Hosea 1:1

by
Rev. Mark Perkins, Pastor
Denver Bible Church
326 E. Colorado Ave.
Denver, Colorado 80210



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Note:

I am only going to give you the details of the Hebrew grammar when it provides important details that cannot be obtained from a reading of the English translation. Hebrew transliterations are in all capital letters.

I am only going to give you the details of the Hebrew grammar when it provides important details that cannot be obtained from a reading of the English translation. Hebrew transliterations are in all capital letters. The translations herein are generally from the New American Standard Version of the Bible, with some exceptions. Most of the exceptions occur when I translate the book of Hosea from the original Hebrew.

The baseline for this translation of Hosea was the New American Standard Version of the Bible.

From this baseline I made corrections due to my personal judgment of the grammar and syntax of the Hebrew language. Do not treat this as the infallible Word of God! All translations are obsolete from the moment of their publication, and this one is no exception. I intend it for use with the sermon series which I have produced on this wonderful book, and nothing more. You may copy it for your private use only, and if you intend to reproduce it for broader publication, you must ask me first!

MRP

Hosea 1:1

The Word of Yahweh which was unto Hosea the son of Beeri in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, the kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, the king of Israel.

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The Impact of the Verse

This verse identifies three important facts about this book: the Divine nature of its inspiration, the identity of the prophet, and the time in which he preached.

A. The Divine nature of the inspiration is identified in the phrase, "The Word of Yahweh which was unto Hosea..."

1. Although Hosea was the human mouthpiece, God was the inspiration of the words that Hosea spoke. 2. This was accomplished through the ministry of the Spirit, and the office of prophet.  
• Topic: PROPHETS
  
  B. The prophet is identified as Hosea, the son of Beeri.
  1. Beeri, Hosea's father is not mentioned elsewhere in Scripture. 2. We do not have any information concerning Hosea's early life.  
  • C. The time of Hosea's ministry is cross indexed in two ways: by the kings who ruled in Israel during his ministry, and by the kings who ruled in Judah at the same time. 1. Jeroboam is actually the second king of Israel with that name. 2 Ki 14:23-29, "In the fifteenth year of Amaziah son of Joash king of Judah, Jeroboam son of Jehoash king of Israel became king in Samaria, and he reigned forty-one years. {24} He did evil in the eyes of the LORD and did not turn away from any of the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit. {25} He was the one who restored the boundaries of Israel from Lebo Hamath to the Sea of the Arabah, in accordance with the word of the LORD, the God of Israel, spoken through his servant Jonah son of Amittai, the prophet from Gath Hepher. {26} The LORD had seen how bitterly everyone in Israel, whether slave or free, was suffering; there was no one to help them. {27} And since the LORD had not said he would blot out the name of Israel from under heaven, he saved them by the hand of Jeroboam son of Jehoash. {28} As for the other events of Jeroboam's reign, all he did, and his military achievements, including how he recovered for Israel both Damascus and Hamath, which had belonged to Yaudi, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel. {29} Jeroboam rested with his fathers, the kings of Israel. And Zechariah his son succeeded him as king." a. Jeroboam's administrative power brought unparalleled economic prosperity. b. He led Israel in expanding her borders almost to their former status under Solomon. c. He ruled the Northern kingdom of Israel from 793-753 B.C. d. This is the king under whom Hosea began his ministry in the Northern kingdom. e. The prosperity that Jeroboam brought was very fragile, and it depended ultimately upon Israel's relationship with God. f. After the passing of Jeroboam, things went downhill for Israel, as we shall see.  
    But first let us turn to the events of the Southern kingdom.
    
    2. Uzziah.
    
    
    a. Uzziah was a king of the southern kingdom of Judah. b. He was the co-ruler with his father Amaziah from 791-767, when Amaziah was assassinated. c. He continued to rule until 750 B.C., when he was stricken with leprosy. 2 Chr 26:16-21, "But after Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his downfall. He was unfaithful to the LORD his God, and entered the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar of incense. {17} Azariah the priest with eighty other courageous priests of the LORD followed him in. {18} They confronted him and said, "It is not right for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the LORD. That is for the priests, the descendants of Aaron, who have been consecrated to burn incense. Leave the sanctuary, for you have been unfaithful; and you will not be honored by the LORD God." {19} Uzziah, who had a censer in his hand ready to burn incense, became angry. While he was raging at the priests in their presence before the incense altar in the Lord's temple, leprosy broke out on his forehead. {20} When Azariah the chief priest and all the other priests looked at him, they saw that he had leprosy on his forehead, so they hurried him out. Indeed, he himself was eager to leave, because the LORD had afflicted him. {21} King Uzziah had leprosy until the day he died. He lived in a separate house --leprous, and excluded from the temple of the LORD. Jotham his son had charge of the palace and governed the people of the land." d. He did expand the borders of Judah, and strengthen some of the fortress cities of Judah, but he was religiously evil.  
    3. Jotham.
    
