Hosea 1-3

Bible study with Pastor Terry Gray

The life of Hosea is to illustrate the great love of God as a husband for His people, the Israelites. Despite God's great love, the Israelites always stray away from God. Instead of recognizing God as their source of comfort and success, they turn instead to meaningless man-made objects, committing spiritual adultery. However, God's love is great, and He will one day restore all relationships with Him, though not without severe discipline.

Hosea

- Served kings of Israel and Judah (Hosea 1:1)

- Was the last prophet to the Northern Kingdom to tell the Israelites to repent before it was going to be judged

931 BC

A civil war broke out in Israel, separating it into the Northern (10 Israelite nation) and the Southern (2 Israelite nations, with their base still in Jerusalem) Kingdoms. Judah was a part of the Southern Kingdom.

722 BC

The Northern Kingdom was judged. God handed them over to the Assyrians. The Northern Kingdom afterwards was scattered (as the name Jazereel suggests).

586 BC

The Southern Kingdom was judged. God handed them to the Babylonians. The primary function of Old Testament prophets was proclamation. They would get a message from God, and they would convey that message to whom the audience was intended. Sometimes, God has His prophets carry out symbolic gestures that appropriately represented His message to the people. Hosea was asked to accomplish one of these very difficult tasks: to marry a woman of harlotry (Hosea 1:2).

The name of their first son, Jazereel, was prophetic of the judgment the Northern Kingdom would face.

The name of their daughter, Lo-Ruhamah, means no mercy. God will show no mercy for the Northern Kingdom but will save Judah.

The name of their second son, Lo-Ammi, means not my people, suggesting God would disown the Northern Kingdom.

Hosea loved Gomer but Gomer broke his heart. This mirrors how the Northern Kingdom broke God's heart. God was a great husband to them, but they committed spiritual adultery against God by abandoning their trust in God. Instead of standing strong against paganistic practices, they co-mingled with non-Israelites and adopted their paganistic worship of Baal and other man-made idols.

When Gomer started her adultery path, Hosea fought to keep her. Similarly, God would not give up the Northern Kingdom without a fight (Hosea 2:6-8). And throughout history, we see God fighting to keep His people safe. Unfortunately, THEY ALWAYS FORGET God's grace and go back to idolatry when times are good.

Each time Israel went astray, God sent His messengers to urge them to repent before it was too late. As time progressed, God needed to send harsher messages. God's grace does not last forever. And when the Northern Kingdom exhausted their grace period, God removed all provisions, because that was the only thing that would wake them from their stupor, believing that those worthless gods could actually offer any kind of provision!

Despite Gomer's sinful adulterous ways, Hosea still fought for her, for the restoration of their marriage. Similarly, that's what God wants: restoration with His bride, the Israelites (Hosea 1:10-11; 2:14-13).

Here, we note that God has not given up on Israel! All nations of Israel will be restored in the second coming of Christ, under the rule of one King, Christ. In Hosea 2:16, we learn that God will be their husband, not their master. I find this inspirational because people, even many Christians, view the Bible as a Book of God's "rules" as opposed to acts of great love. However, we see here that in the end of days, when Jesus reigns as King, all will love God as a bride dotes on her husband, as opposed to viewing our relationship as master and slave.

Hosea 3 is about redemption.

Gomer had gone so far off the path that she landed herself on the slave market. She was bought for 15 shekels (Hosea 3:2), essentially "on sale for half-price" since 30 shekels was the going rate for slaves at the time. She indeed proved herself a harlot, who had adulterous relationships with many men and bore numerous children. Her behavior tore Hosea's heart out, and yet, we see that Hosea still redeemed her (Redemption: bought with a price). Despite her infidelity, Hosea still sheltered and protected her.

From Hosea 1-3, we thus learn the following:

1. God desires a deep and intimate relationship with us. He has sacrificed His only Son to solidify our eternal redemption. Jesus has done all the work for us to build a relationship with God. All we have to do is turn our face toward God.

2. When we forsake God, we are committing spiritual adultery. When we commit adultery, we hurt God. No one likes being cheated on. If we can sympathize with the pain, how can we not understand God's pain?

3. We are redeemed in Christ. We were bought with a price: Christ's blood. Jesus freed us from the salve market. Without Jesus, we could easily become slaves of Satan and any one of his deceptions: money, power, status, etc. In fact, many of us are, even with Jesus's open hand offer of redemption! Some of us would choose to be slaves rather than be freed with Jesus!

4. God wants us to have His heart. God wants us to know and love Him so much, we can understand His sufferings. For example, the testing of Abraham to sacrifice his only son, Isaac, allowed Abraham to understand God's heart. God did not allow Abraham to follow through with the sacrifice, but He had to sacrifice His own Son.