The Apostle Peter gave a pattern for the way we should think about the ministry of the Old Testament prophets. He wrote that their prophecies about the suffering and glory of Christ were intend-ed as a ministry to us. “It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven” (1 Pet. 1:12). The prophetic Word is to become the preached Word as Christ is made known to His people.

For this reason Jeremiah Burroughs, a well-known Puritan preacher and writer, once bemoaned the absence of Christian knowledge about these prophetic books. He said, “It is a pity that the mind of God contained in them should be so little known, even unto his children; that such treasures of heavenly truths should lie hid from so many.”

The mind of God revealed through the prophet Hosea’s message is remarkable. By prophetic action and word, God shows that He wants His people to warmly view, know, and love Him the way a wife does her husband. This message is communicated through a faithful prophet to a faith-less people of a faithful God.

A Faithful Prophet

Little is known about the prophet Hosea, whose name signifies salvation. His ministry spanned the reign of Jeroboam in the northern kingdom into the reign of Hezekiah in the southern. It’s likely, when you add up the length of reigns, that Hosea prophesied for nearly 80 years, making him one of the longest servants in the line of Old Testament prophets.

His ministry, however, was not filled with success. His message did little, if anything, to turn the hearts of the people to God in true spiritual conversion. But, like a good steward, he was faithful to the word the Lord had given, even though faithfulness is not always met with fruitfulness.

A Faithless People

The people to whom Hosea ministered were primarily the northern kingdom of the divided house of Israel. The time of Jeroboam’s reign, and the years that followed, were marked by a degree of prosperity. In the providence of God, Israel had been delivered from affliction and hardship and began to flourish—was a luxuriant vine, in the words of the prophet. But for all of their outward prosperity, they were a faithless people.

This is well illustrated by the life of the prophet, who was to take to himself a wife named Gomer. However, his wife was unfaithful to him and pursued other lovers. It was a fitting image of Israel. Hosea declared, “There is no faithfulness or steadfast love, and no knowledge of God in the land” (Hos. 4:1). They worshiped God by means of their own imagination; they trusted in kings and politics; they abandoned themselves to falsehood; and the hatred of neighbor filled the land. In short, they had committed adultery with the way and manners of the world around them: “You have played the whore, forsaking your God” (Hos. 9:1).

A Faithful God

Israel’s faithlessness, punished as it is, does not nullify the faithfulness of God. In a shame-filled but tender scene, the prophet finds his wife—once committed to the pursuit of forbidden pleasure and love—and buys her back for half the price of a common slave. Hosea is acting out the message that God has for His church. Despite the tremendous faithlessness, the spiritual adultery of His people, God is determined to have His people for Himself. In sovereign grace, He lays hold of the heart and says, “You’re mine and you can belong to no other.”

However much the prophet measures out the sin of Israel, and however great the careful measuring of God’s anger and just judgment, where sin abounds grace abounds all the more! The final word of Hosea is not, “O Israel, depart from me.” God reverses expectations, and we are met with a different word: “Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God” (Hos. 14:1). And, at the right time, God sealed this message in the sending of Jesus Christ, the heavenly bridegroom, to seek and save a bride for Himself. Purchased not with 15 shekels of silver, but with His precious blood.