The Relationship Between Yahweh and Israel, According to Hosea

With the possible exception of Jonah, Hosea was the only writing prophet from the Northern Kingdom (Israel). He wrote right up until the time of Israel’s exile. Hosea did address the South (Judah) in chapters four through fourteen of this book, despite the unlikeliness of him ever having preached there. Although he addressed Judah, Hosea was mainly concerned with the condition of Israel (a.k.a. “Ephraim,” mentioned thirty-two times in this book). He condemned them for their apostasy and warned of their impending disaster, which was quietly approaching. Similar to the other prophetical books of the Bible that speak of God’s judgment, there is an interwoven thread of hope and future restoration that God will bring forth due to His steadfast love and everlasting faithfulness to His children (Hos 3:4-5; 14:4-7) found in this book.

In chapter four, the people are challenged about their Godly wisdom. It lays out a case against them, exposing their guilt for the rejection of God’s Torah and prophets. It had been plainly given to them and their ancestors (cf. message of Deuteronomy). This book repeats the message heard many times before in the Old Testament (OT), which was to meditate on God’s Word day and night and gain divine knowledge (Hos 14:9; Psa 1:2; Josh 1:8; Psa 119:15, 48, 78) by having an appropriate “fear of the Lord” (Job 28:28; Psa 111:10; Prov 1:7). Throughout Hosea, God’s relationship to Israel is likened to a relationship between a husband (God) and wife (Israel). This relationship is referred to directly in the prophetical pre-exilic books of Isaiah (e.g. 54:5) and Jeremiah (e.g. 3:14, 20; 31:32), and the exilic book of Ezekiel (e.g. 16:32-33).

In these writings, the description of God’s bride is often unflattering, as she is an unfaithful adulteress (Jer 3:14, 20; Ezek 16:32). She joined herself to other lovers and mocked her Husband’s divine love. This book continues the impartation to the OT reader of Yahweh’s relationship with His elect bride, a spouse chosen early on, at the time of Abraham (Gen 12:3, 15:1-21, 17, 22:15-18). This book is best known for the story about Hosea’s rocky marriage to the harlot Gomer (Hosea 1-3), which is symbolic and directly related to the Lord’s relationship with Israel. This post will describe the relationship between Yahweh and Israel (chp 1-3) and how it was developed in the book of Hosea.

In chapter one, Hosea is given the unenviable task of taking a prostitute for his bride. That wife, Gomer, bore him two sons and one daughter. The divine names assigned to their children are very significant, which were: Jezreel (meaning “the Lord sows”), Lo-Ruhamah (meaning “no compassion”), and Lo-Ammi (meaning “not my people”). These names impart important eschatological information in regard to the divine marriage, that is, the union between God and Israel. In summary, the Lord will sow judgment, and put “an end to the kingdom of Israel” (Hos 1:4), due to their adultery against Him. He will show Israel no compassion at the time of their exile, during the time of their well-deserved chastisement. Praise God, the story does not end there! He will eventually restore them and “show love to the house of Judah; and [He] will save them” (Hos 1:7). “The Israelites will [ultimately] be like the sand on the seashore, which cannot be measured or counted. In the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ they will be called ‘sons of the living God’ (cf. Rom 9:26). The people of Judah and the people of Israel will be reunited, and they will appoint one leader and will come up out of the land” (His 1:10). As this chapter ends, the reader is reminded of the promises made way back in the Abrahamic Covenant (e.g. Gen 22:17, 32:12), found in the first book of the Pentateuch.

In the next chapter, Yahweh is contending with His wicked bride Israel, over her idolatry and adulteress behavior (Hos 2:1-13). However, the divine Bridegroom will eventually lure His ungodly, unattractive bride back, due to His unending “chesed” (loving- kindness) for her. The marriage of Hosea and Gomer is undoubtedly made known to be the marriage between God and Israel in this section. The negative sowing of judgment, and the lack of God’s compassion in the previous chapter, is totally reversed in this one, with God positively sowing and showing unending compassion to His bride at this chapters end (Hos 2:14-23).

Chapter three speaks of Hosea’s reconciliation with his wife, which brings forth an interpretive debate. Interestingly enough, a case can be made for this to be a potentially designed uncertainty, put forth by the “Spirit of God” (Gen 1:2). The discussion is about this, “Is the wife spoken about in this chapter actually Gomer, or another harlot?” In Douglas Stuart’s World Biblical Commentary of Hosea-Jonah, Stuart held that this second woman was not Gomer, but an adulteress, probably a prostitute, with whom Hosea never consummated his second marriage. He believes there is no evidence that Gomer was ever unfaithful to Hosea. However, most scholars regard Gomer as the wife in the third chapter. If someone did field the possibility of another woman as Hosea’s wife though, could that woman symbolically represent the Church? Maybe Hosea chapter three, is best suited to be left considering an interchangeable wife, both Gomer (Israel) and an additional harlot (the Church), as the bride of Yahweh?

In conclusion, “How was Yahweh’s relationship with Israel developed in the book of Hosea?” Hosea and his wife’s marriage became a replica of the relationship between Yahweh and Israel. Hosea’s wife left him to prostitute herself with other men; as compared to Israel forsaking Yahweh to commit idolatry to other gods. Hosea then sought, and brought his unfaithful wife back and loved her; as compared to God not abandoning Israel, and taking her back and loving her, even though the nation had been grossly unfaithful to Him. Both the Abrahamic Covenant and messianic threads running throughout the entire OT are completely aligned with the divine truth revealed in the book of Hosea, depicted within the marriage between Hosea and the harlot.