Hosea
(Hosea 1:1)
(C3214-3314, 790-690 BC)
In the introduction to his book of prophecies, which borrows his name (Hebrew ho^she^a?,
which means "savior"), Hosea just shows up as the son of Beeri, about whom we know nothing more. He was the only prophet coming from the kingdom of the ten northern tribes, called Israel, who wrote a book included in the Bible.
Hosea prophesied in Israel for about 70 years, was a contemporary of Isaiah and Micah. The statement in the first verse explains that the word of the Lord came to him "in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam son of Joash king of Israel." It is estimated that Uzziah reigned between 810 and 758 BC and Jeroboam son of Joash died in 743 BC.
His personal history, described in Chapters 1:1 to 3:1 to 11 and 5 of his book, says that Hosea married a woman named Gomer, who gave him two sons and a daughter, to whom he gave symbolic names as instructed by the Lord, after that she left him to deliver herself to whoredom, but Hosea continued to love her and finally saved her from slavery to make her his wife again. His tragic experience meant that he could then understand how God loved the people of Israel and wanted to restore that unfaithful nation.
In his book, Hosea laments the immorality of the leaders in Israel, the lack of trust in God, disloyalty to the covenant of God with his people, and emphasizes love and loyalty to God. It concludes with future healing and restoration of the remnant of Israel (see Romans 11:25-27).
Important quotes are taken from this book in the New Testament, forecasting the return of Jesus from Egypt as a boy, the salvation of the Gentiles and the great tribulation (see Matthew 2:15 and 9:13, Luke 23:30, Romans 9:25-26, Revelation 6:16).
The prophet at the outset, reports that his marriage was done in accordance with the will of God. This may seem unlikely, if it is mistakenly understood that He instructed Hosea to marry a prostitute. Such an understanding obviously brings moral implications, inconsistent for a man of God. For this reason, many commentators feel compelled to judge that it is just an allegory to illustrate the relationship between Israel and God.
Only an allegory?
The Jewish interpreters in their generality consider these texts as allegorical, and some commentators from the early Christian church found in the concluding words of the book of Hosea justification to understand that it was only a vision, "Who is wise? Let him understand these things. Who is prudent? Let him know them. For the ways of the LORD are right; The righteous walk in them, But transgressors stumble in them." (chapter 14:9)
It is a mystery, they said, to be unveiled by the wise and prudent, it is outrageous to even think that God could have ordered Hosea to marry a prostitute, no matter for how good a purpose. The ways of the Lord are right, and the end never justifies the means.
They declared that it could only be an allegory like that given to Jeremiah when instructed to go to the Euphrates (Jerusalem being strongly besieged on all sides) to hide a sash in the bed of the river (Jeremiah 13). Ezekiel also was ordered to do some things that seem extravagant to represent the siege of Jerusalem and indicate the years of its inquity (Ezekiel 4, etc.).
Along with Calvin, many modern commentators argue that a literal acceptance of the facts is impossible, and even unnecessary. The parallel of the allegory with the history of God's relationship with Israel is clear, without such a sacrifice: the love of the prophet for his wife would be so great that, forgiving her sin against him, he sought her and restored her. So, although denied and betrayed by the people of Israel, as represented by the woman in the allegory, God will still fulfill the promises he made to the patriarchs. There remains today a divorce in a material sense, but eventually there will be redemption and reconciliation.
The wise and prudent understanding
The literal acceptance of these texts is perfectly feasible, and has been and continues to be defended by many renowned expositors today. The original Hebrew does not require it to be understood that the woman Gomer was immoral before her marriage to the prophet. Furthermore, this meaning destroys the parallelism of Gomer with the people of Israel which, when taken out of Egypt by the hand of God and taken to the Sinai, was not yet contaminated by idolatry.
The expression "a wife of whoredoms and children of harlotry" warned Hosea of the sinful nature of the woman in common with the people "for the land has committed great harlotry" (Hosea 1:2), explaining the future behaviour of this woman. The term "children of harlotry" did not indicate that her mother already had them when they married, but her nature (see a parallel in 1 Corinthians 7:14).
Thus, the woman would not have to be a professional or religious prostitute before her marriage, but she would be a woman of the world of that time. Her wickedness came up later, when leaving the Prophet to sink more and more in her sin. When writing the story later, the prophet was already aware of her true character and so was not surprised at the qualification made by God at the beginning of his prophecy.
There are other variants, since "prostitution" can also mean the false religions that prevailed in Israel at that time. One can understand therefore that the prophet married an idolatrous woman, who passed idolatry down to her children, according to chapter 1, verse 2. The marital infidelity and moral decline of the woman would be the product of her idolatry.
In conclusion
Hosea is the profet who highlights most the length and depth of the love of God, having gone himself through the bitterness of betrayal, and the horrible spiritual, moral and physical collapse of his wife, and suffering even more because he continued to love her.
At the beginning of the ministry of the prophet, the Northern Kingdom was enjoying prosperity and got involved in the idolatry of the people who surrounded them and apostatized from the true God. What Hosea describes with the figure of repulsive prostitution was the rampant worship of the Baals (ch.2:13,17, 11:2) who had almost obscured the recognition of the unique claims to worship the God of Israel.
This was an ancient and insidious form of idolatry. The worship of the Canaanite tribes, among whom the Israelites found themselves when they occupied the Promised Land, was addressed to the local deities, known by the names of the places where each had its sanctuary or influence. The generic name "Baal" or "Lord" was applied naturally as a common word for each, with the addition of the place or city name to distinguish them. Thus we find Baal-Hermon, Baal-Gad, Baal-Berith, etc..
The insidiousness of this type of worship is proved by its wide prevalence over time, when the ignorant mind is placed face to face with the mysterious and invisible forces of nature. And the tenacity of feeling is evident even today by the prevalence of such worship professed by people whose religion condemns the idolatry of all kinds. In the false Christianity there are notorious pilgrimages to the shrines of the dead who, although not formally worshiped as deities, have the same reputation for granting benefits.
Such was the condition that Hosea describes as a lack of knowledge of God (ch. 4:1) . And the result can not be described better than in the words of Paul: "even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting" (Romans 1:28 .) Both Amos and Hosea tell us in clear terms how the devotees of the unclean cult gave themselves "over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness" (Ephesians 4:19).
The spiritual situation of the world today still has all the features of that time, to which we can now add humanism, which proclaims the superiority of man, without God, supported by impossible theories of evolutionism, all leading to the selfish materialism and enmity of God.
The sad experience of Hosea is often repeated in similar form in mixed weddings of believers with unbelievers, while Israel, represented by Gomer, is also seen in the churches that have turned away from God to allow the world to enter into them. Let us be warned and be careful not also to be the victims of alliances with the enemies of our God .