Hosea: Beyond the textbook answer

Many of you who read my blog (if there are enough people to constitute saying "many") know the Bible fairly well. With that, you have probably read through the Bible, and read some material that introduces you to the main themes in each biblical book.

Hosea is typically described as the prophet who married the prostitute. The major lesson is always condensed into a sentence or two like this intro from the Zondervan Handbook to the Bible:

"Hosea is a book about love, God's love and human love. It is also about human responsibility, about the choices for or against God that Israel had to make, and that we too have to make. Wrong choices have consequences for our lives" (page 486).

I do agree that love is a theme within Hosea, and responsibility is stressed as well. However, there is so much more in the book of Hosea than these two themes. In fact, I think the major theme of Hosea could be better summed up in one major word: gospel.

Chapters 1-3 use the example of Hosea and his wife to display the relationship between God and Israel. The remaining 11 chapters are much more typical prophetic writing, and all of it sounds like the truth of the full gospel. Just listen to these passages from Hosea:

"I will punish her for the days she burned incense to the Baals; she decked herself with rings and jewelry, and went after her lovers, but me she forgot." (2:13)

"Therefore, I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her...There she will sing as in the days of her youth, as in the days she campe up out of Egypt. In that days, declares the Lord, you will call me 'my husband'; you will no longer call me 'my master.'" (2:14-16)

"In that day I will make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field and the birds of the air and the creatures that move along the ground. Bow and sword and battle I will abolish from the land, so that all may lie down in safety. I will betroth you to me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in love and compassion. I will betroth you in faithfulness, and you will acknowledge the Lord." (2:18-20)

"Come, let us return to the Lord. He has torn us to pieces but he will heal us; he has injured us but he will bind up our wounds. After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will restore us that we may live in his presence. Let us acknowledge the Lord; let us press on to acknowledge him. As surely as the sun rises, he will appear; he will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth." (6:1-3)

"How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel? How can I treat you like Admah? How can I make you like Zeboiim? My heart is changed within me; all my compassion is aroused. I will not carry out my fierce anger, nor will I turn and devastate Ephraim. For I am God, and not man--the Holy One among you. I will not come in wrath. They will follow the Lord; he will roar like a lion. When he roars, his children will come trembling form the west. They will come trembling like birds from Egypt. like doves from Assyria. I will settle them in their homes, declares the Lord" (11:8-11)


This is just a small illustration. The entire message is that Israel (and in a larger sense humankind) has turned away from God; we have sinned. But though God is angry, God would not come in wrath. He would not totally destroy his people Israel just like he wouldn't destroy his earth entirely in Genesis 6. Instead, he came with compassion. he came with love. He came with a way that made it possible for us to "dwell in his presence."

He came as the man Jesus Christ. This entire book is a shadow of the truth to be found in Christ. Let us never accept anything less of this book. It is not just some beautiful poem. It is not just an Old covenant example of God's love. This is a proclamation of the New covenant on its way!

Let us treasure the truth found in Jesus always, and let us proclaim it as gospel (good news)!

Grace and Peace