Lo-Ammi

As He saith also in Osee, I will call them My people, which were not My people; and her beloved, which was not beloved. 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 9:25–26

If after reading the verses above we then did not read about what the Lord spoke by the prophet Osee — that is the prophet Hosea — we might think that the ones being called “my people which were not my people” are the Gentiles, since the Apostle Paul is making the case for reaching the Gentiles apart from Israel and the covenants of promise.

But since we have the inspired words written by Hosea, let’s not dwell in ignorance but use the readily available resource that we have in our hands to determine for certain what the Apostle Paul is referring to in Romans 9:25–26.

Hosea 1:8–11 — “Now when she had weaned Lo-ruhamah, she conceived, and bare a son. Then said God, Call his name Lo-ammi: for ye are not My people, and I will not be your God. 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. Then shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel be gathered together, and appoint themselves one head, and they shall come up out of the land: for great shall be the day of Jezreel.”

Hosea 2:23 — “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.”

The Apostle Paul is showing here how though Israel has nationally fallen away in unbelief, there will be a time when Israel will nationally be saved. In Romans chapter 11 we see this further unfolded. The new covenant that the Lord spoke of through the prophets Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Isaiah, Joel, and others will indeed be fulfilled with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah as He said it would be.

Truly, a portion of the New Covenant promises began to be on display in the events of early Acts. Peter began his “Pentecostal address” saying, “But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of My Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: And on My servants and on My handmaidens I will pour out in those days of My Spirit; and they shall prophesy…” (Acts 2:16–18).

This is a quotation from Joel chapter 2. Peter was not wrong. This was that. The last days were upon them, and the New Covenant was on display. These were the powers of the world to come that the Apostle Paul writes about in Hebrews chapter 6. The people of Israel had tasted of these powers in the days of the Apostolic ministry of the Twelve Apostles — the “Pentecostal period” — and had still fallen away from in unbelief and willful rebellion.

Paul is speaking of Israel in Romans 9:25 and 26 just as Hosea was speaking of Israel. This is the way that things are now. The Covenant People are abiding in unbelief now, but that will give way to the future wheren they will no longer be Lo-ammi (“not my people”), but Ammi, “My People”.

“Say ye unto your brethren Ammi…” — Hosea 2:1

“and I will say to them which were not My people, thou art My people…” — Hosea 2:23

That Israel is to be nationally restored should not be in question to anyone who believes the Bible. What we understand about Israel’s restoration now should be openly discussed because our understanding of the present day of salvation should be intelligent and scripturally informed.

Nationally, Israel rejected Jehovah, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. The “times of the Gentiles” beginning in 606 B.C. for Judah and even earlier for the 10 northern tribes, collectively called Israel after the reign of Solomon, and are the evidence and end result of their rejection of Jehovah.

2 Chronicles 36:15–17 — “And the LORD God of their fathers sent to them by His messengers, rising up betimes, and sending; because He had compassion on His people, and on His dwelling place: But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised His words, and misused His prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against His people, till there was no remedy. Therefore He brought upon them the king of the Chaldees, who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion upon young man or maiden, old man, or him that stooped for age: He gave them all into his hand.”

The people of Israel, years after returning to their land, were visited by One greater than all of the prophets. God spoke by His Son (Hebrews 1:2) and was rejected by His own people (John 1:11). The Holy Spirit spoke to His people through the 12 Apostles ministry to them, so that it could be said that they were made partakers of the Holy Ghost (Hebrews 6:4); but the leaders in Jerusalem willfully fought them tooth and nail even in the face of notable and undeniable miracles by the Apostles done in their presence (Acts 3:1–12, 4:16, 5:7–18, 27-28, 40). Stephen, filled with the Hoy Ghost, his face shining as though it was the face of an angel (Acts 6:15), was stoned, not by a mob of “lewd fellows of the baser sort”, but by Israel’s council — the Sanhedrin itself!

After Paul was apprehended on the road to Damascus as essentially a prosecutor from this council — saved by direct intervention by Jesus Christ — he was opposed by the Jews as a group everywhere he went. So he begins this 9th chapter of Romans in heartbreak for his “brethren according to the flesh”.

But we will read in chapter 10 that the word of righteousness is not far from them individually either. Each one can still believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved. There will also come a day that the nation will look on Him whom they pierced and mourn for Him (Zechariah 12:10; Revelation 1:7).

Romans 10:8–13 — “But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on Him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon Him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Romans 11:25–27 — “For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: For this is My covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.”

We long for the day when the Prince of Peace will come and make things right on this earth. We can’t do it. While the world looks for peace without the Prince of Peace, and many in the “church” look for the kingdom without God’s Christ, we have a ministry of reconciliation that “God was in Christ in reconciling the world unto Himself” by the cross (2 Corinthians 5:19; Colossians 1:20).

Christ will come; The Kingdom will come; and God’s will shall be done on earth as it is in Heaven. Then the kingdoms of this world will become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ. And all Israel shall be saved. They who are “Lo-ammi” will then be “Ammi”.

Until that time comes, which side are you on? Are you in Christ, the Son and Christ of God, by faith in His death, burial, and resurrection, or are you yet in your sins and rebellion against God and HIS CHRIST? There are only two sides!

1 John 5:12 — “He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.”

Acts 16:31 — “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.”