Hosea 8-14

 Hosea 8

Hosea 8:1-6 Judgment is announced. Israel claims the covenant with the Lord, but their actions betray the reality of their heart. Breaking the covenant by rebellion against His laws. Not just disobedience, but rebellion - rejecting them. Kings who gain power through assassination and idol worship. This goes all the way back to Jeroboam erecting two golden calves, in Bethel and Dan, so that the Israelites would not return to Jerusalem to worship. (1 Kings 12:28-30) He broke spiritual laws for political gain. The Lord will ultimately judge and destroy those idols. 

Hosea 8:7-10 An often quoted verse. “They sow to the wind and reap the whirlwind.”  The principle of sowing and reaping is mentioned many times in Scripture.

• Sowing trouble and reaping likewise. (Job 4:8; Proverbs 22:8)
• Sowing with tears and reaping joy (Psalm 126:5)
• Sowing righteousness and reaping rewards. (Proverbs 11:18)
• Reaping whatever seed we sow (Galatians 6:7-8)

But Hosea goes on to offer hope, lest they waste away under the foreign king they sold themselves to. No one wants a used-up prostitute, except God.

Hosea 8:11-14 Although Moses recorded many of the Lord’s rules to help them live happily and flourish, they rejected His revelation and worshipped at foreign altars. This goes beyond the foolishness of eating junk food and expecting to be healthy. It is mistaking the very source of existence for a chimera of earthly things like palaces and fortifications. The immovable mover, the uncreated creator, the God who simply is that He is, will send fire to show them the flimsiness of their reliance on perishable physical protection.

Hosea 9

Hosea 9:1-5 Other nations celebrate worldly success but Israel has unique festivals appointed by the Lord for feasting. Since Israel has been unfaithful to Him, they can’t celebrate those festivals; they can’t bring unclean food into the temple. They themselves are unclean because of their pagan worship. Religious celebrations are meaningless, or worse, deceitful, when we don’t live out what God has told us. We deceive ourselves, because He knows what is going on.

Hosea 9:6-9 The day of God’s punishment is coming. The people are so far into sin that those watchmen who warn them are deemed fools. God will remember.

Hosea 9:10-13 At first, Ephraim seemed like grapes in the desert. There was glory in Joseph’s lineage. But God reminds them that their rejection of Him and His ways started early and continued. (9:10, 10:5) When they came to Moab and committed sexual sin with the women, they engaged in idolatry and became vile. (Numbers 25:1-5) The initial glory was gone. They went the path that led to child sacrifice. 

Hosea 9:14-17 Their punishment will include barrenness, both spiritual and physical - childlessness. Since they were going to use children as sacrifices to other gods, He will prevent that. In addition, He will send them to other nations to experience how they really live. How does this relate to our culture today, which glorifies sex and believes that killing unborn children that are unwanted is part of the process. What is abortion really worship of? Can and does God vindictively keep those who do so from having children later? Or is doing so simply allowing them to have what they want - sex without children? What are the other consequences?

Hosea 10

Hosea 10:1-4 A description of the consequences of going the idolatry road. They must bear the guilt of their deceit and idolatry, and recognize that a king could not rescue them. They make false contracts and then end up in court.

Hosea 10:5-8 Beth-aven is near Beth-el, where Jeroboam set up the golden calf. (1 Kings 12:28-29) Beth-aven means house of wickedness or house of vanity or house of nothingness, and used as a derogatory term for Bethel (House of God). The high places will be destroyed. The people will call on the mountains and hills to fall on and cover them, very similar to what people will do in the days of the sixth seal of judgment. (Luke 23:30, Revelation 6:16) The golden calves won’t do anything for them in either case.

Hosea 10:9-10 Gibeah is mentioned in Judges 19-21 as the location where some wicked men men raped and murdered a man’s concubine. The reaction to this was for the man whose concubine was killed to incite the tribes of Israel to attack and kill all the men of Benjamin, which they almost succeeded, leaving only 600 alive after killing over 25,000. They eventually arranged for the tribe to not be totally wiped out, but the legacy of violent over-reaction was entrenched sin. War will overtake evildoers. One sin leads to more, unless justice is administered as God directed Moses. 

Hosea 10:11-13 Farming metaphors re-emphasize the principle of reaping what we sow. (Galatians 6:7) Breaking up fallow ground is hard work - as Judah will find in turning from Israel’s ways to avoid reaping the same fruit.

