Hosea Connections

One of the cool things about seeing connections in the Bible is that they give you deeper insight into both the text and how to apply it to your life. In just 2 chapters in Hosea there are 3 connections that are really cool.

Connection 1 Hosea 12.7-9 and Revelation 3.17-19

Hosea
7A merchant, in whose hands are false balances,
he loves to oppress.
8Ephraim has said, "Ah, but I am rich;
I have found wealth for myself;
in all my labors they cannot find in me iniquity or sin."
9I am the LORD your God
from the land of Egypt;
I will again make you dwell in tents,
as in the days of the appointed feast.

Revelation
7For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. 18I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. 19Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent.

Both Israel and the church at Laodicia believe they are rich and don't need a thing. God tells Israel that instead of being rich they will once again live in tents. He tells Laodicia to start buying what they really need from him. But there is a striking theme of hope for these two who believe they have all they need: God disciplines them out of love. The parallel between Laodicia and Israel also raises a question: Does the wealth of Laodicia come from injustice as Israel's did?

Connection 2: Hosea 13.4-6 and Deuteronomy 8.11-20

Hosea
4But I am the LORD your God
from the land of Egypt;
you know no God but me,
and besides me there is no savior.
5It was I who knew you in the wilderness,
in the land of drought;
6but when they had grazed,^[a] they became full,
they were filled, and their heart was lifted up;
therefore they forgot me.

Dueteronomy
12lest, when you have eaten and are full and have built good houses and live in them, 13and when your herds and flocks multiply and your silver and gold is multiplied and all that you have is multiplied, 14then your heart be lifted up, and you forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, 15who led you through the great and terrifying wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water, who brought you water out of the flinty rock, 16who fed you in the wilderness with manna that your fathers did not know, that he might humble you and test you, to do you good in the end. 17Beware lest you say in your heart, 'My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.' 18You shall remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day. 19And if you forget the LORD your God and go after other gods and serve them and worship them, I solemnly warn you today that you shall surely perish. 20Like the nations that the LORD makes to perish before you, so shall you perish, because you would not obey the voice of the LORD your God.

Dt. reminds the people not to forget God when they are full, Hosea tells us that they do exactly that. The result is that God keeps his word and brings punishment on Israel.

Connection 3: Hosea 13.14 and 1 Corinthians 15.55

O Death, where are your plagues?
O Sheol, where is your sting ? Hosea (ESV)

O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting? 1 Corinthians (ESV)

Hosea 13.15ff add power to the words of 1 Corinthians as they gives us a sense of death and why it is such an excellent thing that it will be destroyed.

But also, Paul says that the sting of death is sin and the power of sin is the law--which is exactly what gets the people of Israel into trouble--they don't follow God's ways. But with the coming of Christ who brings victory over our sin and forgiveness to us, we no longer have to fear being cut off or fear being sent into exile.