Hosea 7:1-16

     Though God desired to heal Israel, their sins kept being uncovered (Hos. 7:1). Israel did not consider that God remembered their sins, but they were continually before His face (Hos. 7:2). The wickedness and lies of the people made the king and princes glad, as their behavior was consistent with the Israel’s leadership (Hos. 7:3). “Their political leaders rejoiced in the wickedness of the people because that made it easier for them to get away with sinning.”[1] All the people of Israel were adulterers, both physically and spiritually, and their passion is likened to an oven that smolders overnight while the dough rises (Hos. 7:4). Israel’s king and princes lived for themselves (Hos. 7:5), and the princes seething passion is compared to a burning oven that is dormant for a time, but erupts in fire as they plot to kill their king (Hos. 7:6-7). “Hosea saw this happen four times. Shallum assassinated Zechariah, Menahem assassinated Shallum, Pekah assassinated Pekahiah, and Hoshea assassinated Pekah (2 Kings 15:10, 14, 25, 30).”[2] Israel’s political practices excluded the Lord as they mingled with pagan nations. They became like a cake not turned, which meant they were burned on one side and raw on the other, which made them of no benefit to others (Hos. 7:8). As a result of their foolish international practices, foreigners consumed their strength, but they were ignorant of what was happening to them (Hos. 7:9), and the pride of Israel kept them from turning to the Lord (Hos. 7:10). God then compares Israel to a silly dove that flutters back and forth between Egypt and Assyria (Hos. 7:11), but the Lord will cast His net over them and put an end to their birdbrained practices (Hos. 7:12). Their destruction is because they have become hostile toward God, in which He declares, “they have strayed from Me!...they have rebelled against Me!...they speak lies against Me…they turn away from Me…[and] they devise evil against Me” (Hos 7:13-15). Israel had become like a crooked bow that is useless in battle and worthless to the Lord (Hos. 7:16). Israel’s turning away from God made them worthless to others, silly in everyday practices, and useless to the Lord.

 

[1] Tom Constable, Tom Constable’s Expository Notes on the Bible (Galaxie Software, 2003), Ho 7:3.

[2] Ibid., Ho 7:6.