Hosea 1-5
Hosea 1-5
Hosea preached in Israel during the reign of Jeroboam II (2 Kgs 14.23-29), while Uzziah (2 Kgs 15.1-7), Jotham (2 Kgs 15.32-38), Ahaz (2 Kgs 16.1-20), and Hezekiah (2 Kgs 18-20) ruled in Judah. He thus witnessed the political, social, and economic demise—and deportation—of those in the Northern Kingdom, and the near-end of the Southern. Both Israel and Judah had adopted pagan idolatry and worship of Baal from the nations that surrounded them; Moses’ prediction on the plains of Moab had come true (Dt 31.24-30; cf. 7.1-6). Hosea’s message was that God’s people had committed adultery by foregoing their covenant with Him and turning instead to Baal; later, both Jeremiah (cf. Jer 3.6-10), and Ezekiel (Ezek 16) would indict the people on similar grounds. One can deduce from Hosea’s prophecies that God views all sin as an act of prostitution—turning from a previous commitment and giving oneself to an unclean thing. This grieved God’s heart—and the LORD commanded Hosea to marry an unfaithful wife so that the prophet could experience His feelings in the matter.
Hosea’s family situation was meant to symbolize God’s relationship to His people (chs 1-3). In what some consider one of the most perplexing arrangements in Scripture, God commanded Hosea: “Go and marry a promiscuous wife and have children of promiscuity” (1.2), because from the LORD’s perspective Israel was promiscuous in relation to the covenant He had made with them at Mt Sinai (cf. Ex 20ff.). Hosea married Gomer, who bore him two sons and a daughter—all of whom were named according to the LORD’s displeasure over the past sins of His people and in view of His coming judgment upon them. Thus, every day the prophet was mindful of how God felt about the promiscuity and destruction Israel had chosen for herself. Nonetheless, Hosea spoke of a day of forgiveness and reconciliation:
“In that day—the LORD’s declaration—you will call Me: My husband, and no longer call Me: My Baal. For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth; they will no longer be remembered by their names…I will take you to be My wife forever. I will take you to be My wife in righteousness, justice, love, and compassion. I will take you to be My wife in faithfulness, and you will know the LORD” (2.16-17, 19-20).
While Hosea endured the initial humiliation of marrying a prostitute, he must have been devastated at the thought of going to the sex-slave market and paying the price of her freedom after she had prostituted herself again (3.1). Hosea’s word to Gomer, “Don’t be promiscuous or belong to any man, and I will act the same way toward you” (3.3) was meant to foreshadow the faithfulness of the LORD and His goodness to those who had given themselves to Baal.
Hosea argued that God’s people acted promiscuously because of their spiritual ignorance (chs 4-5). The prophet stated God’s legal indictment of His people: “There is no truth, no faithful love, and no knowledge of God in the land! Cursing, lying, murder, stealing, and adultery are rampant; one act of bloodshed follows another” (4.1b-2). Since both priest and prophet had gone astray, the LORD said: “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I will reject you from serving as My priest. Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I will also forget your sons” (4.6). On the whole, Hosea’s case against Israel and Judah was that they had no “discernment” (4.14)—they would not acknowledge the LORD as God, but pursued a syncretistic religion of Yahwism and worshipping the Baals. Since God shares His dominion with no one, their double-life had enticed His wrath. In the mind of the prophet, this ignorance toward the ways of the LORD accorded the promiscuous spirit that dominated the people: “Their actions do no allow them to return to their God, for a spirit of promiscuity is among them, and they do not know the LORD” (5.4). The promiscuity of God’s people was observable in their national loyalties—exemplified by Ahaz’ reliance on Assyria, rather than on God, when Aram and Israel came against Judah: “When Ephraim saw his sickness and Judah his wound, Ephraim went to Assyria and sent a delegation to the great king. But he cannot cure you or heal your wound” (5.13; cf. 2 Kgs 16.7-18; Is 7).
Perhaps what is most remarkable about the prophets, especially the pre-exilic prophets, is the fact that they set forth so clearly both the judgment and restoration that would come upon the land. Sadly, in due course their status as God’s spokesmen was validated. It may be that the New Testament authors saw the prophetic writings of Israel and Judah as foundational for the storyline of Scripture, preparatory for the coming of Christ; for them, the ultimate significance/interpretation of the prophets could be understood only in light of Him. This is demonstrable in how Paul employed some of the themes in the prophecy of Hosea when writing to the Romans. One of the most difficult tasks before the apostle was to explain why it was that so many Gentiles were coming to faith in Christ, but the Jews—the very people of the Messiah by race—had by and large rejected Him. While Hosea had in mind the rejection and restoration of Israel (1.10; 2.1, 23), Paul saw in the words of the prophet a valid witness for God’s work in his own day, namely, the calling of the Gentiles. While it becomes clear by the end of Paul’s argument that he had not completely set aside Hosea’s original intent—a remnant of Israel would be restored (cf. Rom 11.4-6)—this would occur only after they had been rejected. In the meantime Paul understood that the prophet’s description of sovereign grace and election applied to the Gentiles! To grasp Paul’s argument and use of Hosea, one needs to begin earlier in Rom 9, where he wrote:
“What if God, desiring to display His wrath and make His power known, endured with much patience objects of wrath ready for destruction? And what if he did this to make known the riches of His glory on objects of mercy that He prepared beforehand for glory—on us who He also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles? As He also says in Hosea: I will call ‘Not-My-People,’ ‘My-People,’ and she who is ‘Unloved,’ ‘Beloved.’ And it will be in the place where they were told, you are not My people, there they will be called sons of the living God” (Rom 9.22-26; cf. Hos 2.23; 1.10).
*For a complete list of references, please see scripturestoryline.com