Hosea 10:1-15
1 Israel is an empty vine, he bringeth forth fruit unto himself: according to the multitude of his fruit he hath increased the altars; according to the goodness of his land they have made goodly images.
2 Their hearta is divided; now shall they be found faulty: he shall break down their altars, he shall spoil their images.
3 For now they shall say, We have no king, because we feared not the LORD; what then should a king do to us?
4 They have spoken words, swearing falsely in making a covenant: thus judgment springeth up as hemlock in the furrows of the field.
5 The inhabitants of Samaria shall fear because of the calves of Bethaven: for the people thereof shall mourn over it, and the priestsb thereof that rejoiced on it, for the glory thereof, because it is departed from it.
6 It shall be also carried unto Assyria for a present to king Jareb: Ephraim shall receive shame, and Israel shall be ashamed of his own counsel.
7 As for Samaria, her king is cut off as the foam upon the water.c
8 The high places also of Aven, the sin of Israel, shall be destroyed: the thorn and the thistle shall come up on their altars; and they shall say to the mountains, Cover us; and to the hills, Fall on us.
9 O Israel, thou hast sinned from the days of Gibeah: there they stood: the battle in Gibeah against the children of iniquity did not overtake them.
10 It is in my desire that I should chastise them; and the people shall be gathered against them, when they shall bind themselves in their two furrows.
11 And Ephraim is as an heifer that is taught, and loveth to tread out the corn; but I passed over upon her fair neck: I will make Ephraim to ride; Judah shall plow, and Jacob shall break his clods.
12 Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.
13 Ye have plowed wickedness, ye have reaped iniquity; ye have eaten the fruit of lies: because thou didst trust in thy way, in the multitude of thy mighty men.
14 Therefore shall a tumult arise among thy people, and all thy fortresses shall be spoiled, as Shalman spoiled Betharbel in the day of battle: the mother was dashed in pieces upon her children.
15 So shall Bethel do unto you because of your great wickedness: in a morning shall the king of Israel utterly be cut off.
5. ONCE MORE: PUPPET-KINGS AND PUPPET-GODS
For another section, the tenth chapter, the prophet returns to the twin targets of his scorn: the idols and the puppet-kings. But few notes are needed. Observe the reiterated connection between the fertility of the land and the idolatry of the people.
"A wanton vine is Israel; he lavishes his fruit; the more his fruit, the more he made his altars; the goodlier his land, the more goodly he made his macceboth, or sacred pillars. False is the heart of them: now must they atone for it. He shall break the neck of their altars; He shall ruin their pillars. For already they are saying, No king have we, for we have not feared Jehovah, and the king-what could he do for us? Speaking of words, swearing of false oaths, making of bargains-till law breaks out like weeds in the furrows of the field."
"For the Calf of Beth-Aven the inhabitants of Samaria shall be anxious: yea, mourn for him shall his people, and his priestlings shall writhe for him - for his glory that it is banished from him." In these days of heavy tribute shall the gold of the golden calf be safe? "Yea, himself shall they pack to Assyria; he shall be offered as tribute to King Pick-Quarrel. Ephraim shall take disgrace, and Israel be ashamed because of his counsel. Undone Samaria! Her king like chip on the face of the waters!" This may refer to one of the revolutions in which the king was murdered. But it seems more appropriate to the final catastrophe of 724-21: the fall of the kingdom, and the king's banishment to Assyria. If the latter, the verse has been inserted; but the following verse would lead us to take these disasters as still future. "And the high places of idolatry shall be destroyed, the sin of Israel; thorn and thistle shall come up on their altars. And they shall say to the mountains, Cover us, and to the hills, Fall on us." It cannot be too often repeated: these handmade gods, these chips of kings, shall be swept away together.
Once more the prophet returns to the ancient origins of Israel's present sins, and once more to their shirking of the discipline necessary for spiritual results, but only that he may lead up as before to the inevitable doom. "From the days of Gibeah thou hast sinned, O Israel. There have they remained"-never progressed beyond their position there-"and this without war overtaking them in Gibeah against the dastards. As soon as I please, I can chastise them, and peoples shall be gathered against them in chastisement for their double sin." This can scarcely be, as some suggest, the two calves at Bethel and Dan. More probably it is still the idols and the man-made kings. Now he returns to the ambition of the people for spiritual results without a spiritual discipline.
"And Ephraim is a broken-in heifer, that loveth to thresh. But I have come on her fair neck. I will yoke Ephraim; Judah must plough; Jacob must harrow for himself. It is all very well for the unmuzzled beast," Deuteronomy 25:4; 1 Corinthians 9:9; 1 Timothy 5:18 to love the threshing, but harder and unrewarded labors of ploughing and harrowing have to come before the floor be heaped with sheaves. Israel must not expect religious festival without religious discipline. "Sow for yourselves righteousness; then shall ye reap the fruit of God's leal love. Break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek Jehovah, till He come and shower salvation upon you. Ye have ploughed wickedness; disaster have ye reaped: ye have eaten the fruit of falsehood; for thou didst trust in thy chariots, in the multitude of thy warriors. For the tumult of war shall arise among thy tribes, and all thy fenced cities shall be ruined, as Salman beat to ruin Beth-Arbel in the day of war: the mother shall be broken on the children"-presumably the land shall fall with the falling of her cities. "Thus shall I do to you, O house of Israel, because of the evil of your evil: soon shall the king of Israel be undone-undone."
The political decay of Israel, then, so deeply figured in all these Chapter s, must end in utter collapse. Let us sum up the gradual features of this decay: the substance of the people scattered abroad; the national spirit dissipated; the national prestige humbled; the kings mere puppets; the prophets corrupted; the national vigor sapped by impurity; the idolatry conscious of its impotence.