HOSEA PROPHECY [Through Marriage and Naming] - AIGGM BIBLE STUDY - Embracing Grace
Sunday, December 5th, 2021
Abiding In God's Grace Ministries // A.I.G.G.M.
AIGGM BIBLE STUDIES - Hosea
By: Pastor Stephanie
Sunday Study - Hosea: Prophecy Through Marriage and Naming
LOVE DIVINE & UNFAILING
The Gospel According To Hosea
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What Does Wikipedia say about Hosea?:
In the Hebrew Bible, Hosea, son of Beeri, was an 8th-century BC prophet in Israel and the nominal primary author of the Book of Hosea. Wikipedia
Feast: October 17 (Orthodox Christianity)
Children: Lo-ammi, Lo-ruhamah, Jezreel
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:) Good Morning Our Beloved A.I.G.G.M. FAM!
Good Morning . . . . Good Morning . . . . GOOD MORNING! Welcome Back Brothers and Sisters [In Christ], To Another Episode, and For Yet Again, Another Gloriously Blessed and Amazing Bible Study! Today's Study, Is On "The Book Of Hosea". So Without Further Ado, Let Us Begin.
Some KEY Questions To Ask Yourselves, and To Ponder As Well Is: . . . .
WHO Is Hosea? . . . . WHAT is The Book of Hosea Really About? . . . . WHAT is Hosea Telling Us? . . . . HOW is this relevant to us, our time and to our generations? . . . . WHY is this information important? . . . . WHAT is the meaning? . . . . WHAT is Hosea's message? . . . . HOW can we relate? . . . . WHAT was/is God trying to show and tell us? . . . . Etc..
WELCOME TO "THE BOOK OF HOSEA" - AIGGM BIBLE STUDY :)
Hosea: Prophecy through Marriage and Naming
Hosea prophesied in the Northern Kingdom of Israel during the reign of King Jeroboam II (ca. 786-746 BCE), after whose death the kingdom begins to decline before its defeat by the Assyrians in 722 BCE. According to the preface in the Harper Collins Study Bible, its core message can be gleaned in a declaration toward the end of the book, a restatement of the first commandment: "I have been the Lord your god ever since the land of Egypt; you know no God but me, and besides me there is no savior." (Hosea 13.4). The text vacillates between Israel's sin and salvation.
Unlike the prophets of the exile period [who we have recently read], Hosea does not deride Israel's enemies. Hosea is a prophet who seeks to reform Israel from the inside, so that it is a more just society. As the community is not in exile, the focus is entirely on the reform of the nation.
Hosea and Ezekiel
We can see interesting parallels between the prophets Hosea and Ezekiel, two of the great prophets of the Jewish people. Hosea is from the north, and anticipates Israel's demise. Ezekiel, who appears years later and witnessed the fall of Judah, is concerned mainly with the southern kingdom. However, their function as sign reveals an interesting typology. Like Hosea, Ezekiel acts as a sign to God's people through his relationship with his wife.
In Ezekiel's case, the prophet's wife dies and Ezekiel is forbidden from mourning, in anticipation of the coming exile, which will happen so quickly that it will not be mourned. In this sign, Ezekiel represents the Israelites and his wife represents Israel.
Hosea, on the other hand, is instructed to marry an unfaithful woman:
When the Lord first spoke through Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea, "Go, take for yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom, for the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the Lord."
The sign here is Gomer's (his wife's) promiscuity with men, which reflects Israel's insatiable turning to other gods and fertility cults. In this sign, Gomer represents Israel, and the jealous husband Hosea represents God.
God is not angry with the false gods that the Israelites pray to, but rather the Israelites themselves, who have turned away from him after establishing a binding covenant not unlike marriage. Though an exclusive contractual agreement, this is not the western marriage of equality that we enjoy today, but one in which the female party is explicitly the property of the male. To imagine Hosea's distress and anger is to imagine (though clearly not to understand) God's reaction toward his people Israel.
A rose by any other name
Hosea's children all have symbolic names, which point to important parts of Hosea's prophecy.
The current order is hopelessly corrupt, and can only be saved by radical change. This is made apparent in the naming of Hosea's only legitimate child, Jezreel, is named after the plane where Jehu slaughtered the house of Ahab. The implication is that the same fate that Jehu brought upon the old order (which itself was rife with apostasy) will be dealt to the current monarchy, which has decayed through its own apostasy. The preceding dynasty of Ahab was no better than the current on. The prophet that anoints Jehu king of Israel tells him,
"Thus says the Lord the God of Israel...You shall strike down the house of your master Ahab, so that I may avenge on Jezebel the blood of my servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the Lord. For the Whole house of Ahab shall perish; I will cut off from Ahab every male, bond or free, in Israel."
