Minor Prophet Hosea
Hosea’s prophecy gave Israel a tangible example of its spiritual idolatry, yet portrayed God’s love for Israel in spite of
her spiritual infidelity. It constituted a national call to repentance.
Historical Setting
Hosea dates his prophecy “in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of
Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel”. Hosea’s ministry extended from about 770 to 725 B.C. Thus, his active
ministry ceased a few years before Assyria carried the northern kingdom into captivity in 722 B.C. Hosea was a
citizen of the northern kingdom, and his personal experience was designed by God to be an example to his nation.
Hosea was to the northern kingdom what Jeremiah was to the southern kingdom a weeping prophet. Hosea looked
forward to the Assyrian captivity of the northern kingdom, just as Jeremiah looked forward to the Babylonian captivity
of the southern kingdom. Hosea’s prophecy is closely related to that of Amos. Amos was very severe in his
prophecy, and his ministry was somewhat like a James or John the Baptist of the Old Testament. Both Amos and
Hosea prophesied to the northern kingdom, although Amos was native of the southern kingdom, and Hosea of the
northern kingdom. Hosea was the younger contemporary of Amos, and because their ministries overlap, there is
much similarity in the sins they condemn. In Amos, the prophetic discourses are very pronounced, while in Hosea,
because of the intense personal involvement of the prophet, they are not very distinctly defined from one another, a
fact that makes the book difficult to outline.
The prophecy is characterized by intense emotion as the prophet’s personal tragedy(chapters 1-3) is transferred and
applied to the nation (chapters 4-14).
Authorship
This prophecy provides the sole source of information concerning
The author, “Hosea the son of Beeri”. His name means “Salvation.” Nothing is known of Beeri, “Expounder,” although
a different man by the same name is mentioned in Genesis 26:34. In the course of the prophecy the prophet’s
personal history was made to be symbolic of the relationship between the Lord and Israel. Because of the tragic
details of his personal life, Hosea has been known as the brokenhearted prophet. His sorrow provides a good
illustration of the brokenhearted Lord in His relationship with sinful mankind.
Chapter 1
1:2, 3. In all probability Gomer was morally pure prior to her marriage to Hosea, but subsequently became
discontented and went into harlotry, from which Hose b his love reclaimed her.
1:4. Jezreel means “God Sows.” He is to be a reminder that God will judge the house of Jehu for the bloodshed in
Jezreel, when the kingdom was wrested from Ahab and Jezebel and God’s judgment was poured out against them.
1:6, 7. Lo-ruhamah means “No Mercy” or “Not Pitied.” Her significance is twofold: God’s compassion has come to an
end for Israel, and her judgment is imminent.
1:9. Lo-ammi means “Not My People” indicating to the Israel of his day that they were not the Lord’s people, and that
the Lord was not their God. This should in no sense be understood as an annulment of the Abrahamic covenant, and
unconditional covenant depending solely upon God for its fulfillment.
Chapter 2
2:2-5. Plead with your mother: The Hebrew text begins chapter 2 with what is 1:10 in the English text. The prophet
uses his personal domestic tragedy as a means of addressing not only his own children (and through them their
physical mother), but also the believing remnant, who in turn are to plead with their mother (the nation Israel) to
return to God.
2:14-17. The valley of Achor: In this valley, located near Jericho, Achan’s sin was discovered judged, punished, and
put away. In like manner, if Israel and Gomer will deal with their sin and put it away, that very act will result in God’s
blessing and bring restoration and hope. The names Ishi (“My husband”) and Baali (“My Master”) are significant. The
former is a term of affection and represents the closest loving relationship. The latter indicates servitude and
inferiority.
Chapter 3
3:1 Go yet, love a woman: If anyone had occasion to renounce his wife, Hosea did: however, he was instructed to
love her still. Similarly, God continued to love an unfaithful Israel. Flagons of wine are raisin cakes. They are similar, if
not identical, to the cakes mentioned in Jeremiah 7:18 and 44:19 which were used in the idolatrous ceremonies in
honor of the queen of heaven.
3:2 The price paid to redeem Gomer is indicative of the depth to which she had sunk: 30 pieces of silver was the
price commonly paid for a slave. Barley was considered to be a food fit only for animals, and was eaten only by the
poorest people. Gomer has sunk to such depths that she was worth only half the price of a common slave and
approximately
10 bushels of animal food.
3:4,5 Without – occurs five times in the Hebrew text. Israel actually will be without three things: 1) The monarchy-she
will have neither reigning monarch nor anyone inline to become one. Ultimately, a king must come as promised to
David and Israel in 2 Samuel 7.
2) A sacrifice-she will not observe a God-appointed sacrificial system during this long period, though during it the
Messiah will in fact come and be the supreme Sacrifice.
3) Idolatry-even though she will not observe a true religious system, she will forsake idolatry and all it trappings. Israel
return: In God’s appointed time Israel will come to its senses and will have a national regeneration.
Chapter 4
4:6 The cause of man’s problem is lack of knowledge. It does not stem from a shortage of information, but rather from
rejection of information.
4:8 They are the problem; that is, the priesthood. They have not helped the people face their sin and deal with it.
Rather, they have gloried and taken pleasure in the sin of the people.
4:9 Like people, like priest: The priest of God is corrupted and made like the sinning people, not vice versa.
