In our study of Hosea chapter nine, we will look at how a people can be blinded by the things that they have been blessed with and miss the truth of God. In chapter 8, we saw how Israel was going through their religious rituals but had no knowledge of the Word of God.
Now, if God speaks to you in this study, you can save your own personal notes on this page. Then, every time that you look at this study, your notes will automatically be added to the page. To add a note or to display your previous notes, click on the YOUR NOTES button.
Don't rejoice, Isra'el! Don't enjoy yourselves as other peoples do; for you have gone whoring away from your God, you love being hired as a whore on every grain-floor.
Israel was looking around at their abundant crops and rejoicing in them. They saw that abundant crop (material prosperity) and assumed that God was happy with them. The prophet reminds them that they have turned their back on God the provider and so He saw them as prostitutes. The same type of thing happens today as many people are blinded by their prosperity and think that it comes from themselves and their hard work. These people do not acknowledge the hand of God in their lives and so do not worship Him. It also happens with places of worship as many will build big fancy buildings and think that God is happy with them. They will rejoice in the "blessing" of a fancy "campus" and not realize that they are drifting further and further away from the Word of God. In many cases, they turn to the banking system to finance the building and become enslaved to the mortgage. This slavery leads them to preach a message that the people want to hear so that this new building can be filled in hopes of bringing in enough money to pay the mortgage. Like the church in Sardis (see Revelation 3), they have a reputation of being alive in Christ but in reality they are dead spiritually.
Threshing-floor and winepress won't feed them, and new wine will disappoint her. They won't remain in the land of ADONAI; instead, Efrayim will return to Egypt, and they will eat unclean food in Ashur. They will not pour out wine offerings to ADONAI; they will not be pleasing to him. Their sacrifices will be for them like mourners' food everyone eating it will be polluted. For their food will be merely to satisfy their appetite; it will not come into the house of ADONAI. What will you do at a designated time, on a day which is a festival for ADONAI?
Because they have turned their back on God their provider, the prophet tells of a famine that is coming. This famine caused Israel to go to surrounding countries for food. This unclean food could not be used for sacrifices or worship.
For suppose they escape the destruction - Egypt will round them up, Memphis will bury them. And their precious treasures of silver? Nettles will possess them, thorns will be in their tents.
In trying to escape the correction of God, the people would run back into slavery in Egypt. They did not understand that no man can provide for you as God is the great provider. The same type of thing can happen in our lives if we lose sight of the fact that God is our provider. We can end up being slaves to one or more jobs in hopes of being able to buy the latest and greatest gadget.
The days of punishment have come, the days of retribution are here, and Isra'el knows it. [Yet they cry,] "The prophet is a fool, the man of the spirit has gone crazy!" Because your iniquity is so great, the hostility [against you] is great.
God had sent the prophets to warn His people and to call them to repentance but they were treated as fools and ignored. The same type of thing happens today when someone tries to tell people about the fact that God is going to bring judgment. The man or woman that attempts to tell people that Jesus is coming again soon will be treated like a religious nut.
The watchman of Efrayim is with my God, but a prophet has a fowler's snare set on all his paths and hostility even in the house of his God. They have deeply corrupted themselves, as in the days of Giv'ah. He will remember their guilt, and he will punish their sins.
The days of Gibeah speaks of a time of great lawlessness in Israel. In Judges 19, we see the account of what happened in Gibeah. The nation had no leadership and so they sank into the depths of depravity just as it was with Sodom and Gomorrah. The prophet warns them that they are in the same condition as that dark day in Israel's history. The same could be said of our world today as many of the sins that happened in Gibeah are happening today and leaders are even making it legal.
"When I found Isra'el, it was like finding grapes in the desert; when I saw your ancestors, it was like seeing a fig tree's first figs in its first season. But as soon as they came to Ba'al-P'or, they dedicated themselves to something shameful; they became as loathsome as the thing they loved.
God saw the promising future of His chosen people and it was good. But, they turned to idolatry and became as worthless as the idol that they worshiped. Just like the Israelites, God sees the promising future of all of us and He is calling us to that future that is in His perfect will. Also like the Israelites, we have a choice of whether to cling to Jesus or to bow to all the false idols around us.
The glory of Efrayim will fly away like a bird - no birth, no pregnancy, no conception. Even if they raise their children, I will destroy them till none is left - and woe to them when I leave them, too!" Efrayim, as I see it, is like Tzor, planted in a pleasant place; but Efrayim will bring out his children to the slaughterer.
God saw their promising future and yet they threw it away with their idolatry. While they look around themselves and see their prosperity, God warns them that it will all be gone even to the blessings of having children. He goes on to explain that they cannot blame the situation on their surroundings as they were "planted in a pleasant place". Their hearts led them into idolatry and their kids were going to pay for it. This is a reminder to us, today, that our actions towards God have a big impact on the lives of our children. It is easy to look around and criticize the younger generation but we have to remember that they are a reflection of our spiritual health as a people. Much like the people of the prophet's day, we have become blinded by our prosperity.
ADONAI, give them - what will you give? Give them wombs that miscarry and dried-up breasts!
The prophet makes it clear that this lack of children is from God and not some natural ebb in the birth rate.
"All their wickedness was already there in Gilgal; that's where I came to hate them. Because of the wickedness of their deeds I will expel them from my house, I will love them no more; all their leaders are rebels. Efrayim has been struck down, their root has been dried up, they will bear no fruit. Even if they do give birth, I will kill their cherished offspring."
What happened at Gilgal that was so bad? That is the place where Saul was made the king of Israel. That does not sound too bad to us but, in fact, they had God as their king but wanted a man to serve as king just like the nations around them. This began what would be a very long string of leaders that drew the people deeper and deeper into idolatry. We might wonder how they could have done such a thing as they had God as their leader but wanted a man instead. The simple fact is that we do the same thing in many ways today. Instead of listening and following God through the Holy Spirit, many compromise to fit in with the crowds around them just as Israel did with the nations.
My God will cast them aside, because they wouldn't listen to him, and they will become wanderers among the Goyim.
What is the penalty for their disobedience? The penalty is the same as it was for Cain (see Genesis 4) and that is to be "wanderers". A wanderer brings to mind the image of a child that has strayed from the safety and direction of their parents and so is at the mercy of the world around them. Cain had ignored the direction of God and Israel had gotten to the point where they could not even see the direction of God as they were blinded by their prosperity. The same principle applies to our walk with Christ. If we become blinded by our prosperity and wander from His direction, then, we are at the mercy of the world around us. If we stay focused on His leading and listen to the Counselor that He gave us, we will stay in the safety that He provides.
Read about what we do with the data we gather and the rules you agree to by using this website in our privacy policy.