Agere Sequitur Esse

Hosea

Hosea In The Highest

Notes.. .

. ..Introduction. By Hosea to illustrate God’s love for His sinful people. People include Hosea, Gomer, and their children. Places include the northern kingdom, Israel, and Samaria, and Ephraim.
. ..Themes. The Nation’s Sin, God’s Judgement, God Loves, and Restoration.
. ..Outline. “Why does God continue to put up with an unfaithful people? Unfaithfulness was Israel’s besetting sin” (William Seay 2019, L12 12:55–13:04).
. ..Application. “God’s people are lured by these local gods and material greed to turn away from the true and living God. Social injustice, immorality, and political intrigue marred modern life and need to be addressed. Repentant sinners need to know that God’s forgiveness, love and blessing, are available to them” (Seay 2019, L12 23:13–23:39).
. ..Timeline. Written in 715 about events from 753 to 715.

Introduction. 10:05 – The purpose is to illustrate God’s love for His sinful people. The author is Hosea. The word ‘Hosea’ itself means salvation. The key people are Hosea, Gomer, and their children. The key places are the northern kingdom, which is Israel, Samaria, and Ephraim.

Themes. 10:45 – There are four theological themes. (i) The Nation’s Sin. Just as Hosea’s wife, Gomer, was unfaithful to him, the nation of Israel had been unfaithful to God. Israel’s idolatry was like adultery. They sought illicit relationships with Assyria and Egypt to give them military might, and they mixed Baal worship with that of God. (ii) God’s Judgement. Hosea was solemnly warning Judah against following Israel’s example. Because Judah broke the covenant turning away from God and forgot her maker, Judah experienced a devastating invasion ending in exile. Sin does have terrible consequences.(iii) God Loves. Just as Hosea went after his unfaithful wife to bring her back so the Lord pursues us with His love. His love is tender, loyal, unchanging, and undying. No matter what, God still loves us. (iv) Restoration. Although God will discipline His people for sin, He encourages and restores those who have repented. True repentance opens the way to a new beginning. God forgives and restores.

Outline. 12:50 – Why does God continue to put up with an unfaithful people? Unfaithfulness was Israel’s besetting sin. The people of the land had fallen from the tempting promise of Baal cult. Their attraction to the fertility life associated with Baal worship began even before they occupied the land of Canaan. The high places dedicated to the local Baals continued to rule Israel throughout their history. This fact was especially true in the days of Hosea. The appeal of Baal worship to the base lust of sexual immorality for greed or gain may explain eager involvement in it but then again the lure of Baal worship may have been interpreted as His promise of reward in the form of fertile flocks and fields, and families. Perhaps the Israelites observed the farming methods of the original inhabitants of Canaan, especially their rituals of seeking productivity for their herds and crops through magic. Influenced by their successful neighbors, Israelites flocked to Baal’s shrines and engaged in the immoral fertility rites. They left believing Baal would give them needed rain, bountiful harvest, productive herds, and many children. In so doing, they turned away from their covenant God. They committed spiritual adultery pursuing pagan deities as lovers in the place of God.

How would a faithful God react to such an unfaithful people? What could a faithless people expect from a loving God? Could God’s covenant election be detoured or destroyed by the peoples’ sin? There were Hosea’s questions. Hosea’s ministry as prophet to Israel, the breakaway northern kingdom, came towards to the close of an era of peace and prosperity for Israel and Judah. Both nations had trouble handling the good times in faithfulness. Hosea witnessed a rapid deterioration of Israel’s society, religion, and politics. He had the dubious honor of preaching God’s Word to a nation sick unto death. Amos had announced the end of Israel and Hosea watched the fulfillment of his word. Apparently, Hosea was a native of Israel. At least that relationship seems to be indicated by his personal identification with the plight of the people and by his intimate knowledge of their moral, religious, and political activities.

God did more than just tell Hosea to preach. The Lord commended Hosea to take an adulterous wife and children of unfaithfulness. By this action, the prophet symbolized in his family life the nation’s life. The land was guilty of the violence of adultery in departing from the Lord. Later, God commended the prophet to go show His love to his wife again though she had turned to other lovers. The prophets faithful obedience boldly symbolized the fact that the Lord loves the Israelites though they turned to other gods. Hosea’s relationship to his family was a miniature of God’s relationship to Israel. Hosea’s domestic problems and his prophetic ministry became tools in God’s hands aimed at turning Israel away from Baalism and back to God. The prophet magnified the love of God as the His initiating force in His relationship with Israel. He threatened God’s judgement upon unfaithful people, priests, and prophets. He promised a new beginning if only they would turn back to God. He said that God would heal their waywardness and love them freely and be like the dew to them. Hosea hoped to negate the false teachings of the Baal cult and lead Israel to trust God alone for their life and prosperity. Thus, the nation might avert the disaster and doom Hosea had announced.

