At the time, Israel was under siege by the Assyrians. However, as far as Hosea was concerned, the problems they were dealing with were directly affected by their strained relationship with Yahweh. Many of the residents of Israel practiced Baalism; a religion that exposed the people to many forms of nature-based worship.
They understood God as one of nature; whereas Yahweh was understood as a God of history existing outside of time. Due to this complex notion, they resorted to valuing tangible things that were essential to sustaining life, such as crops and trades. For example, if they were experiencing droughts, the men of the tribes would go to the temples and sleep with the temple prostitutes, explaining how many of their behaviors were directly driven by their needs as a people.
One of these primary behaviors that Hosea particularly focused on was traditional marriage. In ancient Israel, marriage was never an equal partnership. Although love and care was expected to be mutual, the man was typically seen as the superior figure in the relationship. Divorces were easy for men to get, but they were nearly impossible for women. The metaphor is used to illustrate that when Israel left God for false idols, God would not abandon Israel and brought them back, even though He had forsaken them.
Hosea displays loyalty to God by going to extreme measures. Gomer, a prostitute, was known to be unfaithful, but Hosea married her regardless. After having three children, their marriage breaks down and Gomer wanders from Hosea into the company of other men. Hosea is asked to search for Gomer and pay for her release from this trade.
Hosea spoke out against the people of Israel when they were being unfaithful to God. Now remember, in Assyrian literature, it's pure propaganda. They never admit defeat at all, so by just saying they have him caged up like a bird, they are really admitting they did not defeat him. So, even the Assyrian records, they admit this. Russell T. It would be difficult to overstate how much Jerusalem's deliverance demonstrated God's favor toward the kingdom of Judah. But as wonderful as it was, Hezekiah's troubles weren't over.
After Sennacherib returned home, Hezekiah still feared further aggression from Assyria. Sadly, rather than relying on God, Hezekiah returned to his old ways and sought another alliance, not with Egypt, but with the rising kingdom of Babylon. Hezekiah's refusal to trust God after the great deliverance of Jerusalem displayed a profound disloyalty to God.
And the prophet Isaiah immediately threatened that the royal treasures of Judah would be taken to Babylon. Listen to Isaiah's words in 2 Kings Behold, the days are coming, when all that is in your house, and that which your fathers have stored up till this day, shall be carried to Babylon. Nothing shall be left, says the Lord. And some of your own sons, who shall be born to you, shall be taken away, and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon 2 Kings Unfortunately, when Hezekiah heard these words from Isaiah, he didn't repent of his disloyalty to God.
Rather, he simply responded with relief that this judgment against Judah would not come in his own day. Hezekiah's failures to be loyal to God before and after Jerusalem's deliverance in B. On the one side, it's possible that Hosea wrote his book sometime before Jerusalem's deliverance from Sennacherib.
Sennacherib's attacks and his siege on Jerusalem witnessed a flurry of prophetic activity. And it's quite possible that God called Hosea to write his book during this time to address Hezekiah's failures as Sennacherib advanced and laid siege to Jerusalem.
On the other side, it's also possible that Hosea composed his book soon after Jerusalem's deliverance. As we mentioned, even though God had delivered Jerusalem, Hezekiah failed to remain faithful to God, and instead sought after an alliance with Babylon. And Hezekiah's disloyalty to God jeopardized the future of Judah.
So, it's very likely that Hosea wrote his book either to address the crisis before or the crisis after Jerusalem's deliverance from Sennacherib. With the time, location and circumstances of the final composition of the book of Hosea in mind, it's not difficult to understand the book's overarching purpose. Happily, we're not left to speculate because Hosea himself explicitly revealed the goal he had in mind.
Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; whoever is discerning, let him know them; for the ways of the Lord are right; and the upright walk in them, but transgressors stumble in them Hosea This verse stands apart from the verses that precede it, and it closes the entire book with final instructions for those who first received it.
Hosea called for his original audience in Judah to become "wise" and "discerning" by believing that "the ways of the Lord are right. He wanted them to view their circumstances in light of the fact that "the upright" — those who receive God's blessings — walk in the Lord's ways. But "transgressors" — those who receive God's judgment — foolishly "stumble in them.
Although elements of Israel's wisdom traditions appear in the writings of other prophetic books, Hosea's bold call to wisdom is unusual. But Hosea's attention to wisdom fits well with the days of Hezekiah. We know from Scripture that Hezekiah associated himself with men who were well versed in Israel's wisdom traditions.
In fact, Proverbs introduces chapters 25—29 of Proverbs as the "proverbs of Solomon which the men of Hezekiah king of Judah copied. And it's quite possible that Hosea's closing call for wisdom appealed directly to Hezekiah and the wise men of his court.
