Hosea 1:1-9

The book of Hosea is named after its principal character and author, Hosea,
whose name means, the Lord saves.

Hosea’s ministry began during Jeroboam II’s days as king of the Northern
Kingdom and continued after the destruction of the Northern Kingdom in 722
B.C. Since Jeroboam II died around 753 B.C. and since Hezekiah’s reign
began in around 715 B.C., Hosea’s ministry covered around 40 years. His
prophecies were addressed exclusively to the Northern Kingdom. Hosea
prophesied during the period when the Northern Kingdom was oppressed by
Assyria. Samaria eventually fell to the Assyrians in 722 B.C.

Hosea was a contemporary of Amos in Israel and of Isaiah and Micah in
Judah.

The theme of Hosea is the redeeming love of God. The unfaithfulness of
Israel toward God is illustrated by the unfaithfulness of Hosea’s wife toward
Hosea. The redeeming love of God toward His people is then illustrated by
Hosea’s redeeming love for his wife.

I. The Training of the Prophet, 1:1 - 3:5

A. His home life symbolic for the nation: punishment and restoration, 1:1 - 2:1

Five different judgment-salvation cycles are seen in Hosea. The first one is seen in
Hosea 1:2-2:1 . Although judgment on Israel is predicted in 1:2-9, salvation is
predicted for Israel in 1:10 - 2:1.

Hosea 1:1 The word of the LORD that came unto Hosea, the son of Beeri, in
the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the
days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel.

Inasmuch as Hosea prophesied during the reign of Jeroboam II, his ministry
had to begin before 753 B.C. when Jeroboam II died; and since his
ministry continued into the reign of Hezekiah, it had to continue to at least
715 B.C. when Hezekiah became king of Judah, which was at least seven
years after the fall of Samaria to the Assyrians.

1. The marriage with Gomer, a potential adulteress, 1:2

Hosea 1:2 The beginning of the word of the LORD by Hosea. And the
LORD said to Hosea, Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms [i.e. a
wife of harlotry] and children of whoredoms [i.e. children of harlotry]:
for the land hath committed great whoredom [i.e. great harlotry],
departing from the LORD.

1:2 – (RSB) a wife of whoredoms. If anticipatory, the phrase indicates
that Gomer became a harlot after her marriage to Hosea. If not, he
married a known prostitute. In either case the marriage was
providentially ordained in order to illustrate vividly the infidelity of
the people of Israel.

Although I realize that Gomer may have been a prostitute before she and
Hosea were married, I prefer to believe that Gomer was not a prostitute
until after they were married.

2. The children: Jezreel, Lo-Ruhamah; Lo-Ammi, 1:3-9

Hosea 1:3 So he [i.e. Hosea] went and took Gomer the daughter of
Diblaim; which conceived, and bare him a son.

Hosea 1:4 And the LORD said unto him, Call his name Jezreel; for yet
a little while, and I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of
Jehu, and will cause to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel.

1:4 – (RSB) Jezreel means “God sows” and refers to a valley in
northern Israel, the scene of Jehu’s ill-advised and wrongly
motivated murder of the sons of Ahab in order to seize the throne
(II Kings 10:1-11 ).

II Kings 10:1-11 – And Ahab had seventy sons in Samaria. And
Jehu wrote letters, and sent to Samaria, unto the rulers of
Jezreel, to the elders, and to them that brought up Ahab’s
children, saying, 2 Now as soon as this letter cometh to you,
seeing your master’s sons are with you, and there are with you
chariots and horses, a fenced [i.e. fortified] city also, and
armour [i.e. weapons]; 3 Look even out the best and meetest
[i.e. fittest, most worthy, best qualified] of your master’s sons,
and set him on his father’s throne, and fight for your master’s
house. 4 But they were exceedingly afraid, and said, Behold,
two kings stood not before him: how then shall we stand? 5 And
he that was over the house, and he that was over the city, the
elders also, and the bringers up of the children [i.e. the
guardians (of) the children, those who reared the children],
sent to Jehu, saying, We are thy servants, and will do all that
thou shalt bid us [i.e. say to us, tell us]; we will not make any
king: do thou that which is good in thine eyes. 6 Then he wrote
a letter the second time to them, saying, If ye be mine, and if ye
will hearken unto my voice, take ye the heads of the men your
master’s sons, and come to me to Jezreel by to morrow this
time. Now the king’s sons, being seventy persons, were with
the great men of the city, which brought them up. 7 And it came
to pass, when the letter came to them, that they took the king’s
sons, and slew [i.e. slaughtered] seventy persons, and put their
heads in baskets, and sent him them to Jezreel. 8 And there
came a messenger, and told him, saying, They have brought the
heads of the king’s sons. And he said, Lay ye them in two
heaps [i.e. in two piles] at the entering in of the gate until the
morning. 9 And it came to pass in the morning, that he went out,
and stood, and said to all the people, Ye be righteous: behold, I
conspired against my master [i.e. against King Joram of
Israel], and slew him: but who slew all these? 10 Know now
that there shall fall unto the earth nothing of the word of the
LORD, which the LORD spake concerning the house of Ahab:
for the LORD hath done that which he spake by his servant
Elijah. 11 So Jehu slew all that remained of the house of Ahab in
Jezreel, and all his great men, and his kinsfolks, and his priests,
until he left him none remaining.

