Where it fits

Hosea is the 28th book of the Bible, with 14 chapters, and the first of the Twelve, the shorter prophetic books often called the Minor Prophets because of their length, not their importance. Hosea prophesied to the northern kingdom of Israel for about 30 years, around 755 to 725 BC, through prosperity under Jeroboam II, then chaos, civil war, and the rise of Assyria, which destroyed Israel in 722 BC. Read straight through, it takes about 25 minutes.

The prophet and his message

God tells Hosea to marry Gomer, described as “a wife of whoredom” (1:2). Readers disagree on whether she was already unfaithful or became so, but the point is the picture: Israel is God's bride, and she has run after other lovers, the Baal gods of fertility and rain. Their three children are given painful names: Jezreel, Not Pitied, and Not My People (1:3–9). Later, when Gomer has left Hosea and fallen into slavery, God tells Hosea to love her again and buy her back (3:1–3).

The rest of the book moves back and forth between lawsuit and love. Israel has abandoned God, with idolatry, injustice, and political scheming. God charges them with having no faithfulness or knowledge of God in the land (4:1) and warns that those who sow the wind will reap the whirlwind (8:7). But God's anger keeps turning into tenderness. In one of the most moving passages in the Bible, God recalls teaching Israel to walk like a child, taking them in his arms, and leading them with cords of kindness (11:1–4), and asks, “How can I give you up, Ephraim?” (11:8). The book ends with a call to return and a promise that God will heal their unfaithfulness and love them freely (14).

Three ideas to hold on to

1. God's love is faithful, even when ours isn't. The Hebrew word hesed, steadfast love, runs through the book. God desires it from his people (6:6) and shows it to them (2:19).
2. Sin is relational, not just legal. Israel's sin is portrayed as betrayal of a spouse, which is why God is both angry and heartbroken.
3. God can restore what is ruined. The book ends in healing: God will heal their waywardness and love them freely (14:4).

Passages people ask about

• Hosea 1–3. The marriage and its meaning.
• Hosea 2:14–23. God will woo Israel back into the wilderness and betroth her to himself forever.
• Hosea 6:1–6. A shallow repentance, and God's desire for steadfast love, not sacrifice (6:6).
• Hosea 11. God as a parent who can't give up on his child.
• Hosea 14. A call to return, and a promise of healing.

How it points to Jesus

Hosea's picture of God as a husband who pursues an unfaithful wife is taken up in the New Testament, where Jesus is the bridegroom and the church his bride (Ephesians 5:25–27; Revelation 19:7). Matthew applies Hosea 11:1, “Out of Egypt I called my son,” to Jesus' return from Egypt (Matthew 2:15), seeing Jesus as the true Israel. Jesus himself quotes Hosea 6:6, “I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,” twice, to defend eating with sinners (Matthew 9:13; 12:7). And Hosea's purchase of Gomer is a faint picture of redemption by payment.

A common misunderstanding

Hosea is sometimes taken as marriage advice, as if the lesson were that a spouse should stay with someone who keeps betraying them. The marriage is a picture of God and Israel, not a model for human marriages, and the book shouldn't be used to pressure anyone to remain in an abusive one. Hosea's own pain is there to show God's pain. Some readers also ask whether God would really tell a prophet to marry someone like Gomer. The book says he did and doesn't explain further, which is part of why it shocks.