Hosea 1:1 “The word of the LORD that came unto Hosea, the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel.”
The value of the “word of the LORD that came unto Hosea”, to the Christian Church, is certified in the New Testament; for, the Lord Himself and His Apostles repeatedly referred to and paraphrased the Prophecy of “Hosea”. This Prophecy was first directed toward the Northern Nation of Israel, but it is also a vivid, Practical Prophecy to the New Testament Church. And, in a more general sense, Paul wrote, “For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.” (Romans 15:4). Even the name “Hosea” means “Savior”, much like the Greek word that is translated “Hosanna”, the title used by the people upon our Lord’s Triumphant Entry Into Jerusalem, when they “cried” aloud, “Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest” (Matthew 21:9). The overriding message of this Prophecy is that our Lord will not tolerate us mixing idolatry and worldly behaviors into His Church-Kingdom, His Bride. To illustrate this point graphically and practically, the Lord directed “Hosea” to “take unto thee a wife of whoredoms” (Hosea 1:2). He then used the names of her children (Hosea 1:4,6,9) as Practical Prophecies of how the Lord views and responds to disobedience and unfaithfulness among His people. The overall utility of this message is punctuated in the summation, “Who is wise, and he shall understand these things? prudent, and he shall know them? for the ways of the LORD are right, and the just shall walk in them: but the transgressors shall fall therein.” (Hosea 14:9)!