This week we
will continue the study of the Book of Hosea in the Old Testament.
After the more formal charge in chapter four, another oracle is given. Though the time of delivery was not known, it was clearly separated as a unit in itself by “hear ye this” (K&D, 57) and “the passage is poetic” (Word, 89):
Vv. 1-7: The Finality of their sins
(1) This time the addressees are mentioned as the priests, (the house or family of) Israel (i.e. the ten tribes) and the house of the king (including his counsellors etc.): What is the significance of calling all of the above to listen?
(2) Mizpah refers to Mizpah Gilead north of the Jordan (Jdg. 10:17) while Tabor is on the other side of Jordan:
a. What do the two locations entail?
b. Why are the triplets of addressees called a snare and a net (spread to catch birds)?
c. What kind of sin is being depicted?
(3) The first part of v. 2 “is very difficult and has been very differently translated” (K&D, 58), but whatever sin it is, scholars in general agree that:
- It is widespread or knee deep (v. 2).
- None will be ignored, but punished (v. 2).
- Because none is hidden from the Lord — He knows them all (v. 3).
- They are summed up as “prostitution” and “corruption” or “uncleanness” (v. 3).
- The offenders are called “rebels"
Based on the above:
a. Do you think Israel would repent because of this rebuke? Why?
b. What might it take for them to repent?
c. How does the world today resemble Israel of old?
(4) According to v. 5, is the Lord hopeful that they would repent? Why or why not?
(5) According to the historical setting (see Introduction of Hosea), what might be the thing that Israel is proud of?
(6) Why would Judah, having relatively godly kings, stumble with them? (v. 5)
(7) What is the lesson for us to learn today?
(8) Their sin is obviously compounded by the fact that they somehow still maintained worship (celebration of New Moon etc.) and the making of sacrifices to the Lord (v. 6):
a. Why would they not find God in the religious services?
b. Had they been faithful to God, what would their children be like?
c. How are their children being regarded by the Lord? Why?
(9) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
(1) The raising of battle cry in Bethel — now called Beth Aven to denote it a house, not of “EL” (i.e. God), but of wickedness — is understandable.What does the sounding of the trumpet (alerting the people to the invading army) in the northern towns of Judah (Gibeah of Saul and Ramah of Samuel) signify?
(2) What will the result be in Ephraim (representing Israel) and why? (v. 9, v. 11)
(3) What will the result be in Judah and why? (v. 10)
(4) The Lord uses two different imageries to tell of His judgment of both Ephraim and Judah. What are the different emphases in the verses below?
a. V. 12 - like a moth and like rot (or a worm or infection)
b. V. 14 - like a lion and like a great lion
(5) What does the Lord accuse them of in seeking a cure of wounds inflicted by the Lord?
(6) What will the result be? (v. 14)
(7) However, what is God’s ultimate purpose for His people in dealing with them so harshly? (v. 15)
(8) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
6:1-3—A Call to Return: As much as the last chapter depicts the finality of the rebellion of Israel and Judah, the prophet still extends a call to repentance to the people:
(1) “Come, let us return to the Lord”: The prophet uses the imagery of wounds and healing to call the people to repentance:
a. In spite of the finality of their rebellion, what character of the Lord does the prophet reveal in v.1?
b. Do you think such a call will be heeded by Israel? Why or why not?
(2) While the mentioning of two days and the third day signifies the temporariness of God’s judgment, it does have prophetic significance in God’s plan of redemption. What do you think v. 2 refers to ultimately? (See Matt. 16:21; 17:23; 20:19 and Lk. 24:46)
(3) “Let us acknowledge the Lord”:
a. What is meant by to “acknowledge” the Lord?
b. Why does it take effort on our part to “acknowledge” Him?
c. What are the two imageries that the prophet uses to show the certainty of God’s restoration?
d. What is the emphasis in each of the imageries?
6:4-11— God’s Response:
(4) Why does God sound so unenthusiastic to the prophet’s call to repentance? (v. 4)
(5) Is this an apt description of your love for the Lord?