    
    a. Jotham took over from his father in 750 B.C., and ruled until 732 B.C. b. He was a man who feared God, and he subdued the uprising of the Ammonites and supervised the building of the high gate of the temple. 2 Chr 27:3-6, "Jotham rebuilt the Upper Gate of the temple of the LORD and did extensive work on the wall at the hill of Ophel. {4} He built towns in the Judean hills and forts and towers in the wooded areas. {5} Jotham made war on the king of the Ammonites and conquered them. That year the Ammonites paid him a hundred talents of silver, ten thousand cors of wheat and ten thousand cors of barley. The Ammonites brought him the same amount also in the second and third years. {6} Jotham grew powerful because he walked steadfastly before the LORD his God."  
    4. Ahaz.
    
    
    a. Ahaz ruled Judah from 732 to 715 B.C. b. He was full of arrogance. c. Judah lost a lot of territory under his rule, both to the Assyrians, and to the Philistines. 2 Kings 16:2-4, "Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem sixteen years. Unlike David his father, he did not do what was right in the eyes of the LORD his God. {3} He walked in the ways of the kings of Israel and even sacrificed his son in the fire, following the detestable ways of the nations the LORD had driven out before the Israelites. {4} He offered sacrifices and burned incense at the high places, on the hilltops and under every spreading tree." 2 Kings 16:10-16, "Then King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria. He saw an altar in Damascus and sent to Uriah the priest a sketch of the altar, with detailed plans for its construction. {11} So Uriah the priest built an altar in accordance with all the plans that King Ahaz had sent from Damascus and finished it before King Ahaz returned. {12} When the king came back from Damascus and saw the altar, he approached it and presented offerings on it. {13} He offered up his burnt offering and grain offering, poured out his drink offering, and sprinkled the blood of his fellowship offerings on the altar. {14} The bronze altar that stood before the LORD he brought from the front of the temple--from between the new altar and the temple of the LORD--and put it on the north side of the new altar. {15} King Ahaz then gave these orders to Uriah the priest: "On the large new altar, offer the morning burnt offering and the evening grain offering, the king's burnt offering and his grain offering, and the burnt offering of all the people of the land, and their grain offering and their drink offering. Sprinkle on the altar all the blood of the burnt offerings and sacrifices. But I will use the bronze altar for seeking guidance." {16} And Uriah the priest did just as King Ahaz had ordered."  
    5. Hezekiah.
    
    
    a. Hezekiah was truly a great king. b. He is noted in three long passages of Scripture: 2 Kings 17-20, Isa 36-39, and 2 Chron 29-32. c. His greatness as a king was defined by the greatness of his relationship with God. He had responded to the ministry of Isaiah the prophet, and restored much of Judah's spiritual greatness. d. He ruled from 716 to about 687 B.C.  
    6. Other kings of Israel.
    
    
    a. Although Hosea does not mention them, there were several other kings of Israel during Hosea's time. b. The reason for the omission is simple. They were such bad men that they were not worth mentioning. (1) This fact gives us a little insight into Hosea's personality. (2) He refused to acknowledge the really bad kings of Israel. (3) He saw the authority and the rule of the king as coming from God, and when men usurped that authority through treachery and assassination, Hosea no longer acknowledged them as true kings of Israel. (4) Hosea concentrated on the spiritual realities of the situation, and dismissed the unreality of stolen rule. (5) Hosea recognized that assassination was never the solution, and accomplished nothing. (6) He recognized that two wrongs never make a right. (7) He recognized that assassination could never bring a true ruler to the throne. Only God could accomplish that.  
    c. There was Zechariah, Shallum, Menahem, Pekahiah, Pekah, and Hoshea. The kingdom fell to the Assyrians under the rule of Hoshea in 722 B.C.
    
