Marry a Prostitute, An Introduction to Hosea

In a few days we look at the Old Testament book of Hosea.  Hosea was a prophet who lived in the northern kingdom, Israel, during the reign of Jeroboam II, two hundred years after the division of the nation into two kingdoms and a decade or so before the defeat of the northern kingdom by the Assyrians.

In places in the Old Testament, Israel's flirtation with idolatry and the worship of "Baals"(ie. worship of other gods) is called "adultery", using a marriage metaphor for Israel's relationship with YHWH. In the book of Hosea, that metaphor is acted out -- the prophet marries a woman who is unfaithful. Hosea's separation from that woman, and her children, and his reconciliation, is explicitly described in terms of God's relationship with the nation of Israel.

The Setting

See 2 Kings 17 for a description of the reign of the kings that follow Jeroboam II. During this time, the Assyrian Empire was threatening from the northeast of the kingdom while Egypt was active on the west.

Outline

The scroll of Hosea falls roughly into three parts. Those parts are:

• Hosea 1-3, Gomer and her three children
• Hosea 4-11, The indictment against Israel and its results
• Hosea 12-14, A future restoration and reconciliation

Resources and References

For the book of Hosea, I have relied on the following resources:

• a commentary by Leon Wood in the seventh volume of the Expositor's Bible Commentary.
• a commentary, The Message of Hosea: Love to the Loveless by Derek Kidner, published in 1984, republished in 2024.
• a commentary by McComiskey in The Minor Prophets: A Commentary on Hosea, Joel, Amos, edited by Thomas Edward McComiskey, 2018. 

There are other resources online.

• Amongst the online commentaries provided by EasyEnglishBible, is an online commentary on Hosea.
• The Gospel Coalition now has a set of online commentaries. Here is their commentary on Hosea.
• The Bible Project videos are always excellent. I recommend their video on Hosea.

I place hyperlinks in pink, created so that one can click on a link and see the linked site open in another window... and go down a rabbit hole if they wish!