THE BOOK OF HOSEA
Part One: Lesson 2
Chapter 1
From these people, God will build the Church, which will be
made holy through its union with the Son of God, as this woman was made holy by
her union with the prophet. Paul says that the unbelieving wife is made holy by
her believing husband.
St. Irenaeus, Against Heresies 4.20.12
+ + +
Part One: Hosea's Failed Marriage (Hosea 1:1-3:5)
The New Jerusalem Bible follows the same verse numbering as the Jewish Masoretic text; some other translations use a slightly different verse numbering.
CHAPTER 1
Yahweh commanded the prophet to describe the human-divine relationship as a covenant marriage. He was to marry an unfaithful woman and use his complicated relationship with his wife as an example of how a marital union could go wrong and how to make it right. Using his marriage relationship as a metaphor for Yahweh's relationship with Israel helped Hosea's hearers realize that God desired a faithful bond of love and trust with His covenant people. Although God was filled with sorrow when betrayed by His covenant people's acts of rebellion, He was still willing to forgive their sins.
1:1 ~ The Superscription
1:1 The word of Yahweh
which came to Hosea son of Beeri during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and
Hezekiah kings of Judah, and of Jeroboam son of Joash, king of Israel.
A superscription is a title, inscription, or heading to a work that indicates its historical setting and is usually found at the top of a document. Notice that the text does not name the fathers of the kings except for Jeroboam son of Joash, king of Israel. The reason is that there were two different men named Jeroboam who ruled the Northern Kingdom. Jeroboam I was the first king of the Northern Kingdom of Israel after the end of the United Monarchy in 930 BC, and Jeroboam II became the king of the Northern Kingdom centuries later in 783 BC.
If Hosea's prophetic period extended from the reigns of Uzziah (781-740 BC) to Hezekiah of the Southern Kingdom of Judah (716-687 BC), it means his ministry also covered the reigns of Jeroboam II (783-743 BC), Zechariah (743 BC), Shallum (743 BC), Menahem (743-738 BC), Pekahiah (738-737 BC), Pekah (7387-732 BC), and Hoshea of the Northern Kingdom of Israel (732-724 BC), ending just before the Assyrian conquest of the Northern Kingdom in 722 BC. See the chart on the kings of Judah and Israel.
Hosea's prophetic ministry began during the reign of King Uzziah of Judah and King Jeroboam II of Israel. Uzziah moved against the Philistines on his western border and claimed some of their territories. The Ammonites on his eastern border recognized his strength and sent him tribute. The weakness of the Edomites and Arab tribes to the south and east allowed Uzziah to build Elath on the Red Sea and to restore the territory to Judah (2 Kng 14:22). Uzziah fortified Jerusalem, equipped his army, and established programs to improve Judah's agricultural base (2 Chron 26:9-15). Present-day archaeological surveys reveal that Judah's prosperity expanded into most of the Negev during Uzziah's reign. Therefore, by the time of Uzziah and Jeroboam II, the two kingdoms jointly controlled as much territory as David and Solomon had possessed and peace existed between the two kingdoms.1
Yahweh sent His prophets Amos and Hosea to minister in the Northern Kingdom of Israel during this period of peace and prosperity, but their books also indicate that it was a time of moral decline and religious indifference. Unlike Hosea, a citizen of the Northern Kingdom, Amos was a citizen of the Southern Kingdom of Judah where he was a noqed, a shepherd, and caretaker of sycamore trees. See the chart on Yahweh's holy prophets in the handouts for this lesson.
Hosea Chapters 1-3 have a basic theme: God's judgment will come against a faithless Israel, and God will initiate a period of restoration at some unspecified time. In obedience to God's command, Hosea married a woman named Gomer, who bore him three children. Hosea's marriage and children are intended to illustrate the theme, and each chapter renders the same basic theme, moving from judgment to promised restoration.
Hosea's family: his Marriage and Its Symbolism
1:2-9 ~ Marriage, Children, and Judgment on Israel
2 The beginning of what Yahweh said through Hosea: Yahweh
said to Hosea, Go, marry a whore, and get children with a whore; for the country
itself has become nothing but a whore by abandoning Yahweh.' 3 So he
went and married Gomer daughter of Diblaim, who conceived and bore him a son.
4 Yahweh then said to him, Call him Jezreel,
for in a little while I shall punish the House of Jehu for the bloodshed at
Jezreel and put an end to the sovereignty of the House of Israel. 5 When
that day comes, I shall break the bow of Israel in the Valley of Jezreel.'
6 She conceived a second time and gave birth to a daughter. Yahweh then
said to him, Call her Lo-Ruhamah, for I shall show no more
pity for the House of Israel, I shall never forgive them again.
7 (Instead, I shall take pity on the House of Judah and shall save them, not by bow or
sword or force of arms, not by horses or horsemen, but by Yahweh their God.)'
8 After weaning Lo-Ruhamah, she conceived and gave birth to a son.
9 Yahweh said, Call him Lo-Ammi, for you are not my people, and I do not exist for
you.'
