Hosea 7 & 8

Hosea 7:1–16 (NASB)

1 When I would heal Israel, The iniquity of Ephraim is uncovered, And the evil deeds of Samaria, For they deal falsely; The thief enters in, Bandits raid outside, 2 And they do not consider in their hearts That I remember all their wickedness. Now their deeds are all around them; They are before My face. 3 With their wickedness they make the king glad, And the princes with their lies. 4 They are all adulterers, Like an oven heated by the baker Who ceases to stir up the fire From the kneading of the dough until it is leavened. 5 On the day of our king, the princes became sick with the heat of wine; He stretched out his hand with scoffers, 6 For their hearts are like an oven As they approach their plotting; Their anger smolders all night, In the morning it burns like a flaming fire. 7 All of them are hot like an oven, And they consume their rulers; All their kings have fallen. None of them calls on Me. 8 Ephraim mixes himself with the nations; Ephraim has become a cake not turned. 9 Strangers devour his strength, Yet he does not know it; Gray hairs also are sprinkled on him, Yet he does not know it. 10 Though the pride of Israel testifies against him, Yet they have not returned to the Lord their God, Nor have they sought Him, for all this. 11 So Ephraim has become like a silly dove, without sense; They call to Egypt, they go to Assyria. 12 When they go, I will spread My net over them; I will bring them down like the birds of the sky. I will chastise them in accordance with the proclamation to their assembly. 13 Woe to them, for they have strayed from Me! Destruction is theirs, for they have rebelled against Me! I would redeem them, but they speak lies against Me. 14 And they do not cry to Me from their heart When they wail on their beds; For the sake of grain and new wine they assemble themselves, They turn away from Me. 15 Although I trained and strengthened their arms, Yet they devise evil against Me. 16 They turn, but not upward, They are like a deceitful bow; Their princes will fall by the sword Because of the insolence of their tongue. This will be their derision in the land of Egypt.

Hosea 8:1-14 (NASB)

1 Put the trumpet to your lips! Like an eagle the enemy comes against the house of the Lord, Because they have transgressed My covenant And rebelled against My law. 2 They cry out to Me, “My God, we of Israel know You!” 3 Israel has rejected the good; The enemy will pursue him. 4 They have set up kings, but not by Me; They have appointed princes, but I did not know it. With their silver and gold they have made idols for themselves, That they might be cut off. 5 He has rejected your calf, O Samaria, saying, “My anger burns against them!” How long will they be incapable of innocence? 6 For from Israel is even this! A craftsman made it, so it is not God; Surely the calf of Samaria will be broken to pieces. 7 For they sow the wind And they reap the whirlwind. The standing grain has no heads; It yields no grain. Should it yield, strangers would swallow it up. 8 Israel is swallowed up; They are now among the nations Like a vessel in which no one delights. 9 For they have gone up to Assyria, Like a wild donkey all alone; Ephraim has hired lovers. 10 Even though they hire allies among the nations, Now I will gather them up; And they will begin to diminish Because of the burden of the king of princes. 11 Since Ephraim has multiplied altars for sin, They have become altars of sinning for him. 12 Though I wrote for him ten thousand precepts of My law, They are regarded as a strange thing. 13 As for My sacrificial gifts, They sacrifice the flesh and eat it, But the Lord has taken no delight in them. Now He will remember their iniquity, And punish them for their sins; They will return to Egypt. 14 For Israel has forgotten his Maker and built palaces; And Judah has multiplied fortified cities, But I will send a fire on its cities that it may consume its palatial dwellings.

A Series of Similes:

They are like an oven: 7:1-7

1 When I would heal Israel, The iniquity of Ephraim is uncovered, And the evil deeds of Samaria, For they deal falsely; The thief enters in, Bandits raid outside, 2 And they do not consider in their hearts That I remember all their wickedness. Now their deeds are all around them; They are before My face. 3 With their wickedness they make the king glad, And the princes with their lies. 4 They are all adulterers, Like an oven heated by the baker Who ceases to stir up the fire From the kneading of the dough until it is leavened. 5 On the day of our king, the princes became sick with the heat of wine; He stretched out his hand with scoffers, 6 For their hearts are like an oven As they approach their plotting; Their anger smolders all night, In the morning it burns like a flaming fire. 7 All of them are hot like an oven, And they consume their rulers; All their kings have fallen. None of them calls on Me. 8 Ephraim mixes himself with the nations; Ephraim has become a cake not turned.

