Hosea 12

Ephraim’s Many Sins Recounted (Hosea 11:12 to Hosea 13:16) Our chapter division between eleven and twelve is unfortunate. The new lesson begins at (Hosea 11:12) as in the Hebrew Bible. The twelfth chapter is devoted to a catalogue of the nation’ s sins which demonstrate that her coming judgment is justly deserved.

The prophet sees God standing among his people. Everywhere he looks He sees lies. To “ compass” means to encircle. The problem was not unique to Hosea’ s day. The Psalmist said in his haste that “ all men are liars” (Psalms 116:11). The latter prophets continually rebuked the citizens of Judah for lying. Hosea 11:12 b in the ASV says that Judah “ is yet faithful with the Holy One.” They stood in contrast to apostate Israel. However, the footnote reads, “ Judah is yet unstedfast with God.” The Amplified Bible agrees with the latter reading as does Cheyne, H. Haily, Keil, etc. Hosea 12:2 verifies this view.

“ Ephraim feedeth on wind and followeth the east wind” (Hosea 12:1). The east wind is Assyria. Her covenant or alliance with Assyria (2 Kings 15:17-19) would be as useful for the nation as wind would be for a starving man. They also had made alliances with Egypt (2 Kings 17:4). Such alliances with heathen nations were strictly forbidden (Deuteronomy 7:2). Israel multiplied lies in making alliances with no intention of honoring them except for her own advantage.

God’ s controversy was with both Judah (the Southern Kingdom) and Jacob (the Northern Kingdom) (Hosea 12:2). Jacob is used by metonymy; the father of the tribes stands for his descendants. Both nations will be punished according to their doings. In the words of Paul, what they have sown, they will reap (Galatians 6:7).

The use of the name Jacob for the Northern Kingdom in verse 2 reminds Hosea of the patriarch Jacob. He uses two illustrations to show Jacob’ s earnest desire to receive God’ s blessing. He then proceeds to show that the nation had not followed the godly example of Jacob but had taken up the ungodly practices of the heathen Canaanites.

“ In the womb (Jacob) took his brother by the heel” (Hosea 12:3). See the event recorded in (Genesis 25:23-26). This strange event was taken prophetically to mean that Jacob would supplant Esau. Jacob’ s “ high regard for the birthright and his desire to obtain it…was demonstrated in the hard bargain he drove with Esau in order to possess it” (Genesis 25:27-34).

“ In his manhood (Jacob) had power with God: yea, he had power over the angel, and prevailed; he wept and made supplication unto him: he found him at Bethel…” (Hosea 12:3 b-4). This looks back to the time which Jacob on his return from Padan-Aram, wrestled through the night with the angel of Jehovah and prevailed (Genesis 32:22-32). Jacob would not let the angel go except he bless him. Through weeping and prayer, Jacob found strength and favor with Jehovah. Hosea is urging his neighbors to follow Jacob’ s righteous example in seeking God’ s favor. It is theirs by promise if they will but claim it.

The angel with whom Jacob wrestled was said to be God (Genesis 32:28). This mysterious person is met repeatedly in the Old Testament, beginning with the appearance to Abraham at Mamre (Genesis 18:1-33). He was in the burning bush and spoke to Moses (Exodus 3:2-5). His name was I AM (Exodus 3:14). Jesus claimed that he was “ I am” (John 8:58). Paul said that it was Christ who supplied Israel’ s needs in the wilderness (1 Corinthians 10:4). Those wishing to pursue this fascinating study further should consult H. P. Lidden’ s The Divinity of Our Lord or Studies in Theology by Loraine Boettner. See also the author’ s discussion of The Angel of Jehovah in Appendix A at the conclusion of the notes on Zechariah.

There at Bethel, Jehovah revealed himself to Jacob the father of Hebrew nation (spake with us) (Hosea 12:4 b). Before God gave Moses the written message of the law, on Sinai, He spoke “ unto the fathers in the prophets by divers portions and in divers manners” (Hebrews 1:1). The fathers were expected to pass along those revealed truths to their households and those that would come after them (Genesis 18:19).

Two names of God (Hosea 12:5). “ Jehovah of hosts” literally means the God or leader of the armies of heaven (Keil, p. 148). This speaks of his power to protect his people and to deal with his enemies. “ Jehovah is his memorial name.” This statement looks back to Exodus 3:13-15. Moses was instructed to tell the Hebrews slaves in Egypt, that “ Jehovah, the God of your fathers…. Abraham….Isaac and Jacob hath sent” him unto them. God’ s name was revealed to Moses as “ I AM THAT I AM.” The footnote offers the alternative, “ I WILL BE THAT I WILL BE.” Pusey notes that, “ I AM,” expresses His unchangeableness.” Thus the unchanging God that spoke to Abraham had spoken to Moses and was now speaking to Israel through Hosea. He was reliable and dependable.

Both his demands and his blessings were the same for Hosea’ s generation as for the fathers of the nation. The words Jehovah andI AM come from the same Hebrew root word YHWH. By this sacred name Jehovah revealed himself to Israel as their covenant God. To the Hebrews, the word we pronounce “ Jehovah” was an unspeakable name. In their superstition, they feared they might mispronounce it and thus offend God. Hence when they came across the Hebrew word YHWH they would substitute the word Adonai (Lord).

At first YHWH was pronounced only in the temple precincts, but by 322 B.C., in the days of Simeon the Just, they ceased to use it altogether (Pusey, pp. 119-120). Now the correct pronunciation is lost. Our word Jehovah is derived by adding the vowels of Adonai: thus we ge YaHoWah which we anglicize to Jehovah. Given this information we cannot but smile