The Prophet Hosea

In Hebrew the name is Hoshe'a. The era in which Hosea lived was one of economic prosperity and political stability. However, there are some allusions in the book to war or political anarchy which might suggest that Hosea continued to prophesy until the fall of Samaria in 722, which fits well with the superscription's list of the Judahite kings during show reign Hosea prophesied. The emphasis Hosea places in his prophecies is mainly on domestic affairs, especially the cultic situation. The information provided on Hosea's background is not extensive, but one episode is seen of particular importance. God commanded Hosea to marry a harlot, Gomer, daughter of Diblaim. She bore him two sons and one daughter. This marriage and its consequences are interpreted in rel

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inality in Hosea's judgment on this matter embracing not only the nation's present but its future in the destruction of the coming generation. The question is whether Hosea is simply a prophet of doom. In the present arrangement of the material, it seems that the initiative for restoration lies with the nation and her repentance (Coggins and Houlden 301). Hosea denounces the corruption of the day as the spirit of harlotry, linking that corruption with Gomer and the account of his marriage. This corruption has caused the people to turn away from God. By the "spirit of harlotry" Hosea meant the moral corruption of the individuals and the people as a whole, and this manifested itself in the religious, social, and political relationships of the national life. For Hosea, religion, social well-being, and politics were interconnected. Hosea saw God as a moral being who desired mercy rather than sacrifice, a concept totally at variance with the common conception of the day where God was seen as the lord or husband of the land which, in turn, was the mother of its inhabitants. Thus, it would seem that Hosea's own unhappy marital experience was the source of inspiration through which he reinterpreted the relationship of God to Isra
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Approximate Word count = 2533
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page)

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