(2 Kings 9.6-8)
But whereas in the past the Lord was content with simply wiping out the old order, presently a more radical change is needed. Israel will be harshly punished for its actions, and kings will never again reign in Israel or Judah.
Hosea's other two children are illegitimate, the product of Gomer's whoring. They serve as symbols of God's opinion of His people: Lo-ruhamah ("not pitied") and Lo-ammi ("I am not yours"). The signs stand for themselves.
- Hosea's See-Saw
It is remarkable how quickly messages of rejection turn to messages of acceptance in Hosea. No sooner does God give the name for these children, than the tone completely shifts to one of deliverance. The effect is almost dizzying:
...Then the Lord said, "Name him Lo-ammi, for you are not my people and I am not your God." yet the number of the people of Israel shall be like the sand of the sea, [in fulfillment of the Genesis covenant] which can be neither measured nor numbered; and in the place where it was said to them, "You are not my people," it shall be said to them, "Children of the living God."
Remarkably, the image of Jezreel is upended here into a positive symbol, a common theme throughout Hosea. Frequently throughout its fourteen chapters we find that negative images are later expressed in a positive light:
"...and they shall take possession of the land, for great shall be the day of Jezreel."
(Hosea 1.11)
In this new world order, the Lord addresses the two children with their names minus the negative "Lo": Ammi and Ruhamah, meaning "my people" and "pitied." But as soon as their new names are uttered, the mother is rejected, and Israel's wrongdoing is again revealed.
- Reaping and Sowing
An unfaithful wife is not the only image used to express Israel's unfaithfulness toward God. Images of agriculture are also used. Some are negative, and others positive, so that the positive images correct the negative:
For they sow the wind,
and they shall reap the whirlwind
(Hosea 8.7)
Sow for yourselves righteousness;
reap steadfast love;
break up your fallow ground;
(Hosea 10.12)
You have plowed wickedness,
you have reaped injustice,
you have eaten the fruit of lies.
(Hosea 10.13)
The text ends on a positive note, a plea for repentance followed by an assurance of forgiveness:
I will heal their disloyalty;
I will love them freely,
for my anger has turned from them.
(Hosea 14.4)
O Ephraim, what have I to do with idols?
It is I who answer and look after you.
I am like an evergreen cypress;
your faithfulness comes from me.
Those who are wise understand these things;
those who are discerning know them.
For the ways of the Lord are right,
and the upright walk in them,
but transgressors stumble in them.
(Hosea 14.8-9)
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📷 AbidingInGodsGrace@yahoo.com // PastorBlackburn.AIGGM@gmail.com
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Now, let's get back to the beginning of Hosea and go over this particular book in Scripture. I'll summarize briefly, the book of Hosea into three (3) major parts: introduction, author and occasion. I'll include, a Q&A of a frequently asked question that I get about the book of Hosea; and I also will include titles to ALL fourteen (14) chapters in Hosea.
INTRODUCTION:
In our present age, fixed truths, moral absolutes, divine imperatives, sure hope, and life-transforming power often seem to be overshadowed by uncertainty, insecurity, and subjectivism [sub-ject-ti-vism]. Yet in the story of Hosea, we are confronted with the TRUTH about God's persistent and unlikely love for an unfaithful people, the Israelites, even as we marvel at the tragic and remarkable beauty of one prophet's unconditional love for his faithless wife that exemplifies the love story between God and humanity.
This truly is a remarkable, timeless and just an absolutely amazing book, that makes up part of our Scripture(s) ! This short book within our bibles, consisting of only fourteen (14) chapters, is packed full of unconditional, limitless, boundlessness, timeless, persistent, unparalleled, astounding, un-matchable, pursuing, unstoppable, LOVE! . . . .
It is a fervently boundless and infinite LOVE, that God Almighty has for His children. A timeless and one of a kind Love Story of The Lord God Almighty and His people! The BEST Love Story I've Ever Heard Or Known!!
AUTHOR:
Hosea's prophecy may have existed first simply in spoken form; then later it may have been gathered together in written form by disciples or scribes. Still, this work is traditionally attributed to Hosea, the son of Beeri [1:1]. We don't know much about the prophet's life except for the little that we learn from chapters one (1) and three (3).
OCCASION:
When Hosea is called to serve as God's prophet, Israel is in a state of rebellion. Based on the kings reigning during his prophecy (1:1), we know that the nation of Israel has been split by civil war (1 Kings 12) and that Hosea is sent to the northern kingdom of Israel, which is characterized by corrupt kings, crime, disobedience [to The Lord our God], and compromised morality (Hosea 4:1-2).
