CHAPTER 1
Now we get to the Minor Prophets that clear out the Old
Testament. The intro tells us that
Hosea was a prophet for about 20-25 years in the northern kingdom of Israel in
the 8th century BC, roughly from 750-725 BC.
And God’s first order to Hosea is a memorable one: get
yourself a whore. Marry a prostitute
who has children and marry her. So
Hosea does, a prostitute named Gomer.
The purpose is simple – Hosea is engaging in some life theater to embody
his prophecies. Plenty of prophets have spoken of the relationship between the
Hebrew and God like it’s a marriage.
Hosea is taking that analogy to another level. In the marriage, the whore is the Hebrew and he has the role of
God.
It’s an inspired idea for prophecy, but sounds like a
nightmarishly bad idea for a marriage.
They have three kids.
And, because the purpose is all analogy for the people, Hosea gives them
names that’ll ensure they get picked on at the playground non-stop. The eldest gets off easiest. It’s a boy named “Jezreel” which means “God
will sow.” The next is a girl named
“Not-Pitied.” Wow, that will be a rough
name to go through middle school with.
The last is a son named, “Not-My-People.” He has it worst of all.
CHAPTER 2
That first chapter was prose, but the entirety of the rest
of Hosea will be presented in poetry form.
This just makes clear that the relationship between God and
the Hebrew is like that of Hosea and his prostitute-wife Gomer. God gave the Hebrew so much, but she
returned by sleeping around with other gods.
God became angry, and will sow his destruction. He’ll have no pity because these are not his
pity.
But eventually God has faith in the Hebrew. They’ll come back to him, and give up their
whorish ways. When that day happens, God will come back to them, and they’ll be
his people again. It’s an ugly story,
but will have a happy ending.
CHAPTER 3
This is a short, five-verse chapter that largely just
rehashes what we learned in Chapter 1 – Hosea purchased a prostitute for a
wife, Gomer. Apparently, he purchased her for 15 pieces of silver. He tells her to stop being a prostitute,
just like the Hebrew people should quit whoring themselves out.
Also, it’s apparently the last time we’ll see Gomer. Hopefully this is a happy ending to their marriage
and this purchasing of her is taking her out of the brothel, but it’s hard to
say.
CHAPTER 4
We’re back to the God-Hebrew relationship here. God is upset at the people for their lack of
fidelity and loyalty.
There is one spot I found especially interesting. God says, “I will not punish your daughters
for their prostitution, not your daughters-in-law for their adultery, because
the men themselves consort with prostitutes.”
This is nice. Typically lands that are patriarchal put the
men in charge and blame the women for any problems of sexual infidelity. Here, the men are the ones blamed. After all, they’re the ones in charge, and
the prostitutes are just meeting the demands of the men. If men have the responsibility, they should
accept the blame that comes with it.
Nice job of Hosea to cut through a traditional sexist double standard.
CHAPTER 5
It’s another chapter denouncing Israel. This one specifically targets the political
and religious leaders of the land. They
have caused iniquity and betrayed the Lord.
Therefore, the land is defiled.
Hosea wants them to re-commit to God – a sincere recommitment.
CHAPTER 6
This chapter has a section that works really well for our
Christians out there, as Hosea prophesizes of God: “For it is he who has torn,
but he will heal us; he has struck down, but he will bind our wounds. He will revive us after two days; on the
third day he will raise us up to live in his presence.” OK, it’s not a perfect analogy for
Christ. In the New Testament, it’s Christ
that rises, whereas here it’s Christ causes the average believer to rise. But still – you got being struck down, dead
for two days, rising on the third – yeah, that does all sound familiar to
Christian ears.
I wonder how it’s phrased in the Jewish Bible. The intro here says that this is one of the
most difficult Bible books to translate.
It’s hard to read and the original text is apparently corrupted. It’s written in an unusual dialect of
Hebrew. Thus different Bibles have
different interpretations of what Hosea says.
So I wonder how the Jews translate this part. Maybe this is one of the more straightforward parts. Or maybe the
Christian imagery here owes as much to the translation as to the actual text
itself.
There is also a really good line here: “What can I do with
you, Ephraim? What can I do with you,
Judah? Your loyalty is like the morning
mist, like the dew that disappears early.”
That’s a nice little analogy there.
CHAPTER 7
The people really suck.
They have bandits and thieves and they don’t give a damn. And the royal court is worst of all. They have all these conspiracies and
murdered kings replaced by their murderers.
The new kings aren’t on the throne because God put them there, but just
because they took it. That is
wrong. Also, they shouldn’t pal around
with pagans, like Assyria and Egypt.
