Hosea.
Hosea's marriage to an unfaithful wife as a living picture of God's covenant with unfaithful Israel.
Who wrote Hosea?
Hosea, prophet to the northern kingdom of Israel.
Who was it written for?
Israel — the northern kingdom in its final generation before Assyria.
Structure
- Hosea's marriage (1–3): Gomer the unfaithful wife
- Israel's unfaithfulness (4–14): the prophet's indictment and pleading
Key verses
Why Hosea matters
God commanded Hosea to marry a woman who would betray him — and to keep loving her — as an enacted parable of his own love for Israel. The book's images of God are striking: jilted husband, anxious parent, jealous lover. The God of Hosea isn't an abstract sovereign; he's wounded. The covenant matters to him personally.
Related tools
Read the book, then test it.
Kerygma's trivia rounds cover Hosea in the Minor Prophets stream — once you've sat with the overview, the questions go deeper into the text. Free for seven days.
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