The Book of Hosea

The Book of Hosea was written around the fall of the Kingdom of Israel. These tumultuous times are explained as a punishment from God, as usual, as a reaction to the people worshiping false gods. Hosea is the first book to liken this to prostitution. If I was cynical, I would say this was because Hosea's wife was unfaithful to him, and he wanted to mitigate his shame. He still loved her, and eventually they got through it.

Thus, after a quick intro, we read:

Hosea 1:2 When the Lord began to speak through Hosea, the Lord said to him, “Go, marry a promiscuous woman and have children with her, for like an adulterous wife this land is guilty of unfaithfulness to the Lord.” 3 So he married Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.

That is one bizarre command! Rather more likely, he married the girl, she was unfaithful, and he later claimed to have that command. Sad that for thousands of years, poor Gomer has been know as a promiscuous woman.

It continues with another bizarre command:

Hosea 1:6 Gomer conceived again and gave birth to a daughter. Then the Lord said to Hosea, “Call her Lo-Ruhamah (which means “not loved”), for I will no longer show love to Israel, that I should at all forgive them.

I would not want to call my daughter "unloved"! There is later a second boy, "not my people". While the text makes clear the first child was Hosea's, it does not for the girl or second boy. Do their names reflect that they are the product of Gomer's adultery? This verse lend credence to that, though it is not clear.

Hosea 2:4 I will not show my love to her children,
    because they are the children of adultery.

Chapter two is written as though God is talking, but from Hosea's perspective, bridging the metaphor of Gomer being unfaithful to Hosea and Israel being unfaithful to Yahweh (note the inequality in the relationships; this would be the case in marriage at that time). It discusses how God will chase away her lovers, will strip her naked and humiliate her, so she will remember how she was better off before. But then Yahweh will win her back, and make a new marriage with her. Chapter three, God tells Hosea this is what he must do too with Gomer.

Polytheism

Traditionally, Judah and Israel were thought to be a single kingdom under David, which split around 930 BCE. However, many modern scholars now believe the two kingdoms developed as separate entities, with Israel (with its capital, Samaria), being originally the larger and more advanced. If Yahweh was the God of Judah, that would not have been the case, then, for Israel, and so perhaps that was why polytheism was much stronger there.

This was, of course, a big annoyance for the priests of Yahweh, who railed against the people when they worshipped other gods, such as Baal and Asherah.

In chapter four, God lays a charge against Israel, saying the nation has been unfaithful and sinned in various ways, and in chapter five God promises destruction. Much mention is made of Ephraim, one of the twelve tribes, and resident in Israel. In this context it probably means the ruling family who were of that tribe.

This goes on for some time. The downfall of Israel was due to the king turning to Egypt, having been paying a heavy tribute to Assyria,  which the Assyrians took to be a revolt, and so they invaded, and much of the population went into captivity. This is alluded to:

Hosea 7:11 “Ephraim is like a dove,
    easily deceived and senseless—
now calling to Egypt,
    now turning to Assyria.

We also read about idols, presumably bulls, but made impotent by calling the calves:

Hosea 8:They set up kings without my consent;
    they choose princes without my approval.
With their silver and gold
    they make idols for themselves
    to their own destruction.
5 Samaria, throw out your calf-idol!
    My anger burns against them.
How long will they be incapable of purity?
6     They are from Israel!
This calf—a metalworker has made it;
    it is not God.
It will be broken in pieces,
    that calf of Samaria.

Interesting to read that God will kill their children:

Hosea 9:12 Even if they rear children,
    I will bereave them of every one.
Woe to them
    when I turn away from them!
13 I have seen Ephraim, like Tyre,
    planted in a pleasant place.
But Ephraim will bring out
    their children to the slayer.”
...
16 Ephraim is blighted,
    their root is withered,
    they yield no fruit.
Even if they bear children,
    I will slay their cherished offspring.”

This verse was quoted in Matthew:

Hosea 11:1 “When Israel was a child, I loved him,
    and out of Egypt I called my son.
2 But the more they were called,
    the more they went away from me.[a]
They sacrificed to the Baals
    and they burned incense to images.

The author of Matthew would have us think this was a prophecy about the Messiah:

Matthew 2:15 where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”

But this was written before the Messianic Prophecies (Judah still had a king, so no Great Messiah was needed). Instead, this refers to the Hebrews as a people, all of whom (as a whole) were considered the son of God. This is a reference to the Exodus (which probably never happened either, but it is at least likely that Hosea believed it had). The author of Matthew, of course, omitted the bit about God's son later sacrificing to Baal! The Exodus is alluded to later too:

Hosea 12:9 “I have been the Lord your God
    ever since you came out of Egypt;
I will make you live in tents again,
    as in the days of your appointed festivals.
...
Hosea 13:4 “But I have been the Lord your God
    ever since you came out of Egypt.
You shall acknowledge no God but me,
    no Savior except me.

The last chapter, fourteen, offers redemption. If Israel repents, then God will once more love the people.