have a choice to be named, "Lo-ruhamah," or "Ruhamah," (no compassion or mercy, or having compassion and mercy) or to be named, "Lo-Ammi," or "Ammi," (Not My people or My people).  God grieves over His wayward children, "How can I give you up," He cries.  However, God never gives up on offering this tender love to us.