The Book of Hosea is one of the books of the Bible . This is the personal account of the prophet Hosea about the prophetic messages that he addressed to all the sons of the god Yahweh (the Israelites). He is the only prophet in Israel who left some written prophecies, which were recorded during the last years of his life.
It was probably written between 755 and 725 a. n. and. , by the “minor prophet” Hosea , who claimed to be the son of Beeri, and who flourished between 785 and 725 a. n. and.
Summary
[ hide ]
- 1 Location within the Bible
- 2 Purpose of writing
- 3 Contents
- 4 Prophecies
- 5 Main verses
- 6 Sources
Location within the Bible
The Book of Hosea is an Old Testament book (which was originally the Hebrew Tanach book ).
In Christian bibles, Hosea is located between the Book of Daniel and the Book of Joel .
Purpose of writing
Hosea wrote this book to remind the Israelites that their god was a “god of love,” whose loyalty to the covenant with his people is unalterable. Despite Israel’s continual deviation by going after false gods, the faithfulness of God’s love is represented in the suffering of the unfaithful woman’s husband. Hosea’s message also presents a threat against those who turn their backs on the love of the “god of love.” Through the symbolic presentation of Hosea’s marriage to Gomer, God’s love for the idolatrous nation of Israel is revealed in a rich metaphor on the themes of sin , judgment, and forgiving love.
Content
The Book of Hosea can be divided into two parts:
1) Hosea 1: 1-3: 5 is a description of an adulterous wife and faithful husband, a symbol of Israel’s unfaithfulness to God through idolatry, and
2) Hosea 3: 6-14: 9 contains the condemnation of Israel, especially Samaria , for the worship of idols and their eventual restoration.
The first section of the book contains three different poems illustrating how the sons of the god Yahweh return again and again to idolatry. Yahweh orders Hosea to marry Gomer, who, having given him three children, abandons Hosea to go after his lovers. The symbolic emphasis can be clearly seen in the first chapter, as Hosea compares Israel’s actions to abandoning marriage to live as a prostitute. The second section contains Hosea’s denunciation of the Israelites, but followed by the promises and mercies of God.
The Book of Hosea is a prophetic record of the infinite love of the god Yahweh for his children. Since the beginning of time, the ungrateful creation of God has been receiving the love and mercy of God, while still unable to restrain its evil.
The last part of the book shows how once again, the love of the god Yahweh restores his children, forgiving their transgressions, when they turn to him with a repentant heart. Hosea’s prophetic message predicts the coming of the Messiah of Israel, 700 years into the future. The prophet Hosea is quoted in the New Testament (the Greek texts with which the Christians stretched the original Hebrew Bible ).
Prophecies
Hosea 2:23 is God’s beautiful prophetic message of including Gentiles non-Jews as His children.
The writer Paul of Tarsus (the creator of Christianity as we know him) wrote in the Letter to the Romans (9:25) [1] that the Gentiles (non-Jews) were not originally the “people of God”, but God, in his infinite mercy, delivered his son Jesus Christ to death, and through faith in Jesus Christ the Gentiles can be grafted into the tree of the people of God.
Also in the Letter to the Romans (11: 11-18), Saint Paul presents an argument that his followers consider a “mystery”: before Christ, the Jewish people affirmed that only they could be considered the “people of God”. Instead when Christ came, the god Yahweh temporarily hardened the Jews “until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in” ( Letter to the Romans , 11:25).
Main verses
Hosea 1: 2, “The beginning of the word of Jehovah through Hosea. Jehovah said to Hosea: Go, take a fornicating woman, and sons of fornication; for the earth fornicates, turning away from Jehovah. ”
Hosea 2:23, “And I will sow it for myself in the ground, and I will have mercy on Lo-ruhama; and I will say to Lo-ammi: You are my people, and he will say: My God. ”
Hosea 6: 6, “For I want mercy, and not sacrifice, and knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.”
Hosea 14: 2-4, “Take with you words of supplication, and return to Jehovah, and say to him, Take away all iniquity, and accept good, and we will offer you the offering of our lips. Assyrian will not deliver us; We will not ride horses, nor will we ever say to the work of our hands: Our Gods; because in you the orphan will obtain mercy. I will heal their rebellion, I will love them in pure grace; because my anger turned away from them. ”