Hosea 10:14-15 Bethel will face disaster and the king of Israel (who inherited the golden calf Jeroboam placed there and worshipped along with many other idols) will be completely destroyed. Since there were many kings, being king of the Northern kingdom obviously was a position that carried a curse on whoever occupied it.

Hosea 11

Hosea 11:1-4 God recalls Israel’s origins, like a child, when they left Egypt. He carried them through the wilderness, taught them, protected them, with love as a parent does with a child. Even when they did naughty things like idolatry, He loved them.

Hosea 11:5-7 The unfortunate fruit of rejecting discipleship and turning away from God is walking in the way of the world. They claim Him as their God, but not in their hearts or actions, only their lips.

Hosea 11:8-11 Like the parent of a young adult, He still loves them as His own. He will not fully punish them as outsiders, and has a vision for their return to Him. When that happens, He will again bless them. He is heartbroken over their rebellion. (Maybe He sees them more as adolescents than young adults.)

Hosea 11:12 Bridge to the next chapter, a further reminiscence of Israel growing up.

Hosea 12

Hosea 12:1-2 Ephraim, the Northern Kingdom, makes deals with earthly powers, thinking to secure the country by worldly politics. That is all like trying to get nourishment by eating wind? But Judah, the Southern Kingdom, has their own baggage, going back to the forefather, Jacob.

Hosea 12:3-6 A brief recap of Jacob’s issues growing up.

• He grabbed Esau’s heel at the moment of birth, his initial foray into claiming the birthright of the firstborn. (Genesis 25:26)
• He wrestled with God. He wanted control, and God was forced to wound him to show Him the supernatural reality of divine authority. (Genesis 32:24-39)
• He returned to Bethel and worshipped God (long before the golden calf) and they talked. (Genesis 35:6-13) God revealed to Jacob His Name, the Name that carries His authority (Genesis 35:11). In like manner, Judah must return to God as He had revealed Himself to them.

Hosea 12:7-8 In Hosea’s day, fraud was loved. They worshipped wealth, a common enough practice throughout the ages, but also a foreboding of the  Laodicean church. (Revelation 3:17) Their key error was thinking that worldly wealth would protect them from the consequences of sin. Worldly riches and materialism is a very false god.

Hosea 12:9-11 Contrasting God’s ways with idolatry. He fed them and protected them for forty years of living in tents in the desert during the Exodus, which He reminded them of annually in the Feast of Tabernacles (booths). He sends them prophets to speak His words to them. All of the idolatry of Israel is just sacrificing animals on piles of stone that take up space in otherwise fertile farm fields.

Hosea 12:12-14 When Jacob left his parents to flee to Rebecca’s family, he worked hard to get Rachel as his wife. (Genesis 29:20)  He served faithfully but manipulated the animals that he tended to his own advantage, was poorly treated in the end, but God protected him.  (Genesis 31) Hundreds of years later, God sent Moses to deliver Israel from Egypt to which they had fled because of famine. They also had tended flocks and were poorly treated in the end. But once in the promised land, Ephraim (named for one of Joseph’s sons) turned to false gods, and the one true God, who had faithfully cared for their ancestors, said, “Enough!”

The lesson we should take from this is that although God is infinitely loving and merciful, and will forgive and protect us, He will not allow us to persist indefinitely in life choices that are self-destructive. He warns us, and we have opportunities to repent and turn to Him. He turns up the heat to get our attention when needed. If we ignore His warnings in all of the different ways that He speaks to us, then He will bring complete destruction to that lifestyle, so that we will have to experience the bitter fruit of sin. 

Sowing and reaping is built into both nature and the supernatural realm. Divine intervention goes beyond natural law because God has purpose and design in His dealings with us. He is a person, not just a life-force. His character and His heart are so perfectly loving and holy that what happens to us will reflect His every effort to get us to become like Him.

Hosea 13

Hosea 13:1-3 Although Ephraim began history exalted as Joseph’s son, when his tribe turned to idolatry of various types (Baal-worship, offering human sacrifices to calf-idols), they became spiritually like dew, chaff, or smoke - something that dissipates in the wind and is gone.

Hosea 13:4-9 Recalling God’s providential care for Israel for forty years in the desert, all He asks was that they acknowledge Him. They refused, and so He will devour them like a lion or bear.

