The Prophetic Wisdom of Hosea: Lesson 1 - An Introduction to Hosea

[Music] you have you ever known someone who just won't listen to wise counsel they foolishly reject what others say and as a result they stumble again and again in many ways this is what happened during the ministry the Prophet Hosea Hosea brought God's word to his people over several decades and even though his prophecies proved to be true every step along the way God's people suffered time and again because they refused to listen to him still Hosea didn't give up toward the end of his life the Holy Spirit led Hosea to create a collection of his prophecies that we now call the book of Hosea he designed his book to give God's people wisdom for the challenges they faced in their day and as a divinely inspired book the book of Hosea also imparts wisdom to God's people in every age including our own [Music] this is the first lesson in our series the prophetic wisdom of Hosea and we've entitled it an introduction to Hosea in this lesson we'll explore a number of introductory issues related to Hosea's ministry and the book that now bears his name our introduction to hosea will divide into two main parts we'll look first at the background of the Prophet Hosea and his book then we'll introduce an overview of the basic content and structure of the book let's begin by exploring several dimensions of the background of hosea Hosea's prophecies were inspired by the holy spirit so they have unquestionable authority over god's people throughout history but its prophecies first addressed ancient Israelites and the circumstances that they faced as we'll see in this lesson Hosea's ministry spans several decades so the more we understand the background of Hosea's developing circumstances the better we'll be able to grasp and apply his prophecies to our own day before we approach these matters we need to distinguish two interconnected historical settings two worlds as it were the first setting which we'll call that world covers the decades of Hosea's prophetic ministry in which he received and delivered revelations from God but the second historical setting which will call their world takes place later in Isaiah's life in this second setting Isaiah selected and wrote down some of his prophecies to impact the lives of those who first received his book will approach this twofold background in two steps first we'll explore that world or the full range of the Prophet Isaiah's ministry and second we'll examine their world or the setting in which the book of Hosea was written let's begin with the Ministry of a Prophet Hosea around the time of Hosea's prophetic ministry a number of nations played important roles in the history of God's people in 930 BC the United Kingdom of David and Solomon divided into two kingdoms the Kingdom of Israel in the north and the kingdom of Judah in the south both of these kingdoms figured prominently in Hosea's prophetic service at that time God's people also interacted with other nations like Syria and Egypt but above all Hosea focused his ministry on events involving the Assyrian Empire in Hosea's day Assyria became a powerful empire that extended its influence in every direction including the lands of Israel and Judah as we're about to see Hosea's ministry began in the northern kingdom of israel nearly 200 years after Israel had separated from Judah living in northern Israel during this period of history was difficult for anyone who sought to be faithful to God and this was especially true for a man like Hosea a man God had called to be his Prophet Hosea witnessed firsthand how Israel's leaders had turned their kingdom away from the Lord and trusted in alliances with other nations and their false gods the priests of Israel mixed the worship of God with drunken lascivious fertility rituals associated with idolatry the rich grew very rich but the poor were so poor that they often had to devote their wives and daughters to temple prostitution just to earn enough to eat and as hosea faced these heartbreaking conditions in northern Israel God called him to prophesy to bring a message from Israel's divine king that very few wanted to hear God was about to pour out curses on the Kingdom of Israel through with the Assyrian Empire as we consider the Ministry of the Prophet Hosea we'll look at four interrelated issues the time of his ministry its location Hosea's changing circumstances and the purpose or goal of his prophetic ministry let's begin by focusing on the time when Hosea served as God's prophet similar to a number of other Old Testament prophetic books Hosea's opening verse in chapter 1 verse 1 introduces us to the time of Hosea's ministry listen to how the book begins the word of the Lord that came to Hosea the son of Beira in the days of uzziah jotham ahaz and hezekiah kings of judah and in the days of Jeroboam the son of joash king of Israel this list of Kings gives us an orientation toward the beginning and the end of Hosea's ministry on the one side it tells us that Hosea's service began in the days of Uzziah of Judah and Jeroboam of Israel this Jeroboam is usually referred to as Jeroboam the second in distinction from the earlier first king of northern Israel Jeroboam the first Uzziah or Azariah as he was also called ruled in Judah from around 792 to 740 BC and Jeroboam the second range from approximately 793 until 753 BC most interpreters rightly suggest that the circumstances mentioned in Hosea's earliest prophecies reflect conditions in Israel during the last decade of jerub-baal in the seconds reign so it's fair to say that Hosea's ministry began sometime near 760 BC this makes Hosea one of the earliest prophets if not the earliest prophet with a biblical book devoted to his ministry on the other side the list of kings in chapter 1 verse 1 also gives us an orientation toward the end of Hosea's prophetic service hosea ministered throughout the reigns of Judah's Kings Uzziah Jotham and Ahaz and he ended his ministry during the reign of Hezekiah after a period of co-regency with his father Hezekiah was the sole regent of Judah from around 7:15 BC to 686 BC now we can't be sure how long Isaiah lived in 2 Hezekiah strain but if he began his ministry near 760 BC at 20 years old then he would have been 94 years old in 686 BC so it's likely that the end of Hosea's ministry occurred sometime before 686 BC with this time of the Prophet Hosea's ministry in mind let's turn to the location where he served as God's prophet the opening verse of Hosea gives us an important clue as to where our Prophet ministered when it notes that Hosea served during the reign of Jeroboam ii the mention of Jeroboam ii reveals two factors about Hosea's location on the one side it indicates that Hosea's ministry began in the kingdom of israel rather than in judah they're not of any we can tell that the Prophet Hosea ministered in the Northern Kingdom of Israel through various ways and passages in the book itself for instance in the superscription of the book in chapter 1 verse 1 we read the list of Kings contemporary with Hosea when the word of the Lord came to him during the rains one of them was King Jeroboam the son of joash or Jeroboam the second who is one of the kings of Israel this shows that the ministry of Hosea was associated with the Kingdom of Israel also throughout the book we see the Lord directly addressing Israel he talks about the coming judgement against Israel and exposes the deeds of the people of Israel because of their sins for example in chapter 1 verse 4 God said that he would put an end to the Kingdom of Israel so the direct speech or message from the Lord to Israel in addition to mentioning King Jeroboam king of Israel are indications to show that Hosea's ministry was associated with the Northern Kingdom of Israel this orientation toward the northern kingdom appears in many ways in the book of Hosea but we should mention two important factors first the Hebrew dialect of our book strongly suggests that Hosea was a native of the Northern Kingdom a number of recent studies have noted similarities between the Hebrew grammar of Hosea and Phoenician a West Semitic dialect spoken primarily in the northern coastal regions second it's especially telling that the majority of prophecies in the book of Hosea focus on Israel rather than on Judah the book explicitly refers to the northern kingdom around 81 times using terms like Israel the Israelites literally sons of Israel and Ephraim a name Hosea often used to refer to the Kingdom of Israel by contrast our book mentions Judah by name only 15 times Hosea was especially concerned with events that took place in the northern kingdom on the other side we can learn another feature of the location of Hosea's ministry when we note that chapter 1 verse 1 only mentions Jeroboam the second and omits six other kings of northern Israel who reigned within Hosea's lifetime following Jeroboam the second Kings Zechariah Shalem Menachem Pekka hiya Pekka and Hosea reigned in rapid succession until Israel's capital city of Samaria fell to Assyria in 722 BC it's likely that these kings were omitted from the opening verse of our book because Hosea migrated to Judah near the end of Jeroboam the second reign in 753 BC of course it's possible that Hosea traveled back at times to the northern kingdom to deliver some of his prophecy it's also possible that Hosea's disciples or friends delivered his prophecies in the north on his behalf but whatever the case the lack of recognition for Israel's other Kings in chapter 1 verse 1 supports