Hosea 1-7

 

Hosea 1

Hosea 1:1 Hosea prophesied during the reigns of several kings, spanning decades. We find record of their rules starting: Azariah a.k.a. Uzziah (2 Kings 14:21), Jotham (2 Kings 15:32), Ahaz (2 Kings 16:1), Hezekiah (2 Kings 16:20), and Jeroboam II (2 Kings 14:16,23). The prophecies of Hosea announce that God challenges and overcomes politics. He judges the actions of rulers based on His standards, regardless of whether or not the people follow Him - He expects rulers to set an example by leading them according to His standards.

Hosea 1:2-3 The Lord told Hosea to marry a prostitute or promiscuous woman as an object lesson for Israel, to illustrate to them how He perceived their idolatry. 

Hosea 1:4-5 Their first child, a son, was named Jezreel, to let the house of Jehu know they would be judged and punished for the massacre at Jezreel. This evidently refers to Jehu killing everyone in Ahab’s extended family who was in that city, to fulfill the Lord’s command. (2 Kings 10:11) This was part of the cleansing of the Northern Kingdom of worshippers of Baal.  This judgment does not make sense to me. The Lord raised Jehu up to eliminate Ahab and his Baal-worshipping reign. Second, Hosea’s prophecy was at least fifty years after this event. Zechariah, son of Jeroboam II was killed after only ruling six months, putting an end to the house of Jehu. (2 Kings 15:8-12). This was after three successive descendants of Jehu turned away from the Lord to worship Baal.

Hosea 1:6-9 Gomer had two more sons (unclear if Hosea was the father since she was a prostitute). The first was “not loved”. The second was “not my people”. A logical progression  - not being loved leading to being disowned. But who disowned who? Was the third son fathered by another man, representing Israel’s idolatry, hence really, truly not Hosea’s son (2:4)? 

 

Hosea 1:10-11 The Lord foresees a day when wall will be made right, Israel will flourish as one nation who will be called children of the Living God, and will appoint one leader. Fulfillment of this is uncertain. Perhaps it refers to the church beginning in Acts, or perhaps to a future time when the Jews from around the world re-unite by receiving Christ and becoming truly the children of God. 

Hosea 2:1 appears to complete the prophetic vision of 1:10-11, brothers and sisters in the Lord.

Hosea 2:2-7 Hosea now deals in a literal sense with his wife’s lifestyle, by forcing her to face the consequences of the truth. This is not a game show. When she finds herself abandoned and broke, she will decide to return to her husband. 

Hosea 2:8 Her big mistake was to think that the immediate source of the things of life - food, money - was the root cause of them. She engaged on her trade (prostitution) not understanding that her husband’s providing for her needs was what kept her going … until he stopped. This is symbolic of how the Lord was dealing with Israel. 

Hosea 2:9-13 continues the consequences that Israel will face for their unfaithfulness.

Hosea 2:14-15 The tone changes from warnings of consequences to wooing her back to the fold of committed marriage. Speaking tenderly, giving her gifts, offering hope. 

Hosea 2:16-20 When Israel responds to being wooed, there will be an engagement and a marriage. A renewal of marriage. This time with faithfulness, justice, love, and compassion.  Genuine, agape love seeks the best for the beloved and is not selfish. She will change roles from being a slave (to sin, to false masters) to being a spouse, a partner in a committed relationship. He will remove the names of the false gods from her lips. 

Hosea 2:21-23 On that day, when the marriage happens, the Lord will not only bless her with material blessings and security and peace in the land, He will adopt her illegitimate children. (1:9)

Hosea 3:1-3 Hosea is now commanded by the Lord to show this kind of agape love to his former wife, buying her back from slavery. She will be freed, but not to continue to pursue her adulterous lifestyle. But Hosea also will not be sexually intimate with her, either. She is to learn that true faithfulness and commitment are far beyond mere physical pleasure.

Hosea 3:4-5 Israel will go for centuries without a king, and without ritual religion. They will again seek the Lord in the last days. Perhaps this can be likened to the return of the prodigal son after living in the pigsty. (Luke 15:17-20) Although Israel as an ethnic and political identity exists, only a subset of the Jews truly seek the Lord. So this prophecy must relate to a future, end times fulfillment when all of Israel turns to Jesus. We know from other apocalyptic Scriptures that a lot of other things will happen, but this is the Lord’s heart. 

Hosea 4

Hosea 4:1-3 Cause and effect: what else can sin produce but disaster, failure, and heartbreak?  (8:7) Betraying God impacts both society and nature (vss. 2-3) In the natural world there wouldn’t seem to be any connection, but in God’s realm, it is as inevitable as universal gravitation.

Hosea 4:4-9 The priests and prophets share in the responsibility for this disaster. Each person is accountable directly to God for their own actions. Spiritual leaders are supposed to have pointed them to Him, but they used their positions not to teach His ways, but to practice sin themselves. 

Hosea 4:10-15 The object lesson of prostitution re-surfaces. Spiritual prostitution and ritual prostitution are inextricably linked. Why else would temple prostitution be such a widespread practice in pagan religions - not just in Palestine, but throughout the world? And then prostitution becomes normal for society. Once God and His ways are rejected, only human and carnal standards of behavior are left.

Hosea 4:15-19 This warning summarizes the wrongs of Israel. The Northern kingdom of Israel is so thoroughly committed to spiritual adultery with idols and the evil spirits they represent that contact will contaminate. So the Southern Kingdom of Judah should leave them alone so they don’t get caught in the consequences that Israel will reap.