Hosea 13:10-11 Recalling Israel’s initial request for a king (1 Samuel 8:5), He now tells Israel to look at what kings can and can’t do for you. Especially since they keep getting assassinated. 

Hosea 13:12-16 God keeps records. They will bear their guilt. The people have only themselves to blame. 

Hosea 14

Hosea 14:1-3 Hosea offers words of repentance that Israel should say in order to return to God. But they must be genuine words, enough so that their actions will demonstrate that they renounce their sin. This standard is not because God doesn’t love and forgive, but because sin will continue to destroy them. This starts with confession.

Hosea 14:4-8 The Lord speaks of how He will restore and bless Israel on the day when they make that decision. Everyone, both in Israel and outside Israel, will recognize that their fruitfulness comes from Him. Is this true in our day? Israel is restored as a nation and prospers materially, but does it have spiritual blessing? Do the nations of the world recognize God’s handiwork in the Balfour Declaration? Do the people of Israel?

Hosea 14:9 Hosea’s closing observation, like the last chapter of Ecclesiastes. Reality is that rejecting God for selfishness or for other gods cannot bring long-term happiness, only pain and destruction. True wisdom and discernment recognize The Lord as the source of all blessing and that we partake of those blessings to the extent that we walk in His ways.  Both worldly and spiritual flourishing are ultimately gifts of the Holy Spirit.  (James 3:13)

The algorithm is my shepherd

 I don’t think any commentary on this by me would add to it. It speaks for itself.

The algorithm is my shepherd, I shall always want.

It makes me doomscroll through digital pastures.

It leads me besides the rapids of engagement.

It activates my anxiety.

It guide me along paths of monetization for its profits sake.

Even though I walk through the valley of comparison

I will fear missing out, for you are always tracking me.

Your notifications and your ads, they compel me.

You prepare a curated feed before me in the presence of those I envy.

You fill my heart with validation, my anxiety overflows.

Surely dissatisfaction and envy will follow me all the days of my life, 

And I will dwell in your monetized data analytics forever.

By Jon Tyson (not me!)

Hosea 1-7

 

Hosea 1

Hosea 1:1 Hosea prophesied during the reigns of several kings, spanning decades. We find record of their rules starting: Azariah a.k.a. Uzziah (2 Kings 14:21), Jotham (2 Kings 15:32), Ahaz (2 Kings 16:1), Hezekiah (2 Kings 16:20), and Jeroboam II (2 Kings 14:16,23). The prophecies of Hosea announce that God challenges and overcomes politics. He judges the actions of rulers based on His standards, regardless of whether or not the people follow Him - He expects rulers to set an example by leading them according to His standards.

Hosea 1:2-3 The Lord told Hosea to marry a prostitute or promiscuous woman as an object lesson for Israel, to illustrate to them how He perceived their idolatry. 

Hosea 1:4-5 Their first child, a son, was named Jezreel, to let the house of Jehu know they would be judged and punished for the massacre at Jezreel. This evidently refers to Jehu killing everyone in Ahab’s extended family who was in that city, to fulfill the Lord’s command. (2 Kings 10:11) This was part of the cleansing of the Northern Kingdom of worshippers of Baal.  This judgment does not make sense to me. The Lord raised Jehu up to eliminate Ahab and his Baal-worshipping reign. Second, Hosea’s prophecy was at least fifty years after this event. Zechariah, son of Jeroboam II was killed after only ruling six months, putting an end to the house of Jehu. (2 Kings 15:8-12). This was after three successive descendants of Jehu turned away from the Lord to worship Baal.

Hosea 1:6-9 Gomer had two more sons (unclear if Hosea was the father since she was a prostitute). The first was “not loved”. The second was “not my people”. A logical progression  - not being loved leading to being disowned. But who disowned who? Was the third son fathered by another man, representing Israel’s idolatry, hence really, truly not Hosea’s son (2:4)? 

 

Hosea 1:10-11 The Lord foresees a day when wall will be made right, Israel will flourish as one nation who will be called children of the Living God, and will appoint one leader. Fulfillment of this is uncertain. Perhaps it refers to the church beginning in Acts, or perhaps to a future time when the Jews from around the world re-unite by receiving Christ and becoming truly the children of God. 

Hosea 2:1 appears to complete the prophetic vision of 1:10-11, brothers and sisters in the Lord.