the view that Hosea himself resided in northern Israel only until late in the reign of Jeroboam ii then either because of political upheavals or because of resistance to his prophecies he took up a new residence in the southern kingdom of judah now that we've looked at the time and location of the prophet Hosea's ministry we should touch on some of the circumstances that he addressed through the decades that he served as god's prophet [Music] many students of Scripture are unfamiliar with the period of biblical history associated with Hosea's Ministry of course the historical books of kings and chronicles prophetic books like Micah and Isaiah and archaeological discoveries tell us a great deal about this period so there are far too many events for us to mention them all here but we can't move forward without a basic awareness of some of the more significant events that took place in Israel and Judah during the decades of Hosea service imagine for a moment that you are Hosea starting your ministry in the northern kingdom during the reign of Jeroboam ii you trust in God but everywhere you look the king the priests and the wealthy Nobles of Israel have turned your nation into a nightmare they worship the false gods of other nations they fill the country with violence they forced the sons of the poor to serve their misguided military campaigns and they pressure the wives and daughters of the poor to practice prostitution at their fertility worship centers all the while the leaders are still claiming to be faithful to God and they point to their wealth and power as proof that God approves of all that they do now Hosea knew that long ago Moses had warned that God would not tolerate this kind of rebellion forever he would send troubles to Humble his people Moses even warned that God would raise up cruel and wicked Gentile nations to discipline them and God revealed to Hosea that this was precisely what he was about to do to Israel as troubling as it was for Hosea to learn these things about his homeland later on he also faced similar circumstances in Judah as the decades passed the leaders of his adopted home in the southern kingdom fell into the same kind of rebellion as their northern neighbors they formed alliances with other nations treated others unjustly compelled their young men to fight foolish Wars and encouraged idolatry even in Jerusalem and as Hosea witnessed these things God revealed to him but the people of Judah would be brought to their knees as well broadly speaking we can refer to the troubles that Hosea predicted as the period of the Assyrian judgment during this time the primary instrument of God's discipline was the Assyrian Empire Assyria began to play this role in biblical history when the great emperor tiglath-pileser the third rose to his throne in 744 BC and in one way or another the Assyrians remained a significant factor in the history of God's people until Nineveh a serious capital city fell to the Babylonians in 612 BC towards the end or just after Jeroboam the seconds reign TIG laughs police or the third became the king of Assyria now Assyria was the superpower in those days that was threatening the existence of Judah and Israel and Syria which was to the north of Israel and so the prophecies in Hosea that prophesied cursings and subjugation to Israel because of its disobedience tiglath-pileser the third was the executor and he also after tiglath-pileser the third shall manizer was the the next king and these two men tiglath-pileser the third and shellman easer became the the rod of god's justice in which or by which he executed his punishments on Israel as he had promised he would do in Hosea as we'll see in this lesson the content of Ozias book Orient's his prophetic ministry toured three major events that took place during the period of Assyrian judgment the earliest prophecies in Hosea's book are about the first event a serious rise to prominence when tiglath-pileser the third became Emperor in 744 BC Hosea also recorded prophesies about a serious invasion of Israel in 732 PC and beyond this Hosea included prophecies about a serious invasion of Israel ten years later in 722 BC when the Assyrians utterly destroyed the Kingdom of Israel let's unpack the circumstances Hosea faced as he prophesied about all three of these events we'll start with the first phase of Hosea's ministry when he received prophecies about a serious rise to prominence in 744 BC as we've just said 744 BC was the year that tiglath-pileser the third became king of Assyria and asserted his authority over Israel and Judah Hosea lived in the Northern Kingdom of Israel prior to this time and he witnessed how King Jeroboam ii brought israel to the zenith of its prosperity but he also saw how the king priests and other leaders proved to be disloyal to god by promoting idolatry and injustice and as a result hosea warned of curses from god that would come through the assyrian empire during this same period according to the books of kings and chronicles the kingdom of judah also came under the rule of Teague lath pie leader the third but unlike Israel's leaders museu king of Judah ruled as a righteous King in one very important way while many of the people in Judah practiced idolatry Uzziah himself worshipped only the Lord and exclusively promoted the worship of the Lord at the Temple in Jerusalem so as far as we know God revealed no accusations against Judah to Hosea at this time and gave no warnings of curses against Judah the next phase of Hosea's ministry focused on a serious invasion of Israel in 732 BC when Hosea delivered his earlier prophecies about this invasion tiglath-pileser the third continued to exert political control or the Kingdom of Israel Kings Menachem and Pekka haya promoted idolatry and injustice and relied on their alliance with Assyria for security now like most political alliances in ancient times this relationship also entailed acknowledging the gods of their Assyrian / law and as a result of these disloyal T's to God Hosea warned that God would pour out curses on Israel through the impending Assyrian aggression of 732 BC the Book of Kings tells us that at the time Uzziah and his son Jotham ruled Judah as righteous Kings many people continued to worship other gods at the high places but Uzziah and Jotham neither practiced nor endorsed idolatry so during this time hosea still offered no warnings of curses against Judah now when hosea received his later prophecies about a serious invasion in 732 BC conditions in Israel had only grown worse King Pekka continued in idolatry and injustice he submitted to a Syrian control but when tiglath-pileser the third was preoccupied with troubles elsewhere Pekka tried to free himself from paying heavy tributes to Assyria he formed an alliance with Syria and Syria's gods an alliance often called the Syrian Israelite coalition and Pekka and his Syrian counterpart invaded Judah in an attempt to force Judah to join their rebellion against Assyria as you can imagine Isaiah prophesied that God would bring curses against Israel for this aggression and a short time later in 732 BC tiglath-pileser the third destroyed the kingdom of Syria and subjugated the Kingdom of Israel sadly as this invasion grew near a critical change took place in Judah just before the Syrian Israelite coalition attacked Judah a has rose to the throne unlike his grandfather and father a has rejected God and promoted idolatry and injustice Judah endured attacks from the Syrian Israelite coalition and from the and the Philistines but rather than turning to the Lord for help a has sought protection by reaffirming Judah's alliance with the Assyrians and their gods and because of Ahaz rebellion against God Hosea prophesied that God's curses were coming against Judah as well this brings us to the time in Hosea's ministry when he prophesied about a serious invasion in 722 BC the invasion that led to the fall of Israel's capital city of Samaria and the Exile of most of the population of Israel Hosea's earlier prophecies about 722 BC focused on events in Israel during the early reign of bhushaiah the king that Assyria had placed on Israel's throne Oh Shia perpetuated idolatry and injustice in Israel and was faithful to his alliance with the Assyrians and their gods for a time in response Hosea warned that new curses were coming to Israel through a second major Assyrian invasion the invasion in 722 BC meanwhile in Judah a has continued to violate God's covenant by promoting idolatry and injustice he still refused to rely on the Lord and sought safety from his enemies by trusting in his alliance with Assyria and a serious gods and as a result Hosea warned again that great curses from God were also coming against Judah Hosea's later prophecies about the Assyrian invasion in 722 BC concentrated on Hosea's continuing promotion of idolatry and injustice in Israel now when tiglath-pileser the third died Hosea saw a chance to be free of paying tributes to Assyria but rather than turning to God for protection he made an alliance with Egypt and Egypt's gods Hosea predicted that these sins would soon bring God's curses and in fulfillment of these prophecies tiglath-pileser x' son shall manie's were the fifth took control of samaria and forced hosea to pay heavy tributes just a few years later in 722 BC the Assyrian King Sargon the second brought about the complete destruction of Samaria and drove most of the population of Israel into exile during these years in Judah Kings a has and Hezekiah were Co regions early on Hezekiah