SIN AND INFIDELITY IN THE BOOK OF HOSEA
Hosea is a prophet of divine love. He portrays God as a lover who is betrayed by the infidelity of his beloved people (Israel). Among the Old Testament prophets, Hosea is the first to employ the marriage metaphor to portray God’s covenant relationship with Israel, one in which Israel became unfaithful. Just as marriage is built on fidelity, the covenant relationship between God and Israel stands or falls on the people’s fidelity to God. Hosea portrays Israel as a wife who became idolatrous. Israel’s sin is specifically a divided loyalty between Yahweh and Baal, and participation in the licentious practices of the Canaanite fertility cult. Hosea likens Israel’s covenant infraction to the promiscuity of a prostitute. Hosea, therefore, announces that God will take Israel back to Egypt. In the prophecy of Hosea, Egypt is a metonymy for exile. Exile, however, will not be the last word. Hosea leaves out hope of restoration if Israel returns to God in repentance.
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