ISRAEL'S ‘FRUITFULNESS' IS REVEALED BY THEIR SETTING UP A MULTIPLICITY OF ALTARS AND RELIGIOUS PILLARS, DECLARING THAT THEY ARE RESPONSIBLE TO NO ONE, AND DO NOT FEAR GOD, BUT THEY WILL SHORTLY DISCOVER THAT THEY ARE RESPONSIBLE TO SOMEONE, EVEN TO THE GREAT KING OF ASSYRIA, AND THAT ALL THEIR FALSE... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Israel is a luxuriant vine, Which puts forth his fruit. In accordance with the abundance of his fruit, He has multiplied his altars, In accordance with the goodness of their land, They have made goodly pillars.' With withering sarcasm Hosea now depicts what Israel has become. They are indeed... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Their heart is divided (or ‘smooth, deceitful'). Now will they be found guilty. He will smite their altars, He will destroy their pillars.' But Hosea warned that it would not go on for ever. Their hearts were divided between YHWH and Baal, with YHWH demoted to a mere nature god, and as a result... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Surely now will they say, “We have no king. For we do not fear YHWH, And the king, what can he do for us?” But their response will be to declare a reckless independence. They will declare, ‘We have no king' with the implication that they are free to do as they like, and this because they no lon... [ Continue Reading ]
‘They speak but words, Swearing falsely in making covenants, Therefore judgment springs up as poisonous weeds In the furrows of the field.' Hosea points out the folly of their words. They should recognise that they are but words, bold, brash, and foolish. For while they may still be swearing cov... [ Continue Reading ]
‘The inhabitants of Samaria will be in terror, For the calves of Beth-aven, For the people in it mourn over it, And its priests who rejoiced over it, For its glory, Because it is departed from it.' The prophet now unveils the ironic situation. They have thrown off the restraint of YHWH and His... [ Continue Reading ]
‘It also will be carried to Assyria, For a present to the great king. The ignominy of the idol's situation is stressed. It will be carried to Assyria, no doubt on the back of a donkey (compare the Babylonian gods so graphically carried off by Assyria in Isaiah 46:1). And it will be given as a pres... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Ephraim will receive shame, And Israel will be ashamed of his own counsel (or ‘disobedience'). As for Samaria, her king is cut off, As a twig (wood chip) on the water.' But the idol will not be the only thing to be shamed. Ephraim too will receive shame as he is carried off ignominiously to Ass... [ Continue Reading ]
‘The high places also of Aven, will be destroyed, The sin of Israel, The thorn and the thistle will come up Upon their altars, And they will say to the mountains, “Cover us,” and to the hills, “Fall on us.” And what has been left behind, the high places of Beth-Aven (or ‘of evil') will be dest... [ Continue Reading ]
‘O Israel, you have sinned from the days of Gibeah. There they took a stand. Did not the battle against the children of iniquity Overtake them in Gibeah?' What had happened at Gibeah (Judges 19-21) was written deep into the heart of Israel. There Israel, in the person of the tribe of Benjamin, h... [ Continue Reading ]
ISRAEL ARE WARNED THAT THEY FACE ANOTHER GIBEAH BECAUSE ALTHOUGH HE HAD CHOSEN THEM AS HIS SERVANT (LIKE A TRAINED HEIFER) THEY HAVE RESPONDED WITH DISOBEDIENCE AND WICKEDNESS. A FINAL WAR OF DESTRUCTION IS THEREFORE INEVITABLE UNLESS THEY REPENT DEEPLY AND SEEK HIS FACE (HOSEA 10:9). The present Is... [ Continue Reading ]
‘According to my desire, I will chastise them, And the peoples will be gathered against them, When they are bound to their two transgressions.' And this chastisement, severe as it would be (as it had also been for Benjamin as a result of Gibeah), would occur in accordance with YHWH's will and de... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And Ephraim is a heifer which is trained, Which loves to tread out the grain. But I have passed over (a harness) on her fair neck, I will set a rider (or ‘a yoke') on Ephraim, Judah will plough, Jacob will break his clods.' Ephraim had no excuse for their behaviour. Like a well trained heifer... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Sow to yourselves in righteousness, Reap in accordance with covenant love, Break up your fallow ground, For it is time to seek YHWH, Until he come and rain righteousness on you.' Ever ready to respond to repentance God now called on Israel and Judah to turn back to Him in response to the covena... [ Continue Reading ]
‘You have ploughed wickedness, You have reaped iniquity, You have eaten the fruit of lies, For you trusted in your way (or ‘power'), In the multitude of your mighty men.' But YHWH then charges Israel with being far from repentance. They have ploughed in wickedness by their way of living, they ha... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Therefore will a tumult arise among your people, And all your fortresses will be destroyed, As Shalman destroyed Beth-arbel in the day of battle, The mother was dashed in pieces with her children.' But let them not doubt that problems were just around the corner. For shortly there would be a tum... [ Continue Reading ]
‘So shall Beth-el do to you because of your great wickedness, At dawn will the king of Israel be utterly cut off.' The same treatment will be meted out to them by Bethel. In other words, because of their great wickedness carried out at Bethel, Bethel would bring destruction on them, and the king o... [ Continue Reading ]