continued his father's alliance with Assyria and its gods but he soon broke with Assyria unfortunately Hezekiah relied on the strength of his army his fortified cities and an alliance with Egypt for protection against Assyria rather than trusting in the Lord and as a result Hosea warned once again that God would bring curses on Judah curses that came many years later through a Syrian aggression unless you spent a lot of time studying this period of biblical history it's easy to be confused by all these names and dates but knowing that these events took place during Hosea's ministry is crucial to understanding the book of Hosea so as difficult as that may be it's very important to distinguish Hosea's prophecies about a serious rise to prominence in 744 BC from prophecies about a serious invasion in 732 BC as well as from prophecies about a serious invasion in 722 BC as we make these distinctions we'll be able to see how Hosea spent decades of ministry addressing the challenges that God's people faced in each of these periods having touched on the time location and changing circumstances associated with the Menace three of the Prophet Hosea we should consider Hosea's purpose as a prophet what did he try to accomplish by declaring God's revelations we've looked at this question in more detail in other series but in general terms God called Hosea just as he calls all of his people in every age to do his part in spreading God's kingdom to the ends of the earth and as Hosea knew God administered the spread of his kingdom by the policies he established in his covenants Hosea was well aware that God had already ratified his kingdom policies in five major covenants beginning with all nations in Adam and Noah and then in special covenants with Abraham Moses and David each of these covenants had particular emphases but every successive covenant incorporated and built on the policies of the previous covenants like other prophets Hosea had the special role of serving as God's emissary for ambassador who announced how God was going to implement these covenant policies all of God's covenants established three basic dynamics of God's interactions with his people that shape the contours of Hosea's ministry for our purposes here we'll just give a brief overview first in one way or another all of God's covenants were initiated and sustained by divine benevolence or displays of God's goodness and kindness second all of God's covenants clarified the kinds of human loyalty that God required from his people in grateful response to his benevolence and third all divine covenants entailed two kinds of consequences that his people should expect blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience so God wanted easels to remain faithful in their covenant that we in the in the covenant with him and he promised that if they will stay faithful in the covenant with God things will go well with them but if they if I let his covenant something wrong will happen to them this is the same even in our lives if we remain offensive to God his covenant god will be with us will lead us and they will continue to work in us as a prophetic emissary of God's covenants hosea received revelations of how God had determined to direct these covenant dynamics then he delivered these revelations to God's people if we consider hosea in terms of events that took place during his years of ministry we could define his prophetic purpose in this way Hosea's purpose was to declare how God intended to implement the Covenant dynamics of divine benevolence human loyalty and the consequences of blessings and curses in relation to a serious rise in 744 BC the Assyrian invasion of 732 BC and the Assyrian invasion of 722 BC now that we've looked at the background of the prophet Isaiah we're ready to turn to the background of the Book of Isaiah Hosea and his disciples may very well have written down a lot of his prophecies throughout the decades of his ministry but it was near the end of his life during Hezekiah strain when Hosea finally collected and arranged his prophesies into the book that we now call Hosea when we keep this in view we gain many insights into the book itself so far we've concentrated on what we've called that world the various times during the Assyrian judgment when Hosea received revelations from God for both Israel and Judah at this point we'll turn to their world the time when Hosea chose and arranged these prophecies into the book of Hosea to provide judah's leaders with wisdom for what was ahead this distinction between that world and their world is crucial for understanding the book of Hosea because Hosea actually composed his book after the Kingdom of Israel was destroyed in 722 BC so even though Hosea's book had important implications for the survivors of northern Israel he primarily wrote it for the leaders of Judah as we'll see hosea wrote down prophecies from throughout his ministry to give Hezekiah and judas other leaders a path of wisdom to follow as they faced the crisis of a serious invasion of Judah in 701 BC to see how this is true we'll follow our previous discussion and look at four background features of the book of Hosea the time of its composition the location where it was written the circumstances surrounding its composition and the purpose of the book let's begin with the time when our book was written from the outset we should mention that critical scholars typically believe that the book of Hosea went through a number of major redactions that ended very late either late into the Babylonian exile or even after the Babylonian exile as a result most critical interpreters believed that only some portions of our book actually came from Hosea himself instead they argue that redactors or editors added much of their own material to the book long after Hosea's death but we have to remember that critical interpreters come to these conclusions in large part because they deny that Hosea received supernatural revelations from God about the future by contrast evangelicals believe in the supernatural inspiration of Hosea's prophecy so we affirm that the entire book of Hosea actually represents what Hosea himself received from God and for this reason evangelicals usually settle on a much earlier date for the books completion from an evangelical point of view chapter 1 verse 1 establishes the earliest possible date for the completion of our book when it mentions Hezekiah king of Judah it's obvious that Hezekiah would not have been included in this list of kings had he not already been king by the time our book was written so it's safe to say that the earliest possible date for the completion of the book of Hosea was sometime during as a kaya's Seoul Regency which began in 715 BC and ended in 686 BC we can't be absolutely sure as to win Hosea finally composed it book or brought it to its final form as we now have it in the Bible but there is an event in Hosea's life toward the end of his life in fact during the reign of the last king under whom he served and that King's name was Hezekiah now Hezekiah is known for all kinds of things but in biblical history perhaps the most important thing or the most noted thing that he experienced was the invasion of the Assyrian Sennacherib Sennacherib literally destroyed Judah people ran for their lives you can read about it in micah chapter 1 that the devastation that he brought to the land of judah but he went further than that he actually surrounded and laid siege to Jerusalem the invasion of Sennacherib in Judah and the surrounding of Jerusalem laying siege to the City of God the City of David the capital of the world was of such great importance that it brought everything to a climax in Judas history at that moment everything was at stake was Jerusalem going to fall well Isaiah prophesied during that time and Hosea probably wrote this book during that time as well because the last King that's mentioned in the book of Hosea at the very first verse chapter 1 verse 1 is Hezekiah we can also set the latest possible date for the final composition of Hosea before Hosea's death most likely late in Hezekiah is rain now critical interpreters are right to point out that Hosea probably employed his disciples to help compose his book here and there we find evidence that Hosea relied on his disciples much like Jeremiah relied on his disciple Baruch in Jeremiah chapter 36 verse 4 consider for instance that Hosea chapter 1 verses 2 through 9 is biographical it describes Hosea's actions in the third person Hosea said this he did that but chapter 3 verses 1 through 3 is autobiographical Hosea's actions are described in the first person i did this the lord said to me this shift from biography to autobiography probably reflects the fact that Hosea's disciples were involved in the composition of his book but contrary to what critical interpreters have assumed there's no positive evidence in the scriptures that disciples edited Hosea's words or added new materials after his death and even if Hosea's disciples did in fact finish Hosea's book after his death they didn't deviate from the revelations that God had actually given to Hosea the title of the book in chapter 1 verse 1 plainly states that the entire book contains the word of the Lord that came to Hosea for these reasons we can rightly conclude that our book was composed during the reign of Hezekiah and this means that the book of Hosea was likely completed sometime before 686 BC or so when Hosea had almost certainly died along with establishing this range of time for the book