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More Hosea commentaries
Hosea 7:1-16
The Heartlessness of The People
Hosea 8:1-14
Israel Rejects The Lord
Hosea 9:1-17
Israel Will Be Punished
Hosea 10:1-15
The Lord Promises to Punish Israel
Hosea 11:1-12
God’s Continuing Love For Israel
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The Lord Promises to Punish Israel
Hosea 10:1–15
» View this passage in NIV (Bible Gateway)
Satan promises the best, but pays with the worst; He promises honor and pays with disgrace; He promises pleasure and pays with pain; He promises profit and pays with loss; He promises life and pays with death. (Donnie Martin - Sermon Central) … More
Israel prospered under King Jeroboam’s leadership by gaining military and economic strength. However the more prosperous the nation became the more they used their income for building more altars for idol worship (v.1). It is often the same today. More wealth means more worship of things and less worship of God. It seems that the more God gives to us, the more we spend on our idols. We want bigger houses, better cars and more clothes. It was Hosea’s responsibility to inform his people that their guilt would be discovered and their altars of shame would be broken down (v. 2).
God was angry with the people of Israel for their insincere promises (v. 4). While judgment was tightening its grip on Samaria, her first concern was for the capture of the calf of Beth-aven (v. 5). Beth-aven means “house of wickedness” and it refers to where false worship took place. With her God in the hands of the enemy, “Ephraim shall receive shame” (v. 6). Finally it seems that she realizes her error in heading the council of Jeroboam to establish calf worship at Bethel (I Kings 12:29). From this Israel would learn that she is powerless. Hosea states that Israel’s failure to listen to the warnings of God will result in her being cut off and becoming like a stick floundering helplessly at the mercy of the tides (v. 7). God’s judgement will create a state of terror in which the people of Israel will cry out for the mountains to cover them, and for the hills to fall upon them (v. 8). The only thing that can prevent God’s judgement from falling is repentance. Israel however, did not seek the Lord and consequently, reaped destruction when Shalmaneser devastated it (vv. 14-15).Application
Am I remaining true to my promises to other people and to God? I need to be careful about the promises I make. I should never make a promise unless I’m sure I can keep it.
Hosea 10:1-15 (English Standard Version)
Israel is a luxuriant vine that yields its fruit. The more his fruit increased, the more altars he built; as his country improved, he improved his pillars. Their heart is false; now they must bear their guilt. The LORD will break down their altars and destroy their pillars. For now they will say: "We have no king, for we do not fear the LORD; and a king--what could he do for us?" They utter mere words; with empty oaths they make covenants; so judgment springs up like poisonous weeds in the furrows of the field. The inhabitants of Samaria tremble for the calf of Beth-aven. Its people mourn for it, and so do its idolatrous priests-- those who rejoiced over it and over its glory-- for it has departed from them. The thing itself shall be carried to Assyria as tribute to the great king. Ephraim shall be put to shame, and Israel shall be ashamed of his idol. Samaria's king shall perish like a twig on the face of the waters. The high places of Aven, the sin of Israel, shall be destroyed. Thorn and thistle shall grow up on their altars, and they shall say to the mountains, "Cover us," and to the hills, "Fall on us." From the days of Gibeah, you have sinned, O Israel; there they have continued. Shall not the war against the unjust overtake them in Gibeah? When I please, I will discipline them, and nations shall be gathered against them when they are bound up for their double iniquity. Ephraim was a trained calf that loved to thresh, and I spared her fair neck; but I will put Ephraim to the yoke; Judah must plow; Jacob must harrow for himself. Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap steadfast love; break up your fallow ground, for it is the time to seek the LORD, that he may come and rain righteousness upon you. You have plowed iniquity; you have reaped injustice; you have eaten the fruit of lies. Because you have trusted in your own way and in the multitude of your warriors, therefore the tumult of war shall arise among your people, and all your fortresses shall be destroyed, as Shalman destroyed Beth-arbel on the day of battle; mothers were dashed in pieces with their children. Thus it shall be done to you, O Bethel, because of your great evil. At dawn the king of Israel shall be utterly cut off.
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