Why did god tell hosea to marry a prostitute hosea 1. God uses hoseas story to teach israel about how he is faithful even when they are faithless. The lord has yoked himself to israel in the most intimate way, likened to the most. Bestselling author francine rivers skillfully retells the biblical love story of gomer and hosea in a tale set. Gomer gomer was the wife of the prophet hosea 8th century bc, mentioned in the hebrew bibles book of hosea. A study of hosea by looking at the kings listed in hosea 1. The days of hosea were a time of peace and prosperity for israel. He must have moved to judah and written his book before that event. The incredible scandal of gods perfect love found in hosea. Love your wife again, your wife whos in bed with her latest boyfriend, your cheating wife. This is the word of god you are studying and must be properly divided as encouraged in 2 timothy chp 2 vs 15. The lord used hosea and gomers relationship as an object lesson to show how israel had sinned against him by following other gods and how god remains faithful even when his people dont. How does the theme of prostitution relate to the abjection of the woman as the other, and the fantasy of sexual ecstasy, precisely because she escapes patriarchal order. Gomer in the bible was the unfaithful wife of hosea the prophet.
The book of hosea contains some verses that deal with the southern kingdom, judah. This reading of hosea explores the book from a feminist, psychoanalytical and poetic perspective. However, the people had become very materialist and immoral. It is the story of hosea and his unfaithful wife, gomer, who illustrate gods relationship with faithless israel. The contents of the book may be summarized as follows. Redeeming love by francine rivers is a true love story based on. Christian husbands are commanded to love their wives as christ loved the church eph. Every christian needs to read this book and we should ask. He is well placed to take on the book of hosea, having written numerous works on the ot and the prophets. The first verse of this chapter does indeed refer to the lord jesus per matthew chp 2 vs 15.
This name refers to a valley in which much blood had been shed in israels history, especially by the kings of the northern kingdom see 1 kings 21 and 2 kings 9. Love her the way i, god, love the israelite people, even as they flirt and party with every god that takes their fancy. Hosea, a prophet with an unfaithful wife hosea one in our bible the books of hosea through malachi are called minor prophets. A retelling of the biblical love story of gomer and hosea, set against the romantic backdrop of the california gold rush. Prason shared this presentation in a bible study for a group of scripture thirsty souls. Love divine is a clear, honest, panoramic treatment of the book of hosea, poignantly showing how hosea and gomers treatment of each other reflected god and israels treatment of each other. More than half of them deal with the sin of idolatry. Hosea began the old testament tradition of describing the relation between the lord and israel in terms of marriage e. This unfaithful behavior will lead to israels destruction by assyria, but gods love will have the last word. According to the traditional order of most hebrew bibles, it is the first of the twelve minor prophets set around the fall of the northern kingdom of israel, the book of hosea denounces the worship of gods other than jehovah, metaphorically comparing israels abandonment of jehovah to a. Hosea s wife, gomer, finds herself in the ash heap of lesser loves and hopes deferred. Scholars consider these passages to be secondary, that is, additions by a later scribe. Adapted from the book of hosea in the bible, we journey with gomer, a harlot lost in her sin until hosea, a prophet of god, offers to. The opening surprise of the book is that god initiated hoseas marriage to this harlot 1.
The 2nd chapter of the book describes a divorce between hosea and gomer, which is symbolic of the end of the covenant between god and the northern kingdom. Information and translations of book of hosea in the most comprehensive dictionary definitions resource on the web. He was a contemporary of amos in israel, and of isaiah and micah in judah. We do well to recall the story, especially given the continue reading the story of hosea and what it teaches about god and holy matrimony. Hosea gos on to tell gomer, you shall stay with me for many days. The nook book ebook of the redeeming love by francine rivers at. How are people destroyed from a lack of knowledge hosea 4.
We are currently reading from the book of the prophet hosea at daily mass. This novel is biblically accurate and spiritually profound. As a result of these additions the message, originally meant for the north, became applicable in later times to the south as well. The story of the prophet hoseas troubled marriage is a powerful testimony to two things. This retelling of the biblical story of gomer and hosea set during the time of the california. This book stands first in order among the minor prophets. The unique contribution of hosea is the extended allegory of marriage given in chapters. Hosea can be a challenging book, but when seen through gospel lenses, the books relevance to christians today becomes quite clear. If pharaoh could have read the book of hosea, he would have known that the lord was a sovereign god chapters. The back and forth movement from doom to salvation is typical of the book of hosea. Hosea revealed little about his background, though his book of prophecy offers a few glimpses into his life. So i bought gomer for six ounces of silver and about ten bushels of barley.