    
    (1) Zechariah was a bad man. 2 Ki 15:8-10, "In the thirty-eighth year of Azariah king of Judah, Zechariah son of Jeroboam became king of Israel in Samaria, and he reigned six months. {9} He did evil in the eyes of the LORD, as his fathers had done. He did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit. {10} Shallum son of Jabesh conspired against Zechariah. He attacked him in front of the people, assassinated him and succeeded him as king." (2) Shallum was a bad man. 2 Ki 15:13-14, "Shallum son of Jabesh became king in the thirty-ninth year of Uzziah king of Judah, and he reigned in Samaria one month. {14} Then Menahem son of Gadi went from Tirzah up to Samaria. He attacked Shallum son of Jabesh in Samaria, assassinated him and succeeded him as king." (3) Menahem was a really bad man. 2 Ki 15:16-20, "At that time Menahem, starting out from Tirzah, attacked Tiphsah and everyone in the city and its vicinity, because they refused to open their gates. He sacked Tiphsah and ripped open all the pregnant women. {17} In the thirty-ninth year of Azariah king of Judah, Menahem son of Gadi became king of Israel, and he reigned in Samaria ten years. {18} He did evil in the eyes of the LORD. During his entire reign he did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit. {19} Then Pul king of Assyria invaded the land, and Menahem gave him a thousand talents of silver to gain his support and strengthen his own hold on the kingdom. {20} Menahem exacted this money from Israel. Every wealthy man had to contribute fifty shekels of silver to be given to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria withdrew and stayed in the land no longer." (4) Pekahiah was a bad man. 2 Ki 15:23-25, "In the fiftieth year of Azariah king of Judah, Pekahiah son of Menahem became king of Israel in Samaria, and he reigned two years. {24} Pekahiah did evil in the eyes of the LORD. He did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit. {25} One of his chief officers, Pekah son of Remaliah, conspired against him. Taking fifty men of Gilead with him, he assassinated Pekahiah, along with Argob and Arieh, in the citadel of the royal palace at Samaria. So Pekah killed Pekahiah and succeeded him as king." (5) Pekah was a bad man. 2 Ki 15:27-30, "In the fifty-second year of Azariah king of Judah, Pekah son of Remaliah became king of Israel in Samaria, and he reigned twenty years. {28} He did evil in the eyes of the LORD. He did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit. {29} In the time of Pekah king of Israel, Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria came and took Ijon, Abel Beth Maacah, Janoah, Kedesh and Hazor. He took Gilead and Galilee, including all the land of Naphtali, and deported the people to Assyria. {30} Then Hoshea son of Elah conspired against Pekah son of Remaliah. He attacked and assassinated him, and then succeeded him as king in the twentieth year of Jotham son of Uzziah." (6) Hoshea was the terminal bad man of Israel. 2 Ki 17:1-18, "In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah, Hoshea son of Elah became king of Israel in Samaria, and he reigned nine years. {2} He did evil in the eyes of the LORD, but not like the kings of Israel who preceded him. {3} Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up to attack Hoshea, who had been Shalmaneser's vassal and had paid him tribute. {4} But the king of Assyria discovered that Hoshea was a traitor, for he had sent envoys to So king of Egypt, and he no longer paid tribute to the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year. Therefore Shalmaneser seized him and put him in prison. {5} The king of Assyria invaded the entire land, marched against Samaria and laid siege to it for three years. {6} In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and deported the Israelites to Assyria. He settled them in Halah, in Gozan on the Habor River and in the towns of the Medes. {7} All this took place because the Israelites had sinned against the LORD their God, who had brought them up out of Egypt from under the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. They worshiped other gods {8} and followed the practices of the nations the LORD had driven out before them, as well as the practices that the kings of Israel had introduced. {9} The Israelites secretly did things against the LORD their God that were not right. From watchtower to fortified city they built themselves high places in all their towns. {10} They set up sacred stones and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every spreading tree. {11} At every high place they burned incense, as the nations whom the LORD had driven out before them had done. They did wicked things that provoked the LORD to anger. {12} They worshiped idols, though the LORD had said, "You shall not do this." {13} The LORD warned Israel and Judah through all his prophets and seers: "Turn from your evil ways. Observe my commands and decrees, in accordance with the entire Law that I commanded your fathers to obey and that I delivered to you through my servants the prophets." {14} But they would not listen and were as stiff-necked as their fathers, who did not trust in the LORD their God. {15} They rejected his decrees and the covenant he had made with their fathers and the warnings he had given them. They followed worthless idols and themselves became worthless. They imitated the nations around them although the LORD had ordered them, "Do not do as they do," and they did the things the LORD had forbidden them to do. {16} They forsook all the commands of the LORD their God and made for themselves two idols cast in the shape of calves, and an Asherah pole. They bowed down to all the starry hosts, and they worshiped Baal. {17} They sacrificed their sons and daughters in the fire. They practiced divination and sorcery and sold themselves to do evil in the eyes of the LORD, provoking him to anger. {18} So the LORD was very angry with Israel and removed them from his presence."  
    7. The date of Hosea's ministry has one definite terminus - the end, which was the fall of Israel in 722 B.C.
    
    8. The beginning of his ministry can be placed anywhere from 793 B.C. to 767 B.C., with it being more likely towards the later date.
    
    9. In any event, Hosea ministered for at least 40 years in the Northern kingdom of Israel. D. So the first verse gives us a good review of the situation in the time of Hosea's ministry.
    1. There was prosperity, but it was fragile. 2. There was political chaos in the Northern Kingdom, and eventually it would be destroyed while Hosea was still preaching. 3. In the Southern kingdom there was instability and even apostasy, but the destruction of Israel and the ministry of Isaiah combined to bring about a great revival in time to save Judah from the fifth cycle of discipline.  

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      End of Hosea Lesson 1
      
      

      

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