Hosea 2:2-7 Hosea now deals in a literal sense with his wife’s lifestyle, by forcing her to face the consequences of the truth. This is not a game show. When she finds herself abandoned and broke, she will decide to return to her husband. 

Hosea 2:8 Her big mistake was to think that the immediate source of the things of life - food, money - was the root cause of them. She engaged on her trade (prostitution) not understanding that her husband’s providing for her needs was what kept her going … until he stopped. This is symbolic of how the Lord was dealing with Israel. 

Hosea 2:9-13 continues the consequences that Israel will face for their unfaithfulness.

Hosea 2:14-15 The tone changes from warnings of consequences to wooing her back to the fold of committed marriage. Speaking tenderly, giving her gifts, offering hope. 

Hosea 2:16-20 When Israel responds to being wooed, there will be an engagement and a marriage. A renewal of marriage. This time with faithfulness, justice, love, and compassion.  Genuine, agape love seeks the best for the beloved and is not selfish. She will change roles from being a slave (to sin, to false masters) to being a spouse, a partner in a committed relationship. He will remove the names of the false gods from her lips. 

Hosea 2:21-23 On that day, when the marriage happens, the Lord will not only bless her with material blessings and security and peace in the land, He will adopt her illegitimate children. (1:9)

Hosea 3:1-3 Hosea is now commanded by the Lord to show this kind of agape love to his former wife, buying her back from slavery. She will be freed, but not to continue to pursue her adulterous lifestyle. But Hosea also will not be sexually intimate with her, either. She is to learn that true faithfulness and commitment are far beyond mere physical pleasure.

Hosea 3:4-5 Israel will go for centuries without a king, and without ritual religion. They will again seek the Lord in the last days. Perhaps this can be likened to the return of the prodigal son after living in the pigsty. (Luke 15:17-20) Although Israel as an ethnic and political identity exists, only a subset of the Jews truly seek the Lord. So this prophecy must relate to a future, end times fulfillment when all of Israel turns to Jesus. We know from other apocalyptic Scriptures that a lot of other things will happen, but this is the Lord’s heart. 

Hosea 4

Hosea 4:1-3 Cause and effect: what else can sin produce but disaster, failure, and heartbreak?  (8:7) Betraying God impacts both society and nature (vss. 2-3) In the natural world there wouldn’t seem to be any connection, but in God’s realm, it is as inevitable as universal gravitation.

Hosea 4:4-9 The priests and prophets share in the responsibility for this disaster. Each person is accountable directly to God for their own actions. Spiritual leaders are supposed to have pointed them to Him, but they used their positions not to teach His ways, but to practice sin themselves. 

Hosea 4:10-15 The object lesson of prostitution re-surfaces. Spiritual prostitution and ritual prostitution are inextricably linked. Why else would temple prostitution be such a widespread practice in pagan religions - not just in Palestine, but throughout the world? And then prostitution becomes normal for society. Once God and His ways are rejected, only human and carnal standards of behavior are left.

Hosea 4:15-19 This warning summarizes the wrongs of Israel. The Northern kingdom of Israel is so thoroughly committed to spiritual adultery with idols and the evil spirits they represent that contact will contaminate. So the Southern Kingdom of Judah should leave them alone so they don’t get caught in the consequences that Israel will reap.

This raises the question of when a person or nation is irredeemably contaminated by their decision to sin. That standard is not clearly stated here, only that Israel had crossed it. In the New Testament we see Jesus refusing to condemn the woman at the well and the woman caught in the act of adultery. (John 4:7-26,  8:1-11).  Paul told the Corinthians to excommunicate a man who was committing incest with his stepmother.  (1 Corinthians 5:1-5) He also told them not to be yoked unequally. (2 Corinthians 6:14-18) The standard of discerning between a mission field and a minefield must be discerned by the leading of the Holy Spirit. In such situations, the Lord Himself must speak to us directly.

Hosea 5:1 The Lord now speaks directly to Israel. He recalls prior events in which Israel interacted with Him by mentioning their locations.

• At Mizpah, which means watchtower, it is unclear what specific events are referred to in which Israel was a snare. Earlier events showed no signs of Israel being unfaithful. There are multiple locations that are candidates for this reference. (1 Samuel 7; 10:17?) The most likely is near Mount Hermon, where idolatry likely occurred, but Mizpah is not specifically named in Scripture in this context.    
• Mt. Tabor, located in Israel west of the Sea of Galilee,  mentioned in connection with Barak’s defeat of Sisera… (Judges 4 ), also likely the location of idolatry…. A net spread out implies tripping someone up, or capturing them like a fish. Mentioned in Psalm 89:12 in connection with  singing for joy at the Lord’s name.

