Hosea 13: Calf Kissers

Introduction

Relentless Judgment?

Hosea 13:1–3 (ESV)

When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling;

he was exalted in Israel,

but he incurred guilt through Baal and died.

And now they sin more and more,

and make for themselves metal images,

idols skillfully made of their silver,

all of them the work of craftsmen.

It is said of them,

“Those who offer human sacrifice kiss calves!”

Therefore they shall be like the morning mist

or like the dew that goes early away,

like the chaff that swirls from the threshing floor

or like smoke from a window.

Interesting notes:

Notice the way that the entire story of the people of Israel involves themes that seem to conceptually rhyme as they are used on the page! If we include the last few verses of chapter 12 in considering the first few verses of chapter 13, an interesting pattern begins to emerge...

(12:12) - Jacob(Israel) takes refuge in a foreign land (Haran/Egypt) while searching for a wife (1st time for himself and 2nd time for his whole family during a time of famine)

Jacob/Israel initially entered into an agreement for service, but he was deceived into working for twice that time

In spite of Laban(Egypt’s) attempts to keep Israel down, God thwarted the oppressor and created a situation in which Laban(Egypt) was ready to see Jacob/Israel depart!

(12:12-13) - Just as Jacob guarded sheep (v. 12), the prophet Moses guarded Israel (v. 13). Is there perhaps any incident involving Moses, the flock of Israel, and metal images that we should recall?! (Ex. 32)

This discussion of Idolatry is the topic upon which the entire book of Hosea hinges: The metaphor of the unfaithful wife is symbolic of Israel’s lack of commitment to God.

Hosea repeatedly attributes the fall of Ephraim(Israel) to the cult of Baal. The disreputable state of the Israel, in the mind of Hosea, fundamentally stems from deviation from God’s FIRST COMMANDMENT.

Exodus 20:2–3 (ESV)

“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

“You shall have no other gods before me.

Deuteronomy 6:4–6 ESV

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.

We’ve discussed this idea constantly as we’ve covered Hosea, but have we really connected with the significance of its statement?

What is the purpose of “kissing calves”? What are the people of Israel getting for their betrayal of God’s commandments? Let’s read on to see if we can see what idolatry looked like in more detail...

Hosea 13:4–8 (ESV)

But I am the Lord your God

from the land of Egypt;

you know no God but me,

and besides me there is no savior.

It was I who knew you in the wilderness,

in the land of drought;

but when they had grazed, they became full,

they were filled, and their heart was lifted up;

therefore they forgot me.

So I am to them like a lion;

like a leopard I will lurk beside the way.

I will fall upon them like a bear robbed of her cubs;

I will tear open their breast,

and there I will devour them like a lion,

as a wild beast would rip them open.

In their time of plenty, THEY FORGOT ABOUT GOD!!

Can any of you relate to this experience in your personal walk?

Anybody every had a come-to-Jesus Sunday and a back-to-my-way Monday?

In this passage, Hosea clarifies the persistent aspect of rebellion, shining an interesting light on why we as humans stray: We forget God when we think we don’t need him!

My Bible puts this passage under the heading The Lord’s Relentless Judgment on Israel… (show of hands?)

Not to be contentious, but I am personally far more impressed by the relentless patience and steadfastness of God!

In describing the sudden nature of judgment falling upon the people of Israel (lion/leopard/bear), Hosea is accurately describing the nature of Israel’s conquest and subjugation by Assyria.

He is also utilizing figurative elements that will be common in apocalyptic literature throughout the Bible.

Daniel 7:6 (ESV)

After this I looked, and behold, another, like a leopard, with four wings of a bird on its back. And the beast had four heads, and dominion was given to it.

Revelation 13:2 ESV

And the beast that I saw was like a leopard; its feet were like a bear’s, and its mouth was like a lion’s mouth. And to it the dragon gave his power and his throne and great authority.

These creatures are intentionally used throughout scripture to depict our inferior nature to the supernatural.

The people of Israel have strayed from God and started “kissing calves”, but God’s coming judgment is about to fall among them like a pouncing Lion.

Again, I’d ask you to consider all the figurative/supernatural animal imagery and its practical meaning on your belief today.

Does this all seem kind of unrelated to you… a modern human, who has probably never kissed a calf or been eaten by a bear? Trust me, IT’S NOT UNRELATED! Let’s read on...

Hosea 13:9–14 (ESV)

He destroys you, O Israel,

for you are against me, against your helper.

Where now is your king, to save you in all your cities?

Where are all your rulers—

those of whom you said,

“Give me a king and princes”?