In this light, we can summarize the purpose of Hosea's book in this way:. The book of Hosea called the leaders of Judah to gain wisdom from what God had revealed throughout Hosea's ministry as they faced the challenges of Sennacherib's invasion. As this summary suggests, our book was not designed primarily to make specific predictions of future events. Rather, Hosea composed his book to call the leaders of Judah to follow the path of wisdom in Hezekiah's day.
Hezekiah and his court were to learn from what God had revealed throughout Hosea's ministry and lead Judah through the challenges of Sennacherib's invasion. Both before and just after Jerusalem's deliverance from Sennacherib, the leaders of Judah desperately needed instruction in wisdom, and Hosea's book provided it for them. So far in our introduction to Hosea, we've looked at the background of the prophet and his book.
Now, let's turn to an overview of the content and structure of the book of Hosea. Unfortunately, many evangelicals tend to overlook the historical setting in which Hosea first received his prophecies.
They also tend to focus on smaller units of the book, as if they stand apart from each other. To be sure, these ahistorical and atomistic approaches have yielded many insights into the book of Hosea. But to add to these insights, we'll pursue a different strategy. We'll see that the historical settings of Hosea's ministry are crucial to understanding his prophecies.
And rather than focusing on smaller units in isolation from each other, we'll explore the logical connections among larger units throughout Hosea's book. This strategy will help us to see more clearly how Hosea designed his book to give wisdom to those in Judah who first received it.
And it will also help us to see how we are to learn wisdom from the book of Hosea today. Put yourself in Hosea's place again. Unlike some other prophets who had relatively short ministries, Hosea received revelations from God for more than 60 years or so — from the last decade of Jeroboam II's reign to the reign of Hezekiah.
Over these decades, God disclosed many things to him, probably much more than what appears in the fourteen short chapters of his book. To understand how Hosea formed his book, we must keep in mind that God didn't reveal all of Hosea's prophecies at the same time. As we've already explained, God gave Hosea revelations as the kingdom of Israel faced Assyria's rise to power in B. If we fail to keep these different historical settings in mind, it will appear that Hosea contradicted himself on a number of occasions, especially in his prophecies about Judah.
But in reality, we'll see that Hosea's prophetic outlooks changed over time because he addressed changing circumstances. Now, as important as it is to recognize the chronological arrangement of the book of Hosea, we must also note that Hosea arranged his prophecies topically.
We saw earlier in this lesson that is the title of our book and was designed to introduce the full timeline of Hosea's ministry. And ends our book with a closure that summarizes Hosea's overarching purpose of calling God's people to gain wisdom from his book.
The content of these bookends indicates that they were created as Hosea put his book together around the time of Sennacherib's invasion in B. But between these bookends, the main body of Hosea consists of three large divisions that have topical emphases.
The first division, in —, emphasizes judgment and hope from God. These first chapters present the earliest prophecies that Hosea received during the reign of Jeroboam II — prophecies that addressed Assyria's rise in B.
Hosea carefully chose and arranged these early prophecies to present balanced outlooks of the curses God had determined to pour out on his people and the blessings they would receive in the future. The second division, in —, emphasizes unfolding judgment from God. Unlike the first division, these prophecies come from later stages of Hosea's ministry, when Hosea received revelations about Assyria's invasion in B.
These chapters focus exclusively on the topic of God's judgment. And they highlight how God's judgments increased in severity throughout these phases of Hosea's ministry. The third division, in —, focuses especially on unfolding hope from God. This last major division also consists of revelations that Hosea received in anticipation of Assyria's invasion in B. But this division gives special attention to the topic of hope, the hope that God revealed for the future of his people throughout these phases of Hosea's ministry.
It would be difficult to overstate the importance of these historical and topical arrangements for the interpretation of the book of Hosea. In many respects, they are like keys that unlock the wisdom Hosea sought to impart to those who first received his book during the reign of Hezekiah. We'll look more closely at Hosea's wisdom in our next lesson, but for now it will be helpful to introduce the content and structure of each major division of our book.
Let's begin with the first division on judgment and hope from God in — These early chapters in our book carefully balance a focus on the curses coming to God's people with the blessings of God that will follow. As we've already mentioned, these opening chapters represent Hosea's ministry in the days of Jeroboam II, when Hosea received prophecies about Assyria's rise to prominence in B.
But how do we know that this is when Hosea received these revelations? Well, says as much when it tells us that these chapters represent the time "when the Lord first spoke through Hosea. Other content of this division also confirms this early historical setting. In the first place, Hosea drew attention to the fact that as Israel enjoyed a time of great prosperity, they had fallen into idolatry and injustice. He also indicated that God had determined to bring curses through Assyrian dominance over Israel.
