Today’s Scripture Reading (January
15, 2020): Hosea 7
The last
quarter of a century for the Kingdom of Israel was a time of political upheaval.
The last twenty-five years of the Northern Kingdom saw the reigns of seven
different Kings. And of those seven kings, only two died peacefully in their
beds at the end of their natural lives; Jeroboam, son of Jehoash, and Menahem. Of
the other five, four were murdered by the ones who succeeded them on the throne
of the nation. Zechariah was murdered by Shallum after a six-month reign.
Shallum was murdered by Menahem after a one-month reign. Menahem died
peacefully and was succeeded by his son, Pekahiah. Pekahiah was murdered by
Pekah. Pekah was murdered by Hoshea. And finally, Hoshea was taken prisoner by
the Assyrians at the fall of Samaria and the end of the Northern Kingdom. And, at
this point, Hoshea disappears from the historical record. We have no mention of
where or when he died, but it would not have been a peaceful death at home. His
disappearance was a sad closing note for the Northern Kingdom
The opening
words of the Book of Hosea offer a bit of a mystery. Hosea opens his oracle
this way; “The word of the Lord 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 1:1). The mystery is that while Hosea writes about and to Israel,
he itemizes the reigns of four of the Kings of Judah, while only mentioning one
King of Israel. But the reality is that if Hosea’s ministry touched the reigns
of the four Judean Kings he mentions, then his ministry would have taken place
during the reigns of the last seven Kings of Israel, and he would have seen the
destruction of Samaria and the removal of Hoshea from his kingdom at the hands
of the Assyrians. And yet he makes no mention of six of these kings in the opening
of his Prophetic writing. Maybe the reason for this is that the version of
Hosea that has been passed down through the generations to us is a version that
was updated after the Assyrians had decimated Israel. If that were the case,
then Hosea’s primary audience, at least at the time of the final edition of his
words, would have been from the Kingdom of Judah. But that is just conjecture.
But Hosea does seem to mention the
turmoil that took place during the closing days of the Kingdom of Israel. Here
Hosea says that “they devour their rulers” and “all of their kings fall.” Hosea
seems to be speaking directly about the deaths of the five kings who met a
violent end at the hands of their successors, or the hands of the Assyrian
army. They all fell. None of them could stand up against the violence of the
time.
Hosea is often viewed as a “prophet
of doom,” and with good cause. After all, the prophet seemed to be writing
about the end of a nation. And yet, Hosea also sprinkles his writing with hope.
And even here, as he remembers the violent end of the last kings of Israel,
Hosea notes that hope had still been available. Hosea writes, “none of them
calls on me [God].” But that was the hope, even in the midst of the violence
and the turmoil. God was still there to be, and he would always answer if
anyone decided to call.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading:
Hosea 8
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