Hosea - A Neo-Assyrian Prophet

The Amazing Bible. Book Club

The prophet Hosea's life was an object lesson to the nation of Israel. He was called to take a wife who was unfaithful, and after he married her and had children with her, she remained unfaithful. The Lord commanded him to go and buy her back unto himself, and that is what the Lord did for us in the NT when Jesus died on the cross. He rose again on the third day, and as Hosea 6:2 says, "After two days He will revive us; on the third day He will restore us, that we may live in His presence." Another verse of Hosea that referenced Jesus is 11:1, "When Israel was a child, I loved Him, and out of Egypt I called my son." The apostle of Jesus, Matthew shared this verse in 2:15, declaring this referenced when the Lord called Joseph, Mary, and Jesus to come back from Egypt to the Promised Land. This book stresses that the key to obedience to the Lord is to know Him and to acknowledge Him in our lives. We hear the agony of the Lord when He cries out, "How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over Israel? (11:8a), yet we also see that judgement is coming because of their unfaithfulness to the Lord, and there is a hint that it comes through the nation of Assyria (14:3). The last verse of the book gives us hope that even though the nation of the 10 Northern Tribes of Israel were not faithful to the Lord, there was a remnant who was, "Who is wise? He will realize these things. Who is discerning? He will understand them. The ways of the Lord are right; the righteous walk in them, but the rebellious stumble in them." This last verse also asks us which group are we in?