Speaking in the same period as Amos, Hosea says, "The people of Judah and the people of Israel will be reunited, and they will appoint one leader" (1.11). After YHWH uses Assyria to punish sinful Israel, he will call his people back, restore their vineyards, make a covenant of peace with nature, abolish war and weapons, send rain to water the crops, betroth the nation to himself forever, and plant Israel in the land (2.14-23). "The Israelites will live many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred stones, without ephod or idol. Afterward the Israelites will return and seek YHWH their god and David their king" (3.4-5). Here, as in Amos, lies a hope for a new messiah-king from David's line who will reestablish the dynasty and a kingdom that will rule Israel in earthly bliss, material prosperity, and peace with nature and man. Here again one finds a political, this-worldly messianism with material prosperity.
· "1. The word of YHWH that came to Hosea son of Beeri during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and during the reign of Jeroboam son of Jehoash king of Israel:"
· Hosea’s 'Wife' and 3 Symbolic Children (1.2-11): YHWH said to him, “Go, take to yourself an adulterous wife and children of unfaithfulness, because the land is guilty of the vilest adultery in departing from YHWH.” So he married Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son. Then YHWH said to Hosea, “Call him Jezreel, because I will soon punish the house of Jehu for the massacre at Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of Israel. In that day I will break Israel’s bow in the Valley of Jezreel.” Gomer conceived again and gave birth to a daughter. Then YHWH said to Hosea, “Call her Lo-Ruhamah (not loved), for I will no longer show love to the house of Israel, that I should at all forgive them. Yet I will show love to the house of Judah; and I will save them—not by bow, sword or battle, or by horses and horsemen, but by YHWH their Elohim.” After she had weaned Lo-Ruhamah, Gomer had another son. Then YHWH said, “Call him Lo-Ammi (not my people), for you are not my people, and I am not your Elohim." Yet the Israelites will be like the sand on the seashore, which cannot be measured or counted. In the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ they will be called ‘sons of the living Elohim.’ The people of Judah and the people of Israel will be reunited, and they will appoint one leader and will come up out of the land, for great will be the day of Jezreel."
· Punishment and Restoration (2.12-23): 12. I will ruin her vines and her fig trees, which she said were her pay from her lovers; I will make them a thicket, and wild animals will devour them. 13. I will punish her for the days she burned incense to the Baals; she decked herself with rings and jewelry, and went after her lovers, but me she forgot,” declares YHWH. 14. “Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her. 15. There I will give her back her vineyards, and will make the Valley of Achor ('trouble') a door of hope. There she will sing as in the days of her youth, as in the day she came up out of Egypt. 16. “In that day,” declares YHWH, “you will call me ‘my husband’; you will no longer call me ‘my master’ ('baal'). 17. I will remove the names of the Baals from her lips; no longer will their names be invoked. 18. In that day I will make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field and the birds of the air and the creatures that move along the ground. Bow and sword and battle I will abolish from the land, so that all may lie down in safety. 19. I will betroth you to me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in love and compassion. 20. I will betroth you in faithfulness, and you will acknowledge YHWH. 21. “In that day I will respond,” declares YHWH— “I will respond to the skies, and they will respond to the earth; 22. and the earth will respond to the grain, the new wine and oil, and they will respond to Jezreel (El plants). 23. I will plant her for myself in the land; I will show my love to the one I called ‘Not my loved one’ (Lo-Ruhamah). I will say to those called ‘Not my people’ (Lo-Ammi), ‘You are my people’; and they will say, ‘You are my Elohim.’”
· 3.4-5: 4. For the Israelites will live many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred stones, without ephod or idol. 5. Afterward the Israelites will return and seek YHWH their Elohim and David their king. They will come trembling to YHWH and to his blessings in the last days."
· 11.1-5: "11.1. When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. 2. But the more I called Israel, the further they went from me. They sacrificed to the Baals and they burned incense to images. 3. It was I who taught Ephraim to walk, taking them by the arms; but they did not realize it was I who healed them. 4. I led them with cords of human kindness, with ties of love; I lifted the yoke from their neck and bent down to feed them. 5. “Will they not return to Egypt and will not Assyria rule over them because they refuse to repent?"
o Although the literary context of verse 1 refers to the Exodus story, the second half of 11.1 is taken by the NT author of Matthew to be a prophecy referring to Jesus' family going to Egypt to escape king Herod and then returning to their homeland (Mt 2.15).