Hosea the Prophet?

Question

Who is the audience? How do you know?
What is the message?
Which covenant is the prophet calling the people to revere and observe? What is he asking the people to DO?
How does the prophet present God? and himself?
Is there a structure to the books? If so, what is it?

Answer 1

Hebrew prophet and writer of the Bible book of Hosea; identified merely as the son of Beeri. Hosea served as Jehovah’s prophet during the reigns of Kings Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah of Judah as well as Jeroboam II (son of Joash) of Israel, in the late ninth century and well into the eighth century B.C.E. (Ho 1:1) Prophets of the same general period included Amos, Isaiah, and Micah.

Hosea may be identified as a prophet (and probably a subject) of the ten-tribe northern kingdom of Israel. That kingdom was the principal object of the declarations in the book of Hosea. Whereas Judah was named therein only 15 times, and its capital city, Jerusalem, not even once, the book contains 44 references to Israel, 37 to Ephraim (Israel’s dominant tribe), and 6 to Samaria, the capital of the northern kingdom. Most of the other locations mentioned in the book either were a part of the northern kingdom or were on its borders.

Hosea, nevertheless, apparently attached primary importance to the kings of Judah, mentioning all four who reigned there during his ministry, while listing only the one ruling in Israel when he began his work. (Ho 1:1) But, instead of indicating that the prophet came from, or was born in, Judah, this factor may show that Hosea, like other prophets of God, regarded only the Judean kings of David’s family as rightful rulers over God’s people, viewing the northern kingdom of Israel as a general religious and civil apostasy from Jehovah. Of course, this listing of rulers in both kingdoms facilitates more accurate dating of Hosea’s prophetic activity.

Answer 2

So, you have gone to a Bible College, and you are finishing up your first year and they gave you a take-home exam? LOL (I'm taking a lot of things for granted there aren't I! I wonder if I might be hitting it right on though).
The audience is the people of Judah and Israel to the north
The message is God's everlasting love and willingness to forgive His people
The covenant is the covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and with the people through Moses. The covenant to be His people, and He their God. He is asking them to return to that covenant relationship which they have abandoned, following after other non existent gods.
He presents God as a lover, a husband, who has been betrayed by his loved one. (Himself the same way).
I'd have to read the book over right now to give you the structure - but hey! you've got to do some of the work on your own, don't you? But yes, there is a structure. Partly poetical, partly a story structure. (That answer won't be satisfactory in your test or homework, though).

Answer 3

Hosea belonged to the northern kingdom and began his prophetic career in the last years of Jeroboam II (786-746 B.C.). Some believe that he was a priest, others that he was a cult prophet; the prophecy, our only source of information concerning his life, gives us no certain answer in the matter. The collected oracles reveal a very sensitive, emotional man who could pass quickly from violent anger to the deepest tenderness. The prophecy pivots around his own unfortunate marriage to Gomer, a personal tragedy which profoundly influenced his teaching. In fact, his own prophetic vocation and message were immeasurably deepened by the painful experience he underwent in his married life.

Gomer, the adultress, symbolized faithless Israel. And just as Hosea could not give up his wife forever even when she played the harlot, so Yahweh could not renounce Israel, who had been betrothed to him. God would chastise, but it would be the chastisement of the jealous lover, longing to bring back the beloved to the fresh and pure joy of their first love.

Israel's infidelity took the form of idolatry and ruthless oppression of the poor. No amount of mechanically offered sacrifices could atone for her serious sins. Chastisement alone remained; God would have to strip her of the rich ornaments bestowed by her false lovers and thus bring her back to the true lover. A humiliated Israel would again seek Yahweh. The eleventh chapter of Hosea is one of the summits of Old Testament theology; God's love for his people has never been expressed more tenderly. Hosea began the tradition of describing the relation between Yahweh and Israel in terms of marriage. This symbolism appears later on in the Old Testament; and, in the New, both St. John and St. Paul express in the same imagery the union between Christ and his Church.

The Book of Hosea is divided as follows:

The Prophet's Marriage and Its Lesson (Hosea 1:1-3:5)
Israel's Guilt and Punishment (Hosea 4:1-14:9(10))

Answer 4

With prayer and patient you can answer all these questions yourself by reading the book of Hosea. The scripture says this: study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that need not be ashame, rightly dividing the word of truth.

Answer 5

Hosea was told to go marry a whore. God had him do this because he wanted to show how he looks at what Israel, the kingdom to the north was doing. The children were named according to what God will do to Israel and Judah. It's really simple to understand if you read it in that light. It's not difficult if you have been taught.

Answer 6

Hosea was preaching destruction.

Answer 7

:-) Looks like another homework question. Which books are you referring to? The old testament?