A THEOLOGY OF GOD BASED ON THE BOOK OF HOSEA

Sid Sudiacal
Introduction

The Book of Hosea is a wonderful book which speaks of the relationship of God and

Israel. In his book, Tradition for Crisis, Walter Brueggemann argues ―if we are to understand

properly the tradition of Hosea or any other prophet, we must pursue the study of his person, his

life, his historical context, his molding experiences.‖1 What is unique in this book is the fact that

in Hosea, ―the covenant crisis of Israel is viewed as a divorce proceeding in which the violated

husband brings charges against his faithless wife.‖2 H. Wheeler Robinson would attest to the fact

that the whole book is coloured by the prophet‘s personal experiences.3 According to Robinson,

Hosea was the pioneer of ―evangelical realism‖ as ―he fearlessly projected his own

consciousness of a ‗gracious‘ attitude toward Gomer and his own experience of the cost of that

grace into the consciousness of God.‖4 5 In the book of Hosea, we see God as Lover, Father and

Divine Initiator. He is both the spurned Lover and the ever-loving Husband who woos Israel

back to Himself. He is also seen as a Father to Israel, His wayward son, whom He cannot give

up. Finally, he is shown to be the One who divinely initiates mercy and forgiveness towards

Israel despite of its rebellious heart towards Him.

1
Brueggemann, Crisis, 107.
2
Brueggemann, Crisis¸107-108.
3
Robinson, Cross of Hosea, 18.
4
Robinson, Cross of Hosea, 46.
5
―This projection, as we have seen, depends for its validity on the truth of the kinship of man and God; but if that is
not in some sense true, then we dispose at once of the need for any transaction or legal fiction to reconcile God to
man, since his love for man becomes our starting point.‖ Robinson, Cross of Hosea, 46.
God as Lover

Chapter 2 of the Book of Hosea portrays God as a spurned Lover. He uses legal language

to confront Israel.6 In this chapter, we see the divorce proceedings7 with God as the plaintiff and

Israel as the defendant.8 ―In dramatic fashion as Yahweh's federal marshal presenting a court

summons, Hosea compels Israel to listen to the word he has been charged to deliver.‖9 Elliott

argues that ―in the Old Testament, the covenant relation between Jehovah and his people is

represented as a marriage.‖ Their idolatry is then viewed as adultery. Because they have done

this grievous act against YHWH, ―he would no longer favour them, nor look upon them as his

people.‖10 The unfaithfulness of His wife, a wife of harlotry, causes Him to put her away or

humiliate her. These are acceptable responses afforded to a husband of a disreputable wife.11

Hosea 2:2-13 would delineate the formal charges by the Lover against Israel.

It is interesting to note that the charge against Israel is marked by the word ―plead.‖12 Not

only is this word used once, but twice in the same verse. Repetition usually denotes the

importance of a certain thought or idea. In this lawsuit against Israel, though Israel will later be

indicted as one who has gone ―after her lovers‖13 and has ultimately wronged her Faithful

Husband in the process, restoration seems to be the objective and not that of retribution. YHWH,

6
Brueggemann, Crisis, 86.
7
―This image of punishment by exposing the genitals of a woman is used only by prophets, and it hardly seems to
be an actual legal divorce action. It is prophetic imagery used only against a city—unless, of course, the woman in
Hos 2:5 is not a city. In the biblical texts apart from Hosea 2, it is used against Jerusalem three times, against
Nineveh once, and against Babylon once. Never is the treatment used as a punishment against a human being.‖
Schmitt, ―Wife‖, 11.
8
While most commentators affirm that Israel is the one being referred to in this chapter, Schmitt argues that the
―wife of God‖ in Hosea refers to Samaria, not Israel. Schmitt, ―Wife‖, 5. He also points to the constant usage of the
pronoun ―him‖ to Israel in the Hebrew Bible. Schmitt, ―Israel‖, 70.
9
Bowman,―Grief‖, 232.
10
Elliott, ―Hosea‖, 197.
11
―In some cultures of the Near East an adulterous wife would be stripped publicly to expose her shame to the
public. Israel's torah prescribed death, on the other hand.‖ – Vander Hart, ―Warning‖, 118.
12
Hosea 2:2, NRSV
13
Hosea 2:5, NRSV
whose love was rejected by adulterous Israel, implores her to cast off her sins and turn to Him

lest He is compelled to punish her deeds for her whoring ways. ―God's lawsuit against His

community is punitive for a positive purpose. His interest is not in a permanent divorce, but His

actions are to result in an ultimate reconstruction of the loving, covenant relationship.‖14 The use

of the word ―plead‖ within this verse is in complete agreement with the notion that YHWH is not

interested in completely casting off Israel, but that He intends to bring Israel back into His

bosom and into His favour.

