Hosea's prophetic ministry which started in extended over a fifty-year period and may have included the fall of Israel to Assyria in 722 B.C. His messages to Israel started during forty-one-year reign of Jeroboam II of Israel. It was a time of prosperity, but it was also a time of idolatry and corruption as the Israelites, seeking success and security, adopted practices of the surrounding pagan cultures.
Hosea 11:2 (NLT)2 But the more I called to him, the farther he moved from me, offering sacrifices to the images of Baal and burning incense to idols.
Israel was a mostly agrarian society with most of the population involved in farming of some kind including livestock. In agrarian society the accepted way to assure good harvests was through ritual worship of fertility gods, the Baals and Asherahs mentioned in the Old Testament. Israel saw this, liked the promised results and enthusiastically entered into the pagan worship. No doubt they saw themselves not as abandoning God, but as simply using the latest "technology" to achieve the best harvest possible.
Adultery and prostitution are the ugly pictures Hosea used to describe Israel's spiritual condition. The image of sexual immorality not only symbolized Israel's running after other gods and turning to other nations for protection, it also literally described their acts with temple prostitutes that were part of the fertility rites they had adopted.
At God's command Hosea marries—and stays married to a prostitute, Gomer.
Hosea 1:2 (NLT)2 When the LORD first began speaking to Israel through Hosea, he said to him, “Go and marry a prostitute, so that some of her children will be conceived in prostitution. This will illustrate how Israel has acted like a prostitute by turning against the LORD and worshiping other gods.”
Hosea has the conflict of any person with an unfaithful spouse who is still loved, and in the case of the book of Hosea it show God’s relationship with Israel who is called a harlot, and adulteress, or prostitute throughout the book.
More than any other prophet, Hosea linked his message closely with his personal life. By marrying a woman he knew would eventually betray his trust and by giving his children names that sent messages of judgment on Israel, God used the names of Hosea’s children, along with his wife’s unfaithfulness, to send specific messages to the people of Israel.
Hosea 1:3-9 (NLT)3 So Hosea married Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim, and she became pregnant and gave Hosea a son.4 And the LORD said, “Name the child Jezreel, for I am about to punish King Jehu’s dynasty to avenge the murders he committed at Jezreel. In fact, I will bring an end to Israel’s independence.5 I will break its military power in the Jezreel Valley.”6 Soon Gomer became pregnant again and gave birth to a daughter. And the LORD said to Hosea, “Name your daughter Lo-ruhamah—‘Not loved’—for I will no longer show love to the people of Israel or forgive them.7 But I will show love to the people of Judah. I will free them from their enemies—not with weapons and armies or horses and charioteers, but by my power as the LORD their God.”8 After Gomer had weaned Lo-ruhamah, she again became pregnant and gave birth to a second son.9 And the LORD said, “Name him Lo-ammi—‘Not my people’—for Israel is not my people, and I am not their God.
Throughout Hosea's prophecy, God condemns Israel's sin and knows Israel deserves to be written off, yet he hangs on, still hoping, unwilling to give up on them. God would eventually let Israel be defeated in the Assyrian conquest, but he did not abandon them forever.
Hosea goes back and forth between God's judgment on the nation of Israel and his mercy for them. It’s sort of like God arguing with himself about Israel—not that God has trouble deciding what to do, but he feels the pain of conflict between what he wants for Israel and what he must do because of their sin.
Throughout the book, Hosea pictured the people turning away from the Lord and turning toward other gods
Hosea 4:12-13 (NLT)12 They ask a piece of wood for advice! They think a stick can tell them the future! Longing after idols has made them foolish. They have played the prostitute, serving other gods and deserting their God.13 They offer sacrifices to idols on the mountaintops. They go up into the hills to burn incense in the pleasant shade of oaks, poplars, and terebinth trees. “That is why your daughters turn to prostitution, and your daughters-in-law commit adultery.
Hosea 8:5-6 (NLT)5 “O Samaria, I reject this calf— this idol you have made. My fury burns against you. How long will you be incapable of innocence?6 This calf you worship, O Israel, was crafted by your own hands! It is not God! Therefore, it must be smashed to bits.
They were acting as if they were not God’s people (Lo-ammi), but he reminded them that He would ultimately restore their relationship with Him. He even called them His children.
.Hosea 1:9-10 (NLT)9 And the LORD said, “Name him Lo-ammi—‘Not my people’—for Israel is not my people, and I am not their God.10 “Yet the time will come when Israel’s people will be like the sands of the seashore—too many to count! Then, at the place where they were told, ‘You are not my people,’ it will be said, ‘You are children of the living God.’
Hosea 11:1 (NLT)1 “When Israel was a child, I loved him, and I called my son out of Egypt.
Hosea / Joel
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Hosea-Jonah
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Hosea For Us Today
The book of Hosea gives us an example of God’s love for a people who have left Him. It shows what forgiveness and restoration look like. The book of Hosea lets us know that no one is beyond God’s offer of forgiveness. Yes, God brings judgment on those who turn from Him, but Hosea’s powerful act of restoration within his own marriage set the bar high for those of us seeking godliness in our lives.
Hosea 2:14-15 (NLT)14 “But then I will win her back once again. I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her there.15 I will return her vineyards to her and transform the Valley of Trouble into a gateway of hope. She will give herself to me there, as she did long ago when she was young, when I freed her from her captivity in Egypt.
The last part of Hosea shows how God’s love once again restores His children as He forgets their misdeeds when they turn back to Him with a repentant heart.
Hosea 2:23 (NLT)23 At that time I will plant a crop of Israelites and raise them for myself. I will show love to those I called ‘Not loved.’ And to those I called ‘Not my people,’ I will say, ‘Now you are my people.’ And they will reply, ‘You are our God!’”
The prophetic message of Hosea foretells the coming of Israel’s Messiah 700 years in the future. Hosea is quoted often in the New Testament.
Hosea 11:1 (NLT)1 “When Israel was a child, I loved him, and I called my son out of Egypt.
Matthew 2:15 (NLT)15 and they stayed there until Herod’s death. This fulfilled what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: “I called my Son out of Egypt.”
Hosea 6:6 (NKJV)6 For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, And the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.
Matthew 9:13 (NKJV)13 But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy and not sacrifice.' For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."
Hosea 13:14 (HCSB)14 I will ransom them from the power of Sheol. I will redeem them from death. Death, where are your barbs? Sheol, where is your sting? Compassion is hidden from My eyes.
1 Corinthians 15:55 (HCSB)55 Death, where is your victory? Death, where is your sting?