Hosea was an 8th-century BC citizen of the Northern Kingdom of Israel that separated from the United Monarchy in the 10th-century BC. Verses 2-9 are in the third person and give a biographical account concerning the symbolic use of Hosea's family as a sign that judgment will fall upon Israel. Verse 2 has three main elements:
Covenant marriage is one of the recurring symbolic images of the prophets presented in four parts: covenant unity, rebellion, judgment, and the promise of restoration (see the chart in the handouts for this lesson). In chapter 1, Yahweh called Hosea to live out that symbolic image in a marriage to a woman named Gomer, who represented God's unfaithful bride, Israel. Since she represents Israel, it is assumed she was an Israelite like Hosea. In the four parts of the covenant marriage symbolism, Israel's rebellion against obedience to God and the Law of the Sinai Covenant was symbolized as adultery or harlotry (for example, see Is 1:21; Jer 3:6-8; 13:22-23, 26; 23:10; Ezek 16:15-34; 23:1-12; Hos 4:10-14).
Yahweh gave four commands in verses 2, 4, 6, and 9. The Lord commanded Hosea to:
The commands were symbolically linked to God's relationship with Israel:
Soon after, the ten northern tribes of Israel separated from what had been the United Kingdom of Israel, and the rule of Davidic King Rehoboam (930 BC), son of Solomon, Jeroboam was declared the king of the Northern Kingdom of the ten tribes of Israel. Jeroboam I immediately expelled the chief priests descended from Aaron and established his own illicit priesthood. He forbade his people to go to Jerusalem to worship at Yahweh's Temple built by Solomon and established two shrines to worship the golden calf in addition to Yahweh, one in Bethel and the second in the north at Dan. It was the beginning of a civil and religious break with the Southern Kingdom of Judah (1 Kng 12:26-33; 13:33-34). It was the beginning of the Divided Kingdoms of the ten tribes of Israel and the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin that remained loyal to Yahweh and His anointed kings of the House of David. God sent a prophet to condemn the altar at Bethel. God's prophet Ahijah denounced Jeroboam I and foretold disaster on the House of Jeroboam for leading the people to become unfaithful to Yahweh by turning to pagan gods as an adulterous wife runs after false lovers. Hosea's marriage to Gomer reflected Israel's apostasy in abandoning a commitment to the covenant with Yahweh as the One True God.
The names of Hosea's children were prophetic. Yahweh commanded Hosea to name his first son Jezreel, telling him, "Call him Jezreel, for in a little while I shall punish the House of Jehu for the bloodshed at Jezreel and put an end to the sovereignty of the House of Israel." A name defined the nature of the person who received it and fixed their destiny, such as the names of Jacob/Israel (Gen 25:26; 27:36) and his sons (Gen 29:31-34). And a name change often signified a change of vocation or destiny: Abram to Abraham (Gen 17:5); Jacob to Israel (Gen 32:29), and Simon to Kepha/Cephas, or Peter (Jn 1:42 repeated in Mt 16:18). Perhaps Hosea was commanded to name his son after the great battle in the Jezreel valley when Jehu defeated the Omride Dynasty of Israel, slaughtering all the members of the royal family and various relatives of King Ahaziah of Judah (2 Kng 9:1-37). Anointed by Elisha to bring judgment against the Omride Dynasty, Jehu became the tenth king of the Northern Kingdom of Israel (841-814 BC). However, his violence went too far (2 Kng 10:11-14), and Yahweh condemned King Jehu for his excessive bloodshed, signified by the name of Hosea's firstborn son (Hos 1:4). Jehu's dynasty lasted only four generations before being replaced (see the handout of the chart of the kings of Israel and Judah).
Jezreel is the fertile valley in the heartland of the Northern Kingdom and the name of a prominent town during the Omride dynasty at the eastern end of the valley near Mount Gilboa. The Hebrew word for Jezreel (yizre'el) is linked grammatically and phonetically to the Hebrew for "Israel" (yisra-el) and is a trademark pun/play on words in the Book of Hosea.
The Hebrew word Jezreel/yizre'el does not appear elsewhere in the Old Testament as a personal name, and its basic meaning does not communicate judgment. The meaning "God sows" would generally be thought of as fruitfulness and prosperity (see Hos 2:22-23). In Hosea 1:3, the child's name draws attention to the past bloodshed perpetrated at a battle in the Jezreel Valley.
According to Hosea 1:4, Yahweh will (literally) "visit" the blood of Jezreel upon the House (dynasty) of Jehu in the coming fall of the ruling dynasty of Jehu. Jeroboam II was the 4th member of that family to reign over Israel. When he died, his son, Zechariah, succeeded him and was assassinated one month after his father's death (2 Kng 10:28-31; 15:8-12). Zechariah's death fulfilled Hosea's prophecy regarding the "House of Jehu."
There is also a chiastic pattern in verses 4-5. In a chiastic pattern, a structure is formed in which words are repeated in reverse order:
But perhaps the "bloodshed at Jezreel" in 1:4 and its parallel phrase in 1:5 refer to something more than the end of a ruling house. Perhaps it is an announcement that the nation of Israel itself will come to an end. The reference to a broken war bow in 1:5 indicates a military defeat of Israel in this valley and the devouring of Israelite territory by the Assyrian Empire. This event occurred near the end of Hosea's ministry in 722 BC.
