Hosea Lesson 1

HOSEA 

“THE STRANGEST BOOK IN THE BIBLE.”

KEY VERSE: Hosea 6:1-2 “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.”

THEME: The Book of Hosea is the story of a broken home and a broken heart. The theme may be divided into at least four parts: 1. The limitless love of God for His erring people. 2. The incorrigible rebellion of Israel. 3. The enforced chastisement of Israel. 4. The ultimate restoration of Israel.

DATE: The book was written about 725 B.C. and covers a period of sixty years. Isaiah and Micah were prophesying in Judah. Hosea and Amos were prophesying in Israel.

WRITER: HOSEA, the prophet of the Northern Kingdom. 1. His name means “The Lord is my help.” 2. Hosea was the son of Beeri. 3. He was a man of sensitivity and nobility of soul. 4. He was a man faithful to God at any price. 5. He was willing, for the sake of his message, to endure intense personal anguish of soul. 6. He loved his God and his nation without reservation.

Hosea is written from a very strange standpoint. He is called upon by God to give a biographical sketch of his own life and experiences. There were several reasons for this. 1. THE EXPERIMENTAL REASON. By marrying an unfaithful woman, it would be possible for Hosea to understand, better than anyone, the anguish in God’s heart over the unfaithfulness of the Northern Kingdom and its people, who were continually committing spiritual fornication and adultery against Jehovah. There are several places in the Bible where God compares His relationship to that of a marriage. (Isaiah 62:5; Hosea 2:19; Jeremiah 3:14)

Simply click the “Take the Quiz” Button to the right. Have your KJV Bible with you, and look up the answers to the questions on the quiz. You can then answer the questions from the Bible, (Open Book Test).