UNROLL
Dusk on a terraced hillside of the northern hills: a plain flat-roofed stone house with its door open and a clay lamp burning on the threshold, a worn path running up to it from the valley.

The Book of

Hosea Intro

A prophet’s broken home, and a God whose love will not let His people go.

Before chapter 1≈ 2 min14 chapters

Images are artistic interpretations.

In 30 seconds

A prophet marries, and his wife leaves.

Three children carry God’s warnings.

Israel runs to idols, Egypt and Assyria.

He buys her back. God will not give them up.

Tap to go deeper: meaning, history and related Scripture

Who wrote it

Hosea

Son of Beeri, prophet to the northern kingdom

  • The LORD’s word came to him under Uzziah and Jeroboam II, from about 755 BC.Hosea 1:1
  • He married Gomer and named their three children as signs.Hosea 1:3
  • He bought his wife back with silver and barley.Hosea 3:2
  • He spoke for about forty years, mostly before Samaria fell in 722 BC.Most scholars

How it’s built

The shape of the book

A marriage1–3: Gomer and threenamesThe LORD’s case4–6:3: no knowledge ofGodSowing the wind6:4–11:11: kings,calves, EgyptReturn, OIsrael11:12–14: the lastcallJudgment, thenhopeeach part ends with away home

Whiteboard

Four times the book walks from judgment to hope.

Big themes

Three threads to follow

Where it happens

EgyptAssyriaSamariaJerusalemNineveh

Stylised map · locations approximate

On the map

Between two empires

A small kingdom between two empires, running to each in turn.

How to read it

Hosea speaks in poetry and pictures.

A wife, a lion, a moth, a mist, a dove.

The judgment is real. So is the way home.

Some words came true in 722 BC; some point to Christ.

Watch for

out of Egypt I called My son

Hosea 11:1

Start reading

Question

Quick question

Hosea’s children were given names that meant something. Think about why before you answer.

Why did Hosea give his children such hard names?

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