2. When Yahweh began to speak through Hosea, the Lord said to him, "Go, take for your wife a woman involved in sacred prostitution and have children born of prostitution, for the land is wholeheartedly lapsing into prostitution and turning away from Yahweh."
Chapter 1 of the Book of Hosea begins with an order given to Hosea by the Lord to marry an adulterous woman and had children with her, as a symbol of Israel's unfaithful relationship with God. It is then revealed that the children she gives to light are named by the Lord with symbolic names that represent God's judgment and punishment over Israel for their infidelity. Below are five verses from other Bible books that deal with topics similar to those addressed in Hosea 1:
Deuteronomy 31:16: "And the Lord said to Moses, Behold, you are to sleep with your parents; and this people will rise, and prostitute themselves with the strange gods of the earth, to whose half goes, and will leave me, and nullify me My concert I have done with him that day. " This verse shows how Israel's infidelity in relation to God was previously predicted in the Bible, and how the people ended up breaking the concert God had made with them.
Isaiah 1:2: "I heard, O heavens, and hear, O earth; for the Lord has spoken: I raised children, and magnified them; but they rebelled against me." Here, Isaiah uses God's metaphor as a father who raised children who rebelled against him as a way of describing Israel's infidelity in relation to God.
Jeremiah 3:6-7: "The Lord said more in the time of King Josiah, Did you see what the rebel Israel did? that she did all this: it makes me. But she didn't come back. And she saw that her prevarication, and unfaithful Judah. " This verse shows how Israel's infidelity was continuous and persistent, despite God's warnings and appeals to repent and return to him.
Ezekiel 23:1-4: "The word of the Lord came to me, saying, Son of man, there were two women, daughters of a mother. And they prostituted themselves in Egypt; , and there the breasts of his virginity were beaten. And his names were: the oldest, Aolá; and his sister, ALIBÁ; And they were mine, and had children and daughters. And their names: the oldest, Aolá, and your sister, ALIBÁ. " This verse uses the metaphor of two sisters who prostituted themselves to describe the infidelity of Israel and Judah in relation to God.
Hosea 4:1-2: "I heard the Word of the Lord, children of Israel; for the Lord has a dispute with the inhabitants of the earth; for there is no truth, no kindness, no knowledge of God on earth. Lie, and murder, and theft, and adultery; they commit adultery, and blood touches in blood. " This verse continues the theme of Israel's infidelity in relation to God, showing how the lack of knowledge and truth on earth led to the spread of crimes such as perjury, lie, murder, theft and adultery.
“Para consolar uma alma na sua dor, mostre todo o bem que ela ainda pode fazer”. São Padre Pio de Pietrelcina
