Old Testament Book Of Hosea Analysis

The Old Testament book of Hosea, was written by the prophet Hosea. “He has been called the prophet of Israel’s zero hour,” because the “nation had sunk to a point of such corruption that a major stroke of divine judgment could no longer be staved off (Jensen 411).” It is the first book of what is referred to as the “Minor Prophets”. They are referred to as minor not because they lack importance, but because they are much shorter than major counterparts.

The Hebrew name Hosea means “salvation” or “God Saves”. Hosea’s message was to the children of Israel, before they fell captive to the Assyrians in 722 B.C. Though his message was ultimately one of God’s judgment toward the Israelites, “the book is remembered mostly for its vivid pictures of God’s love and grace (Jensen 411).” At the end of the day, we know and understand that the prophet’s job was twofold as he/she communicated directly from God to his people. First, to speak specifically what God had identified as the people’s sin, and secondly to tell them

the penalty that they would suffer should they not repent and turn back to God. In this paper, I will discuss these areas from the prophet Hosea’s writing.

Let’s begin in Hosea chapter one. In Hosea 1:2 (KJV), we find these words, “The beginning of the word of the LORD by Hosea. And the LORD said to Hosea, Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms: for the land hath committed great whoredom, departing from the LORD.” Here God commands Hosea to take for himself a harlot for a wife (Gomer). There is meaning and purpose in every directive given by God to his prophet. God’s purpose for Hosea’s marriage to Gomer to help Hosea understand God’s feelings toward his people Israel for their adulterous ways toward God. Through Hosea’s personal escapades with Gomer, he was better able to confront Israel with their sin of unfaithfulness.

Hosea did exactly as God commanded. He married Gomer, and to their union three children were born. God gave names to each of the children as they were born. Respectively, each of their names symbolized some aspect of Israel’s relationship with God. The first child was a son, who God named, Jezreel (1:4). Jezreel was both a city and a territory located in Israel, and was a troubled and corrupt place. Perhaps the naming of this child may have been God’s way of saying to Israel, “You are rotten to the core.” The second child was a girl, whom God named Loruhamah (1:6). Her name reflected God’s impending judgment on the nation of Israel, “…for I will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel; but I will utterly take them away.” The third child was a son He named Loammi (1:9), representing God’s disowning of Israel, “…for ye are not my people, and I will not be your God.” Of course the prophetic symbolism in the children’s names is that just as Gomer had married Hosea who provided a good life for her, she still sought the slipped out on her good husband to prostitute herself to other men. So Israel, in the same vein as Gomer, sought the affection and companionship of other gods in spiritual harlotry by going after idols.

As a result of Gomer’s mistreatment of Hosea, he was able to see the sin of Israel, through the eyes of God. Here is what Hosea was able to speak to, God said there was no faithfulness, or kindness, or knowledge of him (4:1); there was swearing, deception, murder, stealing, and sexual vices (4:2); the prophets and priest were corrupt (4:4); the priests no longer taught the knowledge of God (4:6); the religious leaders had become merely opportunists, in their greed profiting from the sins of the people (4:7); there was harlotry, and drunkenness (4:11); the people had become idol worshipers (4:12), all these atrocities sickened God, and he sent Hosea to set the record straight.

Book of Hosea goes on for several more chapters, but the story of Hosea and Gomer’s relationship comes to a close in chapter 3.

Gomer was sold into slavery, but Hosea never forgot her and never stopped loving her, and when God revealed to him that the time was right, Hosea went and redeemed Gomer out of slavery. That is not the end of the story, because a marriage can’t go through what Hosea and Gomer went through without a lot of wreckage and brokenness. Their relationship needed a considerable amount of mending before they could again live together as husband and wife. We notice that Gomer, though purchased, was not immediately restored to her former status as a wife, and things would remain that way until her heart changed. The same is true with God and Israel. God allowed Israelites to experience the consequences of their unfaithfulness. He allowed them to experience the destruction of their nation, and captivity at the hand of their

enemies.

God has shown us through the example of Hosea and Gomer that sometimes deeply broken relationships take time to heal. But just like Hosea never stopped loving Gomer, God has never stopped loving us, and he will never give up on us. God has always known our pension for not being faithful. Just like Hosea knew before he married Gomer that she would be an unfaithful wife, and just like God knew before he chose Israel that they would be an unfaithful people, so he has always known everything about you, and me; and he chose to love us in spite of what he has always known. That is why God sent Jesus, to redeem mankind back to Himself. Praise God for his awesome love and sacrifice.