They practice deceit, thieves break into houses, bandits rob in the streets. Hoseas primary audience was ephraim another name for the northern kingdom, israel, which is mentioned 35 times in the book. The book begins powerfully with the words, the beginning of. The book of hosea is a book of the jewish hebrew bible, known to christians as the old testament, written by hosea. The story of gomer has been performed across the nation, reaching thousands of people with the message of gods faithfulness and love. Hosea needs to buy back his own wife, who she belongs to him. Overview of the book of hosea reformed answers to bible. Hosea 7 whenever i would heal israel, the sins of ephraim are exposed and the crimes of samaria revealed. They were classified as minor because of the short length of each book. Though many were deaf to hoseas preaching, even the dullest could see his grief, sympathize with his sorrow, and wonder at his persistent love. Hosea, theology of bakers evangelical dictionary of. When moses asked pharaoh to let my people go, pharaoh responded, who is the lord that i should obey his voice to let israel go. Through the book of hosea, mike reveals a god who doesnt stand at a distance in an emotional vacuum, judging the world by pulling the strings of international events.
Francine rivers skillfully retells the biblical love story of gomer and hosea as a tale set against the romantic backdrop of the california. The global message of hosea hosea in redemptive history. Rather, god is so madly in love with his people, he cannot help but remove all that hinders. Learning from hosea and gomer part 1 persistent love. The book of hosea is a deeply personal and passionate love story, yet its a difficult story. The old testament in the book of hosea 55 vious phrases causes us to suspect that the genesis narrative is the source for this more problematic phrase. In the latter context, whom do you believe gomers three children represent. Barrett excels in unfolding his views logically on solid exegetical, hermeneutical, and theological grounds. The book of hosea is the first of the minor prophets and the twentyeighth book in the bible. However, all of scripture is somewhat of a parable, with applicability to all times and generations. In this volume he spends 70 pages on introductory matters. Hosea s role in the bible hoseas book is the first of the minor prophetsthe last 12 books of the old testament.
These messages came in visions, oracles, dreams, parables, and the like. The scope of his predictions appears to be, to detect, reprove, and convince the jewish nation in general, and the israelites in particular, of their many sins, particularly their idolatry. The sophistication of the city based canaanite farmers who surrounded them, the fertility of their flocks and fields apparently elicited from the gods and goddesses of fertility attracted the israelite. Jerome specified that one of the divisions of the jews sacred books was the book of the twelve prophets, which evidently included the book of hosea to fill out the number 12. The book of hosea depicts gods relationship with his people through a metaphor that occurs throughout the bible, though nowhere as strongly and pervasively as in hosea.
Adapted from the book of hosea in the bible, we journey with gomer, a harlot lost in her sin until hosea, a prophet of god, offers to marry her and redeem her life from darkness. Rand for the first time a book has appeared that provides a complete exposition of the writings of the prophet hosea the best known of the minor prophets. Hosea continues to pursueat times gomer would return to the safety and comfort of hosea but would leave him again. I heard about a young couple who had only been married three years. The prophets name means salvation, likely a reference to hoseas position in israel as a beacon of hope to those who would repent and turn to god because of his message. And sexual immorality as we know is a sin against our. This is true even though the israelites worship other gods. Where is the prophet situated in the dialectic of rage and desire that both seduces and. The bible hosea, first of the minor prophetic books.
Hosea, an oldtestament prophet, preached his own life message using his marriage as the sermon illustration. God is a jealous husband and his people are his bride. Set in california in the 1950s during the gold rush, sarah. Hosea is the first and the longest of the group of books we call the minor prophets. Chapter 5 guilt of the religious and political leaders. Background it all began with a marriage, begins david hubbard in his commentary on the book of hosea p. This is also the root word for jesus hebrew name, yeshua salvation and for isaiah. Hosea is supposed to have been of the kingdom of israel. The sin of unfaithfulness it is a foolish thing to presume that god does not notice our unfaithfulness. As we begin to look at the book of hosea, we discover hosea was a prophet who would bring salvation to israel. The book of hosea stands first in the order of the socalled minor prophets in common english bibles, as well as in the ancient hebrew and septuagint texts. To explain that the turmoil of the northern kingdom was gods just judgment leading to exile and to assure gods people that a great restoration would take place after the exile. Jesus comes to initiate the new covenant, which is like the new betrothal prophesied in hosea 2.
