by
Rev. Mark Perkins, Pastor
Denver Bible Church
326 E. Colorado Ave.
Denver, Colorado 80210
To: Hosea
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I. Translation
"And then Yahweh said to me, 'Again, go love a woman, one
loved of a friend, utter adultery, [love her] as the love of
Yahweh for the sons of Israel, for they are [always] turning
unto other Gods and lovers of raisin cakes of grapes.'
"So I bought her for myself for fifteen shekels of silver
and a homer and a half of barley.
"Then I said to her, 'You will dwell with me for many days.
You will not commit adultery, nor will you be [someone] to a
man; and moreover I will be [that someone] toward you.'
"For the sons of Israel will remain for many days without
king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar, and without
ephod or household idols.
"Afterward the sons of Israel will return and intensely
seek the Lord their God and David their king; and they will express
dread to the Lord and to His goodness in the last days."
II. Hebrew notes and the meaning of the verse.
A. Verse 1.
1. The love that Hosea is to have for his wife Gomer is love based on attraction for her. The Hebrew word is 'EHABH, which is the rough equivalent of the Greek (phileo). It is in the imperative mood, so this is a command from God. God could only command Hosea's attraction to his wife if she was worthy of such love. Chapter 2:19-22 makes the repentance and recovery of Gomer very clear. She is indeed worthy.
2. Presently, she is loved by a neighbor - a neighbor is one of her johns! The verb 'EHABH is used again to denote her relationship with a RETSA - a friend or neighbor, someone within the immediately periphery.
3. This adultery and prostitution is decribed by the Hebrew participle WUMNA'APHETH. It is here in the piel intensive stem, denoting the intense nature of her sin - a reflection on prostituting oneself to one's neighbors.
4. The inseparable preposition KE sets up a comparison between Hosea and Gomer and God and Israel.
5. The explanation for this comparison comes from the conjunction waw, which points to the 'adulterous activities of the nation of Israel.
6. The raisin cakes are A'SISE, those used in sacrifice to idols. The addition of `ANABHIM, "grapes", shows that raisin cakes were also made out of other fruit. Raisin is a more general reference to dried fruit. These cakes were also a dessert favorite, and considered a stimulant, more probably from the sugar high obtained from eating them.
B. Verse 2.
1. The verb translated 'buy', WA'EKREHA gets its original meaning from the verb for dig. It reveals a kind of action where there is bartering and even bidding for the product. This is especially enlightening in that Hosea is bartering and bidding for his wife. That he bought her is in itself remarkable. Hosea went down to the street corner and bought his own wife. She was selling her body to others so that she could buy the paraphernalia to participate in idol worship.
2. A shekel was the equivalent of about .4 ounces of silver; fifteen of them would amount to six ounces. On today's market that would be approximately thirty three dollars.
3. A homer and a half comes out to about twelve bushels. At $2.17 a bushel, this adds another twenty six dollars to the previously tallied thirty three dollars for a grand total of fifty nine dollars.
4. Together with the 'digging' and the rather strange method of payment, we can assume that Hosea had to scratch to get the job done.
C. Verse 3.
1. The plural adjective RABIM indicates that the duration of time that Hosea's prostitute wife will stay with him will be a long one. The actual amount remains unspecified.
2. The imperfect tense of the verb TESHBI indicates action that has yet to be completed. Here, we interpret this action as still in the future. The verb itself means to live, remain, reside or dwell. Here is something that Hosea's wife has not been doing: living with her husband.
3. The second imperfect verb TIZNI is negated by the adverb LO. So Hosea predicts that this activity will not occur for a long time. The root meaning of the word concentrates on female sexual immorality. Prostitution is not necessarily a part of this act.
4. The combination of the negative adverb LO and the conjunction WAW translates into the English 'nor'. The imperfect tense of the verb HAYAH, 'to be', adds another thing to Hosea's list. Consider these the 'three commandments' of Hosea to Gomer. This commandment is quite stringent; it requires Gomer never to be a part of another man's life; she is never to even have an affair of the heart.
5. Hosea then adds that he will be the man that she cannot be to any other man; it is put simply and elliptically with two personal pronouns, 'Ani 'ELAYIK ... I unto you.
D. Verse 4. The focus shifts from Gomer to Israel.
1. The verb "to dwell" is the same as before. It retains the same tense and the same meaning. This is, however, a prophecy; a forthtelling about the future of Israel. This contrasts Hosea's three commandments, which depend on the volition of his wife.
