The strong sexual language used serves a double purpose. The Hebrew root zanah actually occurs fourteen times in this book! Israel, by turning to pagan gods, has broken its covenantal bond with Yahweh, the God who led them out of Egypt and made them his own people. The idea of prostitution is laced throughout. Let's take a closer look at these books individually.Īnd that’s just the start. That’s what makes comparing Hosea and Amos so fascinating. The historical context and theological content of Hosea and Amos may be similar, but the language and imagery each prophet uses to mount his accusations are unique. The same point is being made in Hosea and Amos: despite acting like every sinful action is well and good, the religious life of the northern tribes is certainly not acceptable to the Lord-and judgment is coming. At one time in Israel’s history, these places represented God’s special relationship with his people, but now they have become thoroughly corrupt. Israel has forsaken Yahweh to worship Canaanite gods at the idolatrous shrines erected at Bethel and Gilgal. That’s five out of the ten commandments right there! If that weren’t enough, chapter 4 also exposes how they sacrificed to pagan gods on the high places, engaged with cult prostitutes, and joined themselves to idols.įlip forward to Amos 4 and you see similar accusations. In Hosea 4, the Lord is outraged that in the place of faithfulness and covenantal love there is “swearing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery” (4:1-2). This is why you get accusation after accusation of the ways in which the northern kingdom has broken covenant with God through idolatry in both Hosea and Amos.
Unless they repent, return to Yahweh, and obey him, judgment will come. Hosea 11 and Amos 3 talk about this.īecause Israel rejected the God who rescued them and gave them all they had, the prophetic message is that of imminent disaster for God’s faithless people. The God whose love they’ve rejected is the God who chose them for himself and brought them out of the land of Egypt into the promised land. This is intentional-Israel hasn’t just rebelled, they’ve broken covenant with their relational God. Both authors frequently use “Yahweh,” the name representing God’s special relationship between him and Israel. The driving theme of these books is the description and indictment of Israel’s idolatry. Hosea lived in northern Israel and prophesied to his own people during the reigns of Jeroboam II and the flurry of bad kings that followed him until Assyria finally swept away the northern kingdom in 722 B.C.E.
He lived in southern Judea but spent his life prophesying about the apostasy of the northern kingdom during the reigns of Jeroboam II and Uzziah. Amos is the earliest prophet named in the Old Testament books.
Hosea and Amos were contemporaries who overlapped both in terms of historical context and theological content.
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