The names of Hosea's other children were also prophetic. In verses 6-7, Yahweh commanded Hosea to name his daughter Lo-Ruhamah, which means "no mercy" or "not pitied." The reason is given in the second part of verse 6: for I shall show no more pity for the House of Israel, I shall never forgive them again. The girl's name symbolizes judgment to come upon the Northern Kingdom. It signifies the reversal of the loving relationship between Yahweh and Israel as it was portrayed in the Mosaic tradition and affirmed where God declared His freedom "to show mercy to whom I will show mercy" (Ex 33:19f). Through the naming of Hosea's daughter, God was saying, "I am no longer the merciful One, and I will not forgive them."
We can also compare the daughter's name and its prophetic reversal with the name of the third child, Lo-Ammi, "not my people." The interpretation of the meaning is supported by verse 9b, "I am not your God," a reversal of the covenant formula, "I will be your God, and you will be My people," and the related covenant marriage formula (see Ex 6:7; 19:4-6; Lev 26:12; Jer 24:7; 31:33; Ezek 11:20; Zech 8:8).2 The name may also be a pun on the Divine Name, the I AM in Exodus 3:14, meaning that Yahweh is no longer the I AM on behalf of the Northern Kingdom of Israel because of Israel's unfaithfulness to the covenant oath the people swore at Mount Sinai (Ex 24:3-7).3 The names of the two younger children cancel the previous covenant relationship between Yahweh and the citizens of the Northern Kingdom.
However, verse 7 offered hope for the Southern Kingdom: 7 Instead, I shall take pity on the House of Judah and shall save them, not by bow or sword or force of arms, not by horses or horsemen, but by Yahweh their God. While God's words to Hosea promised judgment and destruction for the Northern Kingdom, there was hope for the Southern Kingdom of Judah. However, their salvation would not come from some political alliance to save them from the Assyrian conquest. Instead, God Himself would intervene to save them. Davidic King Hezekiah came to the throne of the Southern Kingdom in 716 BC when he was twenty-five years old. He abolished the pagan altars, broke the pagan pillars, cut down the sacred pagan poles, and smashed the bronze serpent which Moses had made to cure the people of the bites of poisonous snakes because the Israelites had offered sacrifices to it (2 Kng 18:1-4). He put his trust in Yahweh and called his people to repentance. When Sennacherib, king of Assyria, rampaged through Judah and finally encircled the holy city of Jerusalem, everything seemed lost. But that night, Yahweh struck down a hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the Assyrian camp with what was probably a plague, and Jerusalem and Judah were saved, fulfilling God's prophecy to Hosea and the prophet Isaiah (2 Kings 19:29-37).
Yahweh used the imagery of covenant marriage to clarify the personal character of the covenant people's relationship with Him. When the covenant with Israel was first established, the principal imagery of the relationship was primarily political. God was the omnipotent king and Israel His vassal people, like the relationship other people had with human rulers.4 The use of the image of God as divine spouse continues to define His relationship with the New Covenant people of God: Jesus is Bridegroom of His Bride, the New Covenant Church. One day He will return to take the faithful Bride to the Wedding Feast of the Lamb: Then a voice came from the throne; it said, "Praise our God, you servants of his and those who fear him, small and great alike." And I heard what seemed to be the voices of a huge crowd, like the sound of the ocean or the great roar of thunder, answering, "Alleluia! The reign of the Lord our God Almighty has begun; let us be glad and joyful and give glory to God, because this is the time for the marriage of the Lamb. His bride is ready, and she has been able to dress herself in dazzling white linen, because her linen is made of the good deeds of the saints." The angel said, "Write this, Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb,'" and he added, "These words of God are true" (Rev 19:5-9).
Endnotes:
1. Archaeology of the Old Testament, Alfred J.
Hoerth, Baker Academic, 2007 edition, pages 330-32.
2. "The Covenant Formula: An Exegetical and Theological Investigation," translated by Margaret Kohl, Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1998.
3. "The Book of Hosea," J. Andrew Dearman, Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, Michigan, page 97.
4. See the documents:
"The Covenant Treaty in Sacred Scripture,"
"The Covenant Treaty of the Old and New Testaments,"
and
"Covenant Treaty Format of Ancient Near Eastern Kingdoms
and the Application of that Format to Yahweh's Treaty with Israel."
Questions for reflection or group discussion:
Question: How did Hosea's marriage to Gomer and the symbolic
names of His children relay a prophetic message to the people of the Northern Kingdom?
Question: Has God ever called you out of your "comfort zone" to offer Him some special service? Did you find like Hosea, Jonah, and other prophets that God gave you what you needed to fulfill that service or did you fail to trust Him?
Catechism references for Hosea Chapter 1 (* indicates Scripture is either quoted or paraphrased in the citation):
Chapters 1-3 (CCC 1611*)
Chapter 1 (CCC 762*)
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