These facts are consistent with the earliest phase of Hosea's ministry. In the second place, Hosea's attention to Judah in this division also confirms that he received these prophecies in the first phase of his ministry. You'll recall that during this period, Uzziah ruled as a righteous king in Judah. So, as we would expect, these chapters threaten no curses against the southern kingdom.
On the contrary, this first division speaks of Judah very positively several times. For instance, listen to , where God drew a sharp contrast between Israel and Judah. Here God said:. I will no more have mercy on the house of Israel, to forgive them at all. Although the northern kingdom was about to suffer at the hands of the Assyrians, this passage makes it clear that, at this time, God would have mercy and save Judah.
Hosea also mentioned Judah positively in when he said:. The children of Judah and the children of Israel shall be gathered together, and they shall appoint for themselves one head Hosea Here Hosea indicated that, as Israel endured the Assyrian judgment, their hope for God's blessings came from reunion with Judah under one king.
In a similar way, in , Hosea said:. Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the Lord their God, and David their king, and they shall come in fear to the Lord and to his goodness in the latter days Hosea This direct reference to "David their king" clearly reflects a favorable view of Judah because Judah was ruled by David's royal house.
Hosea's thoroughly positive outlooks on Judah in the first division of his book confirm that he received these prophecies at the beginning of his ministry, when Uzziah led Judah in the ways of God.
With this orientation toward the first division of Hosea in mind, let's briefly illustrate how these chapters emphasize the topic of judgment and hope from God. Hosea arranged these chapters into three main sections. The first section describes his earlier family experiences in — This section divides into two main parts.
The first part, in , relates a family narrative. It begins with God commanding Hosea to marry a woman named Gomer who practiced worship prostitution. When their children were born, Hosea was told to give them names that symbolized God's impending judgments against Israel. This narrative drew attention to the trials that were coming to Israel through Assyria. But in balance with this focus on God's judgment, Hosea added a second part consisting of his hopeful prophetic reflections in — As just one example, in , Hosea revealed this:.
The number of the children of Israel shall be like the sand of the sea … And in the place where it was said to them, "You are not my people," it shall be said to them, "Children of the living God" Hosea Although God was about to begin a time of judgment against Israel, Hosea added that there was still going to be a future of blessings for the descendants of the tribes of Israel.
The second section of judgment and hope from God focuses on God's first lawsuit in the book of Hosea, in These verses shift attention away from Hosea's family experiences on earth to an inspired account of legal proceedings in the court of heaven. Now, in the Old Testament, God frequently revealed his plans for the future by granting his prophets knowledge of legal deliberations that took place in his heavenly court.
We speak of some of these revelations as "lawsuits" because they give rather full descriptions of the proceedings of God's court. They often portray God on his throne, describe his summons of participants to court, report accusations against and interactions with the guilty, and declare pronouncements of judgment. A number of the prophetic judgment speeches could be said to take the form of a covenant lawsuit.
The idea of a covenant lawsuit is based on international diplomacy, and our best exemplars of it are in Hittite diplomatic letters that we have, where a Hittite diplomat goes to the vassal nation and prosecutes the terms of the treaty that was signed unto by the vassal king but is now being violated. The prophet assumes that sort of role. And there is a number of key passages that have a fuller exemplification of those elements. In its fullness, those elements would include a summons to the defendants and witnesses… Then there would be an element that follows that gives a history of the covenant relationship between the suzerain, the great king, and the vassal king, followed by an indictment of the vassal for violating the treaty, which in turn would be followed by either a threat or a sentence for that violation of the treaty.
Douglas Gropp]. This first heavenly lawsuit in the book of Hosea begins in with God's summons of Israel to court using these words:. To modern audiences, this may seem like an odd summons to court. But the word "rebuke" here translates the Hebrew verb " rib. The "mother" in view was Samaria, the capital of the kingdom of Israel where Israel's leaders resided. So, in effect, God summoned the people of Israel to enter a heavenly lawsuit against their leaders living in Samaria — a lawsuit over which God himself would preside.
Throughout this lawsuit, God alluded to ways in which Israel behaved like Hosea's wife Gomer. Gomer was unfaithful to Hosea and brought trials on her children. And the leaders of Israel were unfaithful to God and brought trials to the kingdom of Israel. But in this lawsuit, Hosea didn't simply report that God sentenced the kingdom of Israel to suffer the curses of his covenant.
He also reported that God would one day woo Israel back to himself. After a time of judgment, God would restore Israel to himself and have mercy on the northern tribes.
