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Written By: God through Inspiration
Penned By: Hosea
Date Penned: BC 715 (Covering Events BC 753-715)
Overview: Hosea's Wayward Wife (c 1-3)
Theme: Hosea's Faithfulness in a Broken Relationship (c 1-3)
Message: Hosea's Wife and Children (v 1-13)
Hosea 1 Commentary
(1:1) Hosea was a prophet assigned to the Northern Kingdom of Israel. He served from 753-715 BC under the reign of Jeroboam II, the Northern Kingdom had prospered materially but had decayed spiritually. The people were greedy and had adopted the moral behavior and idolatrous religion of the surrounding Cannanites. Hosea's role was to show how the Northern Kingdom had been unfaithful to God, their "husband" and provider, and had married themselves to Baal and the gods of Canaan, He warned that unless they repented of their sin and turned back to God they were headed for destruction. Hosea spoke of God's characteristics, His Powerful Love, and Fierce Justice, and how these should affect their lives to make them return to Him. Unfortunately, the people had broken their covenant with God, and they would receive the punishments God had promised in Deuteronomy chapter 27.
(1:2) Did God really order his prophet to marry a prostitute? Some who find it difficult to believe God could make such a request will view this story as an illustration and not an historical event. Many think that this story is a historical story and does not violate any of God's laws. Hosea was not a priest and Gomer was not a prostitute at the time of marriage. It was God's will for them to get married but the Lord let Hosea know that she was not going to be faithful and how the Lord would use her sin to be an illustration to others.
(1:3) It is hard to imagine Hosea's feelings when God told him to marry a woman who would be unfaithful to him. One thing is evident that Hosea loved Gomer and was committed to her and the Lord, showing us a great example for us in love, commitment, and restoration as we depend on the Lord.
(1:4,5) Elijah had predicted that the family of Israel's King Ahab would be destroyed because of their evil but Jehu went too far in carrying out God's command. Therefore Jehu's dynasty would also be punished in Jezreel which is the very place where he carried out the massacre of Ahab's family. God's promise to put an end to Israel as an independent kingdom ("break the bow of Israel'') came true 25 years later when the Assyrians conquered the Northern Kingdom and carried the people into captivity.
(1:6) In verse 3 we read that Gomer "bear him (Hosea) a son" in verse 6-8 we learn that Gomer gave birth to 2 more children, The Lord gave the children names that refer to Israel's unfaithfulness.
(1:7) Israel and Judah had been a united kingdom under David and Solomon. After Solomon's death a civil dispute arose, and the land was divided into a Northern Kingdom (Israel, whose capital was Samaria) and a Southern Kingdom (Judah, whose capital was Jerusalem) Although Hosea spoke mainly to the Northern Kingdom, his concern, like God's, was for the entire nation of Israelites including those from the kingdom of Judah. Just as Hosea prophesied, God helped Judah because Judah had a few kings who honored him. Shortly after defeating Israel, the Assyrian emperor Sennacherib invaded Judah and besieged Jerusalem. He was driven off by an angel's powerful and dramatic intervention as outlined in Isaiah chapter 36.
(1:8) God said he would personally rescue the people of Judah from their enemies with no help from their armies or weapons. AlthoughGod asks us to do our part we should remember that he is not limited to human effort. He often chooses to work through people, but only because it is good for them. He can accomplish all his purposes without any help from us if he chooses. You are very important to God but on your own you have neither the ability to fulfill nor the power to disrupt God's plans.
(1:9) Here God is basically dissolving the covenant (Jeremiah chapter 7) The name of the third child conveys the finality of God's judgement. God's warnings recorded in Deuteronomy chapter 28 were beginning to come true. Israel was abandoning him, and in turn, he was leaving them alone and without his blessings.
(1:10) The Old Testament prophetic books sometimes used the word "Israel '' to refer to the united kingdom (north and south) and sometimes just to the Northern Kingdom . In talking about past events. Hosea usually thought of Israel as the Northern Kingdom with its capital in Samaria. But when Hosea spoke about future events relating to God's Promises of restoration, It is difficult to understand his words as applying only to the Northern Kingdom because the exiled northerners became hopelessly intermingled with their conquerors. Thus the promises of return are seen by most as either (1) conditional, the Israelites chose not to return to God and therefore were not entitled to the blessings included in the promises of restoration that are fulfilled in Jesus Christ and therefore the church (the new Israel) receives his blessings.
(1:11) Although Israel was unfaithful, God's commitment remained unchanged. This promise of a future reuniting reiterates the covenant made with Moses in Deuteronomy chapter 30 and foreshadows the prophecies of Jeremiah and Ezekiel. It is a prediction of the day when all the people of God will be united under Christ. Today all believers everywhere are God's chosen people, a nation of priests found in 1 Peter chapter 2. Just as the children's names carried significance, so did Jezreel. Before it meant "place of judgement" and now it means "God plants" a sign of a new day and new relationship between God and Israel.
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