These were the closing years of israels history, but hosea does not record the fall to assyria in 722 b. But you must keep on loving her the way the lord loves the people of israel. This book quotes a lot of scripture and the story itself is based on the bible story of hosea and gomer. Hosea, theology of foundational to hoseas message and teaching about god are his marriage to gomer and her departure after the birth of three children. So he began his search, driven by that indestructible divine love, love that bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things, love that never ends. Hosea and gomers story is the story of god and israel. Mar 18, 2020 book of hosea bible survey what are the major prophets and minor prophets. More than any other of the old testament prophets, hoseas personal life and experiences illustrate his prophetic message. The story is inspired by the book of hosea from the. The minor prophetic books are no less important than the others, but get their names because of their length they are all shorter than the other prophetic books. The book records that hosea and his wife, gomer, had a son and god commanded that the son be named jezreel. Hosea can be a challenging book, but when seen through gospel lenses, the book s relevance to christians today becomes quite clear. And likewise, the book surely does begin with a marriage. This was a good group study as it wasnt overly exegetical, but still thoroughly biblical and theological in nature.
According to the traditional order of most hebrew bibles, it is the first of the twelve minor prophets. Lesson 12 sabbath school net bible study and discussion. Set around the fall of the northern kingdom of israel, the book of hosea denounces the worship of gods other than yahweh. Hosea 3 msg in time theyll come back bible gateway. Based on the book of hosea from the bible, where god told the prophet, hosea to marry the prostitute, gomer go marry a prostitute 4. Gomer, wife of the prophet hosea hosea idiom ingenuity. While a few commentators believe this section to be entirely symbolic, most believe that the events described did occur. As an account full of harsh judgment unfolds, we find in its midst a rare and pure gem. May 17, 2010 this is a presentation on the book of hosea in the bible. However, hosea ended this prophecy with the declaration that god will one day renew the covenant, and will take israel back in love and in the 3rd chapter, at gods command, hosea sought. This retelling of the biblical story of gomer and hosea set during the time of the. He prophesied in judah, during and following the assyrian captivity of the northern kingdom an era in which the southern kingdom was both greatly prosperous and very corrupt.
After establishing the historical and theological backdrop for hosea, barrett focuses on the connection between hoseas marriage to gomer and the lords marriage to his people. The book is compelling in its christcenteredness and is a masterpiece in expounding god. And the lord said to hosea, go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms. I read redeeming love based on my best friends constant suggestion to do so. The lord has yoked himself to israel in the most intimate way, likened to the most profound of human relationships.
Book recommendations, author interviews, editors picks, and more. All the vital truths pertaining to gods plan concerning his kingdom and its future greatness are presented in full detail in study in hosea. Hosea buys gomer back the lord said to me, go, show your love to your wife again. Israel is the lords bride, but israel has instead joined itself to baal, the false god worshiped in syriapalestine. Imagery used in hosea throughout the book god made hosea to use imagery to explain the message of the status of israel.
Hosea 7 niv bible whenever i would heal israel, the. Redeeming love, by francine rivers is a historical romance novel set in the 1850s gold rush in california. In the book of hosea, god calls the prophet hosea to be loving and faithful to a faithless wife. Dec 06, 2008 a look at the theology of hosea should aid in this endeavorfor there we find a god whose relationship with israel is one of husband and lover who remains faithful in spite of his partners adultery. Israel is the lords bride, but israel has instead joined itself to. She has had other lovers and has been unfaithful to you. Hosea, a novel kindle edition by christenson, larry. Hosea utters approximately 150 statements concerning the sins of israel. Jan 07, 2014 most agree that the book of hosea is largely allegorical and that hosea represents god, while gomer represents unfaithful israel. The book of hosea new international commentary on the old. In brief, the traditional definitions of impassibility and immutability simply refuse to be upheld by the book of hosea.
Book of hosea overview insight for living ministries. When god had a message for the people, he gave his message through the prophets. Overview of the book of hosea third millennium ministries. Dearman is a texas based professor of old testament who has also penned a commentary on jeremiahlamentations nivac, 2002. Do you think it was fair for god to give hosea this task. It is difficult, however, to separate historical facts about the couples domestic problems from the. Pay attention, house of israel, household of the king, give ear. Literary structure chiasmus, chiasm of book of hosea. The word of the lord that came unto hosea, the son of beeri, in the days uzziah, jotham, ahaz, and hezekiah, kings of judah, and in the days of jeroboam the son of joash, king of israel.
376 701 41 475 346 1454 550 1456 333 714 208 1446 835 546 519 88 540 1346 373 1582 1115 1065 810 838 1127 1470 694 1337 708 991 568