For those who may wish to ‘study’ this chapter, the following simple resources are provided for you. Each passage has a four-Part approach to help you take in and think further about what you have read.
Passage: Hosea 7:1-7
1 1 whenever I would heal Israel,
the sins of Ephraim are exposed
and the crimes of Samaria revealed.
They practice deceit,
thieves break into houses,
bandits rob in the streets;
2 but they do not realize
that I remember all their evil deeds.
Their sins engulf them;
they are always before me.
3 “They delight the king with their wickedness,
the princes with their lies.
4 They are all adulterers,
burning like an oven
whose fire the baker need not stir
from the kneading of the dough till it rises.
5 On the day of the festival of our king
the princes become inflamed with wine,
and he joins hands with the mockers.
6 Their hearts are like an oven;
they approach him with intrigue.
Their passion smolders all night;
in the morning it blazes like a flaming fire.
7 All of them are hot as an oven;
they devour their rulers.
All their kings fall,
and none of them calls on me.
A. Find Out:
- What had the Lord gone to do but what had He found? v.1
- What had the sinful people not realised? v.2
- How was the king indicted? v.3,5
- How are the sinful people described? v.4
- How was that picture explained? v.6
- How was that used to explain people and rulers? v.7
B. Think:
- What specific indictments are there against the people?
- What are the indictments against the king?
- Why is the picture of the oven used?
C. Comment:
Some commentators suggest the main indictment here is against Israel’s priests, yet the words of v.1 indicate this is a far wider indictment that covers generally bad people who have come to the fore in the life of Israel . Whenever the Lord goes to go to Israel to bring restoration, He simply finds evil there which makes such restoration an impossibility.
Such wicked people even have the ear of the king, and the king and his court even applauds them, his heart is just the same as theirs. But, says the prophet, it is even more dangerous than this; it is like an oven where, to ensure steady cooking the coals maintain a steady heat, so they can burst into flame in the morning when more air is let in and the embers stirred up. The wrong attitudes of the people and the rulers is like this, they will smoulder on and on but will eventually ignite and destroy the king when they are agitated and stirred up by plotters.
The king should have been setting a righteous example for the people and should have stood against their wickedness as he upheld his responsibility to maintain law and order. Instead he sided with the evil people, was as bad as them, and will eventually be destroyed by these evil ways which will be turned against him.
D. Application:
- Leaders are called to stand out and be an example, not join in with the sin, or they will be destroyed by the sin.
- Undercover sin will eventually explode into life and destroy.
Passage: Hosea 7:8-16
8 “Ephraim mixes with the nations;
Ephraim is a flat loaf not turned over.
9 Foreigners sap his strength,
but he does not realize it.
His hair is sprinkled with gray,
but he does not notice.
10 Israel’s arrogance testifies against him,
but despite all this
he does not return to the Lord his God
or search for him.
11 “Ephraim is like a dove,
easily deceived and senseless—
now calling to Egypt,
now turning to Assyria.
12 When they go, I will throw my net over them;
I will pull them down like the birds in the sky.
When I hear them flocking together,
I will catch them.
13 Woe to them,
because they have strayed from me!
Destruction to them,
because they have rebelled against me!
I long to redeem them
but they speak about me falsely.
14 They do not cry out to me from their hearts
but wail on their beds.
They slash themselves, appealing to their gods
for grain and new wine,
but they turn away from me.
15 I trained them and strengthened their arms,
but they plot evil against me.
16 They do not turn to the Most High;
they are like a faulty bow.
Their leaders will fall by the sword
because of their insolent words.
For this they will be ridiculed
in the land of Egypt.
A. Find Out:
- How is Israel first now described and why? v.8,9
- How is she next described and why? v.11
- What is the indictment against Israel? v.10
- How is that further stated? v.13-16a
- What does the Lord say He will do? v.12
- What will be the outcome of that? v.16b
B. Think:
- How is judgement seen as cause and effect in this passage?
- How is it also seen as directly brought by the Lord?
- What was the cause of these two judgements?
C. Comment:
Hosea continues his indictment of Israel. He gives a picture of Israel being like a flat cake (like pitta bread) being baked. In the previous illustration, heat was pictured as that which was growing unrighteousness. So as a cake, they have constantly faced the unrighteousness of other nations and will have become dried out and even burnt. It has been a gradual process and they have hardly noticed it, but the other nations have sapped their spiritual strength and they have been dried out.
But he also likens them to a foolish dove, that flutters around with no direction, turning first to this nation then to that. The Lord will trap them and take them into captivity. The first half of the chapter was about the nations sin and political intrigues, the second half is about their sin with other nations.
They have ceased to be the distinct people of God that they were called to be and are no longer a light to the nations. They turned away from God and turned to other nations and now actually speak against God. Because of this contact with other nations they have become hardened (dried out) and their strength has gone. There is little left for the Lord to do but take them away, for they are no longer what they were created to be. What an indictment, what a tragedy for this once glorious nation!
D. Application:
- We are called to be lights to others (Mt 5:14). Are we?
- We are called to be salt in the world (Mt 5:13). Are we?