(6) While the prophet uses the sun to encourage the people to repent, the Lord responds with using the sun as exactly an opposite imagery:
a. What is that imagery?
b. What does it depict in terms of the prophetic words given through His prophets? (v. 5)
(7) The certainty of judgment is justified by the reiteration of the following sins:
a. False acknowledgment of God: What does God see as true and false acknowledgment of Him? (v. 6)
b. Breach of covenant: Why does God call Adam’s disobedience of His command a breach of His covenant with him? How have they committed the same sin as Adam? (v. 7)
c. The evil of bloodshed (see Note below): Who are accused as taking part in such wicked schemes? How serious then is the spiritual condition of Israel?
(8) Having reiterated the above sins, how does God conclude the spiritual condition of Israel? Why?
(9) Is Judah any better?
(10) What about the world and God’s people today?
(11) What is the main message to you today and how can you apply it to your life?
Note:
Scholars in general agree that Gilead was never a city in the Old Testament and neither the bloodshed in Gilead nor the murder on the road to Shechem could be referenced to any particular incident in the Bible.
6:11b–7:2—God’s dilemma
(1) God shares His dilemma in His dealing with His people. What makes His desire to restore and heal so difficult? (v. 1)
(2) What would you do under such circumstances (if you were in God’s shoes)?
(3) What should Israel do?
(4) What did they do instead? What marks their social scene?
(5) What might have made them think that God does not remember their evil deeds?
7:3-7—Domestic sins of the royal house are likened to an oven
(6) What should be the role of the king and his princes?
(7) Instead, what are their delights?
(8) When God accuses them saying, “They are all adulterers” (v. 4), it appears that God is referring to both the people who commit the sins of vv. 1-2, and the king and his princes who condone their acts:
a. What does it mean that they are like an oven that does not need stirring?
b. What have wine and festivals to do with joining hands with the mockers and sinners in their crime?
c. What is the result of such “bribery” of their kings and princes? (v. 7)
7:8-10—Sins with foreigners
(9) What is the purpose of God’s command to be separated from the nations? (See Lev. 20:24, 26)?
(10) But as Israel mixes with the nations, they have become like “a flat loaf not turned over”:
a. What does it mean?
b. What is its consequence? (v. 9)
c. What is meant by “his hair is sprinkled with gray, but he does not notice”?
(11) Note how the above three strophes end:
a. “Their sins engulf them; they are always before me.” (v. 2)
b. “All their kings fall, and none of them calls on me.” (v. 7)
c. “He does not return to the Lord his God or search for Him.” (v. 10)
How would you describe their spiritual condition at this point of history?
(12) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
The chapter ends with the charge against the kings of Israel in their foreign policy:
(1) Read 2 Kings 17:1-4. How do the actions of King Hoshea fit into the charge by God in v. 11? What kind of sin is Hoshea guilty of?
(2) Read 2 Kings 17:5-6. What is the outcome of the king’s political maneuver?
(3) Why will this kind of maneuver not work according to the Lord?
(4) How does this outcome fulfill the prophecy of vv. 12-13?
(5) In spite of the outcome, the Lord expresses His desire not to see it happen (i.e. He longs to redeem them), but the problems lie in the following:
a. They speak about Him falsely (v. 13): What does it mean?
b. They wail on their beds instead of crying out to Him (v. 14): Since they wail, why does it not amount to crying out to God?
c. In their wailing, what do they long for (v. 14)?
d. It is obvious that the Lord has given them victory in the past (v. 15), and yet they use their strength to plot evil against God. What might God be referring to?
e. The Lord likens them to a faulty bow (v. 16) in that it does not go upwards (toward the Most High), and as a result it misses its mark. How does this imagery sum up their sins which prevent redemption?
(6) Repeatedly during the continuous rebuke by the Lord, “arrogance” (or insolent words) is being mentioned. What might be the reason Israel continues to maintain their arrogance?
(7) What does the Lord prophesy as the result of their foreign policy?
(8) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
Vv. 1-6—In this new segment, the oracle begins with God calling the prophet to blow the trumpet:
(1) As the trumpet is used as a call to face invasion, how fitting is the use of an eagle to depict the invasion?