CHAPTERS (Titles):
1). Chapter One - JEHOVAH'S DISHONORED WIFE
2). Chapter Two - THE CHASTISEMENT OF ADULTEROUS ISRAEL
3). Chapter Three - THE UNDYING LOVE OF JEHOVAH
4). Chapter Four - THE SINFUL PEOPLE
5). Chapter Five - THE WITHDRAWN FACE OF JEHOVAH
6). Chapter Six - THE VOICE OF THE REMNANT IN THE LAST DAYS
7). Chapter Seven - RESPONSE OF JEHOVAH, CONTINUED
8). Chapter Eight - RESPONSE OF JEHOVAH, CONTINUED
9). Chapter Nine - RESPONSE OF JEHOVAH, CONTINUED
10). Chapter Ten - RESPONSE OF JEHOVAH, CONTINUED
11). Chapter Eleven - RESPONSE OF JEHOVAH, CONTINUED
12). Chapter Twelve - RESPONSE OF JEHOVAH, CONTINUED
13). Chapter Thirteen - RESPONSE OF JEHOVAH, CONTINUED
14). Chapter Fourteen - RESPONSE OF JEHOVAH, CONTINUED // THE ULTIMATE BLESSING OF ISRAEL IN THE KINGDOM
[The Chapter: "The Ultimate Blessing Of Israel In The Kingdom" , starts at Chapter 13 Verse 9, - through, - Chapter 14].
A.I.G.G.M. Q&A
Question: " WHY THE FREQUENT REFERENCES TO PROSTITUTES and PROSTITUTION IN THE BOOK OF HOSEA?? "
[Scripture Reference: Hosea 4:11-15; 5:3-4; 9:1]
Answer: To find this answer and to answer it adequately, simply and straight to the point, look at Hosea Chapter 4 Verses 11-15; Chapter 5 Verses 3-4; and Chapter 9 Verse 1.
The people of Israel were GUILTY of participating in various PAGAN worship practices. This included [but not limited to] actual, physical prostitution at many Canaanite shrines left standing after the conquest of Canaan. The idea behind these degrading and unmoral sexual rites was that the Canaanite fertility gods Baal and Asherah would favor the participants with healthy babies and crops.
But the people of Israel were also GUILTY of SPIRITUAL PROSTITUTION, selling their souls and freely giving their worship to these FALSE gods, even as they maintained the pretense of devotion to The GOD OF ISRAEL!
Morally and Spiritually [speaking], God's people had proven themselves to be unfaithful, disobedient, selfish, idolatrous and unrighteous.
The Book of Hosea, Also Proves and Shows God's Outrageous PURE Love For A [an] Prostituting, Disobedient, Unfaithful, Untrue and Adulterous Nation!
The Love Story Of Hosea . . . . A Picture Of GOD ALMIGHTY'S LOVE FOR YOU!
Thus Concludes Today's Study and Reading (in post form).
As for me, this reading really brought out the sentimental [and childlike innocence] side of me and the purest love in me. It brings even MORE perspective, clarity and knowledge on the purest, truest, most genuine, real and honest LOVE that there is and that ever existed . . . . The TRUE LOVE OF GOD ALMIGHTY and His unfailing relentless LOVE and PURSUIT of and for us!
ALL GLORY BE TO THE LORD GOD ALMIGHTY!
The language of The Bible, is completely and utterly remarkable and astonishing, it captivates me EVERY single time. I honestly get so lost within Scripture, that it's hard to put my Bible down.
But here, in The Book of Hosea, and in its epic portrayal of women, violence, betrayal, disobedience, unfaithfulness, whoredom, separation, adultery and faithlessness . . . . we see and find: True, Pure and Genuine- Love, Forgiveness, Reconciliation, Compassion, Faith, Obedience, Repentance, Passion, Faithfulness, Peace, Blessings, Unity, Mercy and Grace . . . . we see a genuine and True LOVE STORY . . the PUREST of all . . involving The Lord our God and His Love for and over us.
That comforts me tremendously and brings me so much happiness, peace and love . . that I bawl my eyes out and feel like I could burst at the seams from His Love.
What Do Y'all Think??
- Could it have been put another way and understood as poignantly? . .
- What do you think? . .
- How does the book of Hosea make you feel?
Let Me Know In The COMMENTS SECTION Provided Below!
Any PRAYER REQUESTS?? . . . . Let Me Know and Drop Them In The COMMENTS SECTION Provided Below :)
Love Always and God Bless Y'all,
Pastor Stephanie XoXoXoxoxoxoxo
Abiding In God's Grace Ministries
A.I.G.G.M.
PastorBlackburn.AIGGM@gmail.com
anchor.fm/abidingingodsgraceministries
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