FRAMEWORKS:
Hosea 13: Causes
of an Inevitable Judgment
[Preliminary
Comment: The chapter is predominantly one of
severe warnings but with echoes of the previous chapter with some
appeals to the past. A powerful nation, they foolishly turned
to idols [v.1] more and more [v.2]. Because of this a judgment
will come that will speedily sweep them away [v.3].
The
Lord has been with them from the beginning [v.4] so they should
have no other God. He had cared for them [v.5] and provided for
them [v.6] but in their affluence [implied] they became proud.
So now He'll come with frightening power [v.7,8] and even though
they think they can stand against Him, they can't [v.9] even though
they trust their king to protect them, he won't [v.10] because
God will remove him [v.11]. Their sins have been recorded [v.12]
and when judgment comes they won't have the sense to realise repentance
is the way out [v.13]. The word of hope is that God will not utterly
obliterate them [v.14] but the invader WILL come [v.15] and many
will fall by the sword [v.16]. Warning after warning through picture
after picture. No excuses.]
v.1
Israel had been powerful but gave way to [unnecessary] idol worship
v.1
When
Ephraim spoke, people trembled;
he was exalted in Israel.
But he became guilty of Baal worship and
died.
v.2
Despite their strength they gave way more and more to idolatry
v.2
Now
they sin more and more;
they make idols for themselves from their
silver,
cleverly fashioned images,
all of them the work of craftsmen.
It is said of these people,
‘They offer human sacrifices!
They kiss calf-idols!'
v.3
So now, they will be here one minute, but gone the next
v.3
Therefore
they will be like the morning mist,
like the early dew that disappears,
like chaff swirling from a threshing-floor,
like smoke escaping through a window.
v.4
Because you've known God from the very beginning, He alone should
be yours
v.4
‘But
I have been the Lord your God
ever since you came out of Egypt.
You shall acknowledge no God but me,
no Saviour except me.
v.5
Remember how He had cared for the nation through the wilderness
v.5
I
cared for you in the wilderness,
in the land of burning heat.
v.6
Remember how He had provided – then and later – for them
v.6
When
I fed them, they were satisfied;
when they were satisfied, they became
proud;
then they forgot me.
v.7,8
So He'll have to come like a wild animal to discipline them by
destruction
v.7
So
I will be like a lion to them,
like a leopard I will lurk by the path.
v.8
Like
a bear robbed of her cubs,
I will attack them and rip them open;
like a lion I will devour them –
a wild animal will tear them apart.
v.9
So you think you can survive against me – you won't!
v.9
‘You
are destroyed, Israel,
because you are against me, against your
helper.
v.10
You think your king will save you – he won't
v.10
Where
is your king, that he may save you?
Where are your rulers in all your towns,
of whom you said,
“Give me a king and princes”?
v.11
I gave you your king and now I'll take him away
v.11
So
in my anger I gave you a king,
and in my wrath I took him away.
v.12
All your wrongs have been stockpiled, your guilt recorded
v.12
The
guilt of Ephraim is stored up,
his sins are kept on record.
v.13
You'll suffer as at childbirth but fail to realise what is happening
v.13
Pains
as of a woman in childbirth come to him,
but he is a child without wisdom;
when the time arrives,
he doesn't have the sense to come out
of the womb.
v.14
But even in all this, God will yet deliver you from total destruction
v.14
‘I
will deliver this people from the power of the grave;
I will redeem them from death.
Where, O death, are your plagues?
Where, O grave, is your destruction?
‘I
will have no compassion,
v.15
You may think you're secure, but the invader will plunder you
v.15
even
though he thrives among his brothers.
An east wind from the Lord will come,
blowing in from the desert;
his spring will fail
and his well dry up.
His storehouse will be plundered
of all its treasures.
v.16
Simply recognise your guilt when the destruction comes
v.16
The
people of Samaria must bear their guilt,
because they have rebelled against their
God.
They will fall by the sword;
their little ones will be dashed to the
ground,
their pregnant women ripped open.'
Continue
to Chapter 14