Hosea

Part One: Introduction to Hosea

The Minor Prophets

Hosea is the first of the twelve "Minor Prophets." They are called "minor" not because they are less important, but because their books are shorter than those of Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel. In the Hebrew Bible they were written on a single scroll called "The Twelve." They span about three centuries, from the eighth century BC to the return from exile.

The Prophet

Hosea, "the son of Beeri" (1:1), was a prophet to the northern kingdom of Israel, which he often calls "Ephraim" after its largest tribe, or "Samaria" after its capital. His name means "salvation," from the same Hebrew root as Joshua and Jesus. He was one of the few writing prophets who came from and spoke to the northern kingdom itself. He prophesied "in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel" (1:1), roughly 755-715 BC, through Israel's last decades and into the time of its fall to Assyria in 722 BC. His contemporaries were Amos (also in Israel), and Isaiah and Micah (in Judah).

Historical Setting

Hosea began his ministry in a time of prosperity under Jeroboam II (793-753 BC), when Israel was wealthy, outwardly religious and morally corrupt. After Jeroboam's death, the kingdom collapsed into chaos: six kings reigned in about thirty years, and four of them were assassinated (2 Kings 15). "They have set up kings, but not by me" (8:4); "all their kings are fallen" (7:7). Israel swung between Egypt and Assyria for help: "they call to Egypt, they go to Assyria" (7:11). The people worshipped the golden calves at Bethel and Dan set up by Jeroboam I (1 Kings 12:28-33), and mixed the worship of the LORD with Baal, the Canaanite fertility god, believing Baal gave them rain and crops. In 722 BC Samaria fell, and the northern kingdom was carried into exile (2 Kings 17).

Hosea's Marriage

God told Hosea to marry "a wife of whoredoms" (1:2). He married Gomer, who bore three children with prophetic names, and later was unfaithful and left him. God then told him to love her again and buy her back (3:1-3). Most interpreters take this as a real marriage and real events, which made Hosea's own life a living picture of God's love for unfaithful Israel. Some suggest Gomer became unfaithful only after the marriage, and that "wife of whoredoms" describes what she would become. Either way, Hosea felt in his own heart something of the pain of God's love betrayed, and something of the cost of His redeeming grace.

Purpose and Theme

Hosea reveals the heart of God: a love that is wounded by unfaithfulness, that must judge sin, and yet will not let go. Israel had committed spiritual adultery by worshipping idols and trusting foreign powers. They lacked "the knowledge of God" (4:1, 6). God would discipline them, but in the end He would heal them, love them freely, and betroth them to Himself for ever. Key words include "whoredom" (spiritual unfaithfulness), "return" (repentance), "know/knowledge" (of God), and "mercy" or "lovingkindness" (Hebrew hesed, God's covenant love).

How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? how shall I deliver thee, Israel?... mine heart is turned within me, my repentings are kindled together.

Hosea 11:8

I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him.

Hosea 14:4

Outline of Hosea

Part Two: Chapter-by-Chapter Analysis

Section I: Hosea's Marriage (Chapters 1-3)

Chapter 1 — The Marriage and the Children

"The beginning of the word of the LORD by Hosea. And the LORD said to Hosea, Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms: for the land hath committed great whoredom, departing from the LORD" (1:2). Hosea married Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim (1:3). Their three children became walking sermons:

• Jezreel: "for yet a little while, and I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu, and will cause to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel" (1:4). Jehu had been commanded to destroy Ahab's house, but he did so with excessive bloodshed and for his own power, and he kept the golden calves (2 Kings 10). His dynasty ended when his great-great-grandson Zechariah was assassinated (2 Kings 15:10-12), and the kingdom of Israel itself ended in 722 BC.
• Lo-ruhamah, "not pitied": "I will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel" (1:6). "But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah, and will save them by the LORD their God, and will not save them by bow, nor by sword" (1:7), fulfilled when God destroyed Sennacherib's army without a battle (2 Kings 19:35).
• Lo-ammi, "not my people": "for ye are not my people, and I will not be your God" (1:9), a reversal of the covenant promise (Exodus 6:7).