Hosea 5:2-7 Hosea mentions several dimensions of Israel’s sin: they are rebels; they engage in spiritual and physical prostitution, resulting in illegitimate children; they seek the Lord in pagan worship,  syncretism; they are arrogant. But somehow they coax or tempt Judah to join them in their sin. 

Hosea 5:8-12 A day of judgment is coming, and God’s wrath will be poured out. Even Judah will not be spared His wrath. After the northern kingdom was overrun by Assyria, five years later Judah was attacked and almost conquered. (2 Kings 18:9-10, 13) But Hezekiah’s prayer and genuine devotion to the Lord resulted in Sennacherib being forced by the Lord to give up his siege, after his army was supernaturally destroyed.  (2 Kings 19:35-36)

Hosea 5:13-15 Even though the Northern Kingdom turned to Assyria for help, they and their king can’t cure Israel’s sin problem. Whether the leadership leads the people astray, or the people’s sin forces the leaders to turn from the Lord, politics cannot solve a spiritual problem. Turning to worldly politicians for spiritual help is like asking a politician for medical advice, it doesn’t make sense and won’t work. Unfortunately, Israel had to learn to obey God the hard way, in the school of hard knocks. Then they would get the message and seek the true God.

Hosea 6

Hosea 6:1-3 Hosea appeals to Israel. The phrase ‘on the third day He will restore us’ is paraphrased in the New Testament with reference to Jesus’ resurrection. (Luke 24:46, 1 Corinthians 15:4) The hope of restoration after repentance is ultimately realized in Jesus, sadly not in Hosea’s day. Jesus spoke of His desire for the Jews as a whole, or specifically in Jerusalem, to be gathered under His wings. (Luke 13:34) We know that about forty years later, Jerusalem was destroyed by the Roman army under the command of Titus. (Luke 23:28-30) This was part of the Roman suppression of a Jewish revolt. Sadly, not only did they not learn the lessons from Hosea and the destruction of Israel and Judah several hundred years earlier, they did not recognize that the resurrection of Jesus offered them the fulfillment of Hosea’s words in this passage. The church, those who had received Jesus, suffered but were only made stronger.

Hosea 6:4-6 The Lord compares Israel’s love to a morning mist, repeated later by Hosea. (13:3) It is enjoyable but fleeting, vanishing when the sun rises in the sky. There is a warning about the misuse of Scripture. God’s word can kill rather than bring life, when misused or when rejected.  (Isaiah 55:11) It has power. But the source of power is God’s heart, which desires that we have a heart like His. Hence, He desires us to have mercy more than He wants sacrifice, as Jesus pointed out. (Matthew 9:13, 12:7)

Hosea 6:7-11 The Lord repeats Israel’s transgressions: breaking their covenant; murder, even by priests; prostitution. And Judah will face a similar harvest from what they sow. 

Hosea 7

Hosea 7:1-2 Continuing the list of Israel’s transgressions: they lie and deceive; they rob and steal. They are unaware that God sees and remembers, and that their sins define their lives and thereby consume them, not their victims. It is not just a single sin, but at least five of the Ten Commandments are violated.

Hosea 7:3-7 The wine inflames passions to smolder and burn. They then interact, king with people, but the people destroy the kings, one after another: Zechariah (son of Jeroboam), Shallum, Menahem, Pekahiah, Pekah, Hoshea. (2 Kings 15:8-31) Kings fall to assassination and gain power by assassination. God and the concept of divine right of succession, are not a consideration, so He lets them reap the fruit of their actions.

Hosea 7:8-10 Ephraim is a cake not turned - like a pancake on a griddle that isn’t flipped. Inedible because part of it remains raw and part of it is burnt. Israel lacks sense, like a careless cook.

Hosea 7:11-12 Ephraim is like a dove - not in the sense of the Holy Spirit, but like a senseless bird who flies anywhere. In this case, Israel turns to Egypt and Assyria for help. Instead, they are caught in a net. 

Hosea 7:13-16 As mentioned earlier, these nations cannot save Israel from their sin or its consequences. The Lord wants to save them, but they choose instead to practice self-mutilation to appeal to false gods, and turn to worldly nations. They will reap accordingly.