of Hosea is completion we should also specify the location where it was written as we've already mentioned it's likely that Hosea migrated to Judah sometime near the end of Jeroboam the seconds reign and knowing that he lived into the reign of Hezekiah after the Kingdom of Israel had fallen in 722 BC we can be confident that Hosea composed his book in Judah the book of Hosea itself acknowledges as much in chapter 1 verse 1 this first lists uzziah jotham ahaz and hezekiah kings of Judah before it names Jeroboam the second of the kingdom of Israel by listing Judas Kings first Hosea deliberately acknowledged that he wrote his book under the authority of David's dynasty in Judah so although Hosea's prophecies focused primarily on the Northern Kingdom of Israel Hosea wrote his book in the southern kingdom of Judah now that we've looked at the time and location of the book of Hosea is composition let's turn to the circumstances facing Hosea and those in Judah who first received his book as we mentioned earlier when Hosea composed his book his adopted homeland in the kingdom of Judah was dealing with his own threat from Assyria in 701 BC during the reign of Hezekiah Sennacherib king of Assyria invaded Judah so although most of Hosea's prophecies were about a Syrian judgment against northern Israel Hosea devoted his book to guiding Judah as a Syrian judgment came upon them for this reason we need to be familiar with events surrounding Sennacherib invasion the historical records of kings and chronicles as well as the prophecies of Micah and Isaiah form a complex picture of Hezekiah strain early on Hezekiah led reforms in Judah and also fortified Judah so that when Sennacherib the new king of Assyria took his throne Hezekiah refused to pay tribute but as the threat of a Syrian reprisal grew as a Kyah failed to rely on God rather he sought protection through an alliance with Egypt and Egypt's gods but his efforts were in vain Sennacherib invaded judah destroying many cities towns and villages and even laid siege to Jerusalem but just when it seemed that Jerusalem would fall Hezekiah prayed to the Lord and the prophet Isaiah reassured him of God's deliverance as we read in 2nd Kings chapter 19 verses 33 and 34 by the way that Sennacherib came by the same he shall return and he shall not come into the city declares the Lord for I will defend this city to save it for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David mercifully Isaiah's prophecy was fulfilled God miraculously delivered Jerusalem from Sennacherib when the most important historical events to happen in the history of Israel was when Sennacherib king of Assyria came to defeat Hezekiah king of Judah he comes against Judah and he takes basically all the cities of Judah there's really one city left and that's Jerusalem and what he does is he basically says your God is like every other god I will take out the Lord God of Israel just like I took out all the other gods he talks in a very arrogant way against the Lord God of heaven and God says I will show Sennacherib my power and so what he does is he supernaturally delivers Israel and what he does is he smites the Assyrian army and a hundred and eighty-five thousand Assyrian troops will die he will hear a report of probably a rebellion going on back in his land and he'll have to go back to Assyria and we know even from Assyrian annals that they'll talk about caging up Hezekiah like a bird in a cage but they never say they defeat him now remember in Assyrian literature it's pure propaganda they never admit defeat at all so by just saying they have him caged up like a bird they are really admitting they did not defeat him so even the Assyrian records they admit this it would be difficult to overstate how much Jerusalem's deliverance demonstrated God's favor toward the kingdom of Judah but as wonderful as it was as acai as troubles weren't over after Sennacherib returned home Hezekiah still feared further aggression from Assyria sadly rather than relying on God as a Kyra turned to his old ways and sought another alliance not with Egypt but with the rising kingdom of Babylon Hezekiah is refusal to trust God after the great deliverance of Jerusalem displayed a profound disloyalty to God and the prophet Isaiah immediately threatened that the Royal treasures of Judah would be taken to Babylon listen to Isaiah's words in 2nd Kings chapter 20 verses 17 and 18 behold the days are coming when all that is in your house and that which your fathers have stored up till this day shall be carried to Babylon nothing shall be left says the Lord and some of your own sons who shall be born to you shall be taken away and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon unfortunately when Hezekiah heard these words from Isaiah he didn't repent of his disloyalty to God rather he simply responded with relief that this judgment against Judah would not come in his own day as akai as failures to be loyal to God before and after Jerusalem's deliverance in 701 BC were so momentous that they were likely to have motivated Hosea to compose his book on the one side it's possible that Hosea wrote his book some time before Jerusalem's deliverance from Sennacherib Sennacherib attacks and his siege on Jerusalem witnessed a flurry of prophetic activity and it's quite possible that God called Hosea to write his book during this time to address Hezekiah sale yrs as Sennacherib advanced and laid siege to Jerusalem on the other side it's also possible that Hosea composed his book soon after Jerusalem's deliverance as we mentioned even though God had delivered Jerusalem Hezekiah failed to remain faithful to God and instead sought after an alliance with Babylon and Hezekiah is disloyalty to God jeopardized the future of Judah so it's very likely that Hosea wrote his book either to address the crisis before or the crisis after Jerusalem's deliverance from Sennacherib with the time location and circumstances of the final composition of the book of Hosea in mind it's not difficult to understand the book's overarching purpose happily were not left to speculate because Hosea himself explicitly revealed the goal he had in mind in Hosea chapter 14 verse 9 the last verse in our book Hosea summarized his purpose in this way whoever is wise let him understand these things whoever is discerning let him know them for the ways of the Lord are right and the upright walk in them but transgressors stumble in them this verse stands apart from the verses that preceded and it closes the entire book with final instructions for those who first received it Hosea called for his original audience in Judah to become wise and discerning by believing that the ways of the Lord are right in other words Hosea hoped the Judah would gain wisdom from his collection of prophecies he wanted them to view their circumstances in light of the fact that the upright those who receive God's blessings walk in the Lord's ways but transgressors those who receive God's judgment foolishly stumble in the although elements of Israel's wisdom traditions appear in the writings of other prophetic books Hosea's bold call to wisdom is unusual but Hosea's attention to wisdom fits well with the days of Hezekiah we know from Scripture that Hezekiah associated himself with men who were well versed in Israel's wisdom traditions in fact proverbs chapter 25 verse 1 introduces chapters 25 through 29 of Proverbs as the Proverbs of Solomon which the men of Hezekiah king of Judah copied apparently these men of Hezekiah were a highly respected company of wise men associated with Hezekiah skort and it's quite possible that Hosea's closing call for wisdom appealed directly to Hezekiah and the wise men of his court in this light we can summarize the purpose of Hosea's book in this way the book of Hosea called the leaders of Judah to gain wisdom from what God had revealed throughout Hosea's ministry as they faced the challenges of Sennacherib invasion as this summary suggests our book was not designed primarily to make specific predictions of future events rather hosea composed his book to call the leaders of judah to follow the path of wisdom and Hezekiah day Hezekiah and his court were to learn from what God had revealed throughout Hosea's ministry and lead Judah through the challenges of Sennacherib invasion both before and just after Jerusalem's deliverance from Sennacherib the leaders of Judah desperately needed instruction and wisdom and Hosea's book provided it for them so far in our introduction to hosea we've looked at the background of the Prophet and his book now let's turn to an overview of the content and structure of the book of Hosea unfortunately many evangelicals tend to overlook the historical setting in which Hosea first received his prophecies they also tend to focus on smaller units of the book as if they stand apart from each other to be sure these are historical and atomistic approaches have yielded many insights into the book Hosea but to add to these insights will pursue a different strategy will see that the historical settings of Hosea's ministry are crucial to understanding its prophecies and rather than focusing on smaller units in isolation from each other we'll explore the logical connections among the larger units throughout Jose's book this strategy will help us to see more clearly how hosea designed his book to give wisdom to those in judah who first received it and will also help us to see how weird a learn wisdom from the book of hosea today put yourself in Hosea's place again unlike some other