Yet the chapter ends with hope:

Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea... and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God. Then shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel be gathered together, and appoint themselves one head

Hosea 1:10-11

Paul and Peter apply these words to God's calling of the Gentiles, who were "not my people," to become His people through Christ (Romans 9:25-26; 1 Peter 2:10). Israel and Judah will be reunited under "one head," the Messiah.

Chapter 2 — The Unfaithful Wife Judged and Restored

God speaks as the wronged Husband: "Plead with your mother, plead: for she is not my wife, neither am I her husband" (2:2). Israel had said, "I will go after my lovers, that give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, mine oil and my drink" (2:5), crediting Baal with the blessings of harvest.

For she did not know that I gave her corn, and wine, and oil, and multiplied her silver and gold, which they prepared for Baal.

Hosea 2:8

God would block her path with thorns so she could not find her lovers, until she said, "I will go and return to my first husband; for then was it better with me than now" (2:6-7; compare the prodigal son, Luke 15:17-18). He would take back the grain, wine and wool, expose her shame, and end her feasts (2:9-13).

Then, unexpectedly, the tone turns to tenderness:

Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her. And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope

Hosea 2:14-15

The wilderness, the place of Israel's first love after the Exodus (Jeremiah 2:2), would become the place of a new beginning. The valley of Achor ("trouble"), where Achan was judged (Joshua 7:24-26), would become "a door of hope." God would remove the names of the Baals from her mouth: "thou shalt call me Ishi [my husband]; and shalt call me no more Baali [my master]" (2:16-17). He would make a covenant of peace with creation (2:18), and then:

And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies. I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the LORD.

Hosea 2:19-20

God Himself provides everything the marriage requires: righteousness, justice, love, mercy and faithfulness. The heavens, earth, grain and wine would respond in blessing (2:21-22). And the children's names would be reversed: "I will sow her unto me in the earth; and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to them which were not my people, Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God" (2:23).

Chapter 3 — The Wife Bought Back

Then said the LORD unto me, Go yet, love a woman beloved of her friend, yet an adulteress, according to the love of the LORD toward the children of Israel, who look to other gods, and love flagons of wine.

Hosea 3:1

Gomer had left Hosea and fallen into slavery or the possession of another man. God told Hosea to love her again. "So I bought her to me for fifteen pieces of silver, and for an homer of barley, and an half homer of barley" (3:2), about the price of a slave (Exodus 21:32). He paid to redeem his own wife. He told her, "Thou shalt abide for me many days; thou shalt not play the harlot... so will I also be for thee" (3:3): a period of waiting and restoration. This pictures Israel's future:

For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim: Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the LORD their God, and David their king; and shall fear the LORD and his goodness in the latter days.

Hosea 3:4-5

For many centuries Israel has been without a king, without a temple and sacrifice, and yet also without idols. In the last days they will return to the LORD and to "David their king," the Messiah, the Son of David (Jeremiah 30:9; Ezekiel 37:24; Luke 1:32-33; Romans 11:26). Hosea's purchase of Gomer is one of the clearest pictures in the Old Testament of redemption: God buying back sinners who have sold themselves into bondage, at great cost to Himself (1 Peter 1:18-19).

Section II: God's Case Against Israel (Chapters 4-13)

Chapter 4 — No Knowledge of God

"Hear the word of the LORD, ye children of Israel: for the LORD hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land" (4:1). Instead there was swearing, lying, killing, stealing and adultery, breaking the Ten Commandments (4:2). The land itself mourned (4:3). The priests were especially guilty:

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.

Hosea 4:6

The problem was not ignorance by accident but rejection of God's Word. "And there shall be, like people, like priest" (4:9). "Whoredom and wine and new wine take away the heart" (4:11). The people consulted wooden idols (4:12) and practised ritual prostitution at the high places (4:13-14). Judah was warned not to follow, nor go to Beth-aven, "house of wickedness," Hosea's mocking name for Bethel, "house of God" (4:15). "Ephraim is joined to idols: let him alone" (4:17): sometimes God gives people over to their chosen sins (Romans 1:24).