The word for oven is “tannur” תַּנּוּר (tan - ooer) and it is translated oven or furnace. It is used 15 times in the OT and is often connected to the wrath of God.

Psalm 21:8–9 (NASB)

8 Your hand will find out all your enemies; Your right hand will find out those who hate you. 9 You will make them as a fiery oven in the time of your anger; The Lord will swallow them up in His wrath, and fire will devour them.

What is this telling us about Israel?

What is the warning for us?

They are like a cake not turned: 7:8-10

8 Ephraim mixes himself with the nations; Ephraim has become a cake not turned. 9 Strangers devour his strength, Yet he does not know it; Gray hairs also are sprinkled on him, Yet he does not know it. 10 Though the pride of Israel testifies against him, Yet they have not returned to the Lord their God, Nor have they sought Him, for all this.

The word for “cake” is “uga” עֻגָּה (oog - ah) and it a bread cake or loaf of bread. There are many words for bread cake or loaf of bread in the OT. Some are for barely bread, others mean leavened bread, others mean a loaf baked in an oven. This one, uga, is an unleavened bread cake cooked on hot stones. They were fast and easy to make and didn’t take long to cook and we cooked on hot stones.

Genesis 18:6 (NASB)

6 So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah, and said, “Quickly, prepare three measures of fine flour, knead it and make bread cakes.”

Exodus 12:39 (NASB)

39 They baked the dough which they had brought out of Egypt into cakes of unleavened bread. For it had not become leavened, since they were driven out of Egypt and could not delay…

Numbers 11:7–8 (NASB)

7 Now the manna was like coriander seed, and its appearance like that of bdellium. 8 The people would go about and gather it and grind it between two millstones or beat it in the mortar, and boil it in the pot and make cakes with it; and its taste was as the taste of cakes baked with oil.

What is this telling us about Israel?

What is the warning for us?

They are like a silly dove: 7:11-13

11 So Ephraim has become like a silly dove, without sense; They call to Egypt, they go to Assyria. 12 When they go, I will spread My net over them; I will bring them down like the birds of the sky. I will chastise them in accordance with the proclamation to their assembly. 13 Woe to them, for they have strayed from Me! Destruction is theirs, for they have rebelled against Me! I would redeem them, but they speak lies against Me.

(v. 11) The word for “silly” is pata פָּתָה (pa - thah) It is most commonly translated “deceived” or “entice”. Like naive, simple minded, or gullible.

Deuteronomy 11:16 (NASB)

16 “Beware that your hearts are not deceived, and that you do not turn away and serve other gods and worship them.

Proverbs 1:10 (NASB)

10 My son, if sinners entice you, Do not consent.

What is this telling us about Israel?

What is the warning for us?

They are like a deceitful bow: 7:14-16

14 And they do not cry to Me from their heart When they wail on their beds; For the sake of grain and new wine they assemble themselves, They turn away from Me. 15 Although I trained and strengthened their arms, Yet they devise evil against Me. 16 They turn, but not upward, They are like a deceitful bow; Their princes will fall by the sword Because of the insolence of their tongue. This will be their derision in the land of Egypt.

The word for bow is “qeset” קֶשֶׁת (ka - sheth) and it is just a hunting bow or a bow as in an instrument of war. Can also mean an archer or a bowman. It comes from an Arabic word, that means “to shoot”.

Psalm 18:34 (NASB)

34 He trains my hands for battle, So that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.

Psalm 78:9–11 (NASB)

9 The sons of Ephraim were archers equipped with bows, Yet they turned back in the day of battle. 10 They did not keep the covenant of God And refused to walk in His law; 11 They forgot His deeds And His miracles that He had shown them.

The word for “deceitful” is the word remiyya רְמִיָּה (ray - me - ahh) It really means something is false of has missed the mark. It is almost always translated “deceitful” (9/11 times). It describes someone or something that isn’t trustworthy. Especially when it comes to speech.

The only place in the NASB it isn’t translated that way is in Psalm 78 speaking of Ephraim…

Psalm 78:56–57 (NASB)

56 Yet they tempted and rebelled against the Most High God And did not keep His testimonies, 57 But turned back and acted treacherously like their fathers; They turned aside like a treacherous bow.

What is this telling us about Israel?

What is the warning for us?