prophets who had relatively short ministries hosea received revelations from God for more than 60 years or so from the last decade of Jeroboam the seconds reign to the reign of Hezekiah over these decades God disclosed many things to him probably much more than what appears in the 14 short chapters of his book to understand how Hosea formed his book we must keep in mind that God didn't reveal all of Hosea's prophecies at the same time as we've already explained God gave Hosea revelations as the Kingdom of Israel faced a serious rise to power in 744 BC a serious invasion in 732 BC and a serious invasion in 722 BC if we fail to keep these different historical settings in mind it will appear that Hosea contradicted himself on a number of occasions especially in his prophecies about Judah but in reality will see that Hosea's prophetic outlooks changed over time because he addressed changing circumstances now as important as it is to recognize the chronological arrangement of the book of Hosea we must also note that Hosea arranged his prophecies topically we saw earlier in this lesson that chapter 1 verse 1 is the title of our book and was designed to introduce the full timeline of Hosea's ministry and chapter 14 verse 9 ends our book with a closure that summarizes Hosea's overarching purpose of calling god's people to gain wisdom from his book the content of these bookends indicates that they were created as hosea put his book together around the time of Sennacherib x' invasion in 701 BC but between these bookends the main body of Hosea consists of three large divisions that have topical emphases the first division in chapter 1 verse 2 through chapter 3 verse 5 emphasizes judgment and hope from God these first chapters present the earliest prophecies that Hosea received during the reign of Jeroboam the second prophecies that addressed a serious rise in 744 BC hosea carefully chose and arranged these early prophecies to present balanced outlooks of the curses God had determined to pour out on his people and the blessings they would receive in the future the second division in chapter 4 verse 1 through chapter nine verse nine emphasizes unfolding judgment from God unlike the first division these prophecies come from later stages of Hosea's ministry when hosea received revelations about a serious invasion in 732 BC and a serious invasion in 722 BC these chapters focus exclusively on the topic of God's judgment and they highlight how God's judgments increased in severity throughout these phases of Hosea's ministry the third division in chapter nine verse 10 through chapter 14 verse 8 focuses especially on unfolding hope from God this last major division also consists of revelations that Hosea received in anticipation of a serious invasion in 732 BC and a serious invasion in 722 BC but this division gives special attention to the topic of hope the hope that God revealed for the future of his people throughout these phases of Hosea's ministry it would be difficult to overstate the importance of these historical and topical arrangements for the interpretation of the book of Hosea in many respects they are like keys that unlock the wisdom Hosea sought to impart to those who first received his book during the reign of Hezekiah we'll look more closely at Hosea's wisdom in our next lesson but for now it will be helpful to introduce the content and structure of each major division of our book let's begin with the first division on judgment and hope from God in chapter 1 verse 2 through chapter 3 verse 5 these early chapters in our book carefully balanced a focus on the curses coming to God's people with the blessings of God that will follow as we've already mentioned these opening chapters represent Hosea's ministry in the days of Jeroboam the second when Hosea received prophecies about the syria's rise to prominence in 744 BC but how do we know that this is when Hosea received these revelations well chapter 1 verse 2 says as much when it tells us that these chapters represent the time when the Lord first spoke through Hosea other content of this division also confirms this early historical setting in the first place Hosea drew attention to the fact that as Israel enjoyed a time of great prosperity they had fallen into idolatry and injustice he also indicated that God had determined to bring curses through a Syrian dominance over Israel these facts are consistent with the earliest phase of Hosea's ministry in the second place Hosea's attention to judah in this division also confirms that he received these prophecies in the first phase of his ministry you'll recall that during this period Uzziah ruled as a righteous king in judah so as we would expect these chapters threaten no curses a the southern kingdom on the contrary this first division speaks of Judah very positively several times for instance listen to chapter 1 verses 6 & 7 where God drew a sharp contrast between Israel and Judah here God said I will no more have mercy on the house of Israel to forgive them at all but I will have mercy on the house of Judah and I will save them by the Lord their God although the Northern Kingdom was about to suffer at the hands of the Assyrians this passage makes it clear that at this time God would have mercy and save Judah Hosea also mentioned Judah positively in chapter 1 verse 11 when he said the children of Judah and the children of Israel shall be gathered together and they shall appoint for themselves one head here Hosea indicated that as Israel endured the Assyrian judgment their hope for God's blessings came from reunion with Judah under one king in a similar way in chapter 3 verse 5 Hosea said afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the Lord their God and David their King and they shall come and fear to the Lord and to His goodness in the latter days this direct reference to David their King clearly reflects a favorable view of Judah because Judah was ruled by David's royal house Hosea's thoroughly positive outlooks on Judah in the first division of his book confirmed that he received these prophecies at the beginning of his ministry when Uzziah led Judah in the ways of God with this orientation toward the first division of Hosea and mind let's briefly illustrate how these chapters emphasize the topic of judgment and hope from God Hosea arranged these chapters into three main sections the first section describes his earlier family experiences in chapter 1 verse 2 through chapter 2 verse 1 this section divides into two main parts the first part in chapter 1 verses 2 through 9 relates a family narrative it begins with God commanding Hosea to marry a woman named Gomer who practiced worship prostitution when their children were born Hosea was told to give them names that symbolized God's impending judgments against Israel this narrative drew attention to the trials that were coming to Israel through Assyria but in balance with this focus on God's judgment Hosea added a second part consisting of his hopeful prophetic reflections in chapter 1 verse 10 through chapter 2 verse 1 as just one example in chapter 1 verse 10 Hosea revealed this the number of the children of Israel shall be like the sand of the sea 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 although God was about to begin a time of judgment against Israel Hosea added that there was still going to be a future of blessings for the descendants of the tribes of Israel the second section of judgment and hope from God focuses on God's first lawsuit in the book of Hosea in chapter 2 verses 2 through 23 these verses shift attention away from Hosea's family experiences on earth to an inspired account of legal proceedings in the court of heaven now in the Old Testament God frequently revealed his plans for the future by granting his prophets knowledge of legal deliberations that took place in his heavenly court we speak of some of these revelations as lawsuits because they give rather full descriptions of the proceedings of God's court they often portray God on his throne describe his summons of participants to court report accusations against and interactions with the guilty and declare pronouncements of judgment a number of the prophetic judgment speeches could be said to take the form of a covenant lawsuit the idea of a covenant lawsuit is based on international diplomacy and our best exemplars of it are in hittite diplomatic letters that we have where the Hittite diplomat goes to the vassal nation and prosecutes the terms of the treaty that was signed on to by the vassal king but is now being violated the Prophet assumes that sort of role and there's a number of key passages that have a fuller exemplification of those elements in its fullness those elements would include a summons to the defendants and witnesses then there would be an element that follows that gives a history of the covenant relationship between the suzer and the great king and the vassal king followed by an indictment of the vassal for violating the treaty which in turn would be followed by either a threat or a sentence for that violation of the treaty this first heavenly lawsuit in the book of Hosea begins in chapter 2 verse 2 with God's summons of Israel to court using these words rebuke your mother rebuke her to modern audiences this may seem like an odd summons to court but the word rebuke here translates the Hebrew verb Reve this term was often used in prophetic books for a legal contention or lawsuit in the court of heaven the mother in view was Samaria the capital of the Kingdom of Israel