Hosea

The first of the Bible's 12 "minor" prophets, Hosea is quite interesting. He appears to have had quite an obsession with sex, and with whores. Must've been loads of laughs to be around of a Saturday night!

Hos 1:2 - When the LORD first spoke through Hosea, the LORD said to Hosea, "Go, take for yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom, for the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the LORD."
So it looks like Hosea's entire personal life will be used as a "sign" to those around him. One wonders about the children of this "sign," how much happiness they got out of being born into the family put together for this religious show.

Hos 1:4-9 - And the LORD said to him, "Name him Jazreel; for in a little while I will punish the house of Jehu for the blood of Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel. On that day I will break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel." She conceived again and bore a daughter. The the LORD said to him, "Name her Lo-ruhamah [not pitied], for I will no longer have pity on the house of Israel or forgive them. But I will have pity on the house of Judah, and I will save them by the LORD their God; I will not save them by bow, or by sword, or by war, or by horses, or by horsemen." When she had weaned Lo-ruhamah, she conceived and bore a son. Then the LORD said, "Name him Lo-Ammi [not my people], for you are not my people and I am not your God."
Imagine how much fun Hosea must have had getting his wife Gomer to punch out "sign" after "sign" for God! Of course, few children have ever experienced the horrors of having to go through childhood with names like "Not my people." I have no problem with a zealot re-naming himself something stupid to try and get his message across - but why make an innocent child suffer like this?

Hos 2:2,3 - Plead with your mother, plead - for she is not my wife, and I am not her husband - that she put away her whoring from her face, and her adultery from between her breasts, or I will strip her naked and expose her as in the day she was born, and make her like a wilderness, and turn her into a parched land and kill her with thirst.
Well, whether this was a statement on a personal level, or on a symbolic level, it's pretty sick. It starts off by denying that there's a relationship, but in spite of that, the "husband" demands a change, and threatens death by torment if the desired change doesn't take place.

Hos 2:4,5 - Upon her children also I will have no pity, because they are children of whoredom. For their mother has played the whore; she has conceived them and acted shamefully. For she said, "I will go after my lovers; they give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, my oil and my drink."
More attempts to make the people of Israel feel ashamed of the fact that they weren't faithful to the Old Religion. It seems to be a pretty common ploy - make people feel horrible and dirty so the religious leaders can "help" them get clean.

Hos 3:1-5 - The LORD said to me again, "Go, love a woman who has a lover and is an adulteress, just as the LORD loves the people of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love rasin cakes." So I bought her for fifteen sheckles of silver and a homer of barley and a measure of wine. And I said to her, "You must remain as mine for many days; you shall not play the whore, you shall not have intercourse with a man, nor I with you." For the Israelites shall remain many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or pillar, without ephod or teraphim. Afterward the Israelites shall return and seek the LORD their God, and David their king; they shall come in awe to the LORD and to his goodness in the latter days.
In a fit of obsession, Hosea picks on another prostitute for his next "sign from God." The woman mentioned here can't be Gomer, because Hosea specifically says there's to be no sex. And what about the prediction that is supposed to go with this farce? As I read it, it seems to say that the Jews will be unable to practice their religious sacrifices or ceremonies until the "latter days." We know from other sources that this never happened, which I think qualifies Hosea for the "false prophet club."

Hos 4:6 - My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me. And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.
Mind you, this is talking about knowledge about God and the religious laws from the Torah. Verse 1 of this chapter says: There is no faithfulness or loyalty, and no knowledge of God in the land. It appears that as far as the Bible is concerned, religious knowledge is the only kind worth having. We'll see much more of this attitude in the New Testament.

Hos 5:14-6:3 - For I will be like a lion to Ephraim, and like a young lion to the house of Judah. I myself will tear and go away; I will carry off, and no one shall rescue. I will return again to my place until they acknowledge their guilt and seek my face. In their distress they will beg my favor: "Come, let us return to the LORD; for it is he who has torn, and he will heal us; he has struck down, and he will bind us up. After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him. Let us know, let us press on to know the LORD; his appearing is as sure as the dawn; he will come to us like the showers, like the spring rains that water the earth."
This has a lot of confusing stuff in it. As in the thought that someone who has harmed you could be depended on to heal the hurt that was done. Young children who are battered by abusive parents may think this, but it never turns out well. An interesting side issue here is the 3-days reference. I imagine that some might think that this is referring to the three days of the resurrection story. Unfortunately, this can't be the case, based on the context of the passage. 

Hos 6:6 - For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.
Here's another verse in the Old Testament that claims the God is not interested in sacrifices. If this was the case, why waste the time setting up such elaborate laws ordering sacrifices? Why, later on, would this same God arrange for a human sacrifice to solve this tangle?

Hos 13:6-9 - When I fed them, they were satisfied; they were satisfied, and their heart was proud; therefore they forgot me. So I will become like a lion to them, like a leopard I will lurk beside the way. I will fall upon them like a bear robbed of her cubs, and will tear open the covering of their heart; there I will devour them like a lion, as a wild animal would mangle them. I will destroy you, O Israel; who can help you?
Here's a pleasant ploy! The "you forgot me so I'll rip your heart out" message, delivered with some flowers, can mean so much for a loving relationship! Seriously, what would you think of the maturity level of a person, particularly a parent, who acted like this? Perhaps the image of God as ravening wild animal is not so inappropriate as some might think?

Hos 13:14-16 - Shall I ransom them from the power of Sheol? Shall I redeem them from Death? O Death, where are your plagues? O Sheol, where is your destruction? Compassion is hidden from my eyes. Although he may flourish among rushes, the east wind shall come, a blast from the LORD, rising from the wilderness; and his fountain shall dry up, his spring shall be parched. It shall strip his treasury of every precious thing. Samaria shall bear her guilt, because she has rebelled against her God; they shall fall by the sword, their little ones shall be dashed in pieces, and their pregnant women ripped open.
It looks like God has some pretty grisly plans for the people who have the wrong religion! I wonder, though, if the problem with Samaria wasn't so much rebelling against God, but rather that they left the original religion of the Hebrews for something a little more to their liking, sort of like the Protestants breaking off from the Catholic religion? In any event, it says here that God's not interested in compassion, so much as making sure women are butchered and toddlers are splattered.