Chapter 5 — When God Withdraws

Priests, people and king alike were snares (5:1). "They will not frame their doings to turn unto their God: for the spirit of whoredoms is in the midst of them, and they have not known the LORD" (5:4). Even when they sought God with their flocks and herds, "they shall not find him; he hath withdrawn himself from them" (5:6). God would be "as a moth" to Ephraim and "as rottenness" to Judah (5:12), slowly destroying them. When they saw their sickness, they went to Assyria for help, but the Assyrian king "could not heal you" (5:13). God would be like a lion tearing its prey (5:14). Then:

I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early.

Hosea 5:15

Chapter 6 — Shallow Repentance

The people respond, apparently with repentance:

Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight. Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the LORD: his going forth is prepared as the morning

Hosea 6:1-3

The words are beautiful, and many Christians see in "the third day he will raise us up" a foreshadowing of Christ's resurrection, which Paul says happened "according to the scriptures" (1 Corinthians 15:4; Luke 24:46). But in Hosea's day the people's repentance was shallow. God answered with grief:

O Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee? O Judah, what shall I do unto thee? for your goodness is as a morning cloud, and as the early dew it goeth away.

Hosea 6:4

Their devotion evaporated like morning mist. Then one of the key verses of the Old Testament:

For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.

Hosea 6:6

Jesus quoted this twice to the Pharisees: "But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice" (Matthew 9:13; 12:7). God wants steadfast love and a real relationship, not mere ritual (1 Samuel 15:22; Micah 6:6-8). "But they like men [or, like Adam] have transgressed the covenant" (6:7).

Chapter 7 — A Cake Not Turned

Israel's sins were everywhere: lying, theft, robbery (7:1). God remembered all their wickedness, though they did not consider it (7:2). Their leaders were "all adulterers, as an oven heated by the baker" (7:4), burning with passion and intrigue; "all their kings are fallen: there is none among them that calleth unto me" (7:7). "Ephraim is a cake not turned" (7:8): burnt on one side and raw on the other, half-baked and useless.

Strangers have devoured his strength, and he knoweth it not: yea, gray hairs are here and there upon him, yet he knoweth not.

Hosea 7:9

Israel was declining without realising it, like a man aging without noticing. "Ephraim also is like a silly dove without heart: they call to Egypt, they go to Assyria" (7:11). "They have not cried unto me with their heart, when they howled upon their beds" (7:14). "They return, but not to the most High: they are like a deceitful bow" (7:16), a bow that misses its target.

Chapter 8 — Sowing the Wind

"Set the trumpet to thy mouth" (8:1): an enemy swooped like an eagle because Israel had broken God's covenant. "Israel shall cry unto me, My God, we know thee. Israel hath cast off the thing that is good" (8:2-3). "They have set up kings, but not by me: they have made princes, and I knew it not" (8:4). Their golden calf of Samaria was made by a workman, "therefore it is not God: but the calf of Samaria shall be broken in pieces" (8:5-6).

For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind

Hosea 8:7

Empty, worthless choices would bring overwhelming destruction (Galatians 6:7-8). Israel had hired lovers among the nations (8:9-10). God had written His law for them, "but they were counted as a strange thing" (8:12). "For Israel hath forgotten his Maker, and buildeth temples" (8:14).

Chapter 9 — The Days of Visitation

Israel would not stay in the LORD's land; they would return to "Egypt" (bondage) and eat unclean food in Assyria (9:3). "The days of visitation are come, the days of recompence are come" (9:7). The people mocked God's messengers: "the prophet is a fool, the spiritual man is mad" (9:7). They had corrupted themselves "as in the days of Gibeah" (9:9; Judges 19-21). God remembered His first delight in them: "I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness... but they went to Baal-peor" (9:10; Numbers 25). Their glory would fly away like a bird (9:11). "My God will cast them away, because they did not hearken unto him: and they shall be wanderers among the nations" (9:17).