4:12-14 My people ask counsel at their stocks: Like the heathen of Romans 1:25, they worship and serve the
creature rather than the Creator. Instead of consulting the God who made the trees and the wood, they consult the
tree and the wooden idols that can be fashioned from them. Therefore your daughters shall commit whoredom, and
your spouses shall commit adultery. Spiritual harlotry gave way to physical harlotry, which was incorporated into the
religious ritual of their idolatrous worship.
4:17 Ephraim (the name given to Israel because it was the largest tribe of the northern kingdom) is completely given
over to its idolatry and accompanying practices. He is beyond recall.
4:18 This is the only instance where the Hebrew word magen is translated by the English word rulers. It occurs in the
Old Testament more than 50 times and is usually translated by the English word shield. The leaders God gave to the
nation, with the express purpose of shielding it from sin and leading it to God, have instead led in its spiritual
defection.
Chapter 5
5:8-15 Gibeah, Ramah, and Bethaven are cities belonging to the tribe of Benjamin in the south. They will be on
military alert. After thee, O Benjamin: the battle cry used in the day of Joshua will be reactivated. As a moth…as
rottenness: Because God took His presence from Israel, His judgment will eat away at His nation slowly but surely.
Chapter 6
6:1-3 Come, and let us return unto the Lord..we shall live in his sight: The prophet vicariously leads his people in a
prayer of repentance and a plea for restoration that can ultimately take place only in the day when Israel as a nation
will be converted (Jer. 31:31-34) and God will set up His kingdom over His people and reign for a thousand years. He
shall come unto us as the rain: God will no longer deal with Israel Like a “moth” and “rottenness” (5:12). Instead, He
will deal with them like life-giving and refreshing rain.
6:11 O Judah, he hat set a harvest for thee: Judah, the southern kingdom, will fare no better than Ephraim, the
northern kingdom; for it committed the same sins. God’s judgment will come to them some 130 years later and by a
different agent, Babylon.
Chapter 7
7:1-7. The figure of an oven heated by the baker refers to schemes of the wicked. Like a baker who kneads his
dough, keeps it warm by night as he sleeps, and then with the dough raised, bakes the bread, so the wicked lay their
plots and await the opportune time to carry out their conspiracy against the crown. Four of Israel’s last six kings were
assassinated.
7:16 A deceitful bow has every appearance of being good, but the arrows that it propels miss the intended target.
God has wonderful things for Israel, but they have continuously mistaken His favor for favoritism and have misused
His blessings for their own ends.
Chapter 8
8:4-7. Thy calf, O Samaria: The heart of the idolatrous worship was Samaria, and the specific form was that of a calf.
They have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind: They have sown the wind (Hebrew ruach), but will reap a
hurricane (Hebrew supah). They will be swept away in the judgment of God, and any benefits that they desired would
fall to the hands of strangers to whom God would deliver them.
8:11-14. Ephraim hat made many altars to sin: Throughout Israel many sacrificial altars were built for the purpose of
idolatrous rituals. Israel became addicted to its sin in spite of the clear and written revelation that God had given
through Moses.
Chapter 9
9:1,2. It was customary and right for people to rejoice at harvest time. Israel, however, was commanded not to do so,
because she attributed the abundance she experienced on the corn floor (Hebrew goren dagan, a place where the
harvest of grain was processed) to the idols she worshiped, instead of God who sent it. The harvest festivals were
probably accompanied by shameful fertility acts (cf. 4:13,14).
9:16, Ephraim is smitten, their root is dried up: Though Ephraim had a beautiful geographical situation, and
experienced the abundant blessing of God, yet barrenness of land and womb, as well as near extinction, awaited
them.
Chapter 10
10:1, 2 Israel is an empty vine: The word empty (Hebrew Bagag) when used in intransitive constructions, means “to
be poured out” or “spread abroad.” Used with reference to a spreading or luxuriant vine, it pictures a vine whose
running shoots bear abundant fruit. As God’s vine (cf. Is. 5:1-7), Israel should have produced spiritual fruit.
10:10 In their two furrows refers to Israel’s double sin of rejecting God both as God and King.
Chapter 11
11:1-8 I called my son out of Egypt: These words are quoted by Matthew and applied to Jesus (Matthew 2:15) Israel
and Jesus were alike in that both were the objects of the love of the Father, both were called “my son,” and both were
in Egypt.
11:9-11 I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger: Though His judgment against Israel will be severe, it will not
obliterate them. God will keep His covenant with Israel, which necessitates the continued existence of the nation into
the Millennium, when the Messiah will rule and reign over a converted nation for a thousand years.
Chapter 12
12:1 The east wind refers to the sirocco, a hot, dry wind coming from the eastern desert and causing great
devastation in the land. The picture is graphic, for Israel has given itself to feeding on what will not nourish it
(idolatry), and the result is an increase in lies and desolation.
12:3-6 These verses remind the entire nation of the patriarch from whom they have descended. Jacob always wanted
God’s best, even though he did not always seek it God’s way. Yea, he had power over the angel, and prevailed: The
allusion is to Jacob’s encounter with the Angel of the Lord at Peniel (Gen. 32:20). Israel had forgotten Jacob’s
spiritual wrestlings with God. Israel, as did Jacob, must come to the end of itself and find its strength in God alone.
12:7 He is a merchant (Hebrew kena’an, Canaanite merchant): Rather than being like God, Israel is like the
Canaanite and the Canaanite deities they had adopted.