The book of Hosea/Hoshea’ is the book of all books when it comes to the deeper prophetic vision of the fate and future of the so-called Northern Kingdom, or “house of Israel,” in contrast to the “house of Judah,” to use the Biblical terminology. It is seldom read with much discrimination by either Jews or Christians in terms of these two “houses,” but anyone who spends a bit of time with it, even the first chapter, will quickly realize it is addressed almost exclusively to the northern house of Israel, also called by the name of the tribe “Ephraim” who became the head/birthright tribe of ALL Israel, notice carefully:
Reuben was the firstborn but his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph, “For Judah became strong among his brothers and a Nagid (chief, anointed one) was appointed from him, but the birthright belonged to Joseph” (1 Chron 5:1-2).
As such the there was, is, and will be a bit of “jealousy” and “hostility” between the two houses, as Isaiah 11:13 makes clear, particularly as the two houses are drawn back to the Land.
Hosea really tells it all, and as Zechariah is very much the Prophet focused on the return of Judah to the Land, Hosea is focused on Israel/Ephraim. Accordingly, their destinies are quite different as are their specific roles and experiences in final return to the Land. The Prophets of Isaiah and Jeremiah “broad brush” the overview but it is specifically in Hosea that the sharp detailed future of Israel/Ephraim is projected.
There is much to absorb in that regard, as Israel (not Judah) becomes “Not my People,” and “No Mercy,” her two new names, and thus loses its identity as Israel. The image Hosea is given is that of a formal divorce of a husband to sends away an adulterous wife, and based on Torah such a banning is to be permanent not temporary (Deut 24). This means that the northern kingdom, for all practical purposes “become Gentiles” to put it in plain English, or as Hosea puts it, “they shall be wanderers among the nations” and will number as the “sands of the sea.” They follow an “east wind” to the West. During their “many days” of separation they are essentially cut off from the access to and knowledge of YHVH, which Judah continues to experience through king and priest as well as the revelation of Torah and Prophets.
The way in which Israel/Ephraim finally is brought back is most interesting. The main passage in Hosea that sketches this out, also using a “marriage” image, is the following, and the details and language are most instructive and complex:
“Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her. (15) And there I will give her her vineyards and make the Valley of Achor a door of hope. And there she shall answer as in the days of her youth, as at the time when she came out of the land of Egypt. (16) And in that day, declares YHVH, you will call me ‘My Husband,’ and no longer will you call me ‘My Lord” (Baal) (17) For I will remove the names of the Lord (Baalim) from her mouth, and they shall be remembered by name no more. (18) And I will make for them a covenant on that day with the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the creeping things of the ground. And I will abolish the bow, the sword, and war from the land, and I will make you lie down in safety. (19) And I will betroth you to me forever. I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. (20) I will betroth you to me in faithfulness. And you shall know YHVH. (21) “And in that day I will answer, declares YHVH, I will answer the heavens, and they shall answer the earth, (22) and the earth shall answer the grain, the wine, and the oil, and they shall answer Jezreel, (23) and I will sow her for myself in the land. And I will have mercy on No Mercy, and I will say to Not My People,‘You are my people’; and he shall say, ‘You are my God.’” (Hosea 2:15-23; but 2:14ff in Christian Bibles).
Both what proceeds and follows this key central passage on the “return” and re-marriage of Ephraim/Israel to YHVH is vital to follow but here I focus just on three key elements of this section. Notice:
How: The means of the regathering:YHVH will “allure” Ephraim. This is an most interesting and important one, the Hebrew word “patah” (different but related to patach “to open”). It is usually a negative term, for one who is so “open” as to be simple and thus easily fooled or enticed, but it can mean, in a certain context such as this, to draw one in, thus “allure” is a good translation. Some translations, picking up on the context of YHVH as lover, use the verb “to woo” her. What is implied is that an attachment to another/s, in this case “Lords” is dissolved and a renewal of vows toward YHVH takes place. Israel is actually “in love” and drawn to YHVH.
Where: The setting is “in the wilderness,” and specifically identified with the “door” of entry at Achor, down toward the Dead Sea in the Judean desert and southward to the Negev. It is the same “route” ancient Israel used in coming up out of Egypt in entering the Land across from Jericho. How literal one is to take this is an open question but the description is “alluring” to say the least.
When: It is a time of the bow, sword and war in the Land where there is no safety.
To understand how the “alluring” takes place, that is, its setting, one has to read carefully Hosea 2:1-13, where a rich, and prosperous Ephraim, tied to and happy with her lovers/Baalim, is stripped naked and loses everything, and thus ends up in the “desert” situation Hosea addresses, whether literally or figuratively.
Much to ponder here but if you have not read through Hosea lately it might prove quite instructive in evaluating the situation today of Judah in the Land.