This raises the question of when a person or nation is irredeemably contaminated by their decision to sin. That standard is not clearly stated here, only that Israel had crossed it. In the New Testament we see Jesus refusing to condemn the woman at the well and the woman caught in the act of adultery. (John 4:7-26,  8:1-11).  Paul told the Corinthians to excommunicate a man who was committing incest with his stepmother.  (1 Corinthians 5:1-5) He also told them not to be yoked unequally. (2 Corinthians 6:14-18) The standard of discerning between a mission field and a minefield must be discerned by the leading of the Holy Spirit. In such situations, the Lord Himself must speak to us directly.

Hosea 5:1 The Lord now speaks directly to Israel. He recalls prior events in which Israel interacted with Him by mentioning their locations.

• At Mizpah, which means watchtower, it is unclear what specific events are referred to in which Israel was a snare. Earlier events showed no signs of Israel being unfaithful. There are multiple locations that are candidates for this reference. (1 Samuel 7; 10:17?) The most likely is near Mount Hermon, where idolatry likely occurred, but Mizpah is not specifically named in Scripture in this context.    
• Mt. Tabor, located in Israel west of the Sea of Galilee,  mentioned in connection with Barak’s defeat of Sisera… (Judges 4 ), also likely the location of idolatry…. A net spread out implies tripping someone up, or capturing them like a fish. Mentioned in Psalm 89:12 in connection with  singing for joy at the Lord’s name.

Hosea 5:2-7 Hosea mentions several dimensions of Israel’s sin: they are rebels; they engage in spiritual and physical prostitution, resulting in illegitimate children; they seek the Lord in pagan worship,  syncretism; they are arrogant. But somehow they coax or tempt Judah to join them in their sin. 

Hosea 5:8-12 A day of judgment is coming, and God’s wrath will be poured out. Even Judah will not be spared His wrath. After the northern kingdom was overrun by Assyria, five years later Judah was attacked and almost conquered. (2 Kings 18:9-10, 13) But Hezekiah’s prayer and genuine devotion to the Lord resulted in Sennacherib being forced by the Lord to give up his siege, after his army was supernaturally destroyed.  (2 Kings 19:35-36)

Hosea 5:13-15 Even though the Northern Kingdom turned to Assyria for help, they and their king can’t cure Israel’s sin problem. Whether the leadership leads the people astray, or the people’s sin forces the leaders to turn from the Lord, politics cannot solve a spiritual problem. Turning to worldly politicians for spiritual help is like asking a politician for medical advice, it doesn’t make sense and won’t work. Unfortunately, Israel had to learn to obey God the hard way, in the school of hard knocks. Then they would get the message and seek the true God.

Hosea 6

Hosea 6:1-3 Hosea appeals to Israel. The phrase ‘on the third day He will restore us’ is paraphrased in the New Testament with reference to Jesus’ resurrection. (Luke 24:46, 1 Corinthians 15:4) The hope of restoration after repentance is ultimately realized in Jesus, sadly not in Hosea’s day. Jesus spoke of His desire for the Jews as a whole, or specifically in Jerusalem, to be gathered under His wings. (Luke 13:34) We know that about forty years later, Jerusalem was destroyed by the Roman army under the command of Titus. (Luke 23:28-30) This was part of the Roman suppression of a Jewish revolt. Sadly, not only did they not learn the lessons from Hosea and the destruction of Israel and Judah several hundred years earlier, they did not recognize that the resurrection of Jesus offered them the fulfillment of Hosea’s words in this passage. The church, those who had received Jesus, suffered but were only made stronger.

Hosea 6:4-6 The Lord compares Israel’s love to a morning mist, repeated later by Hosea. (13:3) It is enjoyable but fleeting, vanishing when the sun rises in the sky. There is a warning about the misuse of Scripture. God’s word can kill rather than bring life, when misused or when rejected.  (Isaiah 55:11) It has power. But the source of power is God’s heart, which desires that we have a heart like His. Hence, He desires us to have mercy more than He wants sacrifice, as Jesus pointed out. (Matthew 9:13, 12:7)

Hosea 6:7-11 The Lord repeats Israel’s transgressions: breaking their covenant; murder, even by priests; prostitution. And Judah will face a similar harvest from what they sow. 

Hosea 7

Hosea 7:1-2 Continuing the list of Israel’s transgressions: they lie and deceive; they rob and steal. They are unaware that God sees and remembers, and that their sins define their lives and thereby consume them, not their victims. It is not just a single sin, but at least five of the Ten Commandments are violated.

Hosea 7:3-7 The wine inflames passions to smolder and burn. They then interact, king with people, but the people destroy the kings, one after another: Zechariah (son of Jeroboam), Shallum, Menahem, Pekahiah, Pekah, Hoshea. (2 Kings 15:8-31) Kings fall to assassination and gain power by assassination. God and the concept of divine right of succession, are not a consideration, so He lets them reap the fruit of their actions.

Hosea 7:8-10 Ephraim is a cake not turned - like a pancake on a griddle that isn’t flipped. Inedible because part of it remains raw and part of it is burnt. Israel lacks sense, like a careless cook.

Hosea 7:11-12 Ephraim is like a dove - not in the sense of the Holy Spirit, but like a senseless bird who flies anywhere. In this case, Israel turns to Egypt and Assyria for help. Instead, they are caught in a net. 

Hosea 7:13-16 As mentioned earlier, these nations cannot save Israel from their sin or its consequences. The Lord wants to save them, but they choose instead to practice self-mutilation to appeal to false gods, and turn to worldly nations. They will reap accordingly.