Hosea 7:8-16

ISRAEL'S INGRATITUDELOVE OF SIN

TEXT: Hosea 7:8-16

8

Ephraim, he mixeth himself among the peoples; Ephraim is a cake not turned.

9

Strangers have devoured his strength, and he knoweth it not: yea, gray hairs are here and there (sprinkled) upon him, and he knoweth it not.

10

And the price of Israel doth testify to his face: yet they have not returned unto Jehovah their God, nor sought him, for all this.

11

And Ephraim is like a silly dove, without understanding: they call unto Egypt, they go to Assyria.

12

When they shall go, I will spread my net among them; I will bring them down as the birds of the heavens; I will chastise them, as their congregation hath heard.

13

Woe onto them! for they have wandered from me; destruction unto them! for they have trespassed against me: though I would redeem them, yet they have spoken lies against me.

14

And they have not cried unto me with their heart, but they howl upon their beds: they assemble themselves for grain and new wine; they rebel against me.

15

Though I have taught and strengthened their arms, yet do they devise mischief against me.

16

They return, but not to him that is on high; they are like a deceitful bow; their princes shall fall by the sword for the rage of their tongue: this shall be their derision in the land of Egypt.

QUERIES

a.

What is the meaning of the figure, Ephraim is a cake not turned?

b.

What is the meaning of the figure, gray hairs. sprinkled upon him?

c.

What shall be their derision in the land of Egypt?

PARAPHRASE

Israel has so thoroughly absorbed the ways of the heathen he is like a cake not turnedscorched on one side and undone on the other; he is putrid and useless. This heathenish contamination has sapped Israel's intellectual and moral strength and he does not even recognize it! Yes, gray hairs or signs of decadence are everywhere apparent in Israel but the nation is unconscious of them! Jehovah is continually testifying to Israel through the prophets and judgments in nature but in spite of all this Israel has not returned to God. Israel, flitting back and forth from Egypt to Assyria for succor, is unaware of the trap they are about to fall intohe is like a silly dove when flying about in search of food, does not observe the net that is spread for it. The trap they are about to fall into will be My judgment, I will bring upon them the chastisement which has been announced by My prophets. Woe shall be upon them because they have flown away from Me. I would like to redeem them still; but they have lied to themselves and others about Me saying I cannot and will not redeem them. Oh, they cry to Me but their cries are not of faith and not from the heart. They howl upon their beds in unbelieving despair at the distress that has come upon them. They huddle together seeking through idolatry to get the corn and new wine I have withheld because their only desire is to fill their bellies. They have utterly rebelled against Me. I have, many times over, tried to deliver them, but whatever I did Israel continued to scheme and plan to bring dishonor to My name. Oh, they return, but not to God on high. They are constantly changing and turning from one idol to another. They are like a crooked bow; no matter where it is aimed the arrow flies away from the target. Because their princes have lied about God and blasphemed His name they shall die violently. God will have them in derision because they have blasphemously placed their trust in Egypt and not in Him.

SUMMARY

The moral depravity of Israel is exposed by citing various examples of it and picturing the passion with which the people love their sin.

COMMENT

Hosea 7:8-9. EPHRAIM IS A CAKE NOT TURNED. GRAY HAIRS ARE HERE AND THERE UPON HIM, AND HE KNOWETH IT NOT. In these two verses the prophet shows, by vivid figures of speech, the extent of the moral decadence in Israel. The cake here mentioned is in Hebrew, uggah, literally, circular, was a thin pancake, to which a scorching heat was applied on one side. Israel had been separated from the nations by the Lord (Leviticus 20:24-26), to be a people dwelling alone (Numbers 23:9), in order that it might be a holy nation to serve Him. But Israel thought itself wiser than the Lord and mingled with the nations through intermarriage (Ahab and Jezebel), through cultural and economic exchanges, through political alliances, and most disastrous of all through adoption of heathen religions of idolatry. A cake not turned is burned to a crisp on one side and uncooked, putrid, on the other sideit is worse than useless, it is nauseating. This is the first figure to describe Israel's moral decadence. The second figure of speech used by Hosea pictures Israel as a man whose hair is beginning to show signs of physical decadence by the sprinkling of gray hairs appearing. The phrase, and he knoweth it not is interesting. As G. Campbell Morgan asks, Now I ask you, if any of you were unconscious when gray hairs began to appear! Such behavior is quite unnatural. Men discover gray in their hair and laugh at them, try to pull them out or dye thembut they do not ignore them for they are signs of declining strength. As tragic and stupid as this might be in the physical realm it is even more tragic and stupid in the spiritual and moral realm.

Yet it is continually true that signs of spiritual decadence, which are so patent to others, are undiscovered by ourselves. We go on, and on, and on, the victims of ebbing strength, spiritually and morally becoming degenerate, without recognizing it! We are too often blind to the signs which are self-evident to onlookers. And there is no condition more perilous to our highest well-being than being unaware of spiritual degeneration. Malachi writes of this attitude among the people even after they had suffered the captivities and been restored to the land by God, The refrain of the people in Malachi's day is Where in. They were spiritually blind to their spiritual decadence. How do men so blind themselves? By setting up false standardsby refusing to admit the validity of God's standards.