CHAPTER 8
Oftentimes the prophets are seen as an advance upon the
morality of old. The religion began as
a purely tribal one. We’re the children
of Israel and he’s our God, that’s that.
There was a moral component – obey God’s laws – but paying back was just
doing the right offering at the tabernacle (and then the temple). It’s the prophets that really make personal
morality a central piece to being a proper follower of God.
OK, but it’s interesting in Hosea how the morality here is
tied to the morality of old. It’s less
a theological revolution than reinforcement.
He isn’t focusing primarily on moral treatment of others. He’s mostly concerned with idolatry. To be a good Jew is to follow God, which is
a call for morality, but a morality towards God more than to your fellow
man.
This chapter has a nice smackdown or idolatry, as he
denounces the golden calf stationed at Samaria, and notes, “An artisan made it,
it is no God at all.” That said, the
theology here is a bit beyond Leviticus.
There, all sins were to be repaid with a proper amount of sacrifice, but
Hosea tells us that the Lord isn’t pleased with their sacrifices. Well, that part of the message is a bit
revolutionary. He’s not the only one to
say it, but Hosea is one of the earlier ones to say it.
Also, this chapter has a famous line: “When they sow the
wind, they will reap the whirlwind.”
Have we seen the “reap the whirlwind” line before? Maybe, I can’t fully recall. But it’s a good
line regardless.
CHAPTER 9
Hosea tells people not to celebrate, because God isn’t happy
with them. We also get a sense how he’s
being received by the people around him: “`The prophet is a fool, the man of
the spirit is mad!’ Because your iniquity is great, great, too, is your
hostility.”
Yeah, maybe the reason the people reject Hosea is due to
their sinful nature. Then again,
marrying a prostitute in an act of prophetical theater can also cause your
credibility to suffer. Think about it –
while it makes an intriguing it to read, wouldn’t that cause people to wonder
if this guy really is holy or just some fool?
Then, when he starts criticizing them, it’s easier for the people to
dismiss Hosea.
Earlier I said his act of marrying a prostitute was an
effective bit of prophetical theater.
Actually, the opposite is true.
It’s dramatic, but it’s totally counterproductive because it makes him
seem like a fool. There’s a reason why
all the other prophets would criticize the Hebrew with words rather than try to
embody the people’s problems in their own central life choices.
CHAPTER 10
This is more talk about how bad idolatry is. One theme in this book: Hosea keeps saying
“Ephraim” when referring to the entire northern kingdom of Israel even though
it’s just 1 of the 10 tribes up there.
That’s odd. I guess Hosea is
from that tribe.
CHAPTER 11
Hosea dives into analogy here – but this time makes it just
words instead of his own lifestyle. He
compares the relationship between the Lord and the Hebrew to that of a parent
and child. Yes, the Lord is unhappy
with his children. But, like any good
parent, he holds out the hope that things will work out well when it’s all said
and done.
It’s nice, and has a happy ending of the Lord and the people
of Ephraim being united again – but that isn’t what’ll happen. Ephraim becomes one of the 10 lost tribes of
Israel, as their people essentially move away from their religion altogether
after the conquest by the Assyrians not too long after Hosea’s prophecies.
CHAPTER 12
Israel – again usually referred to just as Ephraim – is
unfaithful to the Lord and that’s bad.
CHAPTER 13
It’s more of the same.
Hosea denounces idolatry. The
only new quirk here is he essentially announces the death of Ephraim for
backsliding from the Lord. In fact, the
chapter title is, “The Death of Ephraim.”
CHAPTER 14
After several dismal chapters, Hosea ends on a note of
optimism, as he pleads for people to return to the Lord, and then all will be
well.
Hosea saves the best for last, ending with the lines, “Who
is wise enough to understand these things?
Who is intelligent enough to know them?
Straight are the paths of the Lord, and just walk in them, but sinners
stumble in them.”
That’s a really nice line to end on. It’s one of the better parts of the
Bible. It’s short, simple – and makes
sense.
CONCLUDING THOUGHTS
This is the first of 12 books of Minor Prophets that end the
Old Testament. It’s also the longest
(well, Zechariah will tie it, but we won’t get more than 14 chapters until we
reach the New Testament). And while
Hosea does get redundant towards the end, it certainly has its memorable
parts.
Nothing is more memorable than it’s beginning, with the
prophet actually marrying a prostitute in an act of religious theater. That couldn’t have made him very popular
with the Hebrew, but it does make him stand out from the pack here. His message is pretty one-note: respect God
and follow his ways – but he has a memorable way of starting off. He also has a great end line to conclude the
book with.
It’s not a great book, but not a bad book either.
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