After the charges are brought against Israel, verses 14-16 mark a remarkable turn of

events. Whereas in previous prophetic traditions, ―therefore‖ usually brought about

pronouncements of divine wrath and judgment, this ―therefore‖ offers pronouncements of mercy

and love. YHWH, with loving kindness, tells Israel that He

will now persuade15 her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her.
From there I will give her her vineyards, and make the Valley of Achor a door of hope.
There she shall respond as in the days of her youth, as at the time when she came out of
the land of Egypt. On that day, says the LORD, you will call me, ‗My husband‘, and no
longer will you call me, ‗My Baal‘.
This, as Hubbard rightly states, is a passage that ―rings with overtones of love.‖16 The Spurned

Lover could have completely disowned and discarded His adulterous wife. He had the legal

rights to do so. Yet, this Spurned Lover of Hosea shows himself to be the Pursuing Husband of

Israel. Defiled though she was, He would not only deign to consort with her, but would also seek

to honour her with His divine mercies and blessings.

14
Vander Hart, ―Warning‖, 118.
15
Hosea 2:14-16, NRSV. Personally, I prefer the KJV and ESV translation of verse 14 where it is rendered as ―I will
allure her.‖
16
Hubbard, Bands of Love, 87.
It is in the book of Hosea that

YHWH is presented as [a] wounded, shamed, rejected lover and husband whose honour
has been violated in profound ways, whose honour can only be recovered by harsh
rejection of wife Israel, an act which visibly and publicly places her in the wrong.17
Likewise, Hosea is the ―first to speak of Israel's relation to Yahweh using the marriage

metaphor.‖18 Wyrtzen opines that ―the literary motif used [...] is therefore an allegory19of an

unfaithful wife who is legally disciplined for her immorality. Though the initial marriage is

severed because of the wife's sexual promiscuity, her loyal husband continues to love her.‖20 It is

this unswerving loyalty and show of faithfulness of YHWH to a perverse Israel that is so

shocking and so revealing about the character of God.

God as Father

If Chapter 2 presents a husband-wife relationship to describe God‘s relationship with

Israel, Chapter 11 views God‘s relationship with Israel as that between a parent and a child. The

chapter opens with these words

When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. The more I called
them, the more they went from me; they kept sacrificing to the Baals, and offering
incense to idols. Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk, I took them up in my arms; but
they did not know that I healed them. I led them with cords of human kindness, with
bands of love. I was to them like those who lift infants to their cheeks. I bent down to
them and fed them.21

17
Brueggemann, ―Recovering‖, 14.
18
Bowman,―Grief‖, 235.
19
Calvin would agree with this statement and asserts that Hosea did not, in reality, marry Gomer. ―Hence almost all
the Hebrews agree in this opinion, that the Prophet did not actually marry a wife, but that he was bidden to do this in
a vision. And we shall see in the third chapter (Hosea 3:1) almost the same thing described; and yet what is narrated
there could not have been actually done, for the Prophet is bidden to marry a wife who had violated her conjugal
fidelity, and after having bought her, to retain her at home for a time. This, we know, was not done. It then follows
that this was a representation exhibited to the people.‖ Calvin, Commentary, 22.
20
Wyrtzen, ―Theological Center‖, 320.
21
Hosea 11:1-4, NRSV.
As Padilla notes, this depicts ―the personal aspect of God in a beautiful metaphorical image of a

father teaching his son to walk and holding him in his arms. [...] The bond expressed here is not

one of a distant relative, but one that is bound to his child by love.‖22 This is a Loving Father

who cherishes His child. This is the ―Father to the fatherless‖23 Father that the Psalmist writes

about.