Following this account of the heavenly court, Hosea ended his focus on divine judgment and hope with a description of his later family experiences in In parallel with the account of his earlier family experiences, Hosea began with an autobiographical family narrative in His wife had returned to her former way of life as a worship prostitute, but God commanded Hosea to show love to her again.
So, Hosea purchased Gomer and brought her home. This brief narrative is then followed by Hosea's second set of hopeful prophetic reflections in , 5.
In these verses, Hosea explained that the kingdom of Israel would endure troubles from God for a period of time. But a day would come in the future when Israel's relationship with God would result in great blessings for Israel. In this analogy, Hosea, a prophet honored among his people, represents God. Of course, God is much greater than Hosea, but it's a metaphor. On the other hand, the adulterous woman represents the people of Israel… They committed adultery by leaving the Lord and worshiping other gods.
So, God asked Hosea to reflect his story — "Although the people of Israel were far from me, worshiping other gods, living in sin while they were in Egypt, yet I went to them and married them while they were still far away and living in adultery. I saved them while they were far away. It's not because they were good that I saved them, but because of my grace that I saved them.
But he told Hosea to go and bring her back to him. This is exactly what our Lord did with the people of Israel. Not only did the Lord save the people of Israel and raise them up, although they were living in adultery in Egypt, but also, after the people were saved and entered into a covenant relationship with God, they returned back to commit adultery with other gods.
And although God punished and disciplined the people, yet in his grace, just like Hosea restored his adulterous wife, God went to his "wife" — that is the people who had committed adultery after marriage — and restored them to himself.
Sherif Atef Fahim, translation]. On the whole then, by collecting and arranging some of the revelations he received in the earliest phase of his ministry, Hosea presented a carefully balanced point of view to Judah's leaders in Hezekiah's day. At the time of our book, the judgment God threatened had already been fulfilled with the fall of the northern kingdom. But God's people weren't to lose hope. This time of judgment would lead to a future time when Israel would receive great blessings from God.
After the first division's balanced presentation of judgment and hope from God, the second division shifts attention to unfolding judgment from God in — We've entitled this portion of Hosea "unfolding" because it contains revelations that Hosea received over a long period of time.
And we speak of it as "judgment" because it focuses exclusively on the ways God directed his covenant curses against Israel and Judah during these decades of Hosea's ministry.
Broadly speaking, these chapters on unfolding judgment divide into two main parts: more of God's lawsuits, in —, and then God's calls for alarm, in — Consider first God's lawsuits. God's earlier lawsuit in this division appears in Once again, God revealed his plans to Hosea by granting him knowledge of legal deliberations in the heavenly court.
Listen to the summons in Hear the word of the Lord, you Israelites, because the Lord has a charge to bring Hosea As this opening verse indicates, God summoned Israel to court because he had "a charge to bring" against them. Here, the term "charge" translates the Hebrew term we learned earlier, " rib ," the technical term for a lawsuit.
The placement of this earlier lawsuit immediately after the first division, as well as its content, strongly suggests that it was one of Hosea's earlier prophecies about Assyria's invasion in B.
As you'll recall, during this period in Israel, Menahem and Pekahiah continued to promote idolatry and injustice. And when Menahem suffered a brief incursion from Assyria, instead of finding security in God, he and Pekahiah after him, reaffirmed their alliance with Assyria and Assyria's gods. His writings form the first of the Old Testament books of the Minor Prophets.
Hosea was the son of Beeri and apparently belonged to the upper classes. Judging from his elegant style, he was highly cultured. Hosea married Gomer, daughter of Diblaim, who bore him two sons, the older of whom he called Yezreel, meaning "God sows.
The second son was called Lo Ami, meaning "not my people, " to indicate God's rejection of Israel as His people because of its faithlessness. Hosea's daughter by Gomer was metaphorically named Lo-ruhamah, meaning "the unpitied one. Scholars have speculated whether the prophet's tragic marital experience was real or merely an allegory to stress the infidelity of Israel. The prophet recalled God's affection for Israel, from the days of its infancy, when He taught it how to walk and led it through the perils of the desert to the Promised Land.
But Israel's goodness is as evanescent "as a morning cloud and the dew that early passeth away"; it must therefore suffer dire punishment and divine wrath. Follow us:. Listen Now. Hosea revealed little about his background, though his book of prophecy offers a few glimpses into his life. In Hosea , the prophet identified the kings that ruled during his prophetic ministry. This indicates that Hosea lived in the middle to late eighth century BC — BC , making him a contemporary of the prophets Isaiah and Micah.
Hosea directed the early portion of his prophetic warnings to Jeroboam II, a descendant of the house of Jehu whose son, Zechariah, would soon come to ruin Hosea ; 2 Kings —
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