Hosea 2:9-13

ISRAEL'S INGRATITUDESHAME REVEALED

TEXT: Hosea 2:9-13

9

Therefore will I take back my grain in the time thereof, and my new wine in the season thereof, and will pluck away my wool and my flax which should have covered her nakedness.

10

And now will I uncover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and none shall deliver her out of my hand.

11

I will also cause all her mirth to cease, her feasts, her new moons, and her sabbaths, and all her solemn assemblies.

12

And I will lay waste her vines and her fig-trees, whereof she hath said, These are my hire that my lovers have given me; and I will make them a forest, and the beasts of the field shall eat them.

13

And I will visit upon her the days of the Baalim, unto which she burned incense, when she decked herself with her earrings and her jewels, and went after her lovers, and forgot me, saith Jehovah.

QUERIES

a.

How will Jehovah uncover the lewdness of Israel?

b.

How would Israel's vines and fig-trees become a forest?

c.

Who is the Baalim?

PARAPHRASE

And so, because Israel refused to acknowledge Me as Giver of all her abundance, I will more clearly manifest Myself as Giver by taking away my grain and my wool and my flax just at the time when men feel quite sure of harvesting it. This abundance which I gave her is the only thing that kept her from utter destitution and complete barness. Now when I take away the veneer of material prosperity I will expose her to disgrace, miserableness and shame before her idol-paramours and none of her idols shall deliver her from this disgrace which I bring upon her. I, Jehovah, will stop all the feasts, holy seasons and sabbaths from which she gets such joy and festiveness. I will take all her vines and fig-trees, from which she gets her delicacies, which she says are blessings gained from worshipping idols, and unattended and uncultivated they shall become like forests where the beasts of the field roam and graze. Inasmuch as she claimed to be wise she became a fool and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man or birds or animals or reptiles, therefore I will give her up in the lusts of her heart to the consequences of the life of sin she has lived in worshipping and serving the Baals. She dressed and groomed herself immodestly and consorted promiscuously with these idols and spurned My love.

SUMMARY

Because Israel has not regarded the material blessings she received as gifts of Jehovah God, and has not used them for His glory, Jehovah will take them away and her folly in worshipping idols will be exposed; she will be disgraced before her false gods.

COMMENT

Hosea 2:9 THEREFORE WILL I TAKE BACK MY GRAIN IN THE TIME THEREOF. Just at the time when they would expect to normally reap the regular harvest of grain, wool and flex, God would take it away. At this time the absence of the crops would be all the more significant and striking and thus more clearly the work of Jehovah. K & D say, If God suddenly takes away the gifts then, not only is the loss more painfully felt, but regarded as a punishment far more than when they have been prepared beforehand for a bad harvest by the failure of the crop. Since they did not acknowledge Him as Giver when He gave these crops, He will manifest Himself more clearly as such in taking them away! Their material prosperity was a thin veneer covering up the shame and disgrace in which the nation was actually engaged at this time. Take away the material prosperity and what is leftnothing but decadence, weakness, folly. There is no moral fibre in the nation; there is no truth or justice. So, when God takes away the outward appearance of well-being which covers her nakedness, her shame will be exposed.

Hosea 2:10. I WILL UNCOVER HER LEWDNESS IN THE SIGHT OF HER LOVERS. The hypocrisy, weakness, decadence will be fully exposed even to her lovers. The word translated lewdness means literally, wicked folly or sexual depravity. As soon as God strips the veil of prosperity off their sin, and her folly is apparent, even her lovers will despise her. Her lovers are the heathen gods (idols) she worshipped. We wonder why Hosea personifies an idol as a lover. An idol may be loved, but does an idol love? If not, to what purpose is the uncovering of Israel's lewdness in the sight of her lovers? Could it be that Israel's folly or lewdness will be exposed to the demon-spirits who are persons associated with idols (cf. 1 Corinthians 10:18-22)? When one worships an idol there is more involved than doing obeisance to a piece of wood or stone! Idol worship (it makes no difference what the idol may be; whether an object or a philosophy), involves worshipping the god of this world, Satan and his demonic hosts! Yes, Israel, stripped of her false power and wealth, brought low, will be despised even by the Devil and his demons whom they formerly worshipped and trusted! Some commentators believe her lovers to be heathen nations with whom she made alliances (esp. Assyria),

Hosea 2:11 I WILL ALSO CAUSE ALL HER MIRTH TO CEASE, HER FEASTS. NEW MOONS. SABBATHS. SOLEMN ASSEMBLIES, It appears that even though Israel worshipped idols she still retained the outward formalities of Jehovistic worship such as feasts, new moons and sabbaths. Even while disobeying God they kept enough of the outward forms to soothe their consciences. Evidently they regarded these days and kept them in a very festive, merry-making, mood. God will cause all this revelry and merry-making to cease. There will be no more such gatherings for sensual indulgence.

Hosea 2:12. I WILL LAY WASTE HER VINES AND FIG-TREES. AND. MAKE THEM A FOREST. The vine and the fig-tree are the finest productions of Canaan and afford the choicest delicacies (cf. Joel 1:7-12). Israel's paths to superficial pleasure must be barricaded; her diversionary interests must be obscured; the objects of her indulgences must be removed. Her own stupidity will mock her in her remorse. That which she said were payments from her idols for the worship and adoration she accorded them, God would make desolate and ruined. Her vineyards and fig-tree orchards would be left unattended after the captivity and become overgrown with brush and weeds like a forest and the beasts of the field would tramp through them grazing.

Hosea 2:13 AND I WILL VISIT UPON HER THE DAYS OF THE BAALIM, UNTO WHICH SHE BURNED INCENSE. Baalim is the plural of Baal. There were many Baals; Baal-berith, Lord of covenants or oaths; Baal-zebub, Lord of flies; Baal-Peor, Lord of sin. In our Paraphrase we used phrasing from the first chapter of Romans because we feel this is what Hosea means. The Israelites had so joined themselves to these idols, they became like them. Hosea specifically says so in Hosea 9:10, But they came to Baal-peor and consecrated themselves to Baal, and became detestable like the thing they loved. When man, by the exercise of his own free will, refuses to have God in his knowledge and exchanges the truth of God for a lie and worships the creature rather than the Creator, God can do nothing else but give man up to serve these evil passions and natures. Paul wrote that when men take pleasure in unrighteousness and have no love for the truth, God sends them a strong delusion, that they may believe a lie, if that is what they want (2 Thessalonians 2:10-12). The very evil, wickedness, depravity and foolishness which was represented by the Baalim they worshipped would be visited upon them in all its foulness and ugliness and self-destructiveness! Such was the actual case of both Israel (in 721 B.C.) and Judah (in 586 B.C.). Anarchy, treason, murder, theivery, crimes of sexual passion were rampant in the last days of these two nations (and in many nations since). If a nation or a people sows the wind, they shall reap the whirlwind! If a nation plays with fire it will get burned! In Jeremiah's day society was so corrupt one could not trust his neighbor, his brother, not even those of his own household (cf. Jer. 9:36; Jeremiah 20:10). Let every nation and every individual beware of the vicious circle of ignorance of God which leads to sin and depravity which in turn leads to deeper darkness and ignorance and then to deeper sin! Only if we fellowship (share) with God and the Light which He alone gives may we be freed from falsehood and sin (cf. John 8:12-38; 1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:1-11).

QUIZ

1.

What bearing would the time of God's withdrawal of crops have on Israel?

2.

Who were the lovers of Israel?

3.

What connection does Israel's mirth have to her feasts, sabbaths?

4.

How important were vines and fig-trees to Israel?

5.

In what way did God visit upon Israel the days of the Baalim?