Who Spoke to Hosea?
Many people assume that a kadosh Messenger (angel) spoke to Hosea concerning Elohim’s (God’s) plans for Israel. However, in the entire book, the only reference to a messenger is made in chapter 12:4 where Jacob wrestled with the “Angel” of Yehovah (Jehovah). This book poses a problem to people who believe that the references to “One God” are about a body count. The One speaking to Hosea makes dozens of comments about what He, Yehovah, is going to do (ie: I, ME, MY), WHILE AT THE SAME TIME praising the Elohim whom Israel claims to “seek”; adding that “they won’t find Him. He has withdrawn Himself from them. 7 They are unfaithful to Yehovah”. It is abundantly apparent that the “Speaker Elohim” has great respect for Yehovah (YHVH). The One speaking to Hosea is none other than the One who was later born to a virgin in the flesh!
As a matter of fact, Yeshua (Jesus) (a shortened version of the Hebrew name Yehoshua) autographed the book of Hosea! The names Hosea, Joshua, Yeshua are all derived from the same Hebrew name!
Hosea is Howshea (Ho-shay’-ah). Derived from Yasha, that means Savior, saved or salvation, depending on the context.
Joshua is Yehoshua (Yeh-ho-shoo’-ah), later “nicknamed” Yeshua. From Yehovah, pronounced Yeh-ho-vaw’ (Father’s personal name, used 6,510 times in the Hebrew Scriptures) and “Savior”. Together these names mean “Yehovah is Savior”!
Yeshua (or Yehoshua) is ee-ay-sooce’ in Greek.
The following quotations from Hosea, “the Savior”, represent most of the many verses that identify the Speaker and the places where the Speaker mentions His Elohim. No issues, other than this, are being addressed. Notice that Hosea had virtually nothing to say, other than to record what Yehovah told him!
Hosea 1 The Word of Yehovah came to Hosea the son of Beeri, in the days of “Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel. 2 When Yehovah first spoke thru Hosea, Yehovah said to him, “Go, take for yourself a wife of prostitution and children of unfaithfulness; because the land commits great adultery, forsaking Yehovah”. 3 So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim; and she conceived, and bore him a son.—Gabriel Bible
Here Yehovah spoke of the “other” Yehovah!
6-7 She conceived again, and had a daughter. Then He told him, “Call her name Lo-Ruhamah; because I will no longer have mercy on the nation of Israel; I won’t in any way pardon them. 7 But I will have mercy on the house of Judah, and will deliver them by Yehovah their Elohim. I won’t deliver them using bows and swords, or in battle with horses, or horsemen”.
Here is the chapter where the Speaker, identifying Himself as Yehovah, says to Hosea that He (personally) will again marry Israel—this time forever—but that Israel will also “know Yehovah”!
Chapter 2:3 or I’ll strip her naked, and make her as bare as the day she was born, and make her like a wilderness, and set her like a dry land, and kill her with thirst.
4 Indeed, on her children I will have no mercy....
6 I will hedge up your way with thorns, and I will build a wall against her....
9So I will take back My grain in its time....
14-16 But I’m going to allure her back. I’ll bring her into the wilderness [Ezekiel 20:35], and speak tenderly to her there. 15 I’ll give her back her vineyards beginning there, and the valley of Achor [trouble] as a doorway of hope. She’ll respond there, as in the days of her youth, just like when she came out of the land of Egypt. 16 Yehovah says, “When that day comes, you’ll call Me Husband [Ishi] and you’ll never again call Me ‘Lord’ [Baali].
19 I’ll make you My wife forever. Yes, we’ll be married in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. 20 I’ll be faithful to you, and you’ll finally know Yehovah.
Chapter 3:1 Yehovah told me, “Go again, love a woman loved by another, and an adulteress, even as Yehovah loves the descendants of Israel, tho they turn to other gods, and love raisin cakes.
5 Afterward the descendants of Israel will return, and seek Yehovah their Elohim, and David their king, and come trembling to Yehovah and to His blessings at the end of the ‘age’.
