“But if I should be delayed, I have written so that you will know how people ought to act in God’s household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of truth.”[1]
Introduction
The book of Hosea depicts the formation and cultivation of the people of God. The concept of YHWH’s household is the primary motif through which this depiction occurs, and it unifies other motifs that deal with marriage, covenants, and children. Hosea’s book has often been analyzed in a compartmentalized manner, but the language of Hosea indicates that “the relationship between YHWH and Israel” is the prophet’s focus.[2] For example, God’s exhortation to Hosea is rooted in household language: “Go and marry a promiscuous wife and have children of promiscuity, for the land is committing blatant acts of promiscuity by abandoning the Lord.”[3] In this verse, God is being portrayed using the triplicate metaphor of husband/father/landowner and the nation of Israel is depicted as the counterpart metaphor of wife/children/land.[4] The combination of these units indicates that far more than a marital relationship is at work. Rather, Hosea portrays the entire family unit and provision throughout his prophecy. Thus, the book of Hosea is unified under the theme of forging the household of YHWH.
Theological Message of Hosea
Utilizing the household of YHWH as a meta-theme for the entire book, Hosea expounded upon four major motifs that act as pillars supporting the development of Israel as a covenant people. First, Hosea depicts God at key junctures as a loving husband who is in the process of wooing his wife. Second, God acts against Israel though curses in order to awaken her to her spiritual depravity and call her back into a loving relationship. Third, Hosea utilizes his own children to illustrate the metaphor of Israel as a child in order to depict both the current threat to the house of YHWH and the promise to restore it. Fourth, God uses Hosea’s marriage to Gomer as a full-bodied diagram of His relationship to Israel and the lengths He is willing to go to recover it.
Motif 1: God’s Hidden Blessings as a Means of Wooing the Household
God’s Hidden Blessings in the Context of YHWH’s Household
Unlike other religions, the blessings of YHWH result from a relationship as opposed to a ritual. Hosea 2:8 describes YHWH’s blessing to Israel saying, “She does not recognize that it is I who gave her the grain, the new wine, and the oil … I lavished silver and gold on her, which they used for Baal.” These gifts of God were not received as a result of ritual sacrifice or worship; rather, these were loving provisions of YHWH to His people as promised in the Deuteronomic covenant.[5] Leviticus 23:9-14 mentions grain, wine, and oil as benefits of the land that the Israelites would receive immediately upon entering the land, reaping “its harvest” apart from any action or personal merit.[6] Thus, in the context of Hosea’s marriage, these blessings are not to be seen as an exchange for worship, but as the outpouring of love as of a father to a son or a husband to a wife. As part of the household of YHWH, Israel would receive the blessings YHWH in the form of a full provision from nature.[7]
An important aspect of this provision is that it, like all other blessings from YHWH to Israel, was a hidden blessing. Worshippers of Ba’al or Marduk would often offer sacrifices as direct method of securing the blessing of the gods. Thus, these blessings would be overt in the sense that there is a direct connection between the asking and the blessing. The Israelites, as part of the household were not called upon to offer sacrifices to procure favor. Rather, like a spouse, Israel was instructed to partake of the bounty its husband had provided for it. The provision is a love provision. Unfortunately, the God who provided it was an invisible God, not an idol, and the blessing was “hidden” in the sense that Israel could simply assume the food and wine of the land were a happy accident. Even though this hidden nature seems like it could introduce idolatry or the breakdown of the household of YHWH, it is a vital part to maintain the proper relationship of Israel as the wife receiving a blessing from the husband.
Use of Hidden Blessings in Restoring Israel to YHWH’s Household
Though the blessings were removed for a time, Hosea 2:14-23 details their return and purpose. The Lord states that He is going “to persuade” Israel to return to Him.[8] God uses many methods throughout the Bible to persuade people and individuals, including judgment, violence, and punishment. However, these typically surround immorality and God’s attempt to get people to behave righteously. In Hosea, God is attempting to woo Israel back into a relationship with Himself. He fully understands that the appropriate means of relational pursuit is not through aggression, violence, and judgment, but though acts of lovingkindness and faithfulness. It is not God’s goal to subjugate, but to “win her back once again.”[9]
God begins His wooing of Israel by leading “her to the wilderness and speak[ing] tenderly to her.”[10] The hidden nature of God’s blessings necessitated Israel being brought into the wilderness. The wilderness was a place of harsh living and difficulty, but God did not bring Israel there to punish her; rather, God brought Israel out of the land of milk and honey to provide an arena wherein the Israelites would have to rely on God and see a more direct connection from their survival to His blessings.[11] The tenderness with which God speaks is indicative of His love for Israel and desire to see her return to Him. God states that He will “give her vineyards back to her and make the Valley of Achor into a gateway of hope.” Once the Israelites recognize that it is God who truly loves them, He is able to restore the blessings of love to them. The turning of the Valley of Achor into hope is a powerful means of telling the Israelites that though they sinned and brought judgment on themselves, that very judgment would lead to purification and ultimately a fully restored and renewed relationship with their God. Additionally, God asserts His household bond through the creation of another covenant in which God “will shatter bow, sword, and weapons of war in the land and will enable the people to rest securely.” For a people facing exile and judgment, such a declaration is a beacon of hope. This promise from God is a symbol of His provision and protection that forms the basis of love as found in Ephesians 5:29 where love is demonstrated through “feed[ing] and car[ing]” for another individual.[12] Just as in Ephesians, the section of Hosea discussing the love of God for Israel ends in a promise of a renewed household through the bonds of marriage. God “will take you to be My wife forever … I will take you to be my wife in righteousness, justice, love, and compassion … I will take you to be my wife in faithfulness, and you will know Yahweh.”[13] The restoration of Israel to YHWH’s household is not of its own ability, but of YHWH’s divine prerogative and will. It is an act of love, wooing the wayward spouse home.
