Hosea

Hosea 1-2

            When we turn the page from Daniel to Hosea, we are going back in time. Hosea is part of a collection called the minor prophets or sometimes the Book of the Twelve. These are minor prophets only in the sense that they are much shorter than Isaiah, Jeremiah, or Ezekiel. And they are collected from all over Israel’s history—from the 8^th century BC to the 5^th century. Hosea may be the oldest of them. He identifies his ministry with King Uzziah, making him roughly a contemporary of Isaiah.

            Hosea casts his prophecy around his own life experience. The prophet is told to marry a promiscuous woman, perhaps even a prostitute. He has children by her, named successively, Jezreel, a prophecy against the house of Jehu, Lo-Ruhamah and Lo-Ammi, twin prophecies against faithless Israel, who is just like adulterous Gomer. We’ve talked before about the analogy between adultery and idolatry. Idolatry is not just some sin. It is a sin that violated God to His very core, just as adultery violates a marriage to its core.