The book of Hosea is a collection of prophetic messages delivered by the prophet Hosea and narrative descriptions of Hosea’s marriage and the birth of his children (1:2-2:1; 3:1-5). Most of Hosea’s messages are announcements of God’s anger with Israel (the northern of the two Israelite kingdoms) and God’s impending judgment on these people. Hosea’s messages focus on Israel’s unfaithfulness to the Lord. This lack of faithfulness is seen in Israel’s worship of other gods (alongside the Lord). The religious leaders of the people are singled out by Hosea for condemnation. Their job was to lead the people in faithfulness, but they actually did the opposite. The prophet also criticizes the political leaders of the nation for forming covenants with Egypt and Assyria, rather than relying on the Lord. The book also includes messages of hope, most notably the tender image of God as the parent who taught the child Israel to walk and will not, in the end, abandon the nation.

The core of Hosea’s soul and writings can be traced back to the covenant between Yahweh and Israel in the days of Moses. Hosea even stresses the two outstanding qualities of this covenant: bonding in love and sturdy trustworthiness. These are the two words that Yahweh pronounced with dramatic compassion as Moses stood atop Mount Sinai with the two stone tablets of the law in his arms (Exod 34:6–9). Through the heartrending experience of his broken and healed marriage, Hosea transforms the somewhat legal framework of the Mosaic covenant into the intimately personal and loving contract of marriage. While the covenant enables Hosea to suffuse the note of compassion, it also provides a straightforward way to brush aside flimsy excuses and to call sin by its honest name — swearing, lying, murder, stealing, and adultery.

Mosaic traditions are not only present in an impressive way, but ancient customs and inspired attitudes (about five hundred years old by now) were seen as a living, motivating force. Unlike Amos, who talked about the Exodus as a point of comparison with the present moment (see Amos 2:9–12; 3:1–2; 9:7), Hosea sees it happening right now. Israel’s sins bring the people back to Egypt (8:13; 9:3; 11:5), not geographically, because they either remained in the Holy Land or were taken eastward into exile; nor politically, because Egypt pretended to be a friendly state and a place of asylum; but typologically, because Egypt was a symbol or type of sin and bondage. In this regard we note the frequent use of the word “now” in Hosea’s preaching (4:16; 5:3, 7; 7:2; 8:8).

In the New Testament, Jesus teaches that the two greatest commandments are to love the Lord and to love the neighbor. Hosea’s preaching is consistent with this, in that Hosea condemned the people of Israel for both violating the first great commandment (to love God and have no other gods than the Lord) and the second great commandment (to love the neighbor and to refrain from evil). But Hosea’s message also asserts that there is an inseparable connection between these two commandments. Hosea taught that to love God is to love the neighbor and to refrain from doing evil. He also proclaimed that the love of gods other than the Lord led people to commit acts of injustice and oppression.

Yet, unlike the other eighth-century prophets, Hosea did not emphasize the word “justice” in his preaching as much as he did the “knowledge” or “understanding” of God (4:1-11). The term “knowledge” extends beyond merely a sense of intellectual acknowledgement to include the sense of “obedience” and even “lifestyle.” One cannot know God and disobey God’s laws. If one knows God, then one’s entire life and being are changed.

One final aspect of Hosea’s theology cannot be passed over. Hosea could not refer to God simply and generally as God; at least forty-five times he uses the sacred name Yahweh, and if he refers to God as Elohim or El, it is almost always as “your God” or “my God” (2:25; 3:5; 4:6; 12).

Image credit: The Prophet Hosea |  Transfiguration church, Kizhi monastery, Karelia, north Russia | PD-US