Hosea was a prophet from the Northern Kingdom who was commissioned by God to prophesy to said kingdom (Hos. 4:17; 6:4). Hosea’s work is peculiar in many ways, but perhaps the feature that stands out the most is the comparative use of Hosea’s personal life as it typifies God’s relationship with the nation of Israel. Some have called Hosea the prophet with the broken heart. Consider God’s words through the prophet: “How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel? … My heart churns within Me; My sympathy is stirred” (Hos. 11:8). Hosea 1:2 records God’s instructions to Hosea, “when the Lord began to speak by Hosea,” that the prophet was to “Go, take for yourself a wife of harlotry and children of harlotry.” The verse explains the reason for this unusual instruction: “For the land has committed great harlotry by departing from the Lord.” Given the instruction and the motivation for the instruction, we will divide the book into two sections: The metaphoric use of Hosea’s marriage (Chapters 1-3), and Israel’s similar unfaithfulness to God (Chapters 4-14).
The very personal details of Hosea’s life are presented in the first three chapters as an object lesson of the message that he was to proclaim against Israel. It would be easy to dwell on the perplexing nature of this marriage arrangement. However, it must be remembered that the recounting of the details of this marriage is for the express purpose of showing the unfaithfulness of Israel to God. The text says that God instructed Hosea to take a wife and children of harlotry. While it could be the case that Gomer, Hosea’s wife, was already involved in harlotry, it could very likely be the case that she was simply from a background that involved harlotry. It could also be the case that this description anticipates what would happen after they are married. The fact that the children are called “children of harlotry” when they have not even been born lends credence to these anticipatory descriptions. Again, the marriage, the children, the unfaithfulness of Gomer, and the persistent loving hope of Hosea toward his wife are highlighted to show Israel how she had dealt treacherously with God. The birth of and naming of each child demonstrates the overriding point of giving the personal details. The first child, a son, was named Jezreel, meaning God will scatter, which was to serve as a promise of God’s judgment against the ruling house in Israel (Hos. 1:4-5). The second child, a daughter, was named Lo-Ruhamah, indicating God would show no mercy toward Israel. The third child, Lo-Ammi, indicating that Israel was not God’s people and that He would not be their God. This, of course, stands in stark contrast to the exodus promise, “I will take you as My people, and I will be your God. Then you shall know that I am the Lord your God who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.”
It seems important to point out the difference between the language describing the birth of the first child versus the language used regarding the subsequent children. Regarding the first child, the text says, “she conceived and bore him a son” whereas, for the second and third children the text just says “she conceived again and bore a daughter…she conceived and bore a son” without indicating that the last two children were Hosea’s (Hos. 1:6, 8). Perhaps a relationship that was initially characterized by faithfulness later turned to infidelity. This certainly would fit the typification of Israel who started out as faithful to God but later turned to harlotry.
In chapter two the unfaithfulness of Gomer and the unfaithfulness of the people of Israel are metaphorically interwoven to show the rejection of an unfaithful partner (Hosea 2:2, 7, 5, 13). In chapters two and three we see both brides, Israel and Gomer, being taken back in a demonstration of unfailing, merciful love (Hos. 2:14-23, 3:1-3). Of course, the exile of Israel would stand between her rejection and her return to God (Hos. 3:4-5).
The remaining eleven chapters highlight the particulars regarding Israel’s unfaithfulness. One of the highlights is the glaring lack of knowledge among the people. God says, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge” (Hos. 4:6). They were guilty of shallowness and insincerity: “…your faithfulness is like a morning cloud, and like the early dew it goes away” (Hos. 6:4). They were guilty of foolishly turning to other nations to defend against Divine judgment (Hos. 7:11). The prophet reminds that even in the face of deserved judgment and punishment, God’s love and compassion never cease to amaze (Hos. 11:1-4; 11:8-11). However, God would not ignore Israel’s infidelity, and He will not tolerate ours.