Hosea is the first book of the 12 Minor Prophets in the Old Testament, often called “The Twelve.” The Old Testament Apocrypha book of Sirach says this about the Minor Prophets: “May the bones of the twelve prophets revive from where they lie, for they encouraged the people of Jacob and rescued them with steadfast hope” (Sirach 49:10).
Hosea significantly contributes to the message of hope and comfort about which Sirach speaks. For that reason, it provides an excellent entrance into the Book of the Twelve, telling in unforgettable imagery of God’s love that will not let His people go.
Also, other than Isaiah and Jeremiah, Hosea is the Old-Testament book that the New Testament references more than any other. Considering that Hosea is much shorter than both Isaiah and Jeremiah, such quotations show how much the New Testament writers valued the book of Hosea.
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Hosea Reference |
New Testament References to Hosea |
| 1:6 | Romans 9:25, 1 Peter 2:10 |
| 1:10 | Romans 9:26, 2 Corinthians 6:18 |
| 2:7 | Luke 15:17-18 |
| 2:19 | 2 Corinthians 11:2 |
| 2:20 | John 17:3 |
| 2:23 | Romans 9:25-26, 1 Peter 2:10 |
| 4:17 | Matthew 15:14 |
| 6:2 | Luke 24:27, 44; John 2:22, 20:9; 1 Corinthians 15:4 |
| 6:5 | Hebrews 4:12 |
| 6:6 | Matthew 9:13, 12:7 |
| 6:7 | Romans 5:14 |
| 7:3 | Romans 1:32 |
| 8:2 | Matthew 7:21-23 |
| 9:10 | Romans 1:28-29 |
| 9:14 | Luke 23:29 |
| 10:8 | Luke 23:30, Revelation 6:16 |
| 10:11 | 1 Corinthians 9:9, 1 Timothy 5:18 |
| 10:12 | Galatians 6:8 |
| 11:1 | Matthew 2:15 |
| 11:4 | John 6:44, 12:32 |
| 11:8 | Jude 1:7 |
| 12:8 | Revelation 3:7 |
| 13:13 | 1 Thessalonians 5:3 |
| 13:14 | 1 Corinthians 15:55 |
| 14:2 | Hebrews 13:15 |
| 14:8 | John 15:4-5 |
| 14:9 | Luke 2:34; John 8:47, 18:37; 2 Corinthians 2:16 |
Author: Hosea
Date
Hosea’s prophecy occurred about 750 BC, during the reign of Jeroboam II and also after his death. This was long after the 10 northern tribes separated from the two southern tribes of Israel but before captured and destroyed by Assyria. The 10 northern tribes kept the name Israel. The two southern tribes became Judah or Judea.
Outline of Hosea
- Prologue (1:1)
- Hosea and Gomer as Images of Israel’s Unfaithfulness (1:2-3:5)
- Oracle Cycle A (1:2-2:1)
- Oracle Cycle B (2:2-23)
- Oracle Cycle C (3:1-5)
- God’s Faithfulness Despite Israel’s Unfaithfulness (4:1-14:8)
- Oracle Cycle D (4:1-6:3)
- Oracle Cycle E (6:4-11:1)
- Oracle Cycle F (11:12-14:8)
- Epilogue (14:9)
Background
Hosea was a prophet for the northern kingdom of Israel when Jeroboam II was king. Jeroboam II, son of Jehoash, may have been the strongest leader the Northern Kingdom ever had. Ruling from 793 to 753 BC, Jeroboam II “restored the boundaries of Israel from Hamath to the Dead Sea” (2 Kings 14:25). Hamath lay north of Aram, and its territory bordered on the Euphrates.
Unfortunately, the visible glory of Israel did not match its spiritual health. Like the northern kings before him, Jeroboam II “did what was evil in the Lord’s sight. He did not turn away from all the sins that Jeroboam [I], Nebat’s son, had caused Israel to commit” (2 Kings 14:24).
Hosea was a contemporary of the prophets Amos (Northern Kingdom of Israel) and Isaiah and Micah (Southern Kingdom of Judah). Significant, material prosperity marked the time of Hosea–but also a national anxiety because of the continuing threat from foreign nations, especially Assyria.
The people in their complacency and insecurity turned to the gods of the pagans (mainly Baal and Ashtoreth) for guidance. These pagan religions were not what God wanted for His people, so Hosea called his people to return to its covenant with the Lord.
Read Hosea 1:1-3
– Why does God tell Hosea to marry Gomer?
– What does this say about our “relationship” with God?
– What does this say about our unfaithfulness to God?
– Verse 2 starts out more literally as, “In the beginning …” What does that say about the start of Hosea’s ministry?
– What does that mean about what God intended to do through the object lesson of Hosea’s marriage and children?
