Immerse: Prophets - Flipbook - Page 31
IMMERSED IN HOSEA
A M O S W A S N O T the
only prophet who was rebuffed by the people of the
northern kingdom of Israel. Toward the end of Jeroboam II’s reign, a
man named Hosea also tried to bring a warning from God against their
injustice and idolatry. But the people called him “crazy” and a fool, and
they plotted against him. Despite this strong hostility and opposition,
Hosea’s messages and prophecies were recorded and collected, and
they have come down to us today in this book.
The book of Hosea has two parts. The first is set during the stable
and prosperous years of Jeroboam II’s reign. Hosea refers to the grain,
wine, olive oil, silver, and gold that were abundant in those years. The
second (and longer) part of the book describes the three chaotic decades following Jeroboam II’s death when four of the final six northern
kings were assassinated, creating social instability, economic distress,
and shifting dependence on foreign powers.
But both parts of the book deliver the same message, which is both
ominous and hopeful at the same time. Because Israel has strayed so
far from God, plunging into immoral idol worship and violating the requirements of justice from the Law of Moses, nothing but a fresh start
will restore its covenant relationship with the Lord . The people must
be taken into exile so that in their isolation they may come to know
God once again.
In the first part of the book, this scenario is dramatized in Hosea’s own
life. God tells Hosea to marry a woman who will be unfaithful to him,
just as the Israelites have been unfaithful to their covenant God. But
even though his wife abandons him, Hosea is told to take her back
again. (He has to buy her back from slavery in order to accomplish this.)
After a season of abstinence, Hosea then acts as her husband again. In
the same way, God will reclaim his role as Israel’s true husband: “I will
win her back once again. I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her there. . . . She will give herself to me there, as she did long
ago when she was young, when I freed her from her captivity in Egypt.”
The second part of the book opens with a stunning presentation of
a classic covenant lawsuit:
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