Chapter 4:1 Hear the Word of Yehovah, you descendants of Israel ...
6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you’ve rejected knowledge, I’ll also reject you, so that you won’t be priests of Mine. Because you’ve forgotten your Elohim’s Torah, I’ll also forget your children.
9 It will be, like people, like priest, and I’ll punish them for their ways, and repay them for their deeds.
Chapter 5:1 Listen to this, you priests!...
4 Their deeds won’t allow them to turn to their Elohim, because the spirit of prostitution is within them, and they don’t know Yehovah.
6 They’ll go with their flocks and their herds to seek Yehovah, but they won’t find Him. He has withdrawn Himself from them.
10 The princes of Judah are like those who remove a landmark. I will pour out My wrath on them like water. 11 Ephraim is oppressed; he is crushed in judgment; because he is intent in his pursuit of idols. 12 So I am to Ephraim like a moth, and to the house of Judah like rottenness....
14 For I will be to Ephraim like a lion, and like a young lion to the house of Judah. I Myself will tear in pieces and go away. I will carry off, and there will be no one to deliver. 15 I will go and return to My place, until they acknowledge their offense, and seek My ‘presence’. In their affliction they will seek Me earnestly.
Chapter 6 Come, and let us return to Yehovah, because He has torn us to pieces, and He will heal us; He has injured us, and He will bind up our wounds....
7 But they, like Adam, have broken the covenant. They were unfaithful to Me....
11 “Also, Judah, there is a harvest appointed for you, when I restore the fortunes of My people.
Chapter 7 When I would heal Israel, then the iniquity of Ephraim is uncovered, also the wickedness of Samaria, because they commit falsehood, and the thief enters in, and the gang of robbers ravages outside. 2 They don’t take into consideration that I remember all their wickedness. Now that their own deeds have engulfed them. They are in My face...
7 ... There is no one among them who calls to Me.
10 ... The pride of Israel testifies to his face; yet they haven’t returned to Yehovah their Elohim, or sought Him, for all this.
12 ... When they go, I will spread My net over them. I will bring them down like the birds in the sky. I will chastise them, as their congregation has heard. 13 Woe to them! For they have wandered from Me. Destruction to them! For they have trespassed against Me. Tho I would redeem them, yet they have spoken lies against Me. 14 They haven’t cried to Me with their heart, but they howl on their beds. They assemble themselves for grain and new wine. They turn away from Me. 15 Though I have taught and strengthened their arms, yet they plot evil against Me. 16 They return, but not to the Most High....
Chapter 8 Put the trumpet to your lips! Something like an eagle is over Yehovah’s house, because they have broken My covenant, and rebelled against My Torah. 2 They cry to Me, ‘My Elohim, we Israel acknowledge you!’
12 ... I wrote for him the many things of My Torah; but they were regarded as a strange thing. 13 As for presenting My offerings, they sacrifice flesh and eat it; but Yehovah doesnt accept them. Now He will remember their iniquity, and punish their sins. They will return to Egypt. 14 For Israel has forgotten his Maker and built palaces; and Judah has multiplied fortified cities; but I will send a fire on his cities, and it will devour its fortresses.
Chapter 9 Don’t rejoice, Israel, to jubilation like the nations; for you were unfaithful to your Elohim.
3 ... They won’t dwell in Yehovah’s land; but Ephraim will return to Egypt, and they will eat unclean food in Assyria. 4 They won’t pour out wine offerings to Yehovah, neither will they be pleasing to Him. He will remember their iniquity. He will punish them for their sins.
10 ... I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness. I saw your fathers as the first ripe in the fig tree at its first season; but they came to Baal Peor, and consecrated themselves to the shameful thing, and became abominable like that which they loved.