(2) While Israel, technically, cannot represent the “house of the Lord” which would still be in Jerusalem at the time, what then does its use indicate? (v. 1b)
(3) How does God expect Israel to respond to this pronouncement of judgment? (v. 2)
(4) In vv. 3-4, God, in essence, removes the religious façade of Israel:
a. What is the first sin being singled out in v. 4?
b. What is the second sin being singled out in v. 4?
- Is it a more serious sin than the first? Why or why not?
The first sin is their rejection of God as their K____?
The second sin is their rejection of God as their G____?
(5) When and where did this sin of calf-idol worship begin? (See Hos. 10:5 and 1 Ki. 12: 25-30)
a. Why do the successive kings of Israel continue such a practice?
b. Why does God harbor such “hatred” toward such a sin?
vv. 7-14—The futility of their religious facade
(6) V. 7 has become a very famous proverb: “They sow the wind and reap the whirlwind”:
a. What in essence is the truth expressed by this proverb?
b. How is this prophecy going to be fulfilled in Israel? (vv. 7-8)
(7) Vv. 9-14 appear to be one unit (an inclusio), beginning with “for they have gone up to Assyria”, and ending with “They will return to Egypt”:
a. Why does God say that by courting Assyria, Ephraim has sold herself to lovers like a wild donkey? (Also see Jer. 2:24)
b. The NIV uses the word “though” (including “although”) in vv. 10-13 to show the futility of their effort to avoid destruction:
- V. 10: God permits or brings them together (Israel and the nations, likely): What is the outcome “though”?
- V. 11: While courting “lovers”, Ephraim continues to build altars and to offer sin offerings: Why would these turn into altars of sinning?
- V. 13: These offerings are not made to idols, but to the Lord. Why is the Lord not pleased with them?
c. What will the result of the above hypocrisy be? What does the “return to Egypt” signify?
(8) The rebuke is not just for Israel, but also for Judah:
a. As a nation “under God”, what is the sum of their sins according to v. 14?
(9) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
This section may be called “Prostitution at the festivals will produce famine and captivity” (See Note below: Word, 139)
(1) To celebrate their harvest was an expression of thanksgiving. Why then did the Lord ask them not to rejoice and not to be jubilant? (v. 1)
(2) What does it mean that they “love the wages of a prostitute at every threshing floor”? (see 2:8-9; 9:1)
(3) It appears they either use their festivals to give thanks to Baal, or in a syncretized way to honor both Baal and Yahweh. What will the judgment pronounced by God include according to vv. 2-3?
(4) Their captivity in Assyria and Egypt will result in:
a. No more pouring of wine offerings to the Lord: What kind of a judgment is it?
b. Whatever sacrifices they make will be like “bread of mourners”, that is, not pleasing to the Lord: what is meant by “bread of mourners”?
c. Sacrifices will not be offered at the temple of the Lord: Is it a curse or a blessing? Why?
(5) What does that sarcastic (rhetorical) remark in v. 5 mean?
(6) The totality and inescapability of the destruction of the nation and their people is expressed in a multi-fold judgment in v. 6. See if you can discern this multi-fold judgment:
a. How total is the destruction (in the hand of the Assyrians)?
b. What will happen to those who might be able to escape?
c. What will happen to their prosperity and wealth in which they did take pride?
d. What will happen to their dwellings? (Note: not houses, but tents)
(7) In declaring the inevitable days of punishment and reckoning, the Lord highlights one particular sin of theirs in vv. 7-9 and that is their sin against God’s prophets:
a. How do they look upon God’s prophets?
b. Using Hosea as an example, what would make the people look upon him as fool or a maniac?
c. What in fact are the prophets, to God and to them?
d. How do the people treat God’s prophets? (v. 8)
e. Why does God liken their sins to that of “the days of Gibeah”? (See Jdg. 19: 22-30)
(8) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
Note:
“The original setting of these words may have been a fall harvest celebration…Any such festival would been [sic] religious, dedicated to Yahweh, and technically a fulfillment of the covenant’s command for a feast at the end of the agricultural year (Exod. 23:16; Deut. 16:13-17).”
(Word, 141)