Hosea 12:3-5

‘In the womb he took his brother by the heel, and in his manhood he had power with God, yes, he had power over the angel, and prevailed. He wept, and made supplication to him. He found him at Beth-el, and there he spoke with us, even YHWH, the God of hosts. YHWH is his memorial name.'

But it need not be so. Let them consider Jacob their ancestor. In the womb he seized Esau by the heel (and subsequently, sadly by deceit and treachery, stole his birthright and blessing), but once he reached manhood, (having to some extent been chastised for his deceit and treachery), he met with God and ‘had power with God'. This resulted in a true repentance which resulted in God finding him at Bethel where YHWH renewed His covenant with him and revealed Himself in all the fullness of His being (by His ‘memorial Name'). And as Hosea 12:6 points out, the same could be true for Ephraim/Israel now.

Note the description of YHWH as ‘the God of hosts'. He was the God of the hosts of Heaven, the God who controlled all earthly hosts, and the God Who had in the past given victory to the hosts of Israel. Thus He was the ideal One to have on your side.

So Hosea highlights three important incidents in the life of Jacob, and applies them to Israel:

· The first was when, whilst still in the womb, Jacob took his brother by the heel, the symbol of his replacing him in the line of blessing, something which sadly he achieved by deceit and treachery. It was the same attitude of heart that Israel were pursuing, except that Israel were doing it by following after idols and after earthly kings. They were eating wind and pursuing the east wind. But what they should have done was be like Jacob, eager after God and His blessing (without using Jacob's methods of obtaining the blessing).

Hosea shows no suggestion of rebuking Jacob, and does not mention his deceit. Thus the point is that Jacob was so determined to have God's blessing that he sought it forcefully right from the womb, with the implication that Ephraim/Israel/Jacob should do the same.

· The second was when, on preparing to return to the land of God's promises, Jacob met with God at Penuel. And once again he had shown the same determination to obtain God's blessing, for he had powerfully wrestled with the angel of God and had prevailed. The introduction of ‘the angel', an idea not found in the Genesis account, may simply be with the intent of bringing out that, in Hosea's view, such wrestling had to be with the angel of YHWH, a manifestation of YHWH, and not with YHWH Himself as He was in Himself (the Angel of YHWH is well evidenced elsewhere in Genesis). And it may well be that the idea had already become traditional in Israel in relation to Jacob. The implication is that Ephraim should do the same. They too should seek God and ‘wrestle' with Him in repentance and supplication.

‘He wept, and made supplication to him.' Hosea may have intended us to see that this happened at Penuel, in which case the weeping was a thought added by him in order to be more descriptive, probably because he wanted Ephraim to see the necessity for tearful repentance, or it may be that he intended us to see this as occurring subsequently to Penuel, as a precursor to the third incident which follows. Either way he is clearly desirous of emphasising the need for Ephraim to mourn over their sin and earnestly seeking YHWH.

· The third incident occurred after Jacob had entered the land. ‘He found him at Beth-el, and there he spoke with us, even YHWH, the God of hosts. YHWH is his memorial name.' The first ‘he' could be referring to God as subject, or it could be referring to Jacob. In view of the purpose of the illustration (to stress Jacob's taking of the initiative) the latter is probably the case. On the other hand in Genesis 25 it was very much God Who took the initiative. But either way the important fact was that at Bethel God had spoken to ‘us' (incipient Israel) and had revealed Himself as YHWH the God of Hosts, with an emphasis on YHWH (He will be) as a significant title indicating Him as the One Who will be whatever He wants to be, the One Who has all power to accomplish what He wishes. And in the same context what God wanted was that Jacob's descendants would inherit the land, the very thing that Israel was now about to forfeit. It was a final appeal to current Israel to put away their false gods (especially the golden calf at Bethel) and seek YHWH in all the fullness of His Being. Then and then only could they find hope.

So the illustrations from the life of Jacob were positive (compare Hosea 2:14; Hosea 11:1; Hosea 11:3), and were a calling to a full and deep repentance, which Hosea now spells out specifically. Some try to interpret Jacob's three experiences in a negative way, but that is only made possible by ignoring what Hosea emphasises and considering things in the background which he does not emphasise.