Categoria: Hosea

Hosea 14 brings the book to a close with hope and a strong call to repentance. “Return O Israel to God!…. say to him ‘forgive all our sins… we will never again refer to our gods’… I will heal their waywardness and love them freely… and he will blossom like a lily… his splendour will be like an olive tree… men will dwell again in his shade… all your fruitfulness comes from me… the ways of the Lord are right; the righteous walk in them”.

 Hosea 13 is a further sad chapter depicting Israel’s downfall and distancing from God. “Ephraim has become guilty of Baal worship and died… and they make elaborate idols for themselves… they offer human sacrifices and kiss the calf idols… therefore they will be like the morning mist… I am the Lord you God and you should worship no-one else… but when I fed them they became proud  and forgot me… so like a lion I will devour them… I will destroy you Israel… where is your king that he may save you?… the guilt of Ephraim is stored up… I will have no compassion… the people of Samaria must bear their guilt because they have rebelled against their God”.

Hosea 12 continues God’s stringent condemnation of Israel sometimes referring to Ephraim as Israel and comparing them with faithful Jacob despite his imperfections. “Ephraim feeds on the wind… and makes a treaty with Assyria and sends olive oil to Egypt…. the Lord will punish Jacob… as a man he struggled with God… you must return to your God… Ephraim boasts about his riches thinking that it will hide his iniquity… I am the Lord your God… I spoke to the prophets and gave them many visions… but Ephraim has bitterly provoked him to anger… the Lord will repay him for his contempt”.

I have written the synopses of the first half of the 14 chapters of Hosea which is the first of the minor prophets and the 28th book of the Bible.

Philip went last night to a service held at ‘Campo Alegre’ (Happy Field) Farm where a nice little crowd gather to hear the Gospel. Philip sung some songs for them which went down well.

Hosea 11 is a moving chapter expressing God’s profound love for Israel despite their waywardness and rebellion. “When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son… but he went away from me… and they sacrificed to the Baals… despite me leading them with cords of love… so swords will flash in their cities… but my heart is moved within me and I won’t carry out my fierce anger… for I am God, not man, and the people will follow the Lord… they will come trembling… and I will settle them in their homes”. So one clearly feels in this chapter the tension between God’s love and God’s justice.

God’s forthright condemnation of Israel continues in Hosea 10 criticizing them for their abandonment of God and their idolatry amidst their prosperity. “Israel was a spreading vine… his fruit increased… and prosperity went hand in hand with the building of pagan altars… the calf-idol will be carried to Assyria… Ephraim will be disgraced and Israel will be ashamed of its wooden idols… and the high places of wickedness will be destroyed… thorns and thistles will cover their altars… I will punish them… break up your unplowed ground because it is time to seek the Lord… but the roar of battle will rise against you and your fortresses will be devastated… when that day dawns the king of Israel will be completely destroyed!”

A doomful message of judgement continues in Hosea 9 as God warns the Jews that they ought to be preparing themselves for judgement rather than rejoicing over their prosperity. “Do not rejoice, O Israel, because you have been unfaithful to your God… and you love the wages of a prostitute… their sacrifices will not please God… thorns will overrun their tents… the days of punishment are coming… because your sins are so many… they have sunk deep into corruption… Ephraim’s glory will fly away like a bird… woe to them… give them wombs that miscarry and breasts that are dry… because of their sinful deeds I will drive them out of my house… my God will reject them because they have not obeyed him”.

Hosea 7 carries on with the indictment of the northern kingdom of Israel which is also called Ephraim. “The sins of Ephraim are exposed and the crimes of Samaria revealed… their sins engulf them… they are all adulterers… all of them are hot as an oven; they devour their rulers… Ephraim mixes with nations and is a flat cake not turned over… Ephraim is like a dove, easily deceived and senseless… woe to them because they have strayed from me… they do not cry to me from their hearts… they do not turn to the most high… and they will be ridiculed in Egypt”.

 Hosea 5 condemns the Jews for insistent idolatry and warns that judgement is approaching. He initially condemns the priests: “Hear this, you priests… judgement is against you… Ephraim turned to prostitution and Israel is corrupt… a spirit of prostitution is in their hearts… Israel’s arrogance testifies against them… they are unfaithful to the Lord… Ephraim will be laid waste… I will pour out my wrath on Judah… I will tear them to pieces… in their misery they will earnestly seek me”.

Maintaining the adulterous woman imagery Hosea 2 likens Israel to an unfaithful wife betraying the Lord with Baal and other pagan objects of worship. God rather retorts: “I will block her path with thornbushes… so that she cannot find her way… she has not acknowledged that I was the one who gave her everything… I will stop all her celebrations, festivals and feasts… I will punish her for the days she burned incense to the Baals… and me she forgot”. Despite all Israel’s unfaithfulness however God still loved her “and will speak tenderly to her… I will give her back her vineyards and make the Valley of Achor a door of hope… there she will sing as in her youth… in that she will call me my husband… not my master… I will remove the Baals from your lips… and I will betroth you to me forever… and you will acknowledge the Lord… and I will show my love… and I will say to Israel you are my people and they will say to me you are my God!”

The Book of Hosea has an unusual plot with him, his wife and family being a living parable! Hosea’s wife Gomer is adulterous and so portrays the adulterous nature of Israel’s sinful relationship with God. On the other hand Hosea persists in loving Gomer which also reflects God’s attitude to his people.

In chapter 1 it is God who commands Hosea to marry Gomer who would be adulterous symbolizing Israel’s unfaithfulness to God owing to pagan idolatry and worship. As the couple had children God gave them symbolic names too with symbolic meaning. The first was named Jezreel: “Call him Jezreel, because I will soon punish the house of Jehu for the massacre at Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of Israel”. Next they had a daughter whom they called Lo-Ruhamah meaning ‘not loved’ or ‘no mercy’, reflecting God’s attitude to his people owing to their persistent rebellion. Then came another boy which was named Lo-Ammi (‘not my people’). “For you are not my people and I am not your God”. Then gratefully the chapter ends positively and a restored people will be called “sons of the living God and Judah and Israel will be re-united”.