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28. BIBLICAL EPIC: Hosea Notes 28. BIBLICAL EPIC: Hosea Notes ccusation Hosea 1: The LORD told Hosea, "Marry an adulterer for the land has prostituted itself." Gomer had sons. The LORD said, "You are not my people." Hosea prophesied chiefly to Israel until just before its fall to Assyria in 722 BC. The book is one of the most auto- biographical of the Prophetic Books in that the opening account of Hosea’s own marriage and family form a vital part of his unique message. Hosea’s marriage will be used as a picture of what is happening between God and His people. God is shown to be the faithful husband who loves His people with undying devotion, despite their persistent adultery. We could summarize the book in this way: “Go again, love a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress, even as the LORD loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love cakes of raisins” (Hos 3:1). • 1:1. Introduction. Hosea’s career spanned at least 40 years, from the reign of Jeroboam II (793-782 BC) to Hezekiah (716-686 BC). Though the southern kingdom of Judah was not neglected in his prophecy, his messages were directed primarily to the northern kingdom of Israel, often referred to as “Ephraim” and represented by its capital Samaria. The name “Hosea” comes from the same verb as “Joshua” and “Jesus,” meaning “to save or deliver.” • 1:2-9. Hosea’s Wife and Children. Hosea’s initial call to the prophetic ministry began with perplexing instructions to find a wife among the promiscuous women of Israel (of which there were apparently many; 4:14). There is some debate as to whether Gomer was a prostitute when Hosea married her or whether her “whoredom” is a prediction of what she will do after they are married. The word translated “whoredom” throughout the book is a broad term for various kinds of sexual misconduct, and only in certain contexts does it refer to prostitution. In Hosea it generally refers to a married woman being unfaithful to her husband. Whatever the case may be, Gomer’s unfaithfulness to Hosea will be an image for Israel’s unfaithfulness to God. The use of marriage as an analogy of God’s relationship with His people, or Bride, is well-attested in both the OT (Ezek 16) and the NT (Rev 21:2). In a human marriage, adultery is an extreme form of unfaithfulness. With respect to God’s marriage to His people, such adultery is a picture of idolatry. It is no accident that the Mosaic covenant begins with the requirement to “have no other gods.” But Israel will prove again and again to be spiritually unfaithful to their God. In due time, Hosea’s wife bears children, and God gives them prophetic names. The first child, Jezreel, is explicitly said to be the son of Hosea, but the next two will be called “children of whoredom” (2:4). Continuing the enacted parable, God commanded that all three children receive abnormal (negative) names. The name Jezreel (“God scatters”) recalls the location of a great slaughter in Israel’s past (2 Kings 10:11) and predicts an even greater one in the future, culminating in the exile of 722 BC. A second child, a girl, is named Lo-Ruhamah, meaning “No Mercy,” which predicts God’s coming rejection of northern Israel for its idolatry and overall covenant unfaithfulness. The last child, another son, is named Lo-Ammi, meaning “Not My People.” The statement “for you are not my people, and I am not your God” parallels ancient divorce formulas and connotes divine rejection as predicted in the covenant curses of Lev 26 and Deut 28-32. • 1:10-11. Covenant Renewal. By grace, the divorce will not be finalized. The breaking of the Mosaic covenant cannot nullify the promises made to Abraham. After being exiled, God’s people will be reunited and restored (to new life), reversing the covenant curses of vv. 2-9. But return from exile and reunification will not be accomplished in OT times, but only in Jesus Christ. He is the “one head” who draws north and south, Jew and Gentile, into one people. Hosea 2: "Your mother has been unfaithful. I will expose her lewdness. Now I will speak tenderly to her. I will betroth you to me forever." • 2:1. Preliminary Appeal. In this chapter Hosea uses the legal process of an offended husband against his wife as an image for God’s plans to deal with Israel. Throughout the allegory, the children and the mother are simply ways of referring to Israel (children = citizens of the nation; mother = leaders of the nation). Hosea first appeals to the “children,” hoping they will