Motif 2: God’s Curses as a Means of Awakening the Household
The Curses of God Take Awake Israel’s Ability to Function as a Household of Other Gods and Nations
The primary injunctions that God levied against the Israelites were those that prevented them from being “promiscuous” and acting “shamefully” with many “lovers.”[14] For example, YHWH revealed that He would “strip her naked and expose her as she was on the day of her birth.”[15] In preparation for sexual activity and temple prostitution, people in ancient near east cultures would often wear “makeup or jewelry” that provoked lust.[16] By stripping Israel bare in front of her lovers, she would cease to be attractive to them and unable to provoke them to her bed.
Additionally, God also decreed that He would prevent her from being able to find her lovers. Without forcing Israel to stop sinning with foreign nations and idols, God promised to prevent their pursuit of these evils from “succeeding.”[17] YHWH states that He “will block her way with thorns … [and] enclose her with a wall, so that she cannot find her paths.”[18] It is important to contrast this punishment with the punishment of “herem” and other judgments that required total destruction and death. Unlike those punishments, which are direct execution of the full measure of justice against sin, the punishments of God in Hosea come with a heavy degree of protection. Though the judgments turned “into a wilderness or desert,” God’s immediate purpose was to separate the nation from its idols and foreign entanglements. Thus, as a desert, Israel was simultaneously reaping the wrath it had earned and was being prohibited from engaging in “household-like” consort with anyone other than YHWH.
Curses Function as a Means to Direct Israel Back to God
The second chapter of Hosea is framed by God’s statement that Israel “is not My wife and I am not her husband.”[19] With that theme in mind, the punishments of God as the former husband of Israel have a purpose beyond simple justice. In Hosea 2:2, God declares that Israel needs to “remove the promiscuous look from her face and her adultery from between her breasts.”[20] This statement is likely an injunction to purge herself of the “lewd, pagan culture of Canaan and Baalism.”[21] The language of the rest of the passage reinforces this interpretation; the destruction of the body of Israel is not the focus. YHWH’s intent is not “on destroying the reputation and future of his wife.”[22] Rather, God engages in a “desperate maneuver” to turn Israel away from its prostitution by drying up the sources and means of her lust.[23]
The second function of God’s curses regarding the devastation of Israel is to change her perspective on the source of the blessings that He previously provided. In Hosea 2:7, Israel says, “I will go back to my former husband for it was better for me than now.”[24] This initial return of Israel is selfishly motivated by her physical situation rather than a recognition of her Husband’s worthiness.[25] However, this state of distress is used by God to bring about a further revelation. It is only in this state of deprivation that Israel can recognize YHWH as the source of her blessings as described in the first motif. The recognition of the source of blessing in the midst of the curse of the wilderness is a stark frame for what it means to be inside or outside of the household of YHWH. To be inside is to be in loving relationship and enjoying the bounty of that love. To be outside is to be bereft of relationship and in the desolation that comes from isolation.
Motif 3: Children as symbols of a Household Broken and Restored
The Three Children of Hosea as a Picture of a Household Broken
The first chapter of Hosea opens with a real-life story of broken household. The woman that God told Hosea to marry was “promiscuous,” and though the first child that she bore to Hosea was his own, it is highly likely that “the last two children were born because of Gomer’s unfaithfulness to her marriage vows.”[26] Gomer eventually leaves the family, completing the picture of utter brokenness. Symbolically, Gomer and her prostitution represent Israel’s leadership and their entanglement with foreign idols and nations. As a result of these relationships, the leaders produce a people and society that left true worship and followed in their sinful ways. Thus, the people of the nation of Israel are the children of the adulterous relationships of the leaders.