How may we overcome spiritual decay? First, of course, we must recognize it, admit it, confess it. But mere recognition and admission that gray hairs are present will not remove them. Dyeing the gray hairs of sin with a false veneer of respectability will not hide them. We must turn to God in faith and obedienceHe will remove them. He will renew our spiritual life, He will give us new birth (cf. Psalms 103:1-5; Isaiah 40:29-31); John 3:1-6; 2 Corinthians 4:16-18; 2 Corinthians 5:17, etc.). God alone is able to remove gray hairs from our spiritual and moral nature by taking away the destructive forces which are producing the moral degeneracy.

Hosea 7:10. THE PRIDE OF ISRAEL DOTH TESTIFY TO HIS FACE. How often the pride of Israel, had testified to the face of Israel. One prophet after another declared Israel's sin and God's judgment. One natural calamity after another (locust plagues, earthquakes, droughts, diseases, etc.) testified to the wrath of God upon Israel's sin. Yet for all of this they would not turn and seek the forgiveness of God (cf. Hosea 4:6 ff).

Hosea 7:11-12. EPHRAIM IS LIKE A SILLY DOVE. I WILL SPREAD MY NET UPON THEM. There is an Eastern proverb, according to Pusey, which says, There is nothing more simple than a dove. Jesus used the dove as a symbol of simplicity (Matthew 10:16), in a good sense. Hosea's figure of speech refers to Israel as having a stupid or ignorant simplicitysilly, foolish. Israel is like a silly or dumb creature distressed not knowing where to turn for relief. Israel does not know enough to turn to its God (cf. Isaiah 1:3). Israel has turned to its enemies for help! She is so silly that she turns for help to those whose sole purpose is to do her harm! Israel, flitting here and there for succor, is oblivious that she is flying right into the trap God has set for a disobedient people. God has announced before hand that He will chasten Israel by the hand of Assyria (cf. Isaiah 10:5 ff). The very nation Israel considers a source of strength will become her trap, (cf. Hosea 11:5).

Hosea 7:13 WOE TO THEM. THOUGH I WOULD REDEEM THEM. THEY HAVE SPOKEN LIES AGAINST ME. How often God would have redeemed them (cf. Isaiah 49:16; Hosea 11:1-9)! How often He did redeem them! But they continually wandered (cf. Hebrews 3:7-19). They continually lied to themselves and to one another about the nature of Jehovah. They lied to themselves by refusing to believe Jehovah would bless them in spite of their extremities. They refused to trust in the faithfulness of Jehovah toward His people, even in the face of past experience of history. So their turning to idols was living the lie that was in their hearts.

Hosea 7:14-15. THEY HOWL UPON THEIR BEDS. THEY REBEL AGAINST ME. THEY DEVISE MISCHIEF AGAINST ME. Instead of turning to Jehovah who proved Himself true and faithful and willing to save and bless, time after time, they lied to themselves and in the midst of certain distressing periods they cried and howled upon their beds in unbelieving despair. They howled to their dumb idols which could neither speak nor hear (cf. Isaiah 41:21-29; Isaiah 44:1-22). They rebelled against Jehovah by devising human or pagan ways and means of supplying the corn and wine which God had withheld from them to bring them back to Him. What they were doing, in reality, turned out to be declaring war on God's ways. The writer of Hebrews (Hebrews 3:10) attributes the failures of their ancestors to not knowing the ways of God. These Israelites of Hosea's day refused to recognize that drought, famine, etc. were God's ways of calling them back to Him. They literally assembled themselves together to devise rebellious ways to fight against the judgments of God. How presumptuous! How useless! God was trying to teach them and strengthen them morally through chastening. This is the end of all righteous disciplinemoral growth. But he who rebels against moral growth through discipline only destroys himself.

Hosea 7:16. THEY ARE LIKE A DECEITFUL BOW. Israel was changing and turning constantly but not in the right direction! She was missing the mark. She was not headed toward the goal God had set for her. She turned here and there and everywhere but not to the King of the Universe. Like a crooked bow; no matter where it is aimed the arrow flies away from the target. No matter which way Israel turned she missed the target God had set for her, because she always turned away from God's word, Because their princes have lied about God and blasphemed His name they shall die violently, God will have them in derision because they have blasphemously placed their trust in Egypt and not in Him. Any person or people who trusts in their own might or wisdom will be defeated, shamed and confused. He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord has them in derision (cf. Psalms 2:1-11).

QUIZ

1.

How dangerous is moral decadence when we are unaware of it?

2.

How can moral decadence be cured?

3.

Why was Israel like a silly dove?

4.

How did God trap Israel?

5.

How did they devise mischief against God?

6.

How was Israel like a deceitful bow?