Hosea was an unusual prophet in that he was called by God to marry a harlot and bear children by her. Despite his unusual task, Hosea's ministry effectively called out the children of promise Israelfrom the children of flesh Israel which is an applicable message to the modern day church. In addition, through the unfaithfulness of Hosea's wife, God showed Hosea how God felt with Israel's spiritual adultery. Therefore, the book of Hosea humbles the proud who call themselves a holy city but lean on God unrighteously and expresses God's heart of brokenness that He feels when people are unfaithful to Him.
All of the prophets in the Old Testament were simply ordinary men subject to passions just as every man on earth is subject to passions; yet because of the sovereign grace of God, these prophets including Hosea were used by Almighty God to accomplish God's work (Holy Bible James 5:17). Consequently, Hosea felt all that any other human being would feel when he married a harlot named Gomer and endured her unfaithfulness to him. Furthermore, this was exactly what God wanted him to feel; for God felt all of the enduring unfaithfulness of the Israelites; and God wanted to use that feeling of brokenness to provoke Hosea to preach the Word from God about Israel's unfaithfulness with purpose. Thus, a great part of Hosea's life consisted of his learning a little of how to see what God sees, hear what God hears, and feel what God feels.
An overview of Hosea's message to the Israelites can be understood by examining a portion which compares Israel's unfaithfulness to four different illustrations (Arnold 442). First, in Hosea 9:10,Israel was compared to fruit, specifically grapes, that had spoiled; and second, in 10:1, Israel was compared to a vine that produced fruit for itself. These two comparisons go hand in hand; for althoughIsrael produced fruit, it was bad fruit, a depiction of Israel's heart; and this bad fruit was produced out of selfish desires rather than seeking God's desires. Third, in Hosea 11:1, Israel is compared to a child who was taught how to walk and taken into the arms of the LORD but still turned to idols. This illustration of Israel is even expressed in the song "Collide" by Jars of Clay which says, "I taught you to walk, but then you ran away from me." The appalling nature of such a rejection accurately displays a portion of the perverseness of a creation rebelling against its Creator. Finally, in Hosea 10:11,Israel is compared to a trained heifer that loves "to tread out the corn" because she can eat while she works (Holy Bible; Arnold 442). Obviously, this is not a picture of eating of the Bread of Life. Therefore, the LORD is describing Israel as a people who performs righteous acts with an unrighteous heart.
An interesting insight appears in Hosea 1:9-10. First, the LORD has Hosea to name his third child Lo-ammi, which means "not my people" (NASB). Therefore, the LORD was declaring that Israel, who had fallen into unbelief and hypocrisy, was no longer His people. Yet how could God do that and remain faithful to His promise? Would not the people shout back at the prophet that they are God's; and therefore, God cannot be unfaithful? Indeed, the prophet meets this argument by stating the promise the hypocrites refer to: "The number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea" (NASB Hosea 1:10). To better understand the prophet's response, the apostle Paul presents an insight into this subject in Romans 9:6 which says that "it is not as though the word of God has failed. For they are not all Israel who have descended from Israel" (NASB). Therefore, Paul asserts that God's election was not limited to just the Israel of the flesh but to the Israel of the faith; and consequently, God has the right to cast out the Israel of the flesh. Furthermore, since God has the right to "have mercy on whom [He has] mercy" and since "it does not depend on the man who wills…but on God who has mercy," God spoke in Hosea 1:10 of the people He would soon graft into the true vine (NASB Romans 9:15-16, 11:17). This lesson that God was using Hosea to teach Israel was that God's blessing was obtained by pursuing God out of faith and not out of works that depend on the flesh (NASB Romans 9:32). Yet this pursuit out of faith is not a zeal by itself, but a zeal in accordance with the true knowledge of God's righteousness (NASB Romans 10:2-3). This is what Israel lacked. They had zeal, but they were hypocrites, for they lacked the knowledge of God's righteousness.
Yet what does this teach even further? If God were not able to disown a hypocritical Israel, then He would also not be able to own the Gentiles. If Israel were able to lean on God without the knowledge of truth or righteousness and somehow hold Him down by His divine shirttail and not let Him do all that He pleased, then there would be no room for Gentiles in heaven (NASB Isaiah 48:1-2, Psalm 115:3). But hallelujah, God has the right to disown those who are not of the faith of Israel and graft in those who are not of the flesh of Israel (NASB Romans 11:17). John Calvin in his Commentaries presents a good view of this subject:
For, since hypocrites in a manner tie to themselves the power of God, the Prophet [Hosea] says, that God can, if he chooses, raise up in an instant a new Church, which would exceed in number the sand of the sea. How so? God will create a Church for himself. From what? From stones, from nothing: for, as Paul says elsewhere, 'he calls those things which are not, as though they were,' (Rom. iv. 17.) (15)
Therefore, by God's right of sovereignty alone is salvation able to be offered freely to all who will come and drink (NASB Revelation 22:17).
Works Cited
Arnold, Bill T. and Bryan E. Beyer. Encountering the Old Testament: A Christian Survey. Grand Rapids,MI: Baker Books, 1999.
"Collide." By Jars of Clay. The Eleventh Hour. n.d.
Commentaries on the Prophet Hosea. Grand Rapid's, MI: Associated Publishers and Authors Inc. The Minor Prophets. Vol. 6 of Calvin's Commentaries. 7 vols.
The Holy Bible and Reference: Authorized King James Version. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1994.
NASB Compact Reference Bible: New American Standard Bible. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2000.
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