Hosea

Hosea 1:1–2 NKJV

1 The word of the Lord that came to 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. 2 When the Lord began to speak by Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea: “Go, take yourself a wife of harlotry And children of harlotry, For the land has committed great harlotry By departing from the Lord.”

DATE:

The date is shown by a reference to 4 kings of Judah and 1 king of Israel.

The period of time Hosea was preached was over 138 years.

Hosea’s preaching itself could not have been less than 75 years.

Characteristics:

Hosea, Joel Title (1:1)

Hosea lived a pain-filled life and preached in a troubled time. This may seem to be something of a cliché and hardly worth pointing out for an Israelite prophet; they all lived through harrowing days and soul-testing controversies.1 Nevertheless, Hosea may have special claim to this unenviable distinction. His family life uniquely qualified him for the title of suffering prophet. In addition to that, however, was the sorrow he felt as a result of the political upheaval and disaster he saw in his lifetime (see introduction on the history of this period).

1 The word of the LORD that came to Hosea son of Beeri during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and during the reign of Jeroboam son of Jehoash king of Israel:

The strange thing about the chronology that v. 1 provides is that the reigns of the kings do not fully overlap. That is, the dates for the reign of Jeroboam II of Israel are approximately 793–753 B.C. This does overlap with the first king of Judah mentioned, Uzziah (792–740 B.C.). However, the verse also mentions three subsequent kings of Judah (Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah) whose reigns go from approximately 7502 to 686 B.C. without any mention of the kings of Israel that reigned at the same time (Zechariah, Shallum, Menahem, Pekahiah, Pekah, and Hoshea, going from 753 to 722 B.C.).3 This might not be surprising if Hosea had been a prophet to the kingdom of Judah, but his message was for the Northern Kingdom.

At the very outset of this disorienting book, therefore, we find ourselves confronting a riddle. Why did Hosea neglect to mention the rest of the kings of Israel? The reason appears to be twofold. First, he regarded Jeroboam II as the last king of Israel with any shred of legitimacy. Those after him were a pack of assassins and ambitious climbers who had no right to the title “king

Religion:

Syrian and Phoenician idolatry had crept into Israel. This had been set up by the false worship of Jeroboam I. He (Jeroboam) had set up a calf to worship as God. The original idea may have been to worship God and the calf was a likeness of God, yet, in the end they forgot about God. Calf worship was a common theme in Israel. Aaron also crafted a golden calf for Israel to worship. It is possible that because of the heifer sacrifice Israel conflated the calf to a place of prominence that God never intended.

Children:

Jezreel

Jezreel is Yisrael or Israel.

Lo-Ruhamah

lo means no, not, or anti it places a word in the negative tense.

Rumah is love .

Her name means no love.

Lo-Ammi

Ammi is people. so again with the LO leading we see that the name means no people or not my people.

I. God’s Command

A. Delima

I’m reminded of the man whose wife gave him an envelope that said, “Don’t open until 2027.” He told his friend that it had a letter with 7 different reasons why he couldn’t be trusted to follow simple instructions.

Or the other lady who answered the phone in the middle of the night and her a raspy voice say, “We have your husband, give us $150,000 if you want to see him again.” The lady responded, “What are you talking about, my husband is right here next to me? But, don’t hang up, I think we can still do business.”

A priest was not permitted to marry a harlot.

Although we have no evidence that Hosea was a priest it still would have been an embarrassing situation and would have brought some social distancing.

It is possible that Hosea would have thought that the act of marring a harlot would have outcast him fro the very people that he was trying to reach.

B. Demand

He was to marry a harlot. It wasn’t just to befriend her but to actually bring her into his home and have an intimate relationship with her.

The second part of the command was to have children of her. What a reminder that God’s ways are far above our ways. And what a testimony of Hosea’s character that God knew he could ask this of Hosea and he would obey.

C. Departure

Israel had played the harlot and had forsaken her God. II Kings 10:29

She had done this by worshipping Baal.

She had worshipped outside of Jerusalem.

Dan

Bethel

II. God’s Judgements

Romans 2:14-16

14 For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: 15 Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;) 16 In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.

A. Divine/ Holy

They came directly from God

God will use other people but will not allow anything to happen that isn’t ordained by him.

B. Righteous

Just

Fair

III. God’s Promises

Two types: Conditional and Unconditional

A. Always Faithful

I Thessalonians 5:24

Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.

B. Are Fully Manifested in Jesus

1. Abrahamic Covenant

Gen 12:1-3

Estimated between 2166-1991 B.C.

Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: 2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: 3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

2. Davidic Covenant

I Chronicles 17:11-14

Estimated between 1040-970 B.C.

And it shall come to pass, when thy days be expired that thou must go to be with thy fathers, that I will raise up thy seed after thee, which shall be of thy sons; and I will establish his kingdom. 12 He shall build me an house, and I will stablish his throne for ever. 13 I will be his father, and he shall be my son: and I will not take my mercy away from him, as I took it from him that was before thee: 14 But I will settle him in mine house and in my kingdom for ever: and his throne shall be established for evermore.

Restoration

Hosea 14:1–2 NKJV

1 O Israel, return to the Lord your God, For you have stumbled because of your iniquity; 2 Take words with you, And return to the Lord. Say to Him, “Take away all iniquity; Receive us graciously, For we will offer the sacrifices of our lips.