Jesus in Hosea

Have you ever seen those “Where’s Waldo” books? Each two-page spread is a scene with a lot of people, and the objective is to find the funny-looking little man, Waldo, in his red and white striped shirt and hat.

A few weeks ago I did something of this sort, except with a different book and the objective of finding a different Man. Instead of a “Where’s Waldo” book, I had the Bible- specifically the book of Hosea. And instead of looking for a funny little man in red and white, I was looking for the risen King of the universe- who walked among us as a humble peasant and son of a carpenter; who died and yet lives. I was looking for Jesus in the book of Hosea. Here is what I found:

There are multiple parallels between the lives of Hosea and Jesus. As Hosea was called to go and take a wife of adultery (Hosea 1:2), so was Jesus (Ephesians 5:25-33; James 4:4). As Hosea paid the price demanded to redeem a slave for his unfaithful bride (Hosea 3:2), so did Jesus (Leviticus 17:11/Hebrews 9:22). And just as the amazing, adultery-forgiving love of God portrayed in Hosea was available to Gomer if she only turned away from her adultery and went to Hosea (Hosea 3:3), so it is that the amazing, adultery-forgiving love of God in Christ is available to us if we only turn away from our adultery and go to Jesus (John 3:16; Luke 5:32; 13:1-5; 15:1-10; 17:3-4; 24:44-49).

In addition to these parallels, there are some specific references that point to Jesus. Hosea 3:5 says that the children of Israel, as was portrayed between Hosea and Gomer, will “return and seek the Lord their God, and David their king.” King David had long been dead in Hosea’s day, so this is clearly a reference to the Messiah, of whom it was promised that He would be in the line of David and that He will reign forever (2 Samuel 7:12-13). We now know that the long-awaited Messiah has come, and that the Messiah is Jesus (John 1:41-42)!

The numerous references to Judah (Hosea 1:7, 11; 5:5, 10, 12, 14; 6-4, 11; 8:14; 10:11; 11:12; and 12:2), as well as the references to a lion in Hosea 13:7-8, call to mind another Messianic prophecy, namely, the Lion of the tribe of Judah (Genesis 49:8-12).

Then there is Hosea 11:1, where God says, “out of Egypt I called my son.” Matthew 2:15 tells us that this was fulfilled when, after Mary, Joseph, and Jesus had fled to Egypt, God sent an angel to call His Son, Jesus, out of Egypt (Matthew 2:19-20).

Last, but certainly not least, we have Hosea 1:7. Here, God promises through His prophet that He would save His people by the Lord their God- not by bow, sword, war, horses, or horsemen. This prophecy has been fulfilled, and God has saved His people by the Lord their God. Just as those to whom Gomer was enslaved demanded a price, so our sins demanded blood and death (Leviticus 17:11, Hebrews 9:22, and Romans 6:23). God has saved His people by the Lord our God by coming to dwell among us, shedding His blood, and dying to pay the penalty of our sins and remove them from us as far as the east is from the west!