2. The negative construct 'EN [preposition] plays a very prominent role in this verse. It is translated 'without'.
3. There are six things that the nation of Israel will live without.a. MELEK, king.
b. SHAR, prince.
c. ZEBHAH., sacrifice.
d. MATSEBHAH, sacred pillar or standing stone.
e. 'EPHODH, the sacred vestment of the priest.
f. TERAPHIM, the little household idols.4. These six things are not exactly what they appear to be. In fact, all of them are normal things which have become the objects of idolatry for the people of the Northern Kingdom.
a. Legitimate rulership from their own people will be eliminated - kings and princes.
b. Legitimate sacrifice will be eliminated - sacrifice and ephod.
c. Illegitimate idol worship will be eliminated, both small and large, the TERAPHIM were small household idols, really just a trifle; the sacred pillars were huge places that marked the sites of demon worship.5. The children of Israel will dwell without these for many days because they will be conquered by the Assyrians. This is a prophecy of the time between the fall of the Northern Kingdom, and the coming of Jesus Christ.
6. This is not a prophecy about the church age, and it could not be, since the church age remained a historic mystery at this time.
7. Nowhere in Scripture is any detail of the church age revealed before the upper room, where Christ gave a few scant details to His disciples, and this just a few short weeks before it would come down.
8. Scripture does predict the first advent of Christ, the cross, the resurrection, the ascension. It also predicts the tribulation and the second advent and millennium. But it does not predict anything about the church age. There is a reason for this: the church will only come into existence if Israel fails to accept Christ at the first advent.
9. If Israel had accepted Christ, then there would have been the cross, resurrection, and ascension, followed immediately by the tribulation, second advent, and millennium. The time between the ascension and the return of Christ would only have been seven years.
10. But, Israel rejected her Messiah, and so the tribulation, second advent, and millennium were put on hold for the insertion of the church age. This is called intercalation. The purpose of the church is to prepare a body of believers for co-rulership with Christ.
11. The doctrine pertaining to the Church Age is called "mystery," because it was not known to the Old Testament writers. Rom 16:25-26; Eph 3:1, 6; Col 1:26-27.
12. Doctrines pertaining to the Church Age are not found in the Old Testament Scriptures. Where Church Age information would have occurred, there is a parenthesis.
13. Doctrine pertinent to the Church Age is inserted, intercalated by the New Testament epistles.
14. Illustrations of the great parenthesis concept in the Old Testament.a. Between Dan 2:40( )41.
b. Dan 7:23( )24.
c. Dan 8:22( )23, 11:35( )36; Hos 3:4( )5, 5:15( )6:1.
d. Ps 22:22( )23.
e. Isa 61:2a( )b.
E. Verse 5.
1. The adverb 'AH.AR shows a lapse of time between the dwelling without and the thing mentioned next in this verse. It is translated, 'afterward'. This is an unspecified sojourn.
2. The sons of Israel are to return 'RASUBU', and intensely seek Yahweh their God and David their king. The intensity of the seeking is revealed by the piel stem of the verb WUBHIQSU.
It is in the perfect tense, and so is considered done even before attempted.
3. The translation 'they will express fear' comes from the perfect tense of the verb PHAH.ADHU. It too is considered done even before attempted. This dread is utter respect and humility before the Lord. The kind of respect and humility that can only be present in the worst of human travail.
4. The target of their expression of fear is God and His goodness. This is worship in the tribulation. There will be no earthly good to appreciate, and divine good will be only visible through the lives of 144,000 Jews.
5. The time of this will be the latter days. The Old Testament Prophecies on the latter days concentrate on the tribulation and the millennium. Here the concentration begins with the tribulation.
III. Summary.
A. This passage looks at the future, and even predicts it. This
is prophetic foretelling. However, the first principle of foretelling
is that in concentrates with a message for the present generation.
B. In this case, the message is directed to the faithful few
in Israel. It is designed to give them hope for an eternal home.
C. By revealing the future restoration of Israel through Hosea
and his wife, God is instilling eternal hope in the godly of
the last generation of the Northern Kingdom before their destruction.
D. As the faithful see the kingdom fall around them, and the
utter destruction of their own people, they will be able to endure
knowing the present God, and the future for their nation.
E. First is the the sojourn of Israel on foreign soil. They will
be without kings and princes, priests and sacrifices, the large
and small trappings of idolatry.
F. Second in the restoration of Israel.
G. Between the two and hidden from view is the church age.
H. But first, the Jews must be given an opportunity to respond
to their messiah.
End of Lesson 12
Grace Notes
Warren Doud, Editor
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