where Israel's leaders resided so in effect God summoned the people of Israel to enter a heavenly lawsuit against their leaders living in Samaria a lawsuit over which God himself would preside throughout this lawsuit God alluded to ways in which Israel behaved like Hosea's wife Gomer Gomer was unfaithful to Hosea and brought trials on her children and the leaders of Israel were unfaithful to God and brought trials to the Kingdom of Israel but in this lawsuit Hosea didn't simply report that God sentenced the Kingdom of Israel to suffer the curses of his covenant he also reported that God would one day woo Israel back to himself after a time of judgment God would restore Israel to himself and have mercy on the northern tribes following this account of the heavenly Court Hosea ended his focus on divine judgment at Hope with a description of his later family experiences in chapter 3 verses 1 through 5 in parallel with the account of his earlier family experiences Hosea began with an autobiographical family narrative in chapter 3 verses 1 through 3 his wife had returned to her former way of life as a worship prostitute but God commanded Hosea to show love to her again so Hosea purchased Gomer and brought her home this brief narrative is then followed by a Hosea's second set of hopeful prophetic reflections in chapter 3 verses 4 & 5 in these verses Hosea explained that the kingdom of Israel would endure troubles from God for a period of time but a day would come in the future when Israel's relationship with God would result in great blessings for Israel who SOT gonna be method a love in Russia in this analogy Hosea a prophet honored among his people represents God of course God is much greater than Hosea but it's a metaphor on the other hand the adulterous woman represents the people of Israel they committed adultery by leaving the Lord and worshipping other gods so God asked Hosea to reflect his story although the people of Israel were far from me worshiping other gods living in sin while they were in Egypt yet I went to them and married them while they were still far away and living in adultery I saved them while they were far away it's not because they were good that I saved them but because of my grace that I saved them what his stranger is that God told Hosea that after marrying this woman she would go back to adultery but he told Hosea to go and bring her back to him this is exactly what our Lord did with the people of Israel not only did the Lord saved the people of Israel and raised him up although they were living in adultery in Egypt but also after the people were saved and entered into a covenant relationship with God they returned it back to commit adultery with other gods and although God punished and disciplined the people yet in His grace just like Hosea restored his adulterous wife God went to his wife that is the people who had committed adultery after marriage and restored them to himself on the whole then by collecting and arranging some of the revelations he receives in the earliest phase of his ministry Hosea presented a carefully balanced point of view to Judas leaders and Hezekiah as day at the time of our book the judgment God threatened had already been fulfilled with the fall of the Northern Kingdom but God's people weren't to lose hope this time of judgment would lead to a future time when Israel would receive great blessings from God after the first divisions balanced presentation of judgment and hope from God the second division shifts attention to unfolding judgment from God in chapter 4 verse 1 through chapter nine verse 9 we've entitled this portion of Hosea unfolding because it contains revelations that Hosea received over a long period of time and we speak of it as judgment because it focuses exclusively on the ways God directed his covenant curses against Israel and Judah during these decades of Hosea's ministry broadly speaking these chapters on unfolding judgment divide into two main parts more of God's lawsuits in chapter 4 verse 1 through chapter 5 verse 7 and then God's calls for alarm in chapter 5 verse 8 through chapter nine verse 9 consider first God's lawsuits God's earlier lawsuit in this division appears in chapter 4 verses 1 through 19 once again God revealed his plans to Hosea by granting him knowledge of legal deliberations in the heavenly Court listen to the summons in chapter 4 verse 1 here the word of the Lord hew Israelites because the Lord has a charge to bring as this opening verse indicates God summoned Israel to court because he had a charge to bring against them here the term charge translates the Hebrew term we learned earlier Reeve the technical term for a lawsuit the placement of this earlier lawsuit immediately after the first division as well as its content strongly suggest that it was one of Hosea's earlier prophecies about a serious invasion in 732 BC as you'll recall during this period in Israel Menachem and Pekka haya continued to promote idolatry and injustice and when Menachem suffered a brief incursion from Assyria instead of finding security in God he and Pekka hiya after him Rhea firm their alliance with Assyria and a serious gods throughout this lawsuit God accused Israel precisely of these sorts of sins and not surprisingly God announced that he would bring curses on Israel in the form of severe Assyrian aggression most likely referring to the invasion of 732 BC the strongest evidence for this historical setting is the one thing Hosea said about Judah in this earlier lawsuit listen to what Hosea wrote in chapter 4 verse 15 though you play the o Israel let not do to become guilty as we can see here at this time God drew a sharp contrast between conditions in Israel and conditions in Judah Israel was guilty of being unfaithful to God but God merely warned Judah not to become like northern Israel this contrast between Israel and Judah reminds us of the conditions in Judah when you Zia and Jotham ruled as righteous Kings so before the invasion of 732 BC God declared no curses against Judah this brings us to God's later lawsuit in chapter 5 verses 1 through 7 here we see another scene of the heavenly Court listen to the way chapter 5 verse 1 summons the accused to court hear this you priests pay attention you Israelites listen a royal house this judgment is against you although this passage doesn't use the technical term Reve we see here that God summoned the guilty to court the priests the Israelites and the royal house and announced that the purpose of this summons was judgment or wish pot in Hebrew like the word Reve this term refers to legal deliberations in the court of heaven the content of this later lawsuit indicates that it originated when Hosea received and delivered later prophecies as a serious invasion in 732 BC grew closer chapter 5 verse 1 points to this historical orientation when it mentions that Israel's Nobles oppressed the people at Mizpah and table this is important because archaeological evidence indicates that these sites remained under Israel's control only until 7:30 - BC when tiglath-pileser the third invaded Israel and annexed them it's also notable that in chapter 5 verse 13 god accused Israel of vainly appealing for help from tiglath-pileser the third or the great king as he's called in his first you'll remember that in Israel at this time King pekka continued in idolatry and injustice he also formed an alliance with Syria the Syrian Israelite coalition to resist paying tributes to Assyria so gods later lawsuit warn that curses against Israel were coming through a decimating a Syrian attack once again the most important evidence for this historical setting is Hosea's attention to Judah as we mentioned earlier in this lesson a has became king of Judah just before the Syrian Israelite coalition but unlike his father and grandfather a has promoted idolatry and injustice in Judah he also made an alliance with the Assyrians and their gods for protection against his foes and as a result in this later lawsuit God threatened curses against Judah for the first time listen to the way chapter 5 verse 5 addresses Judah the Israelites stumble in their sin Judah also stumbles with them notice the contrast here with God's earlier lawsuit in chapter 4 verse 15 God simply warned Judah not to become sinful like Israel but as this verse indicates by the time of this later lawsuit Judah had become guilty before God along with Israel because a has had led them astray Syria and Israel that coalition actually attacked Judah in the days of Ahaz and tried to force Judah to join them in that coalition to resist Assyria now the result of that was predictable the Assyrians didn't like it as a result the Assyrians came in just years later and absolutely decimated Syria and brought Israel to its knees and made them vassals that owed great tribute to the kingdom of Assyria and in fact the southern kingdom itself suffered because not only were they attacked by this coalition but they submitted themselves for protection to the Empire of Assyria the prophet Isaiah had actually told Ahaz don't do that you seek help from the Lord and he will protect you from this great coalition that's attacking you but a has refused he said no I need help from something that I can see and that's the Assyrian Empire so at that time then Judah itself became a vassal nation of the Empire of Assyria following God's lawsuits Hosea's prophecies about unfolding judgment turned to God's calls for alarm in chapter 5 of verse 8 through chapter nine verse 9 in ancient Israel armies were