Introduction to Hosea, the Now Prophet--The Kingdom Age.
The Kingdom Age of the Hebrew People
My father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions! [1 Kings 12:11].
Over three thousand years separate the modern reader from the prophet Hosea. Hosea's world was quite different from our own. Hosea never had to worry about losing his cell phone, forgetting a vital password, or recycling his plastic containers. Yet, in many ways, we are the same. Hosea's fears resemble ours; his heart breaks over betrayal as we do today. Like today, people in Hosea's day yearned to be free of oppression and upheaval. In Hosea's time, though his nation teetered on the edge of war and chaos, the national leaders seemed self-absorbed or corrupt. Don't our headlines scream about the same issues?
Yet the man Hosea was unique. God spoke and ordered him to marry Gomer. Now, I have heard people say God told them to marry a particular person. Still, I don't know anyone who was told to marry an unfaithful mate!
How did this unusual command come about?
Historical Background
Many people do not realize that the Kingdom Age of the Hebrew people consisted of two distinct periods. The first, relatively short period was the time of the United Kingdom, and the second, more extended period consisted of the split Kingdoms of the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the Southern Kingdom of Judah.
Before Saul was crowned the first king of Israel, the Hebrew people were organized around a loose confederacy of tribes. During this time [recorded in the Book of Judges], the various tribes acted as independent entities. Individuals called “’ judges” tried to maintain order. Disparate tribes formed temporary coalitions when enemies attacked. Eventually, the tribes united to demand that Samuel [who was the last of the judges] appoint a king to lead them into wars. Yet underlying tensions existed between tribes
[1]. These tensions appeared briefly during David's reign [2 Samuel 15-18, 20; 1 Kings 1-2] and later re-emerged during the reign of King Solomon.
The United Kingdom
The Jewish people were and are fiercely independent-minded folk. The oneness that existed during the United Kingdom depended upon
- The leader's personality,
- God manifesting His choice as to who should be king
- The blessings that flowed from God's anointing upon the leader
- and Israel's desire for security.
The United Kingdom lasted about ninety years and consisted of the reigns of four kings:
- Saul: First King of Israel. Samuel anointed him. After his death, the youngest son Ish-Bosheth, Saul's youngest son, was declared king of Israel (except for Judah) by Abner, King Saul's army commander. Ish-Bosheth was never anointed king or recognized by God as King. After Abner turned against him, Ish-Bosheth was murdered.
- David. Anointed by Samuel to be King of all Israel. David ruled as king of Judah in Hebron before and during Ish-Bosheth's reign. After ruling for 7 1/2 years in Hebron, David became king of a united Israel. It was David who conquered Jerusalem and made Jerusalem the capital. Nathan, the prophet, and Gad, the seer, ministered to David during his 33-year reign over a united Israel.
- Solomon: Solomon was anointed king by Zadok, the priest [1 Kings 1:32-2:46] of a united Israel. Solomon built the first Temple [1 Kings 5-6].
- Rehoboam: Son of Solomon. While 1 Kings 11:43 states that Rehoboam succeeded his father Solomon and reigned in Jerusalem for forty years, we have no record of who anointed him as king. During his reign, the Kingdom split into the Kingdom of Judah in the South and the Kingdom of Israel.
Reasons for Division
By Solomon's time, the Jewish people had defeated their enemies, built the Temple, developed a burgeoning economy, become the center of the civilized world [through Israel's position on the crossroads of trade], and achieved peace. Nevertheless, with this great prosperity came heavy taxation. Social unrest grew as the division of wealth between rich and poor became more prominent. Tensions between the tribes that had been suppressed reappeared.
How did this unrest arise? The problem began with King Solomon. Although King Solomon started well, he lost his first love for Yahweh. Although King Solomon started well, he lost his first love for Yahweh. The lavishing of wealth gained through taxation on royal excesses and the king's foreign wives aggravated the situation. According to Jewish Tradition, the Jewish kingdom began to fracture when Solomon married the daughter of Pharaoh. This act [contrary to God’s ordinances—Deuteronomy 7:1-4, 1 Kings 11:1-2] undermined Solomon in his role as leader. Because of Solomon’s sin, Ahijah the prophet declared that God would tear the kingdom away from Solomon because of the idol worship Solomon permitted [and participated in?] in Jerusalem [1 Kings 11:10-12] and give it to Jeroboam the son of Nebat of Ephraim [1 Kings 11:29-34].