The three children produced by Gomer depict three different realities concerning the current state of Israel. The first child is named Jezreel and is accompanied by the following prophetic declarations: “I will bring the bloodshed of Jezreel on the house of Jehu and put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel … On that day I will break the bow of Israel in the Valley of Jezreel.”[27] These prophecies refer to the account of Jehu’s slaughtering of innocent people in order to “solidify his political power.”[28] In terms of YHWH’s household, the destruction of Jehu’s line of kings is parallel to the direct punishment of Gomer as the kingly line birthing an idolatrous nation though his personal corruption. The second part of the prophecy refers to the “bow of Israel” being broken and is symbolic of how the “army of Israel” would be defeated, leading to the exile of the entire nation into the Assyrian empire.[29] Thus, the first child of Gomer is a prophecy of how the broken relationships within YHWH’s household would lead to a literal fracturing of the household of YHWH. The husband-wife adultery would lead to a divorce or separation and the parent-children rebellion will lead to an abandonment or exile.
God orders the second child to be named “Lo-Ruhamah” or “No Compassion.”[30] Rather than a physical punishment, this name connotes the end of the relational character that defines members of the household of YHWH. Through “Lo-Ruhamah,” YHWH declares that He “will no longer have compassion on the house of Israel.”[31] This revelation predicts the cessation of God’s “tender feelings of deep affection … that are foundational to His covenant relationship with His people.”[32] With this name, the love of God ceases to be poured out onto His people in blessing and their status as true “children of God” comes into question.[33] With the removal of compassion, pity, and mercy, Israel truly ceases to be part of YHWH’s household.
The name of the third child is by far the most devastating of all: “Lo-ammi,” or “Not My People.”[34] With this name, God officially ends the enduring covenant He made with His people.[35] The implication was not lost on the Israelites. This pronouncement reverses the divine commitment stated in Exodus 6:7 that God “will take you as My people, and I will be your God.”[36] Another way of looking at the dissolution of the Sinaitic Covenant is that God would cease to be “I AM” or YHWH to His people.[37] With the loss of the divine name, God would no longer relate personally to Israel, He would be their God in the same way as He was the God of other nations: not acknowledged, yet the source of divine wrath against sin. Additionally, the dissolution of the household of YHWH facilitates the loss of “compassion, forgiveness … and Mosaic mediation.”[38] Outside of a family relationship all that is left is judgment for evil and punishment for disobedience.
The Depiction of Israel as a Sinful Child Losing the Love of God
Israel’s history is depicted as a child who is growing up in disobedience and who eventually loses the love of his father. In Hosea 11:1, God recounts the glory days of the formation of Israel as a nation saying “when Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.”[39] The emphasis of this verse is on God’s “paternal care of his people” and invokes a sense of regret over what Israel becomes later in its history.[40] Additionally, God also draws attention to the blessings of being in His household as He reminds Israel of how He delivered them from enslavement in Egypt.[41] However, no matter how much God did for Israel, the call of the other lovers dominated its attention. Hosea 11:2 recounts how Israel stubbornly refused to stop “sacrificing to Baals and burning offerings to idols.”[42]
Like a parent recalling the early days of a now-prodigal son, God recounts the better days of his blessings. For instance, He “taught Ephraim to walk, taking them in My arms,” and “led them with human cords, with ropes of love.”[43] The imagery depicts the household relationship of a father with a son. The specific language demonstrates “God’s concern for individual Israelites as well as the whole nation.”[44] The “human cords” is a direct reference to how the peoples of the Ancient Near East used ropes on both servants and worker animals to enforce submission.[45] Though the language of submission is contemptible to modern sensibilities, YHWH turns the practice on its head by saying that His means of bringing about submission is through love that “covers all wrongs.”[46] It is as though YHWH knows that His son will be rebellious and, because of the covenant relationship, attempts to curb the behavior though love rather than punishment, with judgment only coming as a undesired last recourse.
The Restoration of Israel as Depicted by the Reversal of the Names of Hosea’s Children
God prophesies that Israel’s idolatry and promiscuity with other nations will cause a rupture, end the covenant, and cost Israel its place in the household of YHWH; however, after each pronouncement of judgment comes an affirmation of restoration. For example, directly after announcing that the covenant between YHWH and Israel was dissolved, God literally undoes all of the judgments that He just pronounced. This quick pivot is initiated by a reaffirmation of the Abrahamic covenant and is pregnant with the feeling that even though Israel was faithless, YHWH will be faithful.[47] The first promise Hosea mentions is that “the number of the Israelites will be like the sand of the sea which cannot be measured or counted.”[48] This is a direct allusion to Genesis 17:6 which declares that the nation will be “extremely fruitful.”[49] Of great importance is that this promise is linked to “an everlasting covenant to be your God and the God of your offspring after you.”[50] The nation of Israel was about to go though a similar exile as the one the sons of Israel went though in Egypt. Thus, God wanted to remind them that He would ultimately always be with them and never abandon them. Though Israel would fail to uphold their end of the covenant, YHWH would fulfill both ends as He did for Abraham in Genesis 15:17.