They are like a wild donkey: 8:9

9 For they have gone up to Assyria, Like a wild donkey all alone; Ephraim has hired lovers.

The phrase “wild donkey” is the Hebrew word “pere” פֶּרֶא (peh - reh). Literally, it was a wild donkey, like a wild horse, that was fast and undisciplined and needed to be broken in order to be ridden. In the donkey’s case, it would need to be broken so that it could be used as a work animal.

The most well known use of this phrase is found in the book of Genesis.

Genesis 16:11–12 (NASB)

11 The angel of the Lord said to her further, “Behold, you are with child, And you will bear a son; And you shall call his name Ishmael, Because the Lord has given heed to your affliction. 12 “He will be a wild donkey of a man, His hand will be against everyone, And everyone’s hand will be against him; And he will live to the east of all his brothers.”

What is this telling us about Israel?

What is the warning for us?

Sinful Selecting:

They have selected the wrong leaders: 8:1-7

1 Put the trumpet to your lips! Like an eagle the enemy comes against the house of the Lord, Because they have transgressed My covenant And rebelled against My law. 2 They cry out to Me, “My God, we of Israel know You!” 3 Israel has rejected the good; The enemy will pursue him. 4 They have set up kings, but not by Me; They have appointed princes, but I did not know it. With their silver and gold they have made idols for themselves, That they might be cut off.

Romans 13:1–2 (NASB)

1 Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves.

4 They have set up kings, but not by Me; They have appointed princes, but I did not know it…

1 Samuel 8:7 (NASB)

7 The Lord said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people in regard to all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me from being king over them.

What is this telling us about Israel?

What is the warning for us?

Leadership is so very important!

Proverbs 31:4–5 (NASB)

4 It is not for kings, O Lemuel, It is not for kings to drink wine, Or for rulers to desire strong drink, 5 For they will drink and forget what is decreed, And pervert the rights of all the afflicted.

Deuteronomy 17:14–20 (NASB)

14 “When you enter the land which the Lord your God gives you, and you possess it and live in it, and you say, ‘I will set a king over me like all the nations who are around me,’ 15 you shall surely set a king over you whom the Lord your God chooses, one from among your countrymen you shall set as king over yourselves; you may not put a foreigner over yourselves who is not your countryman. 16 “Moreover, he shall not multiply horses for himself, nor shall he cause the people to return to Egypt to multiply horses, since the Lord has said to you, ‘You shall never again return that way.’ 17 “He shall not multiply wives for himself, or else his heart will turn away; nor shall he greatly increase silver and gold for himself. 18 “Now it shall come about when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself a copy of this law on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests. 19 “It shall be with him and he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, by carefully observing all the words of this law and these statutes, 20 that his heart may not be lifted up above his countrymen and that he may not turn aside from the commandment, to the right or the left, so that he and his sons may continue long in his kingdom in the midst of Israel.

Psalm 20:7 (NASB)

7 Some boast in chariots and some in horses, But we will boast in the name of the Lord, our God.

5 He has rejected your calf, O Samaria, saying, “My anger burns against them!” How long will they be incapable of innocence? 6 For from Israel is even this! A craftsman made it, so it is not God; Surely the calf of Samaria will be broken to pieces.

They selected idols and false god to be their hope and salvation. Even after all the history of idolatry in their nation, they still made the wrong choice.

They Sowed Sin and Reaped Suffering:

The will reap what they have sowed: 8:7-14

7 For they sow the wind And they reap the whirlwind. The standing grain has no heads; It yields no grain. Should it yield, strangers would swallow it up. 8 Israel is swallowed up; They are now among the nations Like a vessel in which no one delights. 9 For they have gone up to Assyria, Like a wild donkey all alone; Ephraim has hired lovers. 10 Even though they hire allies among the nations, Now I will gather them up; And they will begin to diminish Because of the burden of the king of princes. 11 Since Ephraim has multiplied altars for sin, They have become altars of sinning for him. 12 Though I wrote for him ten thousand precepts of My law, They are regarded as a strange thing. 13 As for My sacrificial gifts, They sacrifice the flesh and eat it, But the Lord has taken no delight in them. Now He will remember their iniquity, And punish them for their sins; They will return to Egypt. 14 For Israel has forgotten his Maker and built palaces; And Judah has multiplied fortified cities, But I will send a fire on its cities that it may consume its palatial dwellings.

Galatians 6:7 (NASB)

7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.

Proverbs 22:8 (NASB)

8 He who sows iniquity will reap vanity, And the rod of his fury will perish.