HOSEA 7: THE NATION CRUMBLES

 

Lament Over Israel’s Unfaithfulness 

7:1-2

God speaks here in a medical metaphor. When he wanted to heal Israel, their iniquity was revealed. Iniquity is gross immorality. Their iniquity is described generally as “evil deeds”, and more specifically as false dealing and open lawlessness. 

False dealing means unfaithfulness to the covenant while still performing the outward rituals. Lawlessness means committing crimes against each other. 

The words Israel, Ephraim, and Samaria all refer to the same thing: the northern kingdom. It is a synonymous parallelism, saying the same thing different ways to drive home the point. 

Lament Over Israel’s Politics

7:3-7 

Evil makes the king and his officials happy. (3) This evil may be the intrigue that occurred during the reigns of the last several kings of Israel. Several were assassinated by others who wanted to take the throne. 

An example is Pekah. He assassinated King Pekahiah. (2 Kings 15:25)

He had been Pekahiah’s chief officer. Pekah was then assassinated by Hoshea son of Elah.

All of these were adulterers in the spiritual sense; they worshipped other gods. The passion of the kings and princes for intrigue and sin was strong as an oven that is so hot the baker does not have to tend the fire. 

The king and the princes, or officials, we taken over with this passion for intrigue as they assassinated each other. Alcohol helped them supress their consciences & welcome those who mocked God.

God says all of the kings are fallen. This again is consistent with the last days of Israel when many kings were killed by their successors. Only one king, Menahem, was not assassinated after the death of Jeroboam II. And none of these called upon the Lord. They had turned away from him. 

In contrast, the king was to be responsible for keeping God’s law and leading the nation to do the same. The requirements for the king are set out in Deuteronomy 17:14-20. He was to copy and study the law. Instead, these kings abandoned the law and led the nation into sin. 

Lament For Bad Foreign Policy

7:8-12

Since Israel had turned away from God, they did not seek him for protection from their enemies. The kings sought alliances with other countries instead, such as Egypt and Assyria. (11). They did not trust God and were unwilling to return to him. 

They had to pay tribute and accept other conditions that weakened them. Israel was a cake not turned, what we might call going off half baked. (8) They were also without common sense, like a dove. (11) They were weak and getting weaker, but still did not seek the Lord. (10)

Israel’s pride became a testimony against it. (10) God had told them, as part of the covenant curses, that their refusal to repent would result in God disciplining them sevenfold for their sins and he would break the pride of their power. (Leviticus 27:18-19) 

Because of all this, God said he would bring them (12) down and discipline them.  We know he did that very thing. 

Lament for Israel’s Doom

7:13-16

This section begins with a cry of woe. (13) It is a sort of lament at a funeral. It speaks of the destruction of the nation as you would the death of a loved one. Israel would be destroyed because it rebelled against God. It revolted against his authority.

God could have redeemed them, but they lied against him. They had sworn fidelity to God, but actually pledged themselves to other nations and relied on them for protection. They were not loyal to God as their sovereign. 

This lack of loyalty was demonstrated by the lack of genuine belief in God to act. They offered sacrifices, but not not call on God from the heart (14) 

They complained about their lack of grain and wine, but did not turn to God. Their beds refer to the practice of Canaanite worship, where they would make a sacrifice then eat the meal while lying on cushions near the altar. 

Therefore, God would cause their princes to fall by the sword. They would return to subjugation similar to that they had in Egypt. Deuteronomy 28:47 instructed them that their refusal to serve God would mean they would serve their enemies. They would have a yoke of iron on their necks until they are destroyed. 

They would be held in derision by Egypt, which is symbolic of the nations Israel pursued for protection instead of God. 

Takeaways

God does not lose track of the unbeliever’s sin; there will be judgment. (Hebrews 9:27; Revelation 20:11-15)

When we turn away from God, we turn to all kinds of unhelpful things.

The church cannot make unholy alliances.