The depiction of God as a Patient Father in Hosea bears a striking resemblance to the

Waiting Father in the Parable of the Prodigal Son.24 The parable speaks of a father who has two

sons. His younger son asks for his inheritance while his father still lives. This is a cultural insult

to the father and yet he gives the son what he asks. The younger son leaves his father‘s presence

and wastes away his inheritance in another country. When famine strikes, he is left destitute and

resolves to come back to his father and beg for forgiveness and the opportunity to work for him

as a servant. As he is on his way back, his father sees him from afar, and does the unthinkable:

he runs towards him, welcomes him, and holds a feast for him. Not only does he welcome him

back with open arms, he also commands his servants to adorn his younger son with all the

accoutrements that denote his sonship. This parable shows a father who eschews his right to be

angry and demand complete obeisance when the younger son returns to him. The younger son

does not even have the time to utter his plea to be forgiven and ask to be hired in his father‘s

employ because the father is so overjoyed with his son‘s return that he wastes no time in

rejoicing and celebrating such a wonderful occasion. He kills the fatted calf and invites everyone

for a feast.

22
Padilla, ―Love that Never Fails‖, 17.
23
Psalms 68:5, NLT
24
Luke 15:11-32, NRSV
 This Waiting Father of the Prodigal Son parable acts in such a way that his heart is turned

within him. Hosea speaks of this same heart of YHWH towards Israel in a heart-wrenching

manner in the eleventh chapter of Hosea

How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, O Israel? How can I make
you like Admah? How can I treat you like Zeboiim? My heart recoils within me25; my
compassion grows warm and tender. I will not execute my fierce anger; I will not again
destroy Ephraim; for I am God and no mortal, the Holy One in your midst, and I will not
come in wrath.26

This passage speaks of a love that will not let go of Israel despite Israel‘s wayward ways. Here,

we see how ―Hosea permits us to see the troubled life of YHWH that is rendered conflicted

because of YHWH‘s attachment to Israel.‖27 Humanly speaking, disobedient children bring

shame and disgrace to the family. The father, being the head of the household, must carry the

dishonour that such a child unintentionally brings to this basic social unit.28 In honour-shame

based cultures, it is not uncommon to disown a child who has ―brought shame‖ to the family.

This is why the actions of the Waiting Father are so astounding and flabbergasting. He was

willing to run towards his disobedient son, an act that demonstrates his humility. In his

willingness to show unbridled intimacy towards a recalcitrant son, he embodied the hesed

(loving-kindness) type of love that YHWH claims as one of His defining attributes in Exodus 34.

The Waiting Father of the Prodigal Son parable, much like the Patient Father of Hosea,

bespeaks of a person with a high status showing unconditional love to a person with a low status.

There is a disparity in their relationship. Sakenfeld claims that the word hesed is ―an action

25
KJV renders this as ―mine heart is turned within me‖ while NASB renders this as ―my heart is turned over within
Me.‖
26
Hosea 11: 8-9, NRSV
27
Brueggemann, ―Recovering‖, 18.
28
This is often the case in honour-shame based cultures.
performed by the situationally superior partner for the situationally inferior party.‖ 29 In both

cases, the father is ―always free not to perform the act of hesed‖30 and yet, he declares it so

loudly through his words and deeds. YHWH shows hesed to Israel by showing Israel love and

affection even though Israel is undeserving of it. It is this gracious outpouring of hesed towards

apostate Israel that is so shocking and revealing about the character of God.

God as Divine Initiator

Hubbard claims that ―the Bible stresses the divine initiative from the beginning.‖ 31 God

takes the initiative to create the world. He takes the initiative to create Adam and Eve and put

them in the Garden. He is the One who gets Moses‘ attention through a burning bush and

commands him to liberate His people. 32 He is in the constant habit of initiating a divine

conversation between Him and His people. Nowhere is this divine initiative more beautifully

portrayed as in the Book of Hosea.