12 ... Though they bring up their children, yet I will bereave them, so that not a man shall be left. Indeed, woe also to them when I depart from them! 13 I have seen Ephraim, like Tyre, planted in a pleasant place; but Ephraim will bring out his children to the murderer. 14 Give them—Yehovah what will you give? Give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts. 15 “All their wickedness is in Gilgal; for there I hated them. Because of the wickedness of their deeds I will drive them out of My house! I will love them no more. All their princes are rebels. 16 Ephraim is struck. Their root has dried up. They will bear no fruit. Even though they bring forth, yet I will kill the beloved ones of their womb.” 17 My Elohim [the other family member] will cast them away, because they did not listen to Him; and they will be wanderers among the nations.
Chapter 10:2 Their heart is divided. Now they will be found guilty. He will demolish their altars. He will destroy their sacred stones.
10 ... When it is My desire, I will chastise them; and the nations will be gathered against them, when they are bound to their two transgressions. 11 Ephraim is a trained heifer that loves to thresh; so I will put a yoke on her beautiful neck. I will set a rider on Ephraim. Judah will plow. Jacob will break his clods. 12 Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap according to kindness. Break up your fallow ground; for it is time to seek Yehovah, until He comes and rains righteousness on you.
Chapter 11 When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called My son out of Egypt.
7 ... My people are determined to turn from Me [Yeshua]. Though they call to the Most High, He certainly won’t exalt them.
9 ... I will not execute the fierceness of My anger. I will not return to destroy Ephraim: for I am Elohim, and not man; the Holy One IN THE MIDST OF YOU; and I will not come in wrath. 10 They will walk after Yehovah, who will roar like a lion; for He will roar, and the children will come trembling from the west. 11 They will come trembling like a bird out of Egypt, and like a dove out of the land of Assyria; and I will settle them in their houses,” says Yehovah. 12 Ephraim surrounds Me with falsehood, and the nation of Israel with deceit. Judah still strays from Elohim, and is unfaithful to the Holy One.
Chapter 12:2 Yehovah also has a controversy with Judah, and will punish Jacob according to his ways; according to his deeds He will repay him. 3 In the womb he took his brother by the heel; and in his manhood he contended with Elohim. 4 Indeed, he struggled with the Angel [of the LORD], and prevailed; he wept, and made supplication to him. He found Him at Bethel, and there He spoke with us, 5 even Yehovah, the Elohim of Armies; Yehovah is His name of renown! 6 Therefore turn to your Elohim. Keep kindness and justice, and wait continually for your Elohim.
9 ... “But I am Yehovah your Elohim from the land of Egypt. I will once again make you dwell in tents, as in the days of the solemn feast.
The following verse is a mantra to the “Oneness” people, but remember the many I’s and HE’s in this book!Chapter 13:4 Yet I am Yehovah your Elohim from the land of Egypt; and you shall acknowledge no god but Me, and besides Me there is no Savior.
14 ... I will ransom them from the power of Sheol. I will redeem them from death! [By His crucifixion] Death, where are your plagues? Sheol, where is your destruction?” Compassion will be hidden from My eyes. 15 Though he is fruitful among his brothers, an east wind will come, the breath of Yehovah coming up from the wilderness; and his spring will become dry, and his fountain will be dried up. He will plunder the storehouse of treasure. 16 Samaria will bear her guilt; for she has rebelled against her Elohim. They will fall by the sword. Their infants will be dashed in pieces, and their pregnant women will be ripped open.
Chapter 14:1-4 Israel, return to Yehovah your Elohim, since you’ve fallen because of your sin. 2 Return to the Yehovah, and say these things to Him: “Forgive all of our sins, and please accept us, so that we can praise you with our lips. 3 Assyria can’t save us. We won’t ride on warhorses, and we’ll never again say to what our own hands have made, ‘Our gods!’ Because in You orphans find mercy. 4 I’ll heal their apostasy. I’ll love them freely, because My anger has turned away from them.
Here is the concluding verse of Hosea:
9 Who is wise enough to understand these things? Who is prudent enough to understand them? The ways of Yehovah are right, and the righteous ‘live by’ them, but the rebellious stumble in them.
For additional reading see The Deity of Yeshua, written by a friend, Natan Lawrence. Particularly notice the targum (Aramaic) quotations from the pre Messianic scribes who freely acknowledged the “Word of Yehovah” in their writings.
