Essay on Hosea

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Hosea

THEME: There is nothing we can do which will separate us from God's compassion

and love

I certify that I am the author of this work and that any assistance I received

in its preparation is fully acknowledged.

PART I

The book Hosea was written between 790 and 710 BC by the prophet Hosea.

The story is about the relationship between Hosea and his wife, Gomer, and how

their lives parallel that of the northern kingdom of Israel. There are several

themes in the book of Hosea and I will discuss what I think to be the main one, “

there is absolutely nothing we can do which will separate us from God's love and

compassion”. While the northern kingdom prospers monetarily its morals and

spiritual condition is sacrificed. The peoples of the northern kingdom have

fallen from God's grace due to their worship of God's other than the one true

God. The following text describes my opinions, others opinions, and my

observations of the book Hosea.

The book begins with God telling Hosea to marry an adulterous wife . He

does this to show the relationship of the Israelites adultery to God by

worshipping idols and other God's. Hosea marries Gomer and they have a son.

God informs Hosea to name the child Jezreel because he is going to punish the

house of Jehu for the massacre at Jezreel. Later they have a daughter and God

tells Hosea to name her Lo-Ruhama which means, not loved, in Hebrew. Once again

Hosea and Gomer have a son that God tells Hosea to name Lo-Ammi which means, not

my people, in Hebrew. Chapter one ends with God describing how the two nations,

Israel and Judah, be reunited under one appointed leader and one God.

Chapter two describes God's feelings towards the nation Israel. He does

this by comparing the nation Israel to Hosea's household. He describes how

Hosea's wife has been unfaithful to her husband as the nation Israel has been

unfaithful to God. He further goes on to describe his plans for the nation

Israel and how he is going to let Israel search for Him, through other God's,

and the obstacles he'll place in their path to hinder their search. God also

declares he will punish the Israelites for forgetting about their one true God.

God ends the narration by telling of the restoration of Israel to his favor and

the many benefits that will fall upon the nation Israel, once they accept Him as

the only God.

Chapters three, four, and five describe Hosea and Gomers reconciliation,

Israel's lack of faithfulness and love for God; and God's plan to deal with the

people and priests of Israel; respectively. The LORD tells Hosea to love his

wife again so he buys her back from a slave market and tells her she must live

with and be faithful to him. The LORD is extremely distressed by Israel's lack

of love and acknowledgment of His existence. He describes how they have

reverted to lying, cheating , stealing, murder, etc. and further fail to follow

his word. The priests during this time are not to be let off lightly. God

tells how the priests have not spread His message, but rather they've fed off

the Israelites sins. God tells how he's going to punish the people of Israel,

for their sins, and the priests, for their lack of concern. He closes by saying

he will go to his place and not recognize the peoples of Israel until they

earnestly seek him out.

In chapter 11 God capsulizes Israel's sins and his judgment against the

people. He describes how he chose the Israelites as His people and how he

delivered them from slavery in Egypt. During this dissertation he has a change

of heart and decides he will not destroy the nation Israel even if they turn

from Him. He decides he will force Israel to repent by less destructive means.

In chapter 12 Hosea preaches the Lord's message to the Israelites. He

starts by describing Israel's sins against God and how the Israelites wealth has

taken them further and further from God's embrace. He talks about how the

Israelites will be punished for their sins and that God will repay them, in-kind,

for their goodness. He tells Israel they must return to God's favor or judgment

will be upon them. His inclusion of Jacob in the reasons for Israel's downfall

are also described in chapter 12. He believes since Jacob is His prophet he

should also be held accountable for the sins of Israel. He also describes what

is going to happen to Gillead because of their wickedness and sacrificing of

bulls. The chapter closes as Hosea tells of God's anger at Israel for straying

from His laws.

