|
Book
of a prophet who married a prostitute
to show God's relationship to faithless
Israel.
|
 |
God was faithful even when the people where
not |
Hosea
prophesied in the northern kingdom of Israel in the
eight century BC. He was a contemporary of
Amos.
God
tells Hosea
to marry a prostitute to dramatize how Israel
has become faithless by worshiping other gods.
Their children are named "Jezreel"
(which was a battlefield), "Not Pitied,"
and "Not my people" to show how God
will judge Israel. Yet there is hope that God
will restore the people, so that "Jezreel"
will become a sown field and the other children
will be called "Pitied" and "My
People" (Hos 1-3). Oracles of judgment
and hope appear throughout the remainder of
the book.
Hos
1 - Hosea's marriage and children
|
