Bible passage: Hosea 3:4-5
Prophet: Hosea
Written: About 750 BC
In Hosea 9:17, the prophet said that the people of Israel had turned away from God and would therefore become wanderers among the nations.
Hosea lived about 2,700 years ago, during a time when the Assyrians were expanding their empire.
It is believed that Hosea was a native of the northern kingdom of Israel, which also is called Ephraim and sometimes Samaria, and that his ministry lasted as many as 60 or so years, during the reigns of the northern kings Jeroboam II (787-747 BC) and Hoshea (731-722 BC). His ministry seems to have ended shortly before the northern kingdom was conquered by Assyria in 722/721 BC, about 2,700 years ago.
During the Assyrian conquest of the northern kingdom, many Israelites were deported and forced to live in other parts of the Assyrian empire, far from their homeland.
Of the 12 tribes of Israel, 10 lived in the northern kingdom. After the Assyrian conquest, they eventually lost their tribal identities and became known as the "lost tribes of Israel."
- Research and commentary is based on the book 100 Fulfilled Bible Prophecies. © Ray Konig and AboutBibleProphecy.com.
Here is Hosea 9:17 (NIV):
My God will reject them because they have not obeyed him; they will be wanderers among the nations.