AUTHOR,
Hosea, The son of Beeri Ho 1:1
A
contemporary of Isaiah and Micah.
His Message
was addressed to the Northern Kingdom
ESPECIAL FITNESS FOR HIS TASK
(1)
He is supposed to have been a native of the North, and was familiar with the
evil conditions existing in Israel. This gave a special weight to his message.
(2)
It would appear from the narrative that he married a wife who proved to be
unchaste. This statement is doubted by some scholars, but if true would have
enabled him to vividly portray God's attitude toward Israel, his adulterous
spouse. Ho 1:2-3 2:1-5
But the style
of the book is highly figurative, and it may be that this account of his
experience with his wife was allegorical.
SPIRITUAL MESSAGE.
Apostasy from
God is Spiritual Adultery.
(a) God, the
Husband
Ho
2:20 Isa 54:5
(b) Israel,
the unchaste Wife
Ho
2:2
SYNOPSIS
SECTION I.
Israel's Apostasy symbolized by the experience of the prophet in his marriage,
chs. 1-3
Ho
1:1 - 3:1
SECTION II. Prophetic
Discourses, chiefly descriptions of the backsliding and idolatry of the people,
mingled with threatening and exhortations, chs 4-13
Ho
4:1 - 13:1
The formal
call to repentance, and promises of future blessings ch 14
Ho
14:1
ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE HIGHLY
FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE
used to express the evil conditions in Israel
(1) The Valley
of Achor, for a door of Hope
Ho
2:15
Jos
7:24-26
(2)
"Joined to idols,"
Ho
4:17
(3)
"Mixed among the people" (no longer a separated and holy nation)
Ho
7:8
(4) "A cake not turned" (dough on one side, expressing half-heartedness)
(Outline from Thompson’s Chain Reference
Bible)