The Roar
This section covers a major part of the prophet’s message: because Yahweh’s people have refused to repent of their spiritual adultery Yahweh will punish them, yet somehow within the very heart of Yahweh there remains a love for His people that He cannot seem to shake. The idols to which Israel has turned will fail, and the foreign powers she has sought security from will bring her ruin. However, Yahweh’s punishment is not meant ultimately to destroy but to redeem. In fact, this section is full of the tension between Israel’s adultery and Yahweh’s compassion that cannot be quenched.
1. “Rejoice not, O Israel!” declares Hosea (9:1). Yahweh’s people have been living as if nothing were amiss, carrying out the rituals of worshiping the Yahweh while simultaneously serving idols. In what way is the call to stop rejoicing a merciful call?
2. “The prophet is a fool” (9:7). Hosea’s reference pertains either to the futility of the prophet’s mission or to how the people perceive the dire warnings. Either way, the image springs from the people’s “great iniquity and great hatred.” By now we are well aware of Israel’s iniquity, yet for the first time Hosea speaks of the people’s hatred—twice in this section (vv. 7–8). As you consider the specific charges against Israel thus far in the book, where and how does hatred factor in?
3. “He will remember their iniquity; he will punish their sins” (Hos. 9:9). Yahweh’s judgment draws near, as Hosea has warned repeatedly. As you reflect on his indictment in this section, what reason do you see for why this repeated warning goes unheeded? What truths are reinforced here about the effects of sin on the heart? How have you seen this in your own life?
4. Look at 10:1-2. Historically, Israel’s abandonment of the Lord coincided with prosperity, a connection also made by the prophet Jeremiah: “I spoke to you in your prosperity, but you said, ‘I will not listen’” (Jer. 22:21). Perhaps from the outside it may seem Israelis thriving: yielding fruit, building altars and pillars, yet Yahweh says their heart is false. Has Israel grown to love religion more than Yahweh himself? Using the religious structure to fabricate meaning for themselves, believing everything is okay, and hardening themselves from true fellowship with Yahweh? From true reality? What are the effects of this? How have you been guilty of this? What ended up happening for you?
5. “When Israel was a child, I loved him” (11:1). Yahweh is not only their king and husband; he is also their father and has been since forming them as his own special people (see Ex. 4:22–23). He aches over them with a father’s concern for a wayward, rebellious child. By means of the toddler image (11:1–4), Hosea recounts how Yahweh cared for Israel when the people were small and weak. What word pictures does the prophet use to describe Yahweh’s care in this passage, and what do these pictures convey?
6. What do you make about the response of Yahweh’s heart in 11:8-9? How is this possible? What did it mean for Israel? What does it mean for us?
7. “He will roar like a lion; when he roars, his children shall come trembling from the west. They shall come trembling like birds from Egypt, and like doves from the land of Assyria, and I will return them to their homes, declares the Lord.” Perhaps some of the most humbling words in the whole book. The power of Yahweh is felt. The frailty of human strength is like a trembling bird. What is going through your mind as you are privileged to read this stunning poetry? What types of things rise up within you? What desires surface?