respond to God’s promises made in chapter 1. Israel is entreated to anticipate a change in names when unity is restored and no longer will they be called “No Mercy” and “Not My People.” • 2:2-13. Divorce Proceedings: An Allegory of God and Israel. God now orders the children to plead with their mother to repent (emphasized by repeating “plead”), symbolizing the need for the people of Israel to bring about godly change in their nation, which God is currently in the process of “divorcing” through rejection and exile (“she is not my wife, and I am not her husband”). The divorce trial is based on Israel’s infidelity to the divine covenant, symbolized by her “adulterous look” and “unfaithfulness” described in v. 2. The LORD, like Hosea, proceeds as a husband not only wronged, but injured, by infidelity. God presents the evidence of Israel’s crimes (ways they have broken God’s covenant law), finds Israel guilty, pronounces the judgment sentence (various forms of deprivation and discipline, most commonly exile), and announces Israel’s future as a convicted covenant-breaker. Verse 2 contains the first command to repent in the book (4:15; 6:1; 10:12; 12:6; 14:1-2,9), followed by alternating verses of judgment (2:3-4,6-7,9-11) and indictment (vv. 5,8,12-13). It is perhaps best to read these divorce proceedings as a threat, rather than an actual divorce. Otherwise, Hosea would have no right to issue the warnings and threats that follow. The purpose of God’s punishment of Israel for abandoning Him was to restore them. It was designed to lead them to repent of idolatry, to forsake their other “lovers” (other gods/idols), which she thought could meet her needs. To accomplish this, the jealous Husband of Israel will put a “hedge” (v. 6) around his wife so that she is prevented from straying. Israel must have her freedom taken away so that she will have no choice but to “go and return” to the LORD, “my first husband” (v. 7). Through deprivation, Israel would come to realize that the prosperity lavished upon her was due to the generosity not of Baal but of the LORD. Thus, the marriage between God and Israel has not ended; the covenant made with Israel contains provision for restoration, and Israel is urged to respond to that provision. So Israel’s divorce is not the end of hope and her punishment is not the last word (vv. 3, 19-20). • 2:14-23. The LORD’s Mercy on Israel. Hosea now turns to God’s plan to restore His “marriage” with Israel. The “therefore” of v. 14 (the third such “therefore” in the chapter; vv. 6, 9) introduces the final verdict and looks far beyond the punishments of exile and deprivation. In contrast to what has preceded, this verdict announces hope and promise. God’s merciful plan for His people includes redemption and restoration on a scale not found in any OT era but available abundantly in Christ alone (1 Cor 2:7-10). One meaning of the name Baal was “husband,” so God predicts the day when His people won’t say “Baal” anymore, avoiding the way of saying “my husband” that uses the word “Baal” and saying “my husband” via other Hebrew wordings. They will give God undivided loyalty and will reject the falsehood and folly that worship of the Baals represented. This “new” covenant will change everything, bringing peace and safety, and bringing back the original idyllic harmony with nature once enjoyed in Eden (Gen 1:28-30). God will “betroth” His people in a covenant relationship so that they will finally “acknowledge the LORD,” as they should have been doing in Hosea’s time. This will lead to a glorious renewal in the new covenant age when God will undo and transform various facets of Israel’s prior corruption into good things, so that even the names of Hosea’s children (1:4-8) will be endowed with new meaning. “No Mercy” will receive mercy (cf. 1:6; 2:4), and “Not My People” will again be God’s people (cf. 1:9). In Rom 9:25-26 and 1 Pet 2:10, the expansive wording of v. 23 is shown not only to describe repentant Israelites but to predict the inclusion of converted Gentiles in the church. Hosea 3: The LORD said to me, "Go, love your wife again as the LORD loves Israel." So I bought her back. For Israel will return to the LORD. • 3:1-5. Hosea Redeems His Wife. This chapter contains a second symbolic action report, which, along with the one in 1:2-2:1, bookends the marriage allegory of God and Israel found in 2:2-23. Thus, marriage themes dominate the first three chapters of the book, after which other themes are introduced.
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