Devotional Commentary on Hosea 3
The Lord gave Hosea a tough task.
"Go again love a woman who loves neighbors and show affection like I the
Lord loves the children of Israel and they turned to other gods and love
offerings of raisins" (verse 1). The Targum paraphrased the original with
extra: "Go and prophecy over the house of Israel a prophecy that they
themselves are similar to the coming of the lover upon her husband and the
fornicating over him and all to such a degree love her and no-one wish to be
the first-born similarly as the love of the Lord upon the sons of Israel and
they themselves turned after the idols of the peoples yet if they shall turn He
himself shall leave to them and they shall be similar to a man that is in
himself at ease and he said the speech in his companions".
There are two periods that are possible for this verse. Since the previous
chapter indicated that the god Baal was important for at least the wife of
Hosea, therefore one can assume that the time can be around 795 BCE when the
Phoenician religion had a dominating effect upon Aramaeans as well according to
the Zakir inscription. The other time zone would be in 738 BCE when Phoenician
was sharing with other religions of various cultures in the syncretistic status
quo of the period. One can argue that since the Israelite influence was
extended between 782-754 BCE over Syro-Palestine, that this period would not
have been likely for the Phoenician influence to have been prevalent as it is
in the book of Hosea. Thus it would probably be better to allocate this verse
to the period of 738 BCE when the Panammu II Aramaic inscription indicated that
the Aramaeans were amongst others influenced by the Phoenician religion.
However, since the previous chapters do deal with Israelite military power and
it is known that Amaziah defeated the Edomites and took their gods and bowed
before them and burned incense to them, the period around 781 BCE is not
impossible for this verse. If Hosea 1:4 makes more sense with this background
of 781 BCE and a period passed when the Lord asked Hosea again to take another
wife, it could mean that around 738 BCE the Lord asked Hosea to take another
wife. What then happened to his first wife 43 years before cannot be said with
certainty. By now he must have been a man by 60 years old. If chapter one and
two is in his twenties then chapter three is in Hosea`s sixties.
Hosea says that he bought his wife, meaning he had to pay
"wedding-taxes" (verse 2). "And I bought her for me with fifteen
silver, and seven barley and bushels seven." Again the later Jewish Targum
[copies of which exists only after Christ] skipped the personal reality of
Hosea and went directly to an assumed application: "And I will redeem them
in my memra/words on the day of the fifteenth to the month of Nisan and he
shall give me silver the price of the atonement to their souls and I said that
they are offering before me wool of the palace from the crops blown".
As far as marriage customs are concerned, in the Law Code of Hammurabi it reads
that it is possible for a man to be married to his wife but she still stays in
the house of her father and be a virgin (paragraph 130). A marriage was
formally concluded by a marriage contract that preceded the engagement and is a
settlement between the man and the father of the bride (paragraph 159, 160).
The Code also stipulated that marriage can only be concluded by contract
(paragraph 128). The price paid for a wife was an Akkadian institution it did
not exist in the Sumerian customs of family law. Whereas the marriage of
Abraham with Rebecca was according to Sumerian standards, that of his grandson
Jacob was according to Akkadian standards. Hosea also are married according to
the Akkadian standards of family law.
After the marriage Hosea made a commitment with her about abstention from any
fornicating habits (verse 3). "And I said to her: many days you will wait
for me not fornicating and not living with a man and also I will wait".
Legally according to the Law Code of Hammurabi this was perfectly possible as
paragraph 130 indicated. One gets the impression that Hosea was not a rich
person and that he had financial problems as we could see in his previous
marriage. One wonders if his price that he paid was not fully according to the
contract and that she had to wait until he paid the amount in full. He expected
that it would take a long time and that she will have to wait some time. The
Bible does not say whether the Lord instructed him to let her wait for a long
time. The point is here that there is a waiting period of which both sides wait
upon each other. It was while he was suffering during this waiting period that
he received the insight that Israel would also be waiting upon the Lord.
Then in verse 4 it seems as if Hosea is going directly to an application to
Israel: "For many days the children of Israel will wait without a king and
without a leader and without sacrifices and without stonepillars and without
ephod and teraphim."
The particle ki gives the impression that what is happening to Hosea is because
it is going to happen to Israel. However, this symbolic role of the marriage
life of Hosea is not easy to understand. He is definitely saying in this
chapter that the Lord authorized his second marriage and also his waiting
period is symbolic of a waiting period that is going to happen to Israel in
future. Israel will be without a king meaning that we have the end of the
monarchy in mind here which occurred in 721 BCE. From that time on there will
be a waiting period for a long time or many days. There would be no leader
either. Ezra and Nehemiah were not kings of Israel and can best be seen as
leaders of large groups who returned to Israel due to a conversion. The list of
temple activities in this verse is not that of the true religion of Israel. God
hates stonepillars although the sacrifices were part of the temple institution.
In Exodus 28:30 the Urim and the thummim were attached to the breastplate of
the highpriest but that is not the ephod and teraphim that is in mind here. Two
different Hebrew words are used and the two must not be confused as synonyms.
In Exodus 28:6-12 it seems that the ephod was a kind of underjacket that was
worn on the shoulders made of blue, purple and red wool with golden threads.
There will be a waiting period and a wonderful reformation to the Lord in the
end of days or eschaton. The last days in Daniel is referring to a time after
1798. This is a hint when this has to happen.
He said: "Finally, the children of Israel will be waiting and they will
seek the Lord their God and David their king and they will visit unto the Lord
and unto His goodness in the end of days." (verse 5). The Targum applies
it to the Messiah the son of David at the end of days: "Afterwards
similarly the sons of Israel dwell and they sought the worship of the Lord
their God and they were listening to the Messiah the son of David their king
and desired to the worship of the Lord and plenty is his good that comes to
them in the end of the days."
The time that the children of Israel experienced conversions in mass numbers
were those in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah. However not everybody was
interested to come back as the history reveals. Some did seek the Lord their
God. They did not seek David their king in this time. From this prophecy
probably originated the expectation of the king from the house of David. In the
future after 721 BCE after a long time waiting a king of the house of David
will appear. Before that they have to seek the Lord and this action will
explain the message of Isaiah and that of John the Baptist and the Elijah
message of Maleachi 4 better. They are all tied in as a preamble to the arrival
of the Lamb of God who in the end of time will come again as the King of Kings.
It is in the end of days that they will visit unto the Lord and His goodness.
Eschatology is in mind here since it is at that time that the King of the house
of David, the Messiah will establish Himself as the new world ruler.
Dear God
Hosea received clear messages of hope for conversion and expectancy of the
coming of the Messiah at the Second Advent. Help us in this day to be part of
those who wait for the Lord to come. Maranatha. Amen.