Jehu also killed Ahaziah, king of Judah, and 42 of his relatives. This
went too far beyond what Jehu was to do to the house of Ahab.
This is likely the reason for the Lord’s statement, I will avenge
the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu. Even though these
deaths did not occur in Jezreel, they were associated with the
wholesale slaughter in Jezreel.

I will cause to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel. It will be
fulfilled by the Assyrian captivity in 722 B.C. It had likewise been
prophesied to Jehu (II Kings 10:30 ).

II Kings 10:30 And the LORD said unto Jehu, Because thou hast
done well in executing that which is right in mine eyes, and hast
done unto the house of Ahab according to all that was in mine
heart, thy children of the fourth generation shall sit on the throne
of Israel.

Jehu was succeeded as king of Israel by his son, Jehoahaz, his
grandson, Jehoash (Joash), his great grandson, Jeroboam II,
and his great, great grandson, Zechariah.

Hosea 1:5 And it shall come to pass at that day, that I will break the bow
[i.e. break the power, break the military might] of Israel in the valley of
Jezreel.

The general fulfillment of this prophecy came in 734-722 B.C., when the
Assyrians overran Israel and reduced it to a province within their
empire (II Kings 15:29 ; 17:3-5). The Jezreel plain in particular was
probably conquered in 733 B.C. by Tiglath-Pileser III. This valley,
which had been the scene of a great military victory under Gideon
(Jud. 6:33; 7), again became a symbol of national disgrace and defeat,
as it had been after Saul’s death (I Sam. 29:1, 11; 31) (Bible
Knowledge Commentary).

II Kings 15:29 In the days of Pekah king of Israel came
Tiglathpileser king of Assyria, and took Ijon, and
Abelbethmaachah, and Janoah, and Kedesh, and Hazor, and
Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali, and carried them
captive to Assyria.

II Kings 17:3-5 – 3 Against him came up Shalmaneser king of
Assyria; and Hoshea became his servant, and gave him presents.
4 And the king of Assyria found conspiracy in Hoshea: for he had
sent messengers to So king of Egypt, and brought no present to
the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year: therefore the
king of Assyria shut him up, and bound him in prison. 5 Then the
king of Assyria came up throughout all the land, and went up to
Samaria, and besieged it three years.

Hosea 1:6 And she [i.e. Hosea’s wife] conceived again, and bare a
daughter. And God said unto him, Call her name Loruhamah: for I will
no more have mercy upon the house of Israel; but I will utterly take them
away.

II Kings 19:31-36 – 32 Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning
the king of Assyria [i.e. Sennacherib], He shall not come into this
city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shield, nor
cast a bank [i.e. nor build a siege mound] against it. 33 By the way
that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into
this city [i.e. into Jerusalem], saith the LORD. 34 For I will defend
this city, to save it, for mine own sake, and for my servant
David’s sake. 35 And it came to pass that night, that the angel of
the LORD went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an
hundred fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early
in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses. 36 So
Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and
dwelt at Nineveh.

Hosea 1:8 Now when she had weaned Loruhamah, she conceived, and
bare a son.

Hosea 1:9 Then said God, Call his name Loammi: for ye are not my
people, and I will not be your God.

1:9 – (RSB) Lo-ammi means “not my people.” This child symbolized
the rejection of Israel, who, at Sinai, had covenanted to be God’s
people (Ex. 19:1-8).

Exodus 19:1-8 – 1 In the third month, when the children of Israel
were gone forth out of the land of Egypt, the same day came they
into the wilderness of Sinai. 2 For they were departed from
Rephidim, and were come to the desert of Sinai, and had pitched
in the wilderness; and there Israel camped before the mount. 3
And Moses went up unto God, and the LORD called unto him out
of the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of
Jacob, and tell the children of Israel; 4 Ye have seen what I did
unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you [i.e. carried you] on
eagles’ wings, and brought you unto myself. 5 Now therefore, if
ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant [i.e. keep the
law], then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all
people: for all the earth is mine: 6 And ye shall be unto me a
kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words
which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel. 7 And Moses
came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before their
faces all these words which the LORD commanded him. 8 And all
the people answered together, and said, All that the LORD hath
spoken we will do. And Moses returned the words of the people
unto the LORD.