Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

• Purpose
  Probably God's primary purpose in inspiring this book of the Bible was to give us revelation concerning the way love between a man and a woman should look.17The characters in the book behave toward one another the way men and...
• The oracle against Moab chs. 15-16
  "The Babylon oracle revealed that world history, even in its most threatening and climactic forms, is so organized that the people of God are cared for. The Philistia oracle confirmed this by insisting that the Davidic promis...
• 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 spiritual unfaithfulness of Judah 3:1-5
  3:1 God posed the question to His people of what happens in a divorce. The answer to His rhetorical question is, no, a husband who divorces his wife, if she goes to live with another man, will not return to her.92The Mosaic L...
• The future repentance and return of all Israel 3:11-18
  3:11 Yahweh instructed His prophet that though both the Northern and Southern Kingdoms had committed spiritual harlotry, Judah's sin was worse than Israel's. Here the Lord personified Judah as "Treachery"as he again personifi...
• 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...
• Jacob's distress and deliverance 30:4-11
  30:4 This oracle concerns all the Israelites, those of both the Northern and Southern Kingdoms.30:5-6 A time of great terror, dread, and unrest was coming. Men would behave as though they were in labor; they would hold themse...
• 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 ...
• The Lord's intervention for Israel 34:11-24
  34:11-12 The Lord further promised to search for His wandering sheep Himself, to care for them, and to deliver them from the places where they had scattered in the gloomy days of their national distress (cf. Jer. 30:4-7; Luke...
• 5. Reunification in the Promised Land 37:15-28
  37:15-17 The Lord also commanded Ezekiel to take two sticks (cf. Zech. 11:7-14). He was to write on one of them "For Judah and for the sons of Israel, Judah's companions."He was to write on the other stick "For Joseph and for...
• 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....
• B. A promise of restoration 1:10-2:1
  A promise of future restoration immediately follows this gloomy revelation of judgment. It provided encouragement to Hosea's audience by assuring a glorious and secure future for Israel.1:10 Despite the judgment promised, Yah...
• The restoration of Hosea's wife 3:1-3
  3:1 Yahweh told Hosea to seek out in love the woman whom he formerly loved, Gomer, even though she was an adulteress.37His action would be similar to that of the Lord Himself who loved the Israelites even though they had beco...
• The restoration of Yahweh's wife 3:4-5
  3:4 The Lord explained that the Israelites would remain for a long time separated from their idolatrous practices. During this time they would not have a king or leader (i.e., national sovereignty), sacrifices or sacred pilla...
• 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...
• B. Another assurance of restoration 11:8-11
  As previously, a series of messages assuring Israel's judgment (6:4-11:7) ends with assurance of future restoration. God would definitely bring devastating judgment on Israel, but His compassion for the nation and His promise...
• A. Judgment for unfaithfulness 11:12-13:16
  Hosea again established Israel's guilt and predicted her punishment. Israel's unfaithfulness to God receives special emphasis (cf. ch. 3).
• The restoration of the Davidic kingdom 9:11-12
  The rest of the book is quite different from what has preceded because of its positive message. As is true of other eighth-century prophets to Israel and Judah, Amos included hope in his prophecy (cf. Isa. 40-66; Hos. 1:10-2:...
• Zion's positive future role 4:1-5
  4:1 Reference to "the last days"often points to the eschatological future in the Prophets, and it does here (e.g., Deut. 4:30; Ezek. 38:16; Dan. 2:28; 10:14; Hos. 3:5). This phrase usually refers to the Tribulation and or the...
• Zion's future greatness 4:6-8
  4:6 In "that day"the Lord also promised to assemble His people whom He had allowed the nations to abuse. This will occur when He turns the tide for Israel and begins to bless her, namely, at the beginning of the Millennium.Th...
• 2. The restoration of the true people ch. 10
  The first part of this oracle focused particularly on the true King who would come and exercise sovereignty over the nations (ch. 9). Now the emphasis changes to the people of the King, the Israelites, who will return to the ...
• 3. Conflict over Jesus' sign 12:38-45
  The fourth incident and the third type of conflict concerned a sign that Jesus' critics requested.12:38 Matthew's connective again was weak. This incident was not a continuation of the preceding controversy chronologically bu...
• M. The millennial reign of Christ ch. 20
  John recorded his vision of Jesus Christ's reign on the earth for 1, 000 years to inform his readers of what would take place after He returns to the earth."Few verses in the Bible are more crucial to the interpretation of th...