Read Hosea 1:4-5
Jezreel
Jezreel means “God plants.” Yet, there’s more to this name than God simply recalling that He caused Israel to multiply into the many descendants of Abraham (Genesis 12:2, 15:5). At Jezreel, Jehu, the great-grandfather of Jeroboam II, murdered Ahab’s son Joram, his predecessor on the Israelite throne. Jehu ordered the queen mother, Jezebel, thrown down from her window into the street below. (Remember our study of the Queen Mother? The Queen Mother testified to the legitimacy of a king to rule. So when Jeroboam killed Jezebel, he was, in effect, saying that Joram was an illegitimate ruler.)
At the gates of Jezreel, Jehu piled up the severed heads of Ahab’s 70 princes. “Jehu killed all who were left of Ahab’s family in Jezreel–all his nobles, close friends, and priests. Not one of them was left” (2 Kings 10:11).
To name a child “Jezreel” would be like naming a child after a place or event that reminded the people of a great slaughter, such as Auschwitz or 9-11.
– How does the name “Jezreel” match what God says in vs. 4-5?
Read Hosea 1:6-7
Lo-Ruhamah: “No Mercy”
Hosea and Gomer’s next child is a daughter, whose name has a better ring to it in Hebrew, “Lo-ruhamah.” Scripture often used ruhamah to describe one of God’s characteristics, which Bible versions translate as “compassion” (Micah 7:19) or “mercy” (Hosea 14:3). But Yahweh told Hosea to add the negative prefix “Lo,” which means “no” and reverses the meaning. Yahweh will no longer have compassion on the Northern Kingdom of Israel!
– Discuss why God would show mercy to Judah but not Israel.
- Contrast the idolatry between Israel and Judah.
- Consider which kingly line is the true line of David.
Read Hosea 1:8-9
Lo-Ammi, “Not My People”
Since the days of the Exodus and events at Sinai, Scripture often described the relationship between God and His people with phrases such as “I will take you as my people, and I will be your God” (Exodus 6:7, Leviticus 26:12). But now the Israelites of the 10 northern tribes may no longer call themselves God’s chosen ones. By their idolatry and disobedience to His Law, they have broken the covenant that they sealed with God at the foot of Mount Sinai.
Note the terrifying progression in the sequence of these names. The first announced a future when Israel would have to live without a king, the second a future without God’s compassion, and the third a future without God!
– What does this state about through whom the prophesied Messiah will come?
– What also could be a purpose behind such ghastly names for Hosea’s children?
– Is this section Law or Gospel?
Read Hosea 1:10-2:1
When God set up the Old Covenant, it was more than to set apart a people through whom the Messiah would come. The Old Covenant also was meant to foreshadow what Jesus would set up in the New Covenant.
However, the divided kingship of Israel (meaning Israel and Judah) broke that which the Israelite king was supposed to foreshadow. Examples are: The high priest pointed forward to Jesus as our Priest. One king pointed forward to Jesus as our King. Two kings ruined this real-life foreshadowing that was taking place within the history of the Hebrew people.
Now, Hosea speaks, not only to what should have been, but what will be with the prophesied Messiah. There should be one nation of Israel under one king, not where one group was especially unfaithful and thus, “not my people.” They all should be “children of the living God,” not “whoring” after false gods. The “children of Judah and the children of Israel” should “be gathered together” and “and appoint for themselves one head [king].”
That was not the case. They had two kings. They were unfaithful, the northern kingdom more so than the south. And so, one group became “not my people.” Yet, in the Messiah, all that was wrong would be made right. Believing Jews (and even believing Gentiles) would form one, undivided people of God, the holy Christian church (Ephesians 2:11-22). Their one King would be David’s Son and David’s Lord, Jesus Christ (Matthew 22:41-45).
It’s then that Hosea goes back to the original meaning of Jezreel, God plants. All that which the Messiah will fulfill will be Yahweh’s doing, for He is the One who will plant and sow, and even bring about the harvest.
– In light of what is to come, where God is doing the doing and bringing about the promised Messiah, what becomes of the people who are “not my people”?
– What becomes of the people that won’t receive mercy?
– Is this section Law or Gospel?
Read Romans 9:6-8, 25-26
– How does the Apostle Paul use Hosea as part of an argument to show that the true sons of Israel are those who believe the promise, that is, by faith?
Read 1 Peter 2:9-10
– How does the Apostle Peter use Hosea to show that Christians were the spiritual equivalent of the 10 northern tribes before God “jezreeled” us, that is, planted the seed of faith within us?
Early Church Father, Ireneaus, wrote from these passages in Hosea:
From these [unlikely] people God will build the Church, which will be made holy through her union with the Son of God, as this woman was made holy by her union with the Prophet [Hosea]. [Against Heresies, 4.20.12]