Chapter 13 describes God's anger at Israel for idol worship and chapter

14 tells of God's blessings, on the nation, for its repentance. In chapter 13

Hosea tells how the worship of Baal has angered God. God intercedes and reminds

the nation Israel that they should acknowledge no other God besides Himself. He

also restates the exodus epic and how He led the nation Israel from slavery and

saved them in the desert. He then goes on to describe an east wind that will

destroy their crops and dry up their wells. The final chapter of Hosea

describes how God will save Israel from itself and restore the people as His

people. Even though He's angry with Israel he's unable to lay waste to the

nation.

PART II

The experts don't all agree on whether God commanded Hosea to marry a

prostitute. According to Tullock (1992) this question can be answered in one of

the following ways:

1. The LORD actually commanded Hosea to Marry a prostitute,

which he did.

2. Gomer was not a prostitute physically. Instead, she was a

Baal worshiper, and as such, was spiritually unfaithful.

Whether she was ever physically unfaithful was not important.

3. Gomer was a virgin when Hosea married her, but she became

unfaithful after marriage. Later, when he looked back upon

the experience, he realized that she already had such

tendencies when he married her.

4. The whole story is an allegory, which had no relationship to

Gomer's morals (Hosea 1:2). (p. 195)

Wood (1975) states, “The name of each child was linked symbolically to Israel's

coming doom” (p. 20). According to Scott (1975), “By theses experiences Hosea

became in heart the instrument of God to declare God's grace, mercy and love (p.

20).

"In an oracle calling for his children to plead with their mother that

she change her ways, Hosea compared his relations with Gomer to the Lord's

relations with Israel" (Hos. 2:2-23) Tullock, 1992, p. 195). Scott (1975) took

this verse to mean, "It is as though God is calling the children of Israel to

indict their mother because of her crimes against God (2:2) (p. 21). Wood

(1975) concludes, “She (Israel) was guilty because she credited her blessings to

Baal, not to Jehovah God (p. 31).

The comparison of Hosea's personal life with that of the nation Israel's

spiritual life is evident throughout the entire book of Hosea. “This verse

summarizes the case against Israel as seen in the first two chapters and now

relates the whole to Hosea's own personal experience with Gomer as a fit

comparison for teaching purposes" (Hos.3:1) Scott, 1975, p. 30). “Religious

failures had corroded the national character. The unifying covenant of Sinai

had long since been forgotten in practice, if not in name” (Southwestern Journal

of Theology, 1975, p. 8).

Throughout the whole of chapters three through five Israel's lack of

faith and love for God is evident. "The sinful woman stands for Israel.

Hosea's ransom speaks of God's love for his people" (Wood, 1975, p. 42). Three

things in particular are mentioned as expected by God: (1) truth; (2)

lovingkindness sometimes translated "goodness"; and (3) knowledge of God” (Scott,

1975, p. 32). Tullock (1992) describes how, "Israel had become so mired I the

muck of Baal worship that the people could no longer find their way back to the

LORD" (p. 197). Israel consistently ask for forgiveness, falsely, and was about

to find out their fate.

Verse 6 of chapter 11 describes God's describes the fall of Israel.

"The sword (of the enemy Assyria) will whirl against Israel's cities" (Scott,

1975, p. 71). "Hosea had hope for the nation despite the fact that it had to go

through judgment" (Tullock, 1992, p.199). Wood (1975) describes how, “Hosea

pointed out that God's grace transcended Israel's guilt, and compelled him to

spare her from complete oblivion: (p.103). "Happily, the message of Hosea is

not one of ultimate despair. As with other Old Testament prophets this man

succeeded in sustaining a note of hope and optimism in spite of the darkness of

his time" (Southwestern Journal of Theology, 1975, p. 54).

"Judgment must come (Hos 12:1-13:16). Judgment had to come. The people

had sinned to much to avoid it" (Tullock, 1992, p. 199). "Hosea was no fatalist.

The people made the choice themselves with their own free will" (Wood, 1975, p.

113). "Since God's real covenant lies with the father of both Judah and Israel,

namely with Jacob, God's...

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