INTRODUCTORY MATTERS PAPER: MINOR PROPHETS
INTRODUCTORY MATTERS PAPER: MINOR PROPHETS
The book of Hosea was written by prophet Hosea whose prophecy dates back in days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah Kings of Judah and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel (Hosea 1:1). His service extends from about 770 to 725 B.C. Hosea ends his active participation in his service few years before Assyria captures the northern kingdom in 722 B.C. the recipients in these books are the Israelites. The objectives of the book were to bring Israel and Judah to repentance in God, to reveal the unfaithfulness of the nation toward their covenant with God and to indict the Israel nation of its lack of knowledge, loyal love, and unfaithfulness. This paper is going to discuss the place of the book of Hosea in the canon, the contribution to the flow of the narrative, major themes and application of the contents of the book in the contemporary society.
The book of Hosea is among the prophetic books of the Minor Prophets which include: Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, and Zechariah. People recognize and believe Hosea has the first prophet to use marriage as a metaphor of the agreement between Israel and God, which later influences prophets like Jeremiah. In the list of the first writing prophets Hosea’s name is among them. Also, the last chapter of the book of Hosea has a format similar to wisdom literature.
He was the first to emphasize the moral size of God’s nature by elevating the religion of Israel to the altitude of ethical monotheism. Israel unfaithfulness, which was above all warnings, pushed God to punish the people because of His holiness. According to Hosea, he viewed adultery as the chief sin, of which Israel, the unfaithful wife, has been guilty against her loving husband, God. Despite this, he sets the unconditional love of God, who, in spite of adultery, does not cast Israel away forever, but takes His people unto Himself again after the judgment.
Major Themes
The theological themes are mostly seen in the life of Hosea and that of the Israelites. Hosea lived in the miserable periods of the northern kingdom. The book has two divisions: the first three chapters (Hosea 1-3) give an overview of Hosea's life. God gives the command to marry a harlot, Gomer, who then conceives three children for Hosea, each of the children is a representation of God’s ominous message. The firstborn son was Jezreel meaning “God scatters” this name carryings the message of retribution to the king informing them the hour of punishment has come( Halley’s Bible Handbook, note on Hosea 1-3). The second child was named Lo-Ruhamah (Hosea 1:6) it implies “Not having obtained mercy” the message in it is the Israelites had turned their trust in other gods. Therefore, God is angered and let Israel face the repercussions of their unfaithfulness. Lo-Ammi was the name of the last child meaning “not my people” (1:9). The name indicates the broken marriage covenant that is the Israelites had forsaken Him, but he still loves them.
In wanting to help reform their mother, the children are asked to send their mother out. God orders Hosea to bring her back and to continue loving her but keep her in isolation for a while (Hosea 3). This represent the relationship between God and the Israelites. The Israelites turn away from God and were worshipping idols and were adulterous like Hosea's wife, Gomer. However, God still loves his covenant people and wants to give them a second chance like Hosea did to Gomer. The marriage of Hosea and Gomer brings in the theme of marriage.
The second part of the book (Hosea 4-14) brings in another theme, violation of covenant and need of repentance. Hosea identifies the failure to acknowledge God (Hosea 4:1; 6; 8: 2-3; 13:4) as the basis of Israelites problem and also Israelite's violation of its relationship with God. Nevertheless, the promise is that one day Israelites will be aware of their sins and sincerely return to God, and He will restore and bless them (Eerdmans dictionary of the Bible, Theology in Hosea). Also in this part, God is angered by the priests failed to teach right from wrong. For instance, they practiced human sacrifice and did not preach against human sacrifice and worship of Baal-a Canaanite god.
Application of the Book in Today’s Life
The book of Hosea gives an assurance of God’s boundless and unconditional love for His people. It also gives the picture of how God is angered and dishonored by the ways and behaviors of His children. God delivers the Israelites from being slaves in Egypt, He guides, protects, sustain and provides or them in the wilderness plus he gives them the land of Cannan. The Lord gives them everything, but later the Israelites break the covenant between them by falling into the Canaanites ways. They practice human sacrifice, idolatry and adultery and they do not have knowledge about God.
How can a child who is showered with lots of love, mercy, and grace disrespect his father so much? Christians of today have done just for many centuries. As the Israelites had forsaken God, this shows the same reflection of Christians of today. Most Christians are diving and rolling into sin each and every day. For instance, lying, killing, adultery, false witnessing, using God’s name in vain, homosexuality, corruption, blasphemy and so much more. The major lesson we learn from Hosea is that God is a God of a second chance. With this knowledge in mind, Christians should remember how much God has done for them. This helps them to avoid abandoning the One, who gives eternal life in glory instead of hell where most deserve. Hosea has illustrated the issue of repentance and God’s deliverance. If Christians make mistakes, have a sorrowful heart and a promise of repentance then God will again show us His never-ending love to us (1 John 1:9).
There are various issues in the society today that have moved a lot of people away from God. Though the Bible was written a long time ago, it has relevance to the contemporary society. The book of Hosea shows that people should go back to God and avoid sinning and forsaking God. People should repent and return to God because no matter how the magnitude of our mistakes, God is willing to forgive us and provide us with another chance.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Dearman, J. Andrew. The Book of Hosea. Vol. 29. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2010.
Freedman, David Noel, Allen C. Myers, and Astrid B. Beck. Eerdmans dictionary of the Bible. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2000.
Halley, Henry H. Halley's Bible Handbook with the New International Version. Harper Collins, 2000.
