Hosea 13:1-16

     Ephraim (Israel’s king and princes) exalted themselves and engaged in Baal worship (Hos. 13:1), and they “sin more and more, and make for themselves molten images, idols skillfully made from their silver, all of them the work of craftsmen” (Hos. 13:2a). The phrase “Let the men who sacrifice kiss the calves!” (Hos. 13:2b) could refer to an act of homage and devotion on the part of the idolaters. However, it might also refer to human sacrifice, as the NIV translates, “They offer human sacrifices! They kiss calf-idols!” and the ESV renders, “Those who offer human sacrifice kiss calves!” God declares these idolaters would perish quickly, “like the morning cloud and like dew which soon disappears, like chaff which is blown away from the threshing floor and like smoke from a chimney” (Hos. 13:3). In contrast, God had been faithful from the beginning, when His people were called out of Egypt, and they were to be faithful to Him, for there is no other Savior besides God, who cared for them in the wilderness (Hos. 13:4-5). However, after entering the Promised Land and tasting of prosperity, “they became satisfied, and being satisfied, their heart became proud; therefore they forgot Me” (Hos. 13:6). Because of Israel’s unfaithfulness, God would render fierce judgment upon the nation, as a lion, leopard or bear attacks and devours its prey (Hos. 13:7-8). God reveals that Israel was engaging in self-harm, saying, “It is your destruction, O Israel, that you are against Me, against your help” (Hos. 13:9), and He would remove Israel’s king, the person in which they trusted for salvation from their enemies (Hos. 13:10-11).  The iniquity of Israel had been storing up for many years and reached full capacity (Hos. 13:12), and, like a baby in its mother’s womb, the nation was unwilling to leave the familiar place of sin from which God had called them (Hos. 13:13). God would not redeem His people, Israel, from the short term judgment that was coming upon them (Hos. 13:14). Later, the apostle Paul quoted this verse and applied it to Christ who died for the sins of His people and will rescue us from death and the grave (1 Cor. 15:55). “Here in Hosea the promise is that Israel would indeed suffer death and the grave, not that she would escape it. Paul turned the passage around and showed that Jesus Christ’s resurrection overcame the judgment and death that are inevitable for sinners.”[1] In this regard, because Jesus overcame death and the grave, so those who trust in Him will eventually be resurrected and not held in the power of sin’s grip. Though Israel flourished for the moment like a reed in shallow water, God would send a scorching wind to dry them up. This refers to the Assyrians who would plunder their cities and engage in merciless acts of hostility, even against women and children (Hos. 13:15-16). All of this could have been avoided if Israel had humbled themselves and turned back to God and not broken the covenant promises.

 

[1] Tom Constable, Tom Constable’s Expository Notes on the Bible (Galaxie Software, 2003), Ho 13:14.