When looking at the second chapter of Hosea, God reveals Himself to be the source of

Israel‘s bounty. Israel, however, attributes such bounty to Baal instead of YHWH. This deeply

grieves the heart of YHWH and YHWH is forced to admit that ―she [Israel] did not know that it

was I who gave her the grain, the wine, and the oil, and who lavished upon her silver and gold

that they used for Baal.‖33 He then pronounces the judgments that He will take against her. If the

story ended at that point, it would be a fitting one. Those who oppose the Most High with their

actions will be humbled and brought to justice. However, the succeeding verses reveal a side of

God that is incredibly confusing and awe-inspiring. YHWH, the party wronged in this situation,

takes the initiative to ―persuade‖ and ―allure‖ Israel. He is ―portrayed as a resilient and

29
Sakenfeld, Meaning, 234.
30
Sakenfeld, Meaning, 234.
31
Hubbard, Bands of Love, 69.
32
Hubbard, Bands of Love, 69.
33
Hosea 2:8, NRSV.
determined lover who will woo wife Israel back into a relationship of fidelity.‖34 Robinson

concedes that this ―is the fundamental fact in the relation of God to Israel; he cannot let her go

because he is what he is. He took the initiative with her, long ago, from the land of Egypt; now,

in her need, he takes a new initiative, like the old.‖35 YHWH knows that Israel would thrive and

live in better living conditions under His care compared to the empty promises of Baal. With this

in mind, He is resolved to speak tenderly to her, pursue her, wooing her back to her senses so

that she may realize that YHWH is a better lover than Baal.

YHWH is so committed to His pursuit of Israel that He imagines a future date when she

will finally call Him, ―My Husband.‖36 This date will happen after His purposeful courtship of

Israel.37 God tells Israel through His speech and actions that though He is rejected by Israel, even

forgotten, He will enact hesed towards her and seek to restore her back to Him. This action is not

in any way, shape, or form based on Israel‘s deeds, but is completely based upon the divine

initiative that God is willing to manifest towards her.

In Hosea, we see the freedom of God permeate through the pages of the Book.38 God will

do what He will do because He alone is God. ―God‘s love and God‘s grace, in other words, can

never be presumed upon.‖39 Although God has the freedom to act in whatever way He chooses to

act, this does not mean that He uses His freedom in capricious or whimsical ways. He acts within

the parameters that He Himself has revealed to humanity. He describes Himself to Moses as

The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in
steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for the thousandth generation,
forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, yet by no means clearing the guilty, but

34
Brueggemann, ―Recovering‖, 14.
35
Robinson, Cross of Hosea, 49-50.
36
Hosea 2:16, NRSV.
37
Upon reading this verse, I must admit that it touched me beyond comprehension at the image of God that was
unfolding before my very eyes. For contemporary readers, further insight about the forcefulness and depth of this
word might be achieved if this is translated as ―My Man.‖
38
Hubbard, Bands of Love, 78. He talks about the freedom of God being the right of God to be God.
39
Hubbard, Bands of Love, 78.
 visiting the iniquity of the parents upon the children and the children‘s children, to the
third and the fourth generation.40

He will not act in a manner that is contrary to what He describes Himself to be. Although Israel

had given Him every reason to wipe them out or exact punishment without warning, He chooses

to pursue the path of restoration instead of retribution. This is in keeping with His revealed

character. The divine initiative He models in the Book of Hosea is a further testament to the fact

that even if ―we are faithless, He remains faithful – for he cannot deny himself.‖41

Conclusion

While the current Evangelical Protestant movement is known to envision God as a

Righteous Judge who cannot withstand the presence of a sullied, unclean sinner in His holy

presence, Hosea presents us with a God who entreats, embraces and enacts hesed towards such a

sinner. YHWH is seen as Lover, Father, and Divine Initiator. The book expounds on His

courtship of undeserving Israel. Though she may have forgotten YHWH, He is resolved to make

her remember anew the blessed relationship they once had in the past. It speaks of His desire to

restore Israel back into fullness and health, much like an earthly father desires for an errant son.

Finally, He is shown as the One who takes divine initiative to open avenues of repentance and

restoration to adulterous Israel. It is YHWH who entreats her and seeks to persuade her back into

His loving arms and divine protection. This is the God of Hosea. This is the God of Abraham,

Isaac, and Jacob. This, too, is our God.

40
Exodus 34:6-7, NRSV.
41
2 Timothy 2:13, NRSV.
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