Hosea Introduction

Hosea’s Contextual audience shared much in common with our current cultural moment.

Israel’s Timeline

Life of ease challenges

Complacency

Forerunner to defeat/godlessness

Hosea gives us unique and helpful insight into the character of God, his will for us, and the expectations/realities of a life in relationship with him.

Major themes in Hosea:

Whoredom (Hos. 1:2; 2:2-4; 4:10-15; 5:3-4 )

Adultery as Idolatry (Hos. 2:13; 3;1-5; 4:2; 4:13-15, 17-18 )

There is a connection of Gomer’s adultery to Israel’s idolatry - interestingly the word for adultery is the same as the word for idolatry. This points to another theme in the book: marriage

Marriage ( Hos. 2:2, 19-20 )

Ephraim as Idolatrous (Hos. 4:17)

Ephraim is a major theme in a negative sense.

He was the 2nd son of Joseph who recieved the blessing.

Synonymous of the Northern Kingdom of Israel as its largest and strongest tribe.

Referenced over 30 times in Hosea (37)

Ephraim (Hos. 1:17), one of Hosea’s favourite designations for Israel, is used here for the first time. Technically, it describes both the most influential tribe in the Northern Kingdom (cf. Josh. 16:5–10 for the land originally allotted to the descendants of this son of Joseph in Gen. 48:1–7) and the hill territory that it occupied, which may have been Hosea’s home. Used by itself or in clear parallelism with Israel, it seems to stand for the whole northern people (cf. Hos. 11:1, 3, 8, 9; 12:8); at other times it more specifically defines the chief tribe (e.g. Hos. 13:1) or its territory, especially when it is part of three-fold parallelism: Ephraim, Israel, Judah (e.g. Hos. 6:10–11a; 11:12).

Towards the end of the book (e.g. Hos. 7:8–10; 12:1, 14; 13:1; 12; 14:8 ), Ephraim becomes the most frequent name used of the people and seems to describe the rump state centered in Samaria, which alone retained a measure of independence when Assyrian conquest gobbled up Gilead and other parts of the Northern Kingdom (see on 7:8–10).1

Captivity of Ephraim

Assyrian Captivity

From 734–722 bc, Assyria conquered the northern kingdom of Israel and dispersed the people of Israel into “Halah, and on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes” (2 Kgs 17:6 ESV). According to 2 Kings 17, “This occurred because the people of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God … and had feared other gods and walked in the customs of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel” (2 Kgs 17:7–8 ESV).

Babylonian Captivity

From 597–538 bc, the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar defeated the southern kingdom of Judah and carried the people of Judah into exile in several phases (2 Kgs 24:10–25:21). The Babylonian exile culminated in the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem (2 Kgs 25:9). The biblical writers connect the Babylonian exile with the “multitude of … transgressions” of the people of Judah (Lam 1:5 ESV), including their worship of Baal (Jer 32:35) and oppression of the poor (Jer 5:28–29).1

[Hosea] can portray Ephraim as a senseless bird fluttering between Egypt and Assyria in search of a place of safety and wandering far from God (7:11). He can also describe Ephraim as a diseased, dried-up plant that bears no good fruit (9:16), a metaphor that condemns the Baal cult for failure to provide fertility in terms of both good harvests and strong children.1

1 Duane A. Garrett, Hosea, Joel, vol. 19A, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1997), 29.

1 Joel P. Jupp, “Captivity,” ed. John D. Barry et al., The Lexham Bible Dictionary (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016).

1 David A. Hubbard, Hosea: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 24, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1989), 118–119.

Faithfulness (unfaithfulness) (Hos. 2:20; 4:1; 5:7; 6:7; 11:12)

Faithfulness is the prescribed pursuit and unfaithfulness is punished. Yet, the whole narrative points us to a God whose grace exceeds even the repulsiveness of our own unfaithful hearts.

Mercy: Hos. 1:6-8; 2:1, 4, 14-20, 23; 14:3

People of God: Hos. 1:9-10; 2:1, 23; 4:6-14; 6:11; 7:8; 9:1; 10:5, 14; 11:7

Judgment: Hos. 2:2-13; 4:1-19; 5:1-2; 5:11-15

Restoration: Hos. 3:1-5; 5:15

God: (More helpful info about knowing God in this book in the link) Indeed, some metaphors for God are astonishing to the point of seeming irreverence. In addition to the traditional husband (Hos. 2:2 ), father (Hos. 11:1 ), and physician (Hos.14:4) images, Yahweh is also a fowler (Hos.7:12), a lion or leopard (Hos.13:7), a bear (Hos.13:8), dew (Hos.14:5), a green tree (Hos.14:8), and even maggots or gangrene (Hos.5:12). Employment of such language to describe God, as harsh as it is surprising, served to jolt and possibly awaken his jaded audience.1

1 Duane A. Garrett, Hosea, Joel, vol. 19A, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1997), 29.

Prophecy born out of a story

Outline: 1:1-3a

The Word of the Lord comes to Hosea

The Timing of God’s Revelation

At a time of illegitimate kings that chaotically rise and fall (In Hosea’s estimation based on exclusions_ Zechariah, Shallum, Menahem, Pekahiah, Pekah, and Hoshea)

Yet, the massage is still hopeful with the prospect of salvation and reunification in the line of David.

Duane A. Garrett, Hosea, Joel, vol. 19A, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1997), 42.

The Description of God’s Revelation (Helpful reminder (From God, through the prophets)

The Audience of God’s Revelation: Hosea

The Command from God to Hosea:

Take a Wife of Whoredom

Have Children of Whoredom

The Reason for the Command

The Land has committed great whoredom by forsaking the Lord

Hosea, Joel (NAC)

Still, what many would consider a disqualification for the office—a prophet whose own wife was morally out of control—serves in this case as his credentials. This is because Yahweh and Hosea have shared the same experience—that of marriage to an unfaithful spouse. Thus the book tells the stories of Hosea’s and Yahweh’s marriages in both first and third person texts—each “husband” speaks for himself and has the other speak in his behalf. It is for this reason, moreover, that historical retrospective frequently surfaces in these chapters (e.g., 9:15; 10:9; 11:1–4; 12:3–4; 12:12–13:1). Like 1–3, these chapters are story driven, and each recounts the history of a marriage from the perspectives of both the husband and an observer.

Where do we fit in the story?

We are the prostitutes. We are the ones who forsake the Lord who faithfully loves us and brings us back.