I gave you a king in my anger,

and I took him away in my wrath.

The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up;

his sin is kept in store.

The pangs of childbirth come for him,

but he is an unwise son,

for at the right time he does not present himself

at the opening of the womb.

I shall ransom them from the power of Sheol;

I shall redeem them from Death.

O Death, where are your plagues?

O Sheol, where is your sting?

Compassion is hidden from my eyes.

Verses 4-14 of this Chapter constitute a divine complaint against the people of Israel.

The rather confusing wording at the beginning of verse 9 is rendered differently in various translations.

It’s “He” in the ESV, but it might better be described as “it”

The subject of this verse is most likely God’s coming judgment.

A series of “taunts” follow (v. 10-11, v. 14a), in which God highlights the insufficiency of human rulers and false gods.

Mixed metaphors? v.12-13...

This chapter, much like the rest of Hosea, plays out almost like an ancient courtroom drama, in which God indicts, accuses, and sentences Israel for its excesses and its apostasy...

But how often do we get a judge who promises redemption?!

verse 14 gives a nod to God’s universal plan for salvation, establishing that just as the effects of sin trickle down through the generations, God’s plan for salvation also stretches beyond the veil of death!

Death is scary

Death is bad

Death is the penalty humanity has incurred for our collective and individual guilt...

BUT GOD HAS DEFEATED DEATH!

Hosea 13:14–16 (ESV)

I shall ransom them from the power of Sheol;

I shall redeem them from Death.

O Death, where are your plagues?

O Sheol, where is your sting?

Compassion is hidden from my eyes.

Though he may flourish among his brothers,

the east wind, the wind of the Lord, shall come,

rising from the wilderness,

and his fountain shall dry up;

his spring shall be parched;

it shall strip his treasury

of every precious thing.

Samaria shall bear her guilt,

because she has rebelled against her God;

they shall fall by the sword;

their little ones shall be dashed in pieces,

and their pregnant women ripped open.

Well, that one ended on a bright note...

I think it is important to first note that Hosea didn’t divide his writing up by chapters like we have in our Bibles today, and so we don’t know that verse 16 is actually the completion of his thought. (I almost feel as though v.14-16 should be the beginning of chapter 14, but that’s just an opinion!)

But this is a powerful closing to the things we’ve been thinking through today: the closing image is of women and children being viciously slaughtered.

The closing image is of the visceral and painful nature of war and conquest.

This is what playing politics with the world looks like at the end.

This is what pride looks like in the end.

This is what it looks like when we forget about God!

We get away with it, we get away it, we keep getting away with it--- and then things turn so ugly so fast that we can’t fathom our own stupidity for pushing it so far.

The story of the kingdom of Israel ends with the sound of women and children crying out and dying… except...

Except for God’s supernatural plan for salvation!

Paul cites this passage in his discussion of the mysterious and inscrutable nature of God’s victory in 1 Corinthians:

1 Corinthians 15:54–58 (ESV)

When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:

“Death is swallowed up in victory.”

“O death, where is your victory?

O death, where is your sting?”

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

Conclusions

This passage involves a great deal of shifts in mood and tone, and the imagery utilized is (much like Gomer’s infidelity) is designed to be provocative.

I’ve asked you all to consider the implications of this seemingly archaic idea of Idolatry:

We don’t really worship Baal, or Dagon, or set up pillars to Asherah… right??

We totally do! Because just like the people of Israel in the times of Hosea, we put what we think works over what God has said!

Just like Hosea had no trouble citing the long history of Idolatry to his audience, we should be aware that this issue is just as prevalent today!

We go along with the ways of the world for the sake of cash, crops, and kids… and we all forget that God was always the ultimate provider!!

We all struggle with the impulse to put ourselves at the center of the universe (or to let things come between us and God). We all struggle with the same sort of self-obsession that led people to human sacrifice in ancient times!

(Provocative) We are supposed to feel that sinking feeling in our guts as we imagine committing ourselves to someone who is unfaithful, ungrateful, and unrepentant.

We are supposed to feel disgust at the depth of Israel’s depravity and apostasy (human sacrifice, fertility cults, kissing calves)

We, like the original audience, should feel hairs prickle on the backs of our necks when we realize that God is like a lion that we’ve forgotten! The final judge has seen everything and we can’t get out his reach!

BUT that judge has had our best interests in mind from THE VERY START.

That judge suffered betrayal, injustice, and ingratitude at our hands.

That judge can kill not only our bodies, but also our souls...

and THAT JUDGE has chosen to redeem us anyways!