Chapter 10 — Break Up Your Fallow Ground

"Israel is an empty vine, he bringeth forth fruit unto himself" (10:1). As they prospered, they built more altars and images. "Their heart is divided; now shall they be found faulty" (10:2). The calf of Beth-aven would be carried to Assyria as a present to the king (10:5-6). Samaria's king would be cut off "as the foam upon the water" (10:7). In terror, "they shall say to the mountains, Cover us; and to the hills, Fall on us" (10:8), words Jesus used on the way to the cross (Luke 23:30) and which appear in Revelation (6:16). Yet God still called:

Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you. Ye have plowed wickedness, ye have reaped iniquity; ye have eaten the fruit of lies: because thou didst trust in thy way

Hosea 10:12-13

Hardened hearts, like unploughed fields, must be broken up to receive God's Word (Jeremiah 4:3; Matthew 13:4-8).

Chapter 11 — How Shall I Give Thee Up?

This chapter is one of the most tender revelations of God's heart in Scripture. God speaks as a loving Father:

When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt. As they called them, so they went from them: they sacrificed unto Baalim

Hosea 11:1-2

Matthew applies 11:1 to Jesus, who as a child was taken to Egypt and called back (Matthew 2:15). Christ is the true Son and true Israel, who succeeded where the nation failed. "I taught Ephraim also to go, taking them by their arms; but they knew not that I healed them. I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love" (11:3-4). Like a father teaching his toddler to walk, God had cared for Israel. But they would not return, so Assyria would rule them (11:5-7). Then God's heart breaks:

How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? how shall I deliver thee, Israel? how shall I make thee as Admah? how shall I set thee as Zeboim? mine heart is turned within me, my repentings are kindled together. I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger, I will not return to destroy Ephraim: for I am God, and not man; the Holy One in the midst of thee

Hosea 11:8-9

Admah and Zeboim were cities destroyed with Sodom (Deuteronomy 29:23). God's justice demanded such judgment, but His love would not allow Israel's final destruction. Because He is God and not man, His mercy is not limited like human forgiveness. One day He will roar like a lion, and His children will come trembling from the west, from Egypt and Assyria, and He will bring them home (11:10-11).

Chapter 12 — Learn from Jacob

"Ephraim feedeth on wind" (12:1), making treaties with Assyria and Egypt. God reminded them of their ancestor Jacob: "He took his brother by the heel in the womb, and by his strength he had power with God: Yea, he had power over the angel, and prevailed: he wept, and made supplication unto him: he found him in Bethel" (12:3-4; Genesis 25:26; 28; 32:24-30). Jacob the schemer was transformed when he wrestled with God and pleaded for His blessing. Israel must do the same:

Therefore turn thou to thy God: keep mercy and judgment, and wait on thy God continually.

Hosea 12:6

Instead, Israel was like a merchant with "the balances of deceit" (12:7), boasting of riches (12:8). God had spoken "by the prophets... and used similitudes" (12:10), and "by a prophet the LORD brought Israel out of Egypt" (12:13).

Chapter 13 — No Saviour Beside Me

When Ephraim spoke humbly, he was exalted; "but when he offended in Baal, he died" (13:1). They made idols and said, "Let the men that sacrifice kiss the calves" (13:2). They would vanish like morning cloud, dew, chaff and smoke (13:3).

Yet I am the LORD thy God from the land of Egypt, and thou shalt know no god but me: for there is no saviour beside me.