The declaration of the promise to fulfill and reinstate the covenant leads to the re-establishment of the household of YHWH through the undoing of the names given to each of Hosea’s children. First, God reinstates the covenant by saying that “in the place where they were told: You are not my people, they will be called: Sons of the living God.”[51] This time however, the family would not remain divided as God declares that “the Judeans and the Israelites will be gathered together … they will appoint for themselves a single ruler and go up from the land.” Whereas the original naming of Jezreel came with a destructive pronouncement over the Davidic line, the new great “day of Jezreel” would be a time of national healing. All Israel would be brought back into a loving relationship with YHWH and His house would be fully restored. Similarly, in Hosea 2:1, the two names of the illegitimate children of Hosea are also transformed as the brothers are called “My People” and the sisters are called “Compassion.” With the covenant restored, the love of God fully accepted, and bonds of family reinstated, Hosea depicts the restoration of the household of YHWH through the children of Hosea.
Motif 4: Marriage and Promiscuity Define the Type of Relationship God Has with His Household
Neglect of the Laws of the Household Leads to Promiscuity (A Breakdown of Relationship)
Hosea 4 begins with YHWH bringing a covenant lawsuit against the people of Israel.[52] YHWH calls out Israel’s failure to uphold the obedience and relational connections required by the covenant. For example, the first issue God brings up is that Israel had no truth. In YHWH’s household, truth is synonymous with “faithfulness or integrity.”[53] In other words, Israel did not exhibit the “firmness, loyalty, trustworthiness or consistency” that should “characterize Israel’s relationship with God.”[54] Second, Israel was marked as lacking “faithful love.”[55] If the Israelites loved their God, they would protect and provide for the widow, fatherless, and oppressed like YHWH commanded in Psalm 82:3. Instead, “cursing, lying, murder, stealing, and adultery” were wreaking havoc throughout the nation. The people of Israel were not loving each other in covenant relationship as part of the household of YHWH; rather, they treated each other in the same way that Cain treated Abel when he murdered him. Finally, the people were also charged with having “no knowledge of God.”[56] Not only was the love absent among the children of YHWH’s house, but love for the Father was unknown. It is evident from later verses that this knowledge was not simply knowing the name of YHWH, instead “such knowledge involves the intimacy of personal relationship, the recognition of God’s power and authority, the confession of God’s love and care, and the submission to God’s will and ways.”[57] The lack of relationship with God was present in all aspects of life.
This breakdown in the relationship between God and His wife (Israel) then led to what Hosea described as adulterous “promiscuity.”[58] The people of God forsook righteousness and justice for “Baal worship because it brought great physical pleasure.”[59] As a result of their harlotry, a demonic “spirit of promiscuity” led them further from God.[60] What is fascinating about the leading astray is that it begins to take on literal marriage-like qualities. YHWH never required sexual practice as a part of worship, yet as Israel turned from the Creator to worship creation, physical sexual acts were introduced into worship and the Israelites were literally prostituting themselves “under Baal in the depraved practices of Baal worship.”[61] Cheating on God became more than a metaphor through Baal worship and thus God accused both the men and women of promiscuity and engaging with “cult prostitutes.”[62] In the household of YHWH, the hearts of the people were to be filled with compassion, justice, love, mercy, and loyalty. But through wickedness and idolatry, the household became broken and the hearts of the Israelites were dominated by evil.
Return to the Household of YHWH Requires Moral Repentance and Restored Relationship
In the midst of their evil promiscuity, Hosea prophesies that the Israelites will attempt to return to the Lord. Hosea 5 states that “their actions do not allow them to return to their God, for a spirit of promiscuity is among them, and they do not know the Lord.”[63] It is not that they are unaware of YHWH or have forgotten His name. Rather, like a spouse who is so used to sleeping with other people that he or she ceases to have an intimate knowledge of his or her partner, so Israel has been so promiscuous that YHWH seems like any other idol.[64] Hosea goes on to say that Israel will “go with their flocks and herds to seek the Lord but do not find Him; He has withdrawn from them … they betrayed the Lord; indeed, they gave birth to illegitimate children.”[65] Historical records show that people tried to worship YHWH illegitimately, including combining YHWH worship with worship of other gods. However, unlike these other gods, YHWH cannot be found if He does not want to be. The Israelites had betrayed the covenant of the household of YHWH and as such He ended the covenant and communication with them. As long as they continued to act in unrighteousness, YHWH would not allow Himself to be found and would prevent any actual return.
