HOSEA
Hosea preached in the northern kingdom when the nation was prospering outwardly but decaying inwardly and facing certain judgment. He is a master of imagery; as you read, notice the many comparisons he makes (“like a dry land,” “like a morning cloud,” etc.).
The overriding image in his book is that of marriage. Hosea married a woman who bore him three children and then deserted him and became a prostitute. He finally had to buy her back out of the slave market (3:1–2)! Hosea’s painful experience was a sermon to the nation. Israel was married to Jehovah but committed “spiritual adultery” and turned to idols. That in turn led to moral decay in the nation. The nation would suffer for her sins, but the Lord would one day redeem her and restore her.
The development of the book is as follows: Hosea’s marriage, (chaps. 1–3); Israel’s sins, (chaps.
It is easy for the church today to prostitute itself to the world and still claim to be faithful to the Lord (James 4:4–10). The warning of