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Hosea 9

1 - Don't rejoice, Israel, to jubilation like the nations;for you were unfaithful to your God.You love the wages of a prostitute at every grain threshing floor.
2 - The threshing floor and the wine press won't feed them,and the new wine will fail her.
3 - They won't dwell in The LORD's land;but Ephraim will return to Egypt,and they will eat unclean food in Assyria.
4 - They won't pour out wine offerings to The LORD,neither will they be pleasing to him.Their sacrifices will be to them like the bread of mourners;all who eat of it will be polluted;for their bread will be for their appetite.It will not come into The LORD's house.
5 - What will you do in the day of solemn assembly,and in the day of the feast of The LORD?
6 - For, behold, they have gone away from destruction.Egypt will gather them up.Memphis will bury them.Nettles will possess their pleasant things of silver.Thorns will be in their tents.
7 - The days of visitation have come.The days of reckoning have come.Israel will consider the prophet to be a fool,and the man who is inspired to be insane,because of the abundance of your sins,and because your hostility is great.
8 - A prophet watches over Ephraim with my God.A fowler's snare is on all of his paths,and hostility in the house of his God.
9 - They have deeply corrupted themselves,as in the days of Gibeah.He will remember their iniquity.He will punish them for their sins.
10 - I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness.I saw your fathers as the first ripe in the fig tree at its first season;but they came to Baal Peor, and consecrated themselves to the shameful thing,and became abominable like that which they loved.
11 - As for Ephraim, their glory will fly away like a bird.There will be no birth, no one with child, and no conception.
12 - Though they bring up their children,yet I will bereave them, so that not a man shall be left.Indeed, woe also to them when I depart from them!
13 - I have seen Ephraim, like Tyre, planted in a pleasant place;but Ephraim will bring out his children to the murderer.
14 - Give them-The LORD what will you give?Give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts.
15 - "All their wickedness is in Gilgal;for there I hated them.Because of the wickedness of their deeds I will drive them out of my house!I will love them no more.All their princes are rebels.
16 - Ephraim is struck.Their root has dried up.They will bear no fruit.Even though they give birth, yet I will kill the beloved ones of their womb."
17 - My God will cast them away, because they did not listen to him;and they will be wanderers among the nations.
Hosea Images and Notes

The Book of Hosea

Hosea 8:7-9 - 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. Israel is swallowed up: now shall they be among the Gentiles as a vessel wherein [is] no pleasure. For they are gone up to Assyria, a wild ass alone by himself: Ephraim hath hired lovers.

Hosea 14:9 - Who [is] wise, and he shall understand these [things]? prudent, and he shall know them? for the ways of the LORD [are] right, and the just shall walk in them: but the transgressors shall fall therein.

The Old Testament - A Brief Overview

Bible Survey - Hosea
Hebrew Name - Hoshea "Salvation"
Greek Name - Osee (Greek form of the Hebrew)
Author - Hosea (According to Tradition)
Date - 785 BC Approximately
Theme - The apostasy of Israel
Types and Shadows - In Hosea Jesus is the faithful husband

Summary of The Book of Hosea

The prophet Hosea had a real-life situation that God used to illustrate his problem with the nation of Israel. Hosea's adulterous wife had broken his heart, and this is exactly what the children of Israel had done to God when they played the harlot with other gods. Later when her adulterous affairs had led her to be sold on the slave block, Hosea was willing to buy her back for he could not give her up. This dramatically illustrated Israel's situation for soon they would be conquered by the Assyrians and then sold into slavery because they had forgotten their God. The prophet Hosea spoke about a future blessing in which God will restore Israel. - The above text is © Rusty Russell - Bible History Online and must be sourced for use on a website.

My people are bent on backsliding from Me. Though they call to the Most High, none at all exalt Him. "How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel? . . . My heart churns within Me; my sympathy is stirred. . . "I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely, for My anger has turned away from him." Hosea 11:7-8, 14:4

The prophet Hosea was commanded by God to marry a wife of harlotry because Israel hath committed great harlotry. He was sent by God to prophesy about the northern King of Israel. Hosea ministered to Israel for a great length of time (over 50 years), and they were his primary target although he does mention four kings of Judah (Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah). The northern kingdom of Israel was enjoying tremendous prosperity during the reign of Jeroboam II, yet when he died various kings came to the throne for a brief period of time and then many were assassinated. The problem with the northern kingdom was that they were idolaters, and every one of their kings were evil whether they prospered or not. The people were making sacrifices on heathen altars, adultery was prevalent, and ritualistic prostitution abounded. Hosea attributed their wretchedness to a lack of knowledge, not a lack of  intellectual knowledge, but lacking a relationship with the living God. Yet God loves his people with an everlasting love in spite of their corruption.

The contents of the book may be analyzed further as follows :

Outline of the Book of Hosea

In Hosea 1-3, the faithless actions of Israel toward God are illustrated by the relationship between Hosea and his adultress wife, Gomer. The names of his children indicate the attitude of God toward Israel. The first is named "Jezreel" after the city which was the scene of Jehu's brutality and which signified that God would punish his people. Lo-Ruhamah (Not pitied) and Lo-Ammi (Not my people) are the names given to the two other children, signifying the estrangement which was the inevitable result of the actions of Israel. God's love is illustrated in Hosea's willingness to buy his wife back from the practice of harlotry - though she could not continue in her harlotry while he was with her.

The second division of the prophecy, found in Hosea 4-14, presents a detailed picture of the depths of depravity to which Israel had gone, with alternating passages of reproof, threats of punishment, and assurances of restoration.

The First Day. Light.

Hosea Resources

The Divided Kingdom
The Northern Kingdom of Israel
The Southern Kingdom of Judah
The Assyrian Captivity
The Babylonian Captivity
The Return From Babylon
The Prophets
The Messiah

The Book of Hosea

More About the Book of Hosea
Hosea in the Picture Study Bible
Chart of the Prophets of Israel and Judah
Timeline of the Ancient World
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