However, Hosea 6 details the means by which the people could and would reenter the household. A full return to the Lord would be necessary. Hosea 6:1 begins with the declarative statement “come, let us return to the Lord.” The grammar of this verse makes it “likely that it describes the pursuit of Yahweh by the revived people after restoration.”[66] In other words, the people will be able to turn to God because they have been healed by them and have forsaken their sinful ways. The judgments that were enacted by God have now been undone through His healing them, binding up their “wounds,” and the reviving them.[67]
With the relationship restored Israel then picks up its part of the covenant: “Let us strive to know the Lord.” No longer would Israel pursue false idols, their images, and their ways. But they would strive to know who God really is and what a personal relationship with Him is really like. Israel has at last recognized “their betrayal [and] their guilt” and now God will allow Himself to be found. The household of YHWH in Hosea finds its consummation in the same place it found its origin: the divine mercy and election of God. Throughout each of these motifs, God is shaping and building His household for His glory so that His people may partake of His love for all eternity.
Theological Problems of Hosea
Problem 1: Female sexuality
One of the most overt issues scholars have with Hosea is that the book utilizes a promiscuous woman as a reference for Israel’s idolatry. For traditionalists, this portrayal is not an issue because Gomer and her sexual debauchery are confined to herself, and are not to be taken as a generalization about women; she primarily serves as a physical representation of Israel’s sin. However, feminist scholars argue that metaphor can heavily influence people and that Hosea’s depiction of Gomer can heavily influence “current perceptions and experiences of women.”[68] Under a feminist lens, patriarchal stereotypes and cultures are enforced through portrayals of women as “inferior, their sexuality as deviant, and their very bodies as meriting physical constraint.”[69] Continued teaching of books like Hosea that utilize themes of female promiscuity “could aggravate or worsen the struggle for women’s full equality, dignity, and respect.”[70]
Feminist authors do raise serious concerns, the chief being the possibility that repeated depictions of sexually promiscuous women may reinforce negative stereotypes of women. If Hosea is mishandled and Gomer becomes a figure of women everywhere, it would not be hard to imagine a society in which women are considered untrustworthy. For instance, in the Islamic Hadith, there are many derogatory verses about women in general that have led to the oppression of women in Muslim countries. Statements like “[women] are [like] domestic animals,” “[women] are equal to the dogs and the asses,” and “[women have] deficiency in [their] intelligence” all contribute to the justification of the degradation and suppression of women.[71]
But it is of utmost importance to differentiate these types of statements from the depiction of Hosea and Gomer in the book of Hosea. Some scholars argue that the book of Hosea depicts “womanhood … as the image of choice for infidelity, impurity, and sexual lavishness” while maintaining a positive or neutral view of “manhood.”[72] However, manhood and womanhood are not what the book concerns or deals with. Rather, by utilizing a framework of the household of YHWH, the cultural aspects of marriage are brought to the forefront and neutralize any gender negativity. The problem with Gomer was not that she was a woman or that she engaged in sexual activity, but that she broke covenant with her husband by engaging in sexual activity with other men.[73] While modern readers with modern sensibilities might see this as a restriction of a woman’s freedom, that would be reading modern issues into the text. The focus of the text is firmly on whether Gomer was in violation of her marriage covenant and how Hosea would respond by taking her back or not. The acts of promiscuity are not being singled out because they are sexual or committed by a female, but because they are in breach of a covenant as evidenced by Hosea 2:2,5,7,8,10. These verses, and many others that focus on Gomer’s relationship with her lovers, and her rejection of Hosea as opposed any specific sexual acts. When taught through the lens of the household of YHWH, Hosea ceases to be a treatise against women and becomes an indictment against anyone who breaks household covenants.
Problem 2: The Hiddenness of God
Another issue with the theology of Hosea is that God portrays Himself as hidden. For example, Hosea 2:8 states that “She does not recognize that it is I who gave her the grain, the new wine, and the oil.”[74] A popular atheist website Atheist Republic phrases the question this way: “God cloaks himself in invisibility and leaves the world to guess, hope, and kill over his identity and existence? This is love?”[75] The sentiment behind this argument and God’s hiddenness in general is that if He made Himself clearly known, the general populace’s rejection of Him would not happen. Hosea would not have needed to be written if God had simply shown Israel that it was He who truly was their God and He who truly provided for them. This accusation argues that the biblical God hides Himself and lets humanity kill each other over their lack of understanding. This issue becomes especially important given the fact that the primary analogy used in Hosea, that of a husband and wife, would completely break down if the husband was non-material.
However, this critique can again be cleared up by understanding the theme of the household of YHWH. God actually has a moral obligation to hide himself. The argument against a God who hides is as follows:
“1. If there is a moral God, then we would not find this to be a world in which it is possible for some sentient beings not to be able to have a genuine relationship with God.
We do find this to be a world in which it is possible for some sentient beings not to be able to have a relationship with God.
