Introduction to Hosea

THE TWELVE

The "Minor Prophets"

What we call the books of the "minor prophets" is a revelation to us of God and what He is like in His dealing with human beings. Three of the prophets were messengers to Israel, the northern kingdom. They were Hosea, Amos and Jonah. Three were messengers to Judah, the southern kingdom. They were Joel, Micah and Zephaniah. Three were messengers to the Gentiles - Obadiah to Edom, Nahum to Nineveh and Habakkuk to Babylon. Three were messengers to the remnant of the Jews who returned to the land of promise. They were Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi.

Prophets really are not "major" or "minor" in themselves, because a prophet was a person chosen by God to communicate directly with the people when the kings and priests failed in their leadership. When they did not do what God intended but led God's people astray, He chose men from different walks of life and gave them authority to speak for Him. They owed their allegiance only to God and were not to be manipulated by the will of the people. It was important that God made failing kings and a failing people aware that they knew none of their actions were hidden from God's eyes. There was departure morally, socially and spiritually from what God wanted from His people and He was not going to leave them without warning as to what was the result of their sins.

Some of the prophets like Elijah and Elisha performed miracles to lend weight to their warnings of coming consequences of the choices of the people and their leaders. Other prophets told the people of the mind of God regarding their practices of sin in the present and others warned of judgments that would come in the future, as well as blessings that are yet to be fulfilled when our Lord Jesus Christ reigns in the future and the throne of David is reestablished in Israel.

Israel, even though it is one of the smallest nations on earth, is the only nation with which God has made a treaty. By an act of divine sovereignty, He chose Israel to be His representative people on earth to all other nations. Instead of choosing some great nation who would pride themselves on their strength, He picked out a small group who would not boast of themselves but put their faith and trust in God. But as the generations passed who ignored the hand of God with them by establishing them in the geographical center of the earth, the people of Israel and their leaders began to think they became great by their own power and skill. God does not give His glory to others and so the twelve prophets who we call "minor prophets" had a work to do for God. The only reason they are called "minor" is because of the size of the writings in the books compared with Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel.

Israel occupies the most strategic place on the earth because God chose to put this small obscure people there when He called Abram from Ur of the Chaldees to move to that specific location. He was the father of the nation which was to be the spiritual heart of all the people in the world. From them was to come the blessing which would be to all mankind. Other nations are blessed when they favor Israel. God blesses those who by their positive association with Israel allow the truth of God to come to their own people. Britain one time, favored Israel but at the end of WWII turned their protection of Israel over to the Arabs and has since lost its place of importance worldwide.

The light of God has come to all humanity through Israel, and the nations that reject that light will not be able to succeed in their ambition to "drive Israel into the sea." To many people, support for such a small nation seems a waste of time and money. However, the final pages of history have not been written and so we have the writings of the prophets to give us the end of the story. The prophets of Israel began with Elijah and concluded with John the Baptist who came in the "spirit and power of Elias" to turn the nation of Israel to the Messiah, our Lord Jesus Christ. "He came unto His own, and His own received Him not." How sad that the departure that began so long ago still is a fact in that nation, and will still be "until Shiloh comes, and unto Him shall the gathering of the people be."

When the Israelites came into the promised land, they were an agricultural people in which people were given an inheritance that was to remain in the family from one generation to the next. Urbanization brought people to measure their worth in wealth and power instead of heritage. It was then that the first prophets were called by God to speak to the people for Him. Elijah, Elisha and Joel spoke out in the times of Ahab until Jehoash. Jonah, Amos and Hosea then were the spokespersons for God in the times of prosperity during the reign of Uzziah, and in the case of Hosea, through the short times of leadership until Hezekiah.

The world power of Assyria and the captivity and dispersion of the northern tribes by Assyria, made it urgent that the word of God would be written. Then one hundred and fifty years later, the Babylonians came, but not as a savage people like the Assyrians. They carried the Jews captive to Babylon where they retained their identity. Nebuchadnezzar deal ruthlessly with the leadership of the Jews when they were defeated, but led the people as a whole to like Babylon and its prosperity and urban lifestyle. During this time there was the need of prophets to warn the Jews against materialism, worldliness and idolatry. When comparatively few returned to Israel under the auspices of Cyrus, they quickly got discouraged and settled into a formal religious hypocrisy which called for a final word from God. As a young man, Isaiah was awakened to the call of God at the death of Uzziah and said, "Here am I send me." During the reigns of five kings both he and Micah spoke the word of the Lord to the people of Israel and Judah. Nahum, Zephaniah, Habakkuk and Jeremiah continued to prophesy after those before them, and in the case of Jeremiah, all the way to the return of Jews under Zerubbabel.

Daniel, Ezekiel and Obadiah were there when the people of Judah were taken to Babylon and their prophesies are related to that time and on into the future. Zechariah and Haggai were in there when the temple was being rebuilt and finally finished under their prodding. After the time of Ezra and Nehemiah, Malachi had the last prophetic word as hypocrisy and spiritual darkness settled down on the Jews for four hundred years until the miracle child John was born. The unfolding history of the Jews as written in the Kings and Chronicles closes with Malachi, the last Old Testament prophet making a final appeal to the third generation of repatriated Jews to repent but that did not happen. They kept and added to their formal religion. Their secular materialism consumed their interest and religious hypocrisy was became normal to them. Daniel had foretold this would happen, and sure enough it did as darkness again descended on the chosen people of Israel.

TWELVE MINOR PROPHETS

THE GOD WHO… Hosea: loves to the uttermost. Joel: appeals before judgment. Obadiah: is the God of poetic justice. Jonah: God spares the repentant. Micah: smites in order to bless. Nahum: is not mocked. Habakkuk: vindicates the righteous. Zephaniah: avenges abused privilege. Haggai: restores lost blessing. Zechariah: promises new mercies. Malachi: says “proves Me;” bring tithes.

3 MESSENGERS TO ISRAEL: Hosea, Amos, Jonah – the northern kingdom.

3 MESSENGERS TO JUDAH: Joel, Micah, Zephaniah – the southern kingdom.

3 MESSENGERS TO THE GENTILES: Obadiah to Edom; Nahum to Nineveh; Habakkuk to Babylon.

3 MESSENGERS TO THE REMNANT: Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi.

HOSEA An Unusual Love Story

Hosea was a contemporary of Amos, Isaiah and Micah. He labored in Samaria approximately 72 years. His message was to the 10 tribes (Israel, Ephraim). Israel is Jehovah’s bride; the Church is the Lamb’s bride.

Key word: “Return” is mentioned 15 times. Message: God’s method in restoring backsliders. This is a treatise on repentance.

Chapter 1: Israel’s sad condition. Chapter 2: Israel’s awful fall. Chapter 3: Israel’s ransom price paid.

Chapter 4 - 5: Terrible results of Israel’s fall. Chapter 6:1-3: Israel’s penitent cry. Chapter 6:4- chapter 13: The Lord probes Israel’s wounds. Chapter 14:1-3: The prophet’s final appeal to Israel. Chapter 14:4-9: Israel’s final restoration.