Why was hosea written

A literary masterpiece of the English language, the original King James Bible is still in use today! And God said unto him, Call her name Loruhamah: for I will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel; but I will utterly take them away.

O Judah, what shall I do unto thee? He shall come as an eagle against the house of the LORD, because they have transgressed my covenant, and trespassed against my law. I have heard him, and observed him: I am like a green fir tree. This book contains the teachings of the prophet Hosea or Hoshea.

Hosea was a contemporary of the prophets Isaiah, Amos, Jonah, and Micah. We do not know exactly when or where the book of Hosea was written. After the fall of the Northern Kingdom, writings by and about Hosea evidently were collected and preserved in the Southern Kingdom of Judah. Hosea was one of the few prophets of the Northern Kingdom of Israel who left written prophecies. In addition to describing the Lord as a devoted and forgiving husband, Hosea also taught that the Lord is like a physician who heals see Hosea ; ; , a gardener who nurtures his vineyard Hosea ; , and a shepherd who cares for his flock Hosea ; He called on Israel to repent its sins of apostasy and warned of the judgment to come from God.

His writings form the first of the Old Testament books of the Minor Prophets. Hosea was the son of Beeri and apparently belonged to the upper classes.

Judging from his elegant style, he was highly cultured. Hosea married Gomer, daughter of Diblaim, who bore him two sons, the older of whom he called Yezreel, meaning "God sows. The second son was called Lo Ami, meaning "not my people, " to indicate God's rejection of Israel as His people because of its faithlessness.

Hosea's daughter by Gomer was metaphorically named Lo-ruhamah, meaning "the unpitied one. Scholars have speculated whether the prophet's tragic marital experience was real or merely an allegory to stress the infidelity of Israel. The prophet recalled God's affection for Israel, from the days of its infancy, when He taught it how to walk and led it through the perils of the desert to the Promised Land. But Israel's goodness is as evanescent "as a morning cloud and the dew that early passeth away"; it must therefore suffer dire punishment and divine wrath.

Because it "sows the wind, it shall reap the whirlwind. Israel will yet repent and return to its God.