Therefore, there is no moral God.”[76]
This argument fails because it assumes that there are people who are not capable of having a genuine relationship with God. The author of the argument fails to make a distinction between one’s ability to reject God vs. one’s capability to enter into a relationship apart from one’s personal decision. The assumption from both the argument and those who argue that Hosea’s hidden God is immoral is that God’s hiddenness has disabled mankind’s ability to have relationship with Him. However, God’s hiddenness is precisely the quality that allows mankind to have a relationship with Him at all.
The depiction of a husband providing for a wife is the perfect analogy of how God is able to develop a relationship with humanity. By remaining hidden, God is able to “speak tenderly” to mankind and not override people’s wills with His unfiltered glory.[77] In the wooing process, God promises to both protect and provide for Israel: in other words, God promises to love Israel.[78] Through love of this kind, God cultivates a relationship in which people can choose to receive and attribute His gifts to Him or to attribute them to something else. Those who attribute the blessings to YHWH become part of the household of God and those who do not are kept outside of the household. Finally, the rebuttal that God is too ambiguous is not valid; God is in a continual process of making it very clear that Israel will not be able to “find her paths” to the other gods.” The book of Hosea is a portrayal of how God builds a relationship with Israel in the context of the household of YHWH that does not use force or coercion, but rather wooing and direction.
Problem 3: Impact of Sins on Children
Another theological issue of Hosea is the book’s treatment of children. As part of the central theme of the household of YHWH, children, like women, factor heavily into the depiction of Israel’s covenant relationship with God and as such are not often looked at positively. First, some would take offence that God would call Hosea to name his children in connection with the judgments against Israel. This would be akin to naming a child “No Love for America” or “Broken Country.” To force a child to bear that type of stigmatism from birth seems unduly cruel.
Additionally, the way in which YHWH depicts His treatment of children could be of concern. God says that He “will have no compassion on her children because they are children of promiscuity.”[79] In the modern day, such a God would be decried as neglectful. Additionally, this lack of compassion seems incongruous with the theology of adoption into the household of God that is threaded throughout the New Testament.[80] This theology of rejection could also have consequences in the real relationships that people have with children born out of wedlock. It could cause society to view them primarily through the lens of being an outcast and not worthy of love.
The risk of society viewing illegitimate children negatively is increased when stories containing this theme are prevalent; however, these issues originate from a cursory reading of the stories of Hosea rather than from the text itself. First, though the Hosea’s children were most likely born out of wedlock, God did not call Hosea to abandon them but to “have children of promiscuity.” Hosea was to treat them as his own rather than give them away or allow them to be outcast. Additionally, with regard to commanding their names to proclaim Israel’s judgment, God also made a provision for Hosea to restore and redeem their names. For instance, God declared that “the day of Jezreel will be great,” and that the names of Israel would eventually become “My People” and “Compassion.” So while the children knew the judgment of their names, they also would know the promise as well.[81]
Concerning the idea of child abuse or neglect, God portrays a completely different side in Hosea 11. In this chapter, God talks about the same children upon whom he would have “no compassion” and exclaims a change of heart saying:
“How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I surrender you, Israel? How can I make you like Admah? How can I treat you like Zeboiim? I have had a change of heart; My compassion is stirred! I will not vent the full fury of My anger; I will not turn back to destroy Ephraim. For I am God and not man, the Holy One among you; I will not come in rage.”[82]
The lack of compassion in the earlier part of the book is to be quelled through the love that God shows His children as a result of their place in the household of YHWH. The children of Israel were not innocent victims in the book of Hosea. Instead, they were complicit in acts of idol worship and therefore also fell under the judgment of God. But members of YHWH’s house are never forgotten. Even though Israel’s judgment as wayward children resulted in their exile, YHWH promised to “settle them in their homes,” restoring them to the land and restoring His relationship with them.[83] Finally, the language of love far outstrips the language of rejection toward children in the book of Hosea. God is quoted as saying, “When Israel was a child, I loved him” and “I lead them with human cords, with ropes of love.” These are statements born out of a covenant of love, not of rejection, and though Israel walked away for a time, God’s love never faded.
Hosea’s Connection to the New Testament
Connection 1: The Formation of a New Covenant Household of YHWH
The theme of the formation of the household of YHWH has direct connections to the church and the inauguration of the New Covenant as found in the New Testament. Hosea 2:18 provides the context for this connection to the New Covenant: “On that day I will make a covenant for them with the wild animals, the birds of the sky, and the creatures that crawl on the ground. I will shatter bow, sword, and weapons of war in the land and will enable the people to rest securely.”[84] The first part of this verse reflects Romans 8:20-21 which states that though “creation was subjected to futility,” it “will also be set free from the bondage of corruption.”[85] Part of the New Covenant includes a restoration of nature whereby humanity and animals will now be at peace. In describing the new order of the new heaven and new earth, Isaiah talks about how “the wolf will live with the lamb” and how “none will harm or destroy another” in the final age.[86] The book of Revelation takes this concept and reaffirms it in Revelation 21.
