Hosea 7:1-16
1 "When I would have healed Israel,
Then the iniquity of Ephraim was uncovered,
And the wickedness of Samaria.
For they have committed fraud;
A thief comes in;
A band of robbers takes spoil outside.
2 They do not consider in their hearts
That I remember all their wickedness;
Now their own deeds have surrounded them;
They are before My face.
3 They make a king glad with their wickedness,
And princes with their lies.
4 "They are all adulterers.
Like an oven heated by a baker—
He ceases stirring the fire after kneading the dough,
Until it is leavened.
5 In the day of our king
Princes have made him sick, inflamed with wine;
He stretched out his hand with scoffers.
6 They prepare their heart like an oven,
While they lie in wait;
Their baker sleeps all night;
In the morning it burns like a flaming fire.
7 They are all hot, like an oven,
And have devoured their judges;
All their kings have fallen.
None among them calls upon Me.
8 "Ephraim has mixed himself among the peoples;
Ephraim is a cake unturned.
9 Aliens have devoured his strength,
But he does not know it;
Yes, gray hairs are here and there on him,
Yet he does not know it.
10 And the pride of Israel testifies to his face,
But they do not return to the LORD their God,
Nor seek Him for all this.
11 "Ephraim also is like a silly dove, without sense—
They call to Egypt,
They go to Assyria.
12 Wherever they go, I will spread My net on them;
I will bring them down like birds of the air;
I will chastise them
According to what their congregation has heard.
13 "Woe to them, for they have fled from Me!
Destruction to them,
Because they have transgressed against Me!
Though I redeemed them,
Yet they have spoken lies against Me.
14 They did not cry out to Me with their heart
When they wailed upon their beds.
"They assemble together for grain and new wine,
They rebel against Me;
15 Though I disciplined and strengthened their arms,
Yet they devise evil against Me;
16 They return, but not to the Most High;
They are like a treacherous bow.
Their princes shall fall by the sword
For the cursings of their tongue.
This shall be their derision in the land of Egypt.
God’s people had His word spoken to them but refused to consider their sin to confess it and turn to call on Him for forgiveness through repentance of heart and deed. When thieves of idolatry and immortality from the godless around them came in to steal and defraud them of their holiness in the LORD, they allowed it and pretended that God did not hold them accountable. Those evil actions and thoughts encompassed the people of God and they did not consider that God sees all things and that this wickedness was plain to see before His eyes. Nothing is hidden from Him (Hebrews 4:13). They pleased their leaders by following the evil which they themselves propagated instead of standing for what was right as it was written in order to obtain selfish gain of the sinful nature’s status quo. They were described as adulterers like overheated ovens not put out when the bread is done, with reckless abandon running after sin and overrunning the law of the land. This sinful nature is seen ever more in these latter days among our world of lawlessness and disregard for the things of God. Yes, just as Ephraim had mixed with the ungodly, even now some of God’s people mix sound teaching according to His word with the philosophies and acceptable practices of the world and it’s corrupt laws set in opposition to God’s word. May all such consider their ways and regard sin for what it is as they confess and turn from it (1 John 1:9) to obtain forgiveness and avoid the consequences of unrepentant sin as the example here shows us. God loves His people but still hates sin. Israel’s pride kept them from repentance and from seeking to please with fearful honor and worship. They were disciplined and so are we because He loves His own (Deuteronomy 33:3, Hebrews 12:7-8, 11). True repentance is more than feeling sorry; it means crying out to God with the heart as we lie down at night in our beds, seeking certain reconciliation as we confidently confess and forsake our wicked ways. When we then receive discipline to correct us, then we should turn to the Most High and not away from Him as the bad example here. We now have these examples to teach and warn us (Hebrews 4:11-13, 1 Corinthians 10:11-12) as a loving admonition to say no to sin and yes to Jesus. May we then who call on the name of Christ live in such a way to honor and please Him as people of His word ought to be, not compromising any of it and even exposing those who do as Ephesians 5:8-11, 15-17 teaches us. Above all things, may we do and speak these truths in love.
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