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Activity 1|Activity 2|Activity 4|Activity 5
Process
Activity 3: Know Your
Prophets in the Hebrew Scriptures
Group 6: Your Prophets are Hosea, Joel,
Amos
Complete the tasks for Hosea, Joel and then Amos.
1
Hosea
Use the following information and the
listed resources to complete your tasks.
Hosea- His
Profile
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| Images: |
His Name Means |
"Help"
or "salvation" |
| |
Appears |
Hosea |
| |
Family |
A
prophet of the Northern Kingdom of Israel - son of Beeri. |
| |
Biographical
|
Very
little is known apart from his date and his troubled marriage to Gomer, supposing that
that was an actual event, rather than an allegory. This prophet was a very sensitive
person, whose experience of rejection and hurt in his personal life gave him a unique
insight into the way he believed God must have felt when Israel rejected the covenant and
neglected God's love. |
 |
Special
Interest |
This
book is the longest of the minor prophets and is vivid in the emotional intensity of its
prophecies. He
probably divorced Gomer, his wife, by the formal declaration that 'she is not my wife, and
I am not her husband' (Hosea 2:2). But he continued to love his erring wife, and at some
later stage appeared to have forgiven her an taken her back. |
| |
Time |
Written
between 750 BC and 720 Bc (culminating in the fall of Israel to Assyria). Hosea began his
work after Amos, though still during the reign of Jeroboam II. |
|
Key
Themes/
Messages |
Hosea's
marriage as a sign of God's relationship with Israel. The love and compassion of God for Israel
The consequences of unfaithfulness
and of repentance
The prophet does not call for mere
observance of the formal tenets of religion. For him, true faith is a matter of the heart
and not of external ritual: 'For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the
knowledge of God, rather than burnt offerings' (Hosea 6:6). Hosea here struck a note
that was echoed by Isaiah and Jeremiah and became one of the basic themes of the Hebrew
prophetic strain. |
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Key
Contents |
Hosea's
marriage breaks down (Hosea 1 - 3) Hosea's wife and children (Hosea 1:1 - 2:1)
Unfaithful Israel (Hosea 2:2-23)
Hosea's wife returns (Hosea 3)
God's love for Israel (Hosea 4 - 13)
Promise of restoration for
disobedient Israel (Hosea 14) |
| |
Key
Passages |
God's
love for Israel (Hosea 11: 1-4) God's promise of blessing (Hosea 14:4-9) |
Sources:
Bowker, J. 1998, The Complete Bible Handbook - An Illustrated Companion,Dorling
Kindersley, UK
Brown, R.E., Fitzmyer, J.A.,and Murphy, R.E., 1992. The New Jerome Bible
Handbook, Geoffrey Chapman, England
Comay, J., and, Browning, R., 1980. Who's Who in the Old Testament,
Bonanza Books, NY
Drane, J.(ed), 1998, The Lion Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Bible,
Lion Publishing, England
Motyer, S. 1998. Who's Who in the Bible - An Illustrated Guide,
Dorling Kindersley, UK
Resources
Catholic Encyclopedia - Hosea
(difficult reading but comprehensive)
Bible Study - Hosea
Bible Basics - Hosea (scroll down left hand side to Hosea)
2
Go to Joel and Amos and complete this activity
Introduction|Task|Process|Resources|Evaluation|Conclusion|Teachers
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