Hosea

During the season of Lent (a season in the church year that encourages repentance and focus on the cross) my wife and I decided that we would give up our personal reading time. What I mean by that is that we have given the time we would normally spend reading novels or such things and instead use that time to read the Bible. I decided that I would start to read the minor prophets, beginning with Hosea.

I just finished Hosea and would like to post my reflections on the book. The book of Hosea was written primarily to the Northern Kingdom of Israel, though Judah makes several appearance too. Hosea is a book of pretty heavy law as he convicts the people Israel, and Judah, of their sin of faithlessness toward God. But Hosea also contains some beautiful gospel as he records the great mercy that God will have on His people.
The book opens pretty quick with a larger than life object lesson. Hosea marries a whore, whom he must constantly chase after and buy back whenever she resumes her profession. In this way Hosea demonstrates for Israel God’s mercy for His people as He has constantly come to them to buy them back from their faithlessness, which has brought them under the firm hand of an oppressor. It also points to God’s act of coming to and buying all His people, the whole world, back from their sin. Like Hosea’s wife we constantly flee away from God and sin against Him. Yet still God comes to us in His Word and reminds us of how He bought us back by the suffering and death of Jesus Christ.

Hosea and his wife also have children, who take part in this great object lesson. One of their sons is called “Not My People” since the sin of Israel has separated them from God (Hos 1:9). Their daughter is called “No Mercy” since God will show no mercy in punishing Israel for her sin. Yet God gives them the promise that on the Day of the Lord, God will show mercy on His people and that the people will once again belong to Him. Not because of anything that they have done, but because God will bind them to Him in righteousness. All of this God does for us in Jesus Christ, who gives us His righteousness and in whom we find God’s mercy for us.
Much of Hosea deals with the lack of knowledge that the people have for the Lord. God makes an accusation to the priests of Israel for their failure in their office to teach the people about God’s covenant, His promises and His work for them. Hosea makes it clear that this is what God wants from His people, rather than sacrifice and burnt offerings (Hos 6:6). So often we treat God as having His little block of time on Sunday and then the rest is for us and us alone. That is hardly God’s idea of devotion. Trust in God, strengthened by knowledge of Him which is centred on the cross, that is devotion that is pleasing to God.

There is so much in Hosea, much more than I can put here. But the prophet closes his book by declaring the great love of God for His people. God promises to heal Israel of their apostasy and be the tree that gives them their fruit. Indeed we all sin and turn away from God, but God has healed us through His Son Jesus Christ. Apart from His there is no saviour (Hos 13:4) and He will look after us and answer us (Hos 14:8). The last words of Hosea exhort everyone (seems sorta universal to me) to know and understand these things, since God’s way is always right. Yet the transgressor stumbles in them, they are an offence to him. It is the offence of the cross, that God’s justice was satisfied in Jesus Christ, that by the death of one man we have been given life.