Bible Study-Less read Books of the Bible-Hosea

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Permalink Reply by Jayaseelan Samuel on November 8, 2010 at 11:02am

The Book of Hosea

Historical background :-

Hosea's focus is on the reign of Jeroboam II, a date for Hosea’s prophecies from c. 760-725 B.C.So this book could have been written in the 8th Century BC during the reign of Jeroboam II.Names for the Northern Kingdom such as Ephraim, Israel, and Jacob occur some seven dozen times, while that of Judah a mere fifteen times and that always in connection with one or more of the names for the Northern Kingdom.This was an era of dramatic change for the twin kingdoms of Israel and Judah as well as for the surrounding nations of the ancient Near East.As for Jeroboam, Kaiser remarks, “In less than twenty-five years Jeroboam II was able to take a nation that was just about ready to die and turn it into one of the great powers of his day.” This included Israelite thrusts into Transjordan and a possible joint Israelite-Judahite campaign into Syria.During Uzziah’s long 52-year reign the Southern Kingdom enjoyed economic prosperity and political power. Uzziah (or Azariah) improved Judah’s military strength, which included the fortifying of Jerusalem (2 Chr. 26:11-15) and launching successful campaigns against his neighbors to the west, east, and south (2 Chr. 26:6-8).Unfortunately, this high water mark of prosperity for the twin kingdoms would not long endure. In the north, with the death of Jeroboam II in 752 B.C

Bibliography : www.bible.org

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Permalink Reply by Jayaseelan Samuel on November 9, 2010 at 1:55pm

Thanks Michelle for your update,
Hosea was a prophet who lived and prophesied just before the destruction of Israel in 722 BC.Hosea was commanded to take a wife who would become a prostitute as an example of God's relationship with Israel.
Now arises a question Was Gomer a Prostitute before marrying Hosea or did she became a prostitute after marrying Hosea?
There are two arguments
As per Deuteronomy 22:20 a girl comitting adultery should be stoned to death.Will God ever allow such a girl to be married to a prophet.
And the second argument is Hosea’s marriage is a picture of God’s relationship with Israel. Hosea’s choice of a prostitute was exactly like God’s choice of Abraham. Abraham was just another sinner like the rest of the people in the world. He did not deserve to be chosen. But that isn’t what the Jews thought.

God often asked his prohpets to do something difficult.God may be using Hosea’s marriage to a prostitute to make this point

Bibliography : www.bible.org

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Permalink Reply by Jayaseelan Samuel on November 10, 2010 at 12:32pm

The Book of Hosea teaches four main things

1)God suffers when His people are unfaithful to Him;
2)God cannot condone sin;
3)God will never cease to love His own; and, consequently
4)He seeks to win back those who have forsaken Him.


Jeroboam's Sin

Hosea prophesied during the reign of Jeroboam and five other kings that followed him.2 Kings 14:24, 15:9, 15:18, 24, 28, 17:21-23 all say the same thing about these kings:
“And he did evil in the sight of the Lord; he did not depart all his days from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel sin.”

What was this sin that Jeroboam committed?

We need to turn to 1 Kings 12:26-29 for an explanation.
I think Jeroboam knew that God did not want a divided kingdom. Hosea 1:11 talks about future restoration and shows that God will one day reunite Israel and Judah.1 Kings 12:28 says Jeroboam devised a plan to stop that. He gave the Israelites a new god--golden calves. So is this the sin of Jeroboam--starting national idol worship in Israel.

Application :

How do we apply the book of Hosea to our lives

Do we have other gods in our lives. Do we have something more important than God in our lives which would make us spend our time and life in it rather than spending it with God.Let us search and find out.Let us not create idols in our lives.

Let us pray that God alone will be the first and the most important person in our lives.If we have anything else in our lives more than Him we are creating idols for ourselves.
Bibliography :
www.khouse.org
http://bible.org


With regards,

jayaseelan Samuel

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