Hosea 13:4

"I did know thee in the wilderness... According to their pasture, so were they filled; they were filled, and their heart was exalted; therefore have they forgotten me" (13:5-6; Deuteronomy 8:11-14). Prosperity led to pride and forgetfulness. God would meet them like a lion, a leopard and a bear robbed of her cubs (13:7-8). "O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself; but in me is thine help" (13:9). They had demanded a king (1 Samuel 8), "I gave thee a king in mine anger, and took him away in my wrath" (13:10-11). Then, in the midst of judgment, a promise of triumph over death:

I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction

Hosea 13:14

Paul quotes this in his great chapter on resurrection: "O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?... thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Corinthians 15:55-57). The chapter ends with the terrible fall of Samaria (13:16), fulfilled in 722 BC.

Section III: The Call to Return (Chapter 14)

Chapter 14 — "I Will Love Them Freely"

The book ends with God's invitation and promise:

O Israel, return unto the LORD thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity. Take with you words, and turn to the LORD: say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously: so will we render the calves of our lips.

Hosea 14:1-2

God even gives them the words of repentance to pray. Instead of sacrificing calves, they would offer "the calves of our lips," praise and confession (Hebrews 13:15: "the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name"). They would renounce false trust: "Asshur shall not save us; we will not ride upon horses: neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, Ye are our gods: for in thee the fatherless findeth mercy" (14:3). God answers:

I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him. I will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon.

Hosea 14:4-5

"Freely" means without cause in them, by grace alone (Romans 3:24). Israel would become beautiful as the olive tree, fragrant as Lebanon, fruitful as the vine (14:6-7). "Ephraim shall say, What have I to do any more with idols? I have heard him, and observed him: I am like a green fir tree. From me is thy fruit found" (14:8). All true fruitfulness comes from God (John 15:4-5). The book closes with wisdom:

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.

Hosea 14:9

Part Three: Christ in Hosea

The Faithful Husband Who Redeems

Hosea's purchase of his unfaithful wife (3:1-3) is one of the clearest Old Testament pictures of what Christ did for sinners. We, like Gomer, were unfaithful and in bondage to sin. Christ loved us while we were still sinners (Romans 5:8) and bought us back, not with silver and barley but "with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot" (1 Peter 1:18-19; 1 Corinthians 6:20). He is the Bridegroom who "loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it" (Ephesians 5:25-27), to present it to Himself as "a chaste virgin" (2 Corinthians 11:2).

Christ, the True Son Called out of Egypt

Matthew's use of Hosea 11:1 is not a misunderstanding of the verse, which plainly speaks of Israel. Rather, Matthew sees Jesus as the true Israel, God's perfect Son. Israel was called out of Egypt and failed; Jesus was called out of Egypt and fulfilled all that Israel was meant to be, perfectly obeying the Father where the nation disobeyed (compare Matthew 4:1-11 with Israel's wilderness testing).

Part Four: Fulfilled Prophecies

Part Five: Key Passages in Depth

Hosea 2:14-20 — The Wilderness and the Door of Hope

God's discipline is not the end of the story. He leads His people into the wilderness to strip away false loves and speak tenderly to them. Even the valley of trouble becomes a door of hope. God's goal is not punishment but a restored relationship: "thou shalt know the LORD."

Hosea 3:1-3 — Redeeming Love

God told Hosea to love an unfaithful wife and buy her back, "according to the love of the LORD toward the children of Israel." This is grace: love that pursues the unworthy, pays the price, and restores the relationship. It is the gospel in miniature (Romans 5:8).

Hosea 4:6 — Destroyed for Lack of Knowledge

Israel's ruin came from rejecting God's Word. Knowing about God is not enough; Hosea speaks of knowing God personally, in covenant love and obedience. "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent" (John 17:3). Leaders who neglect God's Word bring destruction on those they lead.

Hosea 6:4-6 — Morning-Cloud Religion

Israel's repentance was emotional but shallow, vanishing like dew. God desires steady love and real knowledge of Him, not religious performance. Jesus used this verse to rebuke those who valued ritual above mercy (Matthew 9:13; 12:7).

