Hosea 13:9-16

Hosea 13 9-16

v.9 Israel’s actions had provoked the judgment they were about to receive. The only One who could help them was God. The problem was that He was the One who was about to judge them. Israelcould call on Baal all they like. God’s judgment was coming for the simple reason that they forgot and forsook Him, their Helper (v.6). It is unfortunate that we often put our Helper in the position that He must judge us to help us.

v.10 The point is that the only King that could help them is God. At this point they are not serving Him. They have set up kings and political leaders for themselves. Their own desires for political rulers have been met. Yet the political rulers they chose will not be able to deliver them in the coming crisis. There would be no one in all the cities of Israel that could help them. Their trust in man would prove to be vain.

v.11 The Lord continued to give Israel kings. Their first king, Saul, was given to them (1 Samuel 8:6-22). He proved to be an utter failure. Throughout their history they were given many kings, most of which did nothing but get them into trouble. It angered the Lord that Israel forsook divine leadership for mortal leadership. God would give them another king in His anger as well. He would give them the king of Assyria to rule over them. In His wrath God would send this wicked king to “take away” their present king. Throughout history God sent kings and took kings from Israel. He did it in judgment. The kings reflected the culture. Wicked kings chosen by wicked people invoked the wrath of God upon Israel. This final king would be the worst of all, however. He would have no mercy on them. He would take away their king and their people into captivity.

v.12-13 In these verse Israel is compared to a pregnant woman whose child will not come out. The child is “bound up” in her. The woman goes into labor, but the child is not delivered. The child is called “unwise” probably to show that it does not know it is time to be delivered. The “opening of the womb” is the cervix.

Israelis pregnant with sin. She refuses to have that sin removed from her. As a result, she will die. The child probably represents the people and the mother represents the nation (2:2, 5). Both will die. It will be as painful and brutal as a woman whose child refuses to be born.

v.14 Hidden in this section of judgment is a great promise of hope. It almost seems that it does not fit. Before we get into the promise let’s clarify something. Notice the end of the verse “compassion is hid from my eyes”. Also understand that for there to be the type of resurrection spoken of in this verse, there must first be a death. My point is that this verse in no way suggests that God will “repent” over what He is about to do. The nation will be judged. The promise given is meant to remind the people that He will come to them with future grace.

This verse is very similar to 1 Cor. 15:54-55. Let’s look at what God promises to do:

*I will ransom them from the power of sheol. “ransom” means to “buy back”.

*I will redeem them from death. “Redeem” means “to release”.

*O Death where are your plagues? O Sheol where is your sting?

Taken together, these statements are an insult directed toward death and the grave. God will ultimately show His power over man’s great enemy through resurrection power. We can apply this in two ways. First, we can apply it to Israelas a nation. They were obliterated as a nation for many years. Now we see them resurrected since 1948 into a new nation. Second, we can apply it to the individual. Many of the Israelites would die in judgment. If they repent, however, they would have the promise of the resurrection and eternal life. Even in the midst of God’s great wrath He shows His mercy on people and His hatred for death.

v.15 It doesn’t take long for us to get back to judgment. Israelmay have a hard time believing that all the terrible things Hosea is saying will happen are true. They were “fruitful”. They were a thriving nation in many ways. Why should they fear? They had money, agriculture, alliances, etc. All of that would change soon. The imagery used describes a drought. The author of the drought is God. The metaphor of the east wind is used to describe the pushing back of water. It was a strong east wind that made the Red Sea dry for Israel to cross over (Exodus 14:21). Note that it is the “wind of the Lord”. All of the water sources will be dried up. The drought will cause serious trouble for Israel. The treasury was used to store things of value. Generally, they would be hidden so no one could find them. They may be the same as our savings accounts today. Even the most treasured possessions of Israel will be taken away because of the coming drought.

v.16 Samaria would be destroyed because it was guilty of such terrible sins. Her great sin was rebellion against God. In their sin they had declared war against God. They had aligned themselves with His enemies and bowed to His rivals by worshipping false Gods. Hosea describes in the most brutal terms what was about to happen to the nation.

*They would fall by the sword. The coming army would attack them and kill many with the sword.

*Their infants shall be dashed in pieces. This shows the brutality of the Assyrians. They would show no mercy on Israel. They would even mercilessly kill the infants.

*Their pregnant women would be ripped open. Because of the rampant sexual immorality as well as the allegiance to the fertility god, Baal, many women would be pregnant. When the invasion occurred, the Assyrians would mock and humiliate Israel by ripping open the stomachs of the pregnant women. This would ensure that both mother and child died.

The judgment is unbelievably hideous. Maybe that is why the promise of verse 14 precedes it. All we can glean from this is that God is serious about sin and that judgment will not be pretty.

Thoughts to Consider

1. If we experience the judgment of God we have no one to blame but ourselves.

2. When God gives us what we want we usually realize we didn’t want what He gave us.

3. Death will not have the last laugh.

4. All the fruit we have today could be eaten by the worms of tomorrow.