When Solomon died, his son Rehoboam became king ([I Kings 11:43]. He was immature, vain, and foolish. While Solomon was no longer popular when he died, the people declared that if Rehoboam would put the people’s best interests first, they would follow him. However, if the king wanted to continue exploiting and taxing the people heavily for his grandiose pleasures as his father had done, then they did not want Rehoboam as king. The people asked Solomon’s son, Rehoboam, to lighten the heavy taxation. After all, the temple was built, a grand palace had been built, and the land was at peace.
The Bible and the Talmud both state that the prophets and sages advised him to go easy on the people. “Gain their confidence. The throne is not that secure. Do not say or do anything rash.” However, Rehoboam listened to the immature advisors who told him to deal harshly with the people: “My father chastised you with whips. I will whip you with scorpions” [I Kings 12:14].
Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had come to Shechem to make him king. . . . Jeroboam and all the assembly of Israel came, and spoke to Rehoboam, saying, 4 “Your father made our yoke difficult. Now therefore make the hard service of your father, and his heavy yoke which he put on us, lighter, and we will serve you.”. . .8 But he abandoned the counsel of the old men which they had given him, and took counsel with the young men who had grown up with him, who stood before him. . . . 13 The king answered the people roughly, and abandoned the counsel of the old men which they had given him, 14 and spoke to them according to the counsel of the young men, saying, “My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke. My father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions” [1 Kings 12:1, 3-4, 8, 13-14].
King Solomon's disobedience instigated the Kingdom’s split [1 Kings 11:1-13]. His son lit the match for rebellion. Rehoboam’s foolish pride lead the leaders of the ten northern tribes to turn to Jeroboam, son of Nebat [1 Kings 12:1-20]. When Rehoboam spoke foolishly, Jeroboam was waiting. Prepared for the moment, Jeroboam seized the moment to lead revolt against Solomon’s son, resulting in the division of the Jewish kingdom [1 Kings 12:21-24]. The ten northern tribes created the northern Kingdom of Israel with their eventual capital being the city of Samaria. This new northern Kingdom of Israel contained over 75% of the original United Kingdom. This northern kingdom soon developed a powerful army. Thus, during much of its history, the Northern Kingdom was a formidable empire that threatened Judah many times.
The kingdom of Judah consisted of the two southern tribes, Judah and Benjamin, remaining loyal to the House of David, became the kingdom of Judah [the word “Jew” was derived from this name] with Jerusalem as its capital. Judah, which according to most estimates never had more than 600,000 people during the First Temple era, controlled only a few square miles of hilly, relatively unfertile land. During most of its history, Judah was a landlocked country without access to the Mediterranean Sea, which deprived Judah of trade opportunities. Nevertheless, Judah maintained her importance, for the Temple stood in Jerusalem, the capital of Judah.
The two divided kingdoms existed until the Assyrians overran the northern kingdom, sending most of its people into exile, never to return. The southern kingdom of Judea continued to exist for another 160 years until the Babylonians conquered it and drove the Judeans. [or Jews] into exile. [After 70 years, the Jews were permitted to return home by Cyrus, King of Persia, but only as subjects of the Persian empire.]
[2] The rivalry between the tribe of Ephraim and that of Judah should be noted. The original center for worship and central governance for the ten tribes was Shiloah, which lay within the territory of Ephraim. [Ephraim was the younger son of Joseph, blessed above his older brother Manasseh]. This tribe was also politically powerful and rich because of its favorable agricultural location. When David made Jerusalem in Judah both the political and religious capital, Ephraim was displaced. However, the eventual capital of the Kingdom of Israel again lay in Ephraim. The name Ephraim is even a synonym for the Northern Kingdom of Israel in Biblical texts.
