2.

Hosea

The Prophet of Love

An artist’s portrait of the Prophet
Hosea
 How do I love thee?
How do I love thee?
Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth
and breadth and height
My soul can reach,
when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.
by Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861)
 Love is patient
(1 Corinthian 13)
 Love is patient, love is kind.
 It is not jealous, (love) is not
pompous,
 it is not inflated,
 it is not rude,
 it does not seek its own interests,
 it is not quick-tempered,
 it does not brood over injury,
 it does not rejoice over wrongdoing
 but rejoices with the truth
 What is love?
 Twoimportant terms often used by
Hosea
1) hesed
“steadfast love”
2) da`at elohim
“knowledge of God

 [Two important term used by Amos

1)) Mishphat (justice)
2) Zedaqah (righteousness)
 Can This be Love?
The Hosea-Gomer love story
A Metaphor of God’s Love to Israel
Inaugurates the tradition of marriage
metaphor
(God/Jesus groom + Israel/Church bride
 Hosea 1 and 3
 Hosea 1: Love at First Sight
 Thefirst mission of the Prophet: “Go,
take a harlot wife”
Artist’s sketch of Gomer of
Diblaim, wife of Hosea
 Note the symbolic names of
their children
 Jezreel(=violence)
 Lo-ruhamma (Walang Awa)
 Lo-ammi (Di-Ko-Tao)
 Love for the second time
(chapter 3)
 Again(na naman) 3:1
 Hosea sings:
"Many days you shall wait for me;
you shall not play the harlot
Or belong to any man;
I in turn will wait for you.“

--Hosea 3:3
 Re-naming of their children
 Ammi (Tao-ko)
 Ruhama (May-Awa)
 Infidelity of Israel
(like an unfaithful spouse)
 No mercy (4:1)
 No knowledge of God (4:1)
 False swearing, lying, murder,
stealing, violence
 Their priests ignored the law of God
(4:6)
 The princes of Judah moved
boundary lines (5:20)
 Israel (Ephraim) is like a dove (7:11)
 Summary of Israel’s
unfaitfulness
For I desired mercy,
and not sacrifice;
and the knowledge of God
more than burnt offerings. Hosea
6:6
 Contrast to the Faithfulness of
God
“ I will speak to her heart in the
desert” (2:16).
 I will marry you forever in love and in
mercy” (2:21).
Hosea’s Song: When Israel was a
Child
 When Israel was a child I loved him,
 out of Egypt I called my son.
 The more I called them,
 the farther they went from me,
 Sacrificing to the Baals
 and burning incense to idols.
 Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to
walk, who took them in my arms;
 I drew them with human cords,
 with bands of love;
 I fostered them like one
 who raises an infant to his cheeks;
 Yet, though I stooped to feed my
child, they did not know that I was
their healer.
Hosea 11:1-4
 Song 2: How could I?
 How could I give you up, O Ephraim,
 or deliver you up, O Israel?
 How could I treat you as Admah,
 or make you like Zeboiim?
 My heart is overwhelmed,
 my pity is stirred.
 I will not give vent to my blazing
anger,
 I will not destroy Ephraim again;
 For I am God and not man,
 the Holy One present among you;
 I will not let the flames consume
you.
Hosea 11:8-9
 Relevance of Hosea’s
message
 Love = Faithfulness.
 Human being, unfaithful; God,
faithful.
 Love makes hope possible.
 In Amos and Hosea:
God is the God of Justice but also the
God of Love.