Saturday, April 26, 2014

Hosea Preliminaries


Hosea consists of:
·     14 chapters
·     197 verses
Theme:  Adultery, degradation, and redemption
Key Verse(s):  4:1; 11:7-9
Key Chapter:  4
Key Words:  sin; judgment; love
English phrase taken from Hosea:  “Sow the wind; reap the whirlwind”
“For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind: it hath no stalk; the bud shall yield no meal: if so be it yield, the strangers shall swallow it up (Hosea 8:7).”
English translation:  “it means that that those to sow little seeds of evil (wind) shall eventually have to harvest the entire crop of damage (whirl wind).  Similar in meaning to ‘what goes around comes around.’ but with a warning that it comes back multiplied. it may seem insignificant at the time of sowing (e.g. gossip/rumor) but it can grow into a full blown whirlwind which will eventually destroy all including the sowers.”[1]
Hosea referenced in the NT:
      By Jesus thrice:
·         Matthew 9:13 and 12:7             Hosea 6:6
·         Luke 23:30                                Hosea 10:8
By Paul twice:
·         Romans 9:25-26               Hosea 2:23; 1:10
·         1 Corinthians 15:55                 Hosea 13:14
By Peter once:
·     1 Peter 2:9-10                    Hosea 2:23, 1:10
Hosea’s name used in the NT is “Osee”[2]
Hosea’s name means “deliverer; salvation”
Hosea presented God’s Mercy
Hosea is one of three prophets that are distinctly narrative prophecies.[3]
Hosea’s prophecies are filled with very illustrative figures of speech, many of which were taken from the rural scene.[4]
Hosea is the first of the twelve books of the Minor Prophets.
Hosea contains one hundred and fifty references to Israel’s sins.
Christian tradition claims that Hosea was of the tribe of Issachar.
Hosea was the son of Beeri,[5] whose name means “The well of salvation.”
Beeri’s name reminds us of Isaiah 12:3 and Christ’s discourse to the woman at the well in John 4:1-30.
Hosea prophesied to Israel[6] and lived his life before the tribe of Israel




[1] Reap the Whirlwind (blog), April 06, 2004, http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/30/messages/1444.html.

[2] Romans 9:25 “As he saith also in Osee, I will call them my people, which were not my people; and her beloved, which was not beloved.”  Compare this verse to Hosea 2:23 and Romans 9:26 to Hosea 1:10 for further evidence of reference to Hosea.
[3] Jonah and Habakkuk are the other two prophets that wrote prophecy in narrative form.
[4] These illustrations were:  a cake not turned, grey hair, a vessel wherein there is no pleasure, balances of deceit, and an empty vessel.
[5] Hosea 1:1  Note:  Jewish history identifies Beeri with Beerah of Reuben (I Chronicles 5:6)
[6] Hosea 1:1

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