The love of God is a doctrinal foundation for the book of Hosea. The book contains strong warning of God’s rebellious unfaithful people. At the same time, it contains promises of forgiveness, hope, and blessing for those who repent. God’s love is both the basis for warnings to the unfaithful and promise to the repentant. From that base, the author presents us with five conclusions: (i) God’s love prompts Him to enter into covenant relationship with His people. (ii) God’s love for His people is consistent in spite of their unfaithfulness. (iii) God’s love leads Him to discipline and judge His unfaithful people. (iv) God’s love for his people causes Him to expect His people to love Him consistently. (v) Genuine repentance on the part of God’s people will result in divine forgiveness, love, and blessing. God initiated a relationship with Israel based on love. He chose them to be His people. Now, Israel was young and inexperienced as a nation, but they were also slaves in Egypt when God chose them to be His people and gave them His covenant. God’s care was constant and tender like that of a father for his son. God’s steady hand was upon a nation that began to grow and develop. His love sustained them through hard and trying times of struggle to establish themselves in the land God gave them. God’s love remained consistent in the face of Israel’s repeated lapses and her love for God. The nation fell into the trap of Baal worship even before they entered the promised land. The fertility rites associated with the worship of Baal deities repeatedly lured Israel away from God. Hosea showed them four names that made them waling sermons expressing Israel’s deteriorating relationship to God. God’s love for faithless Israel was a model for Hosea to go and love His unfaithful wife.

God’s love is tender but is not weak. In love, God disciplined His wayward wife, Israel. Election and covenant did not protect an unfaithful people from discipline and judgement. Through judgement upon a nation, He deprived them of a king, sacrifices, and of normal means of seeking God. Punishment was not aimed at the nation’s destruction but at their future repentance and restoration to God.

What God wanted from His people was not more-and-more offerings, more elaborate rituals of worship, but more consistency in their love. His controversy with the nation was over the absence of expected faithfulness, loyal love, and knowledge of God. The whole nation failed to live by the covenant principles God had established. Priests and prophets failed to fulfill their calling and the people plunged deeper-and-deeper into their sin. Social injustice, immorality, and political anarchy all revealed Israel’s lack of loyal love. Their loyal love was like a morning cloud and like the dew that goes away early. God wanted their love to be as faithful as His. Under the heavy hand of God’s judgement, the nation would fall.

Still, God’s love for His people offered forgiveness, love, and blessing, if the nation would repent. God promised a repentant people that He would heal their backsliding, love them freely, and be like the dew to them. A faithful God would love anew a faithful people who responded to His loving discipline.

Application. 22:55 – The Word of the Lord that came to Hosea in approximately the 8th century is relevant to the successful church in the 20th century. God’s people are lured by these local gods and material greed to turn away from the true and living God. Social injustice, immorality, and political intrigue marred modern life and need to be addressed. Repentant sinners need to know that God’s forgiveness, love and blessing, are available to them.

The church should learn unfolding lessons from Hosea. God’s judgement comes upon His people when they turn away from His to seek pagan gods and to devote themselves to material prosperity. God disciplines His people to turn them away from false gods and goals and return to Himself. God opens a door of hope out of the valley of trouble. God loves His people even when they turn to other gods. God has ways of calling His unfaithful people to account for their infidelity. God’s ministers are not immune to judgement when they lead God’s people astray and engage in the same sin as the people. Immorality and drunkenness take away the ability to think straight and make good moral decisions. Large offerings and elaborate rituals are not acceptable substitutes for loyal love. The holy God has refrained from expressing his wrath by His overpowering compassion. Finally, when God’s people repent, they can expect God to forgive, love, and bless them.

Timeline. 25:25 – The book of Hosea was written about c. 715 BC but what Hosea was doing was writing about events that had already taken place from c. 753 BC to c. 715 BC.

Ref.

Seay, William. 2019. Old Testament Theology [MP3]. Andersonville Theological Seminary (ATS). Camilla, GA: ATS