Hosea 11:1-9 — The Father's Heart

No passage reveals more clearly the emotional depth of God's love. He loved Israel as a child, taught them to walk, healed them, and drew them with bands of love. When justice demanded their destruction, His heart recoiled: "How shall I give thee up?" This is the love that sent Christ to the cross, where justice and mercy met (Romans 3:26).

Hosea 14 — The Way Back

God provides the words for repentance (14:2), the promise of healing (14:4), the freeness of His love (14:4), the beauty and fruitfulness of restored life (14:5-8), and the call to wisdom (14:9). No one is too far gone to return.

Part Six: The Major Teachings of Hosea

1. God's Covenant Love (Hesed)

God's love is loyal, persistent and undeserved. He loves His people even when they betray Him (3:1; 11:1-9; 14:4).

2. Spiritual Adultery

Idolatry and trusting in anything other than God are unfaithfulness to Him, like adultery against a husband (1:2; 2:2-13; 4:12; James 4:4).

3. The Knowledge of God

True religion is knowing God personally and obeying Him (2:20; 4:1, 6; 6:3, 6).

4. Sin Brings Its Own Harvest

"They have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind" (8:7; 10:13).

5. The Danger of Prosperity

When Israel was full, its heart became proud and forgot God (13:6; 10:1; Deuteronomy 8:10-14).

6. False Repentance and True Repentance

Shallow sorrow fades like dew (6:4); true repentance involves returning to God with words of confession and turning from idols (14:1-3).

7. Mercy Over Ritual

God values steadfast love and knowledge of Him above sacrifices (6:6).

8. Judgment and Restoration

God disciplines His people severely, but His final word is healing and restoration (2:14-23; 11:8-11; 14:4-8).

9. Grace to the Undeserving

"I will love them freely" (14:4): salvation is entirely by grace.

10. Victory Over Death

God will ransom His people from the grave and destroy death (13:14).

Part Seven: Connections — How Hosea Links to the Rest of the Bible

Hosea in the New Testament

Hosea in the Old Testament

Themes That Run from Hosea Through Scripture

Part Eight: Practical Lessons

• Recognise that every blessing comes from God, not from idols (2:8).
• Remember your first love (2:7, 15).
• Let God speak tenderly to you in the wilderness (2:14).
• Your valley of trouble can become a door of hope (2:15).
• Love the unlovely, as God loves you (3:1).
• Value the knowledge of God and His Word (4:6).
• Don't let pleasures take away your heart (4:11).
• Seek God in your affliction (5:15).
• Press on to know the LORD (6:3).
• Don't let your devotion evaporate like morning dew (6:4).
• Show mercy; don't just perform religion (6:6).
• Watch for the "gray hairs" of spiritual decline (7:9).
• Don't be a half-baked cake (7:8).
• Remember that what you sow, you reap (8:7; 10:12-13).
• Don't let prosperity make you forget God (13:6).
• Break up the fallow ground of your heart (10:12).
• Rest in God's fatherly love (11:1-4).
• Wait on God continually (12:6).
• Return to the LORD with words of confession (14:1-2).
• Receive His free love and healing (14:4).
• Draw your fruitfulness from Him (14:8).

Part Nine: Key Verses to Memorize

Conclusion

Hosea is the love story of the Bible's prophets. God told His prophet to marry a woman who would betray him, to name his children "Not pitied" and "Not my people," and then to go and buy back his unfaithful wife at the price of a slave. Through Hosea's broken heart, Israel was shown the broken heart of God. The nation had forgotten its Maker, chased Baal for its grain and wine, trusted Egypt and Assyria, offered shallow repentance that vanished like morning dew, and lacked the knowledge of God. Judgment came, and Samaria fell. Yet God cried, "How shall I give thee up?" and promised to betroth His people to Himself for ever, to call "Not my people" His people, to ransom them from the grave, and to love them freely. That love was fully revealed in Jesus Christ, whose name means "salvation" like Hosea's, the Son called out of Egypt, raised the third day, who paid the price to redeem His unfaithful bride with His own blood.

I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him.

Hosea 14:4