often called in to battle by blowing a hollowed ram's horn shofar in Hebrew or a silver trumpet hot so it's raw in Hebrew and on a number of occasions God Himself announced or recalled battles by referring to this practice in this section we find two such calls the first call for alarm appears in chapter 5 verse 8 through chapter 7 verse 16 it begins in chapter 5 verse 8 with the words blow the horn shofar in Gibeah the trumpet cuts oats frog in Rama when we examine the content of this first call for alarm it appears that it originated with Hosea's earlier prophesies about a serious invasion in 722 BC as evidence two passages allude to a serious previous invasion in 732 BC chapter 5 verse 11 mentions how the Assyrians had already oppressed and crushed Israel chapter 6 verse 1 notes that Israel had been torn and struck in addition in Chapter 7 verse 11 God accused Israel of calling to Egypt going to Assyria a reference to Israel's shifting international alliances at this time as we know the Assyrians had established Hosea as the king of Israel after their victory over Israel in 732 BC o Shia continued in idolatry and injustice and for a period of time he enthusiastically maintained his alliance with Assyria but he later sought freedom from Assyrian domination by turning to Egypt for protection Hosea exposed the dire consequences of these sins by warning that more curses were coming from God curses that arrived in the form of a serious devastating invasion in 722 BC the historical setting is also supported by the special attention these chapters give to the kingdom of Judah at this time a has ruled in Judah and led Judah into idolatry and injustice and rather than trusting in God a has sought protection from his foes through an alliance with Assyria and it's gods as a result these chapters give a lot of attention to God's curses against Judah listen to chapter 5 verses 10 through 14 where Hosea delivered these words the princes of Judah have become like those who move the land mark upon them I will pour out my wrath like water I am like dry rot to the house of Judah Judah will see his wound I will be like a young lion to the house of Judah I even I will tear and go away I will carry off and no one shall rescue and in chapter 6 verse 4 God expressed his frustration with a has and Judah saying what shall I do with you Oh Judah and then in verse 11 God exclaimed for you also Oh Judah a harvest is appointed here God declared that a harvest had been appointed for Judah along with the Kingdom of Israel now we should note that the second half of this first speaks of the restoration of God's people but as a number of interpreters and some modern translations have indicated the second half of verse 11 actually belongs with the prophecy that follows in chapter 7 verse 1 so in this view the appointed harvest was Judah's devastation at the hands of Assyria God's second call for alarm appears in chapter 8 verse 1 through Chapter 9 verse 9 it begins in chapter 8 verse 1 with the command to set the trumpet or shofar to your lips the content of this second call for alarm strongly suggests that it was among the later prophecies Hosea delivered as a serious invasion in 722 BC drew near at this time King Hosea of Israel continued to promote idolatry and injustice he also continued to rely on his alliance with Egypt and as a result Hosea warned of God's impending curses he announced in Chapter 9 verse 3 that they shall eat unclean food in Assyria soon after shall manager v subjugated Samaria and in 722 BC a serious new king sargon ii destroyed samaria and brought an end to the Kingdom of Israel well not preguntar cave where they had one question that can leave many people perplexed is how is it that God would allow his own people to fall into the hands of pagans like the Assyrians well I'll say it means to respond to this question by showing that the judgments were deserved God had warned his people time and again God had sent prophets God had told them that there would be consequences for their disobedience for their unfaithfulness nevertheless they didn't want to repent of their unfaithfulness to the company as hosea shows graphically in his book so hosea writes to tell them that you all who are suffering it was well-earned god warned you and you did not want to repent so there was no other remedy than to carry out the judgment that God had warned about much early Earth this historical setting is also confirmed by what this passage says about Judah during these last years of Israel's existence a has and Hezekiah were Co Regents in Judah Hezekiah began to turn Judah away from a has idolatry and injustice and in this regard he was a true reformer but Hezekiah also trusted in his own strength to resist Assyria by fortifying Judah against attack and he sought an alliance with Egypt egypt's gods rather than turning to God these actions led God to announce that Judah was going to face even more curses through Assyria as God put it in chapter 8 verse 14 Judah has multiplied fortified cities so I will send a fire upon his cities and it shall devour her strongholds this prophecy was fulfilled approximately two decades later in 701 BC when Sennacherib invaded Judah destroying most of its cities and laying siege to Jerusalem as you can imagine all of these prophecies of judgment had many implications for Israel and Judah when hosea first received them at every step they warned of approaching judgment and called for repentance but later on when hosea formed these prophecies into the second division of his book these threats of judgment had already been fulfilled Israel had fallen to Assyria in 722 BC and Assyria had attacked and destroyed much of Judah during Hezekiah strain still these prophecies had an abundance of wisdom to teach Judas leaders in Hezekiah day they not only explained in some detail why God had destroyed the kingdom of Israel but they also explained why God had sent Assyria with such devastating force against Judah as well now that we've seen how the structure and content of the first division of Hosea focuses on judgment and hope from God and how the second division deals with God's unfolding judgment we should turn to the third major division of our book Hosea's prophecies about unfolding hope from God in Chapter 9 verse 10 through chapter 14 verse 8 we speak of this division as unfolding because Hosea drew once again from prophecies he'd received over many years and we speak of it as hope because it emphasizes how God's people could continue to have hope for God's blessings even after they'd suffered so severely under his judgment in the second division of his book Hosea dealt almost exclusively with God's judgment against Israel and Judah if Hosea had stopped his book their crucial questions would have gone unanswered did the troubles Israel and Judah faced mean that God would no longer bless his people in the future well God's people to be lost forever Hosea wrote the third division of his book to answer these kinds of questions here he revealed to Judas leaders in the days of Hezekiah why they should still hope for God's blessings in the future the third division of Hosea is the most complex portion of our book because Hosea combined a number of prophecies and even snippets of prophecies together but on a large scale we can say with confidence that it divides into five main sections each of which is introduced by a comparison God made with Israel God compared Israel with fruit in chapter 9 verses 10 through 12 with a planted palm in chapter 9 verses 13 through 17 with a luxuriant vine in chapter 10 verses 1 through 10 with a trained calf in chapter 10 verses 11 through 15 and finally with a beloved child or son in chapter 11 verse 1 through chapter 14 verse 8 these sections elaborate on these comparisons in multiple ways and we'll look into these elaborations more in our next lesson but in this introductory lesson time will only allow us to point out a simple pattern of Hope that appears at the beginning of each section as we approach this division of Hosea it's important to identify as much as possible when Hosea first received the revelations of each of these sections some of these historical contexts are more easily identified than others but on the whole Hosea retraced the same historical periods that he covered in the second division of his book as we've seen Hosea focused the second division on God's judgments during a serious invasion in 732 BC and a serious invasion in 722 BC but in the third division of our book rather than focusing on judgment this section represents God's words of Hope over the same stretch of time let's see how this is true by turning first to God's comparison of Israel to fruit in chapter 9 verses 10 through 12 it's most likely that this first section was revealed to Hosea along with other earlier prophecies about a serious invasion in 732 BC the best evidence for this historical setting appears in chapter 9 verse 11 because Israel's kings had turned from God we read that Ephraim's glory literally their glory or keval Dom in Hebrew shall fly away like a bird God was about to remove Israel's glory the only other time in Hosea's book that God predicted this was in God's earlier lawsuit in chapter 4 verses 1 through 19 a section associated with Hosea's earlier prophecies about the 732 BC invasion in chapter 4 verse 7 God said I will change their glory into shame this link strongly suggests that Hosea began the third division of his book as he began the second with one of his earlier prophecies about a