The year was 740 B.C. The once glorious nation of Israel
under the leadership of David was no more. The grander of the united
kingdom of approximately two hundred years prior to the time of Hosea had
splintered into two rival factions. The sons of Solomon, David’s
successor, had divided Israel into the North and the South.
The North with ten of the original tribes and the South with the remaining
two would remain divided for centuries to come. It would not be until the
coming of the promised Messiah that Israel could once again unite in the
Kingdom of God. As Hosea would say, the "fir tree" would become
green again. The branches will spread and its beauty will once again be
seen.
Before that glorious "day of the Lord," however, judgment would
be experienced. The Northern tribes of Israel had fallen into spiritual
depravity. The judgment of God could no longer be delayed. The zero hour
of Israel’s doom had come.
Israel had turned its back upon its God. For two hundred years, one king
after another "did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord: he
departed not from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel
to sin." Jeroboam, the first of the kings of the Northern tribes of
Israel, set the standard of evil for each of the succeeding kings.
In the first days of Jeroboam’s reign, he became fearful that the people
of the Northern tribes would return to Jerusalem to worship. If the people
continually went to do sacrifices in the temple in Judah, he feared that
they would return unto the Lord, and then return unto the king of Judah.
In order to prevent the people returning unto the Lord, he created his own
"house of God," his own "altars," and his own
"form of worship." Although he told the people that it was for
their good ("It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem."), he
was only protecting his kingdom. He caused the people to sin.
It was into this climate that Hosea came to proclaim the word of the Lord.
Israel had degenerated into spiritual depravity. There was no truth, no
mercy, no knowledge of God among the people. Hosea proclaimed that the
people of Israel were being destroyed because they had rejected knowledge.
The lack of knowledge in the people came from false priest and false
prophets. "Like people, like priest," all were corrupt in their
religious practices. Although making sacrifices, fulfilling religious
rituals, and saying the right words, they nevertheless were unfaithful to
the God of their fathers.
Immorality ran rampant. Israel had made many altars of sin. They
sacrificed flesh for the sacrifices of God. In a religious climate of
sacrifice and rituals, they missed the heart of God. Israel would become
desolate. They would fall by the sword. Sowing to the wind, they would
reap the whirlwind.
The prophecy of Hosea was not only to be in spoken word but it was also to
be illustrated by the life of Hosea. He was to marry a woman of harlotry,
a woman that would not remain faithful to him. The children of this
marriage would be called names that illustrates the off springs of all
idolatry: Jezreel, "God scatters," Lo-ruhamah, "no
mercy," and Lo-ammi, "not my people." Hosea would come to
see Israel’s sin through the heartbreak of his own marriage. He
proclaimed the prophecy of the Lord out of his own experiences of life.
Into a world of idol worship and unbridled sex, Hosea came preaching a
message of "Return unto the Lord." 15 times in the 14 chapters
the word "return" is used. It is the central theme of the book.
Hosea can be broken up into two parts: Chapters 1-3 — the marriage of
Hosea - a beautiful analogy of God’s love to man; and Chapters 4-14 —
the sin, the judgment, and the final blessing of Israel.
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