Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

• 5. The Abrahamic Covenant ch. 15
  Abram asked God to strengthen his faith. In response Yahweh promised to give the patriarch innumerable descendants. This led Abram to request some further assurance that God would indeed do what He promised. God graciously ob...
• 2. Samuel's ministry 3:19-4:1a
  These verses summarize Samuel's continuing ministry as a prophet in Israel. Samuel qualified for this privilege by his faithful obedience to God's will as he knew it. God sovereignly chose Samuel for this ministry, but his di...
• Jehu's purges of the royal families 10:1-17
  Jehu challenged the nobles of Samaria and Jezreel who were rearing Ahab's 70 male descendants to select an heir and to battle Jehu. This would decide whether Ahab's house or Jehu's would rule Israel. Rather than fight a battl...
• 7. Jeroboam II's evil reign in Israel 14:23-29
  Jeroboam II's reign of 41 years was the longest in Israel's history (793-753 B.C.). For the first 12 of these years he was coregent with his father Jehoash.89He began ruling during the reign of Judah's Jehoash, outlived his s...
• 8. Azariah's good reign in Judah 15:1-7
  Most Bible students know Azariah by his other name, Uzziah (vv. 13, 30, 32, 34; 2 Chron. 26; Isa. 1:1; Hosea 1:1, Amos 1:1; Zech. 14:5; et al.). His 52-year reign (790-739 B.C.) was longer than any other king of Judah or Isra...
• Yahweh's remembrance of Israel's past 2:1-3
  2:1-2a The Lord spoke to Jeremiah and instructed him to proclaim a message to the people of Jerusalem, a message from Yahweh.2:2b The Lord recalled how His people used to love (Heb. hesed) Him devotedly when they were followi...
• The special conditions of Jeremiah's life 16:1-13
  Sometimes God used the events in the lives of His prophets to speak to the people as well as their messages."Hosea's unhappy marriage (Hos. 1-3), Isaiah's family (Isa. 7-8), the death of Ezekiel's wife (Ezek. 24:15-27), and J...
• C. The Book of Consolation chs. 30-33
  This section of the Book of Jeremiah is a collection of prophecies that focus on the hope that lay before the Israelites. To this point in the book the emphasis has been mainly on judgment to come, though we have seen occasio...
• The end of Rachel's mourning 31:15-22
  31:15 The Lord described the Israelite mothers, under the figure of Rachel, weeping for their children who had died because of the Assyrian invasion.404Rachel was the mother of Joseph, the father of Ephraim and Manasseh, and ...
• 7. Jerusalem's history as a prostitute ch. 16
  This chapter is the longest prophetic message in the book and the longest single allegory in the entire Bible. It carries forward the guilt of Jerusalem described in the preceding chapter. God's chosen people were not only a ...
• Israel's lustful youth 23:1-4
  23:1-3 The Lord gave Ezekiel a story about two sisters who had one mother (cf. Jer. 3:7). These young girls became prostitutes in Egypt and allowed men to fondle their breasts. That is, they allowed the Egyptians to become in...
• Title and Writer
  The prophet's name is the title of the book. The book claims to be the word of the Lord that Hosea received (1:1). Thus he appears to have been the writer.
• Date
  Hosea's ministry spanned the reigns of four Judean kings (Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah; cf. Isa. 1:1) and one Israelite king (Jeroboam II; 1:1). King Uzziah (Azariah) of Judah began reigning in 792 B.C., and King Hezeki...
• Theology
  The major biblical doctrines that Hosea stressed were sin, judgment, salvation, and the loyal love of God.Regarding sin, the prophet stressed the idolatry of the Israelites, which he compared to spiritual adultery. Israel had...
• Outline
  I. Introduction 1:1II. The first series of messages of judgment and restoration: Hosea's family 1:2-2:1A. Signs of coming judgment 1:2-9B. A promise of restoration 1:10-2:1III. The second series of messages of judgment and re...
• A. Signs of coming judgment 1:2-9
  The Lord used Hosea's family members as signs to communicate His message of coming judgment on Israel.1:2 At the beginning of Hosea's ministry, Yahweh commanded him to take a wife of harlotry and to have children of harlotry....
• 1. Judgment on Gomer as a figure of Israel 2:2-7
  In this message, the Lord described Israel's unfaithfulness to Him in terms similar to those that a husband would use to describe his wife's unfaithfulness to him. The whole message appears to be one that Hosea delivered to h...
• 2. Renewed fertility and restored favor 2:21-23
  This message stresses the renewed fertility and restored favor that Israel could anticipate because Yahweh would reach out and save her in the future.2:21-22 In that coming day of blessing the Lord would restore agricultural ...
• IV. The third series of messages on judgment and restoration: widespread guilt 4:1--6:3
  The remaining messages that Hosea recorded in this book continue to expound the themes introduced in the first two series (chs. 1-3). All five series of messages major on Israel's guilt and coming judgment, but all conclude o...
• Date and Place of Composition
  Micah prophesied during the reigns of the Judean kings Jotham (750-732 B.C.), Ahaz (732-715 B.C.), and Hezekiah (715-686 B.C.; 1:1). This made him a late eighth-century contemporary of Isaiah, who also ministered in the South...
• I. Heading 1:1
  What follows is the word that Yahweh gave to Zephaniah during the reign of King Josiah of Judah (640-609 B.C.). This "word"includes all that the Lord told the prophet that He also led him to record for posterity (cf. Hos. 1:1...