serious invasion in 732 BC this setting is confirmed by the fact that these verses make no reference to Judah as you'll recall Uzziah and Jotham ruled as righteous kings and God pronounced no curses on Judah during this time with this historical orientation in mind listen to what God said in Chapter 9 verse 10 like grapes in the wilderness I found Israel like the first fruit on the fig tree in its first season I saw your father's but they came to bale peor and consecrated themselves to the thing of shame and became detestable like the thing they loved clearly God spoke of Israel's sins in this first but it's important to note that God began with a positive comparison of Israel with grapes and figs so even as God determined to bring judgment against Israel in 732 BC he still remembered Israel fondly as one remembers sweet fruits and gods positive memory reassured God's people that there was still hope for them to return to his blessings in the future the second section in chapter 9 verses 13 through 17 focuses on Israel as a planted palm and follows a similar pattern we can't be sure when Hosea first received this revelation but on the whole Hosea's description of Israel fits well with the conditions of Israel when Hosea received prophecies about a serious invasion in 732 BC this historical orientation is supported by the fact that this passage does not mention Judah so it most likely came to Hosea before a has turned Judah away from God listen to the opening of this section in Chapter 9 verse 13 Ephraim as I have seen was like a young palm planted in a meadow but Ephraim must lead his children out to slaughter here God threatened Israel with the slaughter of their children as they went out to battle against a Syrian invaders but as terrible as this judgment was in the first half of this first God remembered how he cherished Israel like a young palm planted in a meadow God's fond memory of them revealed that there was still hope for God's blessings to come to Israel in the future after focusing on Israel as a planted palm hosea compared the kingdom of israel to a luxuriant vine in chapter 10 verses 1 through 10 in all likelihood this section also originated when hosea received prophecies about a serious invasion in 732 BC chapter 10 verse 6 threatens that the wealth of Israel's worship centers will be carried off as tribute to the great king the same king mentioned in chapter 5 verse 13 this great king was tiglath-pileser the third who led the devastating invasion of 732 BC but it's important to note that Judah is not mentioned in this section so this may indicate that a has had not yet led Judah into corruption in this light listen to what God said in chapter 10 verse 1 Israel is a luxuriant vine the more his fruit increased the more altars he built notice here that Hosea's prophecy focused again on judgment against Israel because the more they prospered the more altars they built Israel had filled their tribal territories with altars to other gods and they would suffer God's judgment for this rebellion but as before hosea introduced this threat of judgment with the fact that God remembered Israel as a delightful luxuriant vine this comparison offered hope for God's blessings on Israel in the future after likening Israel to a luxuriant vine hosea wrote about god's comparison of the kingdom of israel to a trained calf in chapter 10 verses 11 through 15 this section may have originated when hosea received his earlier prophecies about a serious invasion in 722 BC as we've seen during this time King Hosea led Israel into idolatry and injustice and early on he relied on his alliance with Assyria and its gods for his security instead of God because of this God warned that curses were coming to Israel the most notable evidence for the historical setting of this section is that it mentions the sins of Judah as we know a has the king of Judah had promoted idolatry and injustice throughout Judah he also persisted in seeking help from his alliance with Assyria rather than from God so in chapter 10 verses 11 and 12 God briefly threatened curses against Judah and announced that Judah must plow and sow righteousness this entire section begins in chapter 10 verse 11 with these words he free 'm was a trained calf that loved to thresh and i spared her fair neck but I will put ephraim to the yoke we see here that god threatened to put ephraim to the yoke a metaphor for the judgment of oppression by assyria but despite the judgment that was coming god still remembered israel fondly as a trained calf that loved to thresh and god's positive remembrance of israel served as the basis of hope for the future this brings us to the last comparison in this division on unfolding hope from God by far the longest section in the third division in chapter 11 verse 1 through chapter 14 verse 8 God compared his people to something even more precious than a well-trained calf a beloved child or son this lengthy section represents revelations Hosea received when he delivered his prophecies about a serious invasion in 722 BC at this time King Hosea continued to lead Israel in idolatry and injustice but later he attempted to break free of Assyria by foolishly seeking an alliance with Egypt God specifically addressed this alliance in chapter 11 verse 5 where he said that Israel will not return to the land of Egypt but Assyria shall be their king this historical context is confirmed by the fact that in chapter 11 verse 12 and chapter 12 verses 2 through 6 Hosea also prophesied against Judah as we read in chapter 12 verse 2 the Lord has an indictment against Judah despite the reforms that Hezekiah was able to achieve Hezekiah relied on his own strength and turned to an alliance with Egypt rather than turning to the Lord so Judas suffered a judgment of God through Sennacherib invasion in 701 BC now listen to the opening of this section in chapter 11 verses 1 & 2 when Israel was a child I loved him and out of Egypt I called my son the more they were called the more they went away they kept sacrificing to the bales and burning offerings to idols these opening verses present Hosea's pattern once again Israel had sinned against God time and again God called to them but they went away and worshiped bales and idols and as a result judgment was coming but even as God pronounced judgment verse 1 indicates that God still thought of Israel as his beloved son and his love for his child Israel was the basis of hope for Israel's future blessings Isaiah 11:1 speaks of how God called Israel out of Egypt the the verses go on to say that God bent down and lovingly fed them and provided for his people and yet the more he called his people through service the prophets the further that they went from him and so God declares that he's going to send them away only this time not to Egypt but Assyria will be their king but then the chapter goes on with God's voice breaking with his love for his people and God declaring I will not execute my fierce judgment on Israel I will call and my sons will come trembling like birds from the land of Egypt like doves from the land of Assyria I will gather them again to this land and I will again be their God and they will again be my people now there's much more to the third division of Hosea than our brief introduction reveals and we'll look more closely at this part of our book in our next lesson still we've seen enough to grasp the heart of the matter Hosea composed this last division of his book to impart wisdom to Judas leaders after Israel had fallen to Assyria and most of its citizens had been carried off into exile and in these last chapters of his book Hosea drew from prophecies he had given throughout his ministry to strengthen Judas hopes for what God had promised judgment was not the end of Israel's story because God had never forgotten how much he cherished them the leaders of Judah could gain wisdom and hold firmly to the hope of blessings to come [Music] in this introduction to hosea we've explored the background of hosea by distinguishing between the time location circumstances and purpose of the prophet's ministry and his book we've also surveyed the content and structure of the book of hosea by noting how the Prophet gave those who first received his book wisdom by focusing on judgment and hope unfolding judgment and unfolding hope from God the book of Hosea was written to teach wisdom when Israel and Judah faced one of the most difficult times in their history the crisis of a Syrian judgment and his book gives insights that God's people need in every age including her own as we look toward the future like Israel and Judah in the days of Hosea followers of Christ must heed Hosea's call to pursue wisdom as we face the trials in this world from his book we can see that no matter what difficulties we face even when all seems lost we can hold firmly to the hope for the future that we have in Christ and we could be confident that one day God will pour out immeasurable blessings on his people when Christ returns in glory [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music]

Channel: Thirdmill

Views: 38,968

Rating: 4.8904109 out of 5

Keywords: third millennium ministries, thirdmill, third mill, Theology Matters, Reformed, Ministry, Biblical Education, God, Education, Study, Scripture, Theology, Free, Truth, For the World, Bible, Seminary, Doctrine, Hosea, Gomer, Church, Israel, Jesus Christ, Marriage, Divorce, Faithful, Prophet, Prophecy, Old Testament

Id: 60k5ZpXF3T8

Length: 101min 50sec (6110 seconds)

Published: Thu Jun 25 2020