In terms of the household of YHWH, the concept of restored relationships is central. In the second part of Hosea 2:18, God predicts that armies will no longer wage war and that nations will be at peace with one another. This is a depiction of “a paradise regained” that “has its fulfillment” in both the New Covenant and the new heavens and the new earth.[87] This end of hostility and war is also reflected in Revelation 21:4, which declares that “Death will no longer exist; grief, crying, and pain will exist no longer, because the previous things have passed away.” The household of YHWH provides a framework that, if all participants operate fully in love, will provide for the cessation of death, animal hostility, and war.
Connection 2: Household Terminology in the New Testament
The theme of the household of YHWH finds its fulfillment in the depiction of the church as the bride of Christ. The household of YHWH with its major emphasis on YHWH being the husband and Israel being the wife has a direct parallel to Christ and the church in the New Testament. For example, 1 Timothy 3:15 states directly that “God’s household” is “the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of truth.”[88] Such a declaration provides for a strong link between Hosea and the New Testament. For example, the idea that impropriety can cause churches to lose their “lampstand” or place in society mirrors Hosea’s depiction of Israel’s being stripped down and exposed to the nations.[89] However, as in Hosea 3 and 11, no matter how bad Israel becomes, God will never let her be destroyed; this typologically relates to Jesus’ statement that “I will build My church, and the forces of Hades will not overpower it.” The church cannot be overpowered because it is born out of a covenant relationship with God and is part of the household of YHWH.
Additionally, Ephesians 5:23-25 provides a mirror depiction of Hosea 3. In Hosea 3, Hosea buys back his wife for “15 shekels of silver and five bushels of barley,” which is an act of “paying off Gomer’s debts” so that the Hosea’s household can be reestablished.[90] In the same way, YHWH would redeem Israel from the exile. Ephesians parallels this redemption saying, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for her.” There is an element in all of these statements that links a fallen people or wife to the need for a redemptive act to bring her back into a covenant relationship. The allusion to marriage is not unintentional. The redemption is not simply to keep people from sin or an eternity in hell; rather, it is for the express purpose of being restored to the proper relationship with God in the household of YHWH.
Conclusion
The household of YHWH is the central theme of the book of Hosea. It encompasses the depiction of Hosea’s family both in terms of his marriage to Gomer and his relationship to his illegitimate children. In Hosea, God acts as the husband and father while Israel acts as the promiscuous wife and children. Additionally, the blessings and curses that God gives Israel are best understood within this household narrative as they are not solely punishment, but they also serve a more important secondary purpose of bringing Israel back to God in covenant relationship. Additionally, many of the problems scholars have with Hosea are solved through having a robust understanding of the household of YHWH. Feminist concerns and accusations of child abuse are assuaged through the understanding that Hosea’s family is not normative but a divinely mandated depiction of Israel’s relationship with God. Finally, Hosea has many connections to the New Testament, including the relationship of the New Covenant and marriage of Christ to the church as they pertain to the household of YHWH.
Bibliography
Anderson, C.J. “Why Doesn’t God Just Show Himself?” Why Doesn’t God Just Show Himself?, March 16, 2015. Accessed March 21, 2018. http://www.atheistrepublic.com/gallery/why-doesnt-god-just-show-himself.
Anderson, Francis I., and David Noel Freedman. Hosea. The Anchor Bible. New York City, NY: Doubleday, 1980.
Butler, Trent C. Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah. Holman Old Testament Commentary. Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2005.
Dearman, J. Andrew. The Book of Hosea. New International Commentary on the Old Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2010.
Garrett, Duane A. Hosea, Joel: An Exegetical Theological Exposition of Scripture. The New American Commentary. Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1997.
Gerrie, James Brian. “God’s Moral Obligation to Hide.” Toronto Journal of Theology 33, no. 1 (2017): 75–86.
Lim, Bo H., and Daniel Castelo. Hosea. The Two Horizons Old Testament Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2015.
Moughtin, Sharon. Sexual and Marital Metaphores in Hosea, Jeremiah, Isaiah, and Ezekiel. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, 2008.
Patterson, Richard D., and Andrew E. Hill. Minor Prophets: Hosea-Malachi. Cornerstone Biblical Commentary. Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2008.
Smith, Gary. Hosea/Amos/Micah. The NIV Application Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2001.
[1] 1 Timothy 3:15 (HCSB).
[2] J. Andrew Dearman, The Book of Hosea, New International Commentary on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2010), 45.
[3] Hosea 1:2 (HCSB).
[4] Dearman, The Book of Hosea, 45.
[5] Duane A. Garrett, Hosea, Joel: An Exegetical Theological Exposition of Scripture, The New American Commentary (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1997), 82.
[6] Leviticus 23:9-14 (HCSB).
[7] Francis I. Anderson and David Noel Freedman, Hosea, The Anchor Bible (New York City, NY: Doubleday, 1980), 242.
[8] Hosea 2:14 (HCSB).
[9] Hosea 2:14 (NLT).
[10] Hoseah 2:14 (HCSB).
[11] Richard D. Patterson and Andrew E. Hill, Minor Prophets: Hosea-Malachi, Cornerstone Biblical Commentary (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2008), 22.
[12] Ephesians 5:28 (HCSB).
[13] Hosea 2:19-20 (HCSB).
[14] Hosea 2:5 (HCSB).
[15] Hosea 2:3 (HCSB).
[16] Trent C. Butler, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Holman Old Testament Commentary (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2005), 18.
[17] Ibid, 19.
[18] Hosea 2:6 (HCSB).
[19] Hosea 2:2 (HCSB).
[20] Hosea 2:2 (HCSB).
[21] Butler, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, 18.
[22] Ibid.
[23] Ibid.
[24] Hosea 2:7 (HCSB).
[25] Butler, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, 19.
[26] Gary Smith, Hosea/Amos/Micah, The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2001), 47.
[27] Hosea 1:4-5 (HCSB).
[28] Smith, Hosea/Amos/Micah, 47.
[29] Ibid, 47.
[30] Ibid, 47.
[31] Hosea 1:6 (HCSB).
[32] Smith, Hosea/Amos/Micah, 47.
[33] Ibid.
[34] Hosea 1:9 (HCSB).
[35] Garrett, Hosea, Joel: An Exegetical Theological Exposition of Scripture, 69-70.
[36] Exodus 6:7 (HCSB).
[37] Bo H. Lim and Daniel Castelo, Hosea, The Two Horizons Old Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2015), 59.
[38] Ibid, 60.
[39] Hosea 11:1. (HCSB).
[40] Patterson and Hill, Minor Prophets: Hosea-Malachi, 66.
[41] Ibid, 68.
[42] Hosea 11:2 (HCSB).
[43] Hosea 11:3-4 (HCSB).
[44] Patterson and Hill, Minor Prophets: Hosea-Malachi, 67.
[45] Ibid, 67.
[46] Proverbs 10:12 (NIV).
[47] Butler, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, 10.
[48] Hosea 1:10 (HCSB).
[49] Genesis 17:6 (HCSB).
[50] Genesis 17:7 (HCSB).
[51] Hosea 1:10 (HCSB).
[52] Butler, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, 34.
[53] Ibid, 34.
[54] Ibid, 34.
[55] Hosea 4:1 (HCSB).
[56] Hosea 4:1 (HCSB).
[57] Butler, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, 34.
[58] Hosea 4:12 (HCSB).
[59] Butler, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, 37.
[60] Hosea 4:12 (HCSB).
[61] Butler, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, 37.
[62] Hosea 4:14 (HCSB).
[63] Hosea 5:4 (HCSB).
[64] Anderson and Freedman, Hosea, 391.
[65] Hosea 4:6-7 (HCSB).
[66] Anderson and Freedman, Hosea., 418
[67] Hosea 6:1-2 (HCSB).
[68] Sharon Moughtin, Sexual and Marital Metaphores in Hosea, Jeremiah, Isaiah, and Ezekiel (Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, 2008), 13.
[69] Lim and Castelo, Hosea, 231.
[70] Ibid, 231.
[71] Tabari 9:1754; Sahih Muslim 4:1039; Sahih Bukhari 6:301.
[72] Lim and Castelo, Hosea, 233.
[73] Ibid, 51.
[74] Hosea 2:8 (HCSB).
[75] C.J. Anderson, “Why Doesn’t God Just Show Himself?,” Why Doesn’t God Just Show Himself?, March 16, 2015, accessed March 21, 2018, http://www.atheistrepublic.com/gallery/why-doesnt-god-just-show-himself.
[76] James Brian Gerrie, “God’s Moral Obligation to Hide,” Toronto Journal of Theology 33, no. 1 (2017): 81.
[77] Hosea 2:14 (HCSB).
[78] Ephesians 5:22-29 (HCSB).
[79] Hosea 2:4 (HCSB).
[80] Ephesians 1:4-5; Romans 8:13-19; 1 John 3:1-2; Matthew 12:48-50.
[81] Hosea 1:14; 2:1 (HCSB).
[82] Hosea 11:8-9 (HCSB).
[83] Hosea 11:11 (HCSB).
[84] Hosea 2:18 (HCSB).
[85] Romans 8:20-12 (HCSB).
[86] Isaiah 11:6-9 (HCSB).
[87] Garrett, Hosea, Joel: An Exegetical Theological Exposition of Scripture, 92.
[88] 1 Timothy 3:15 (HCSB).
[89] Hosea 2; Revelation 3 (HCSB).
[90] Smith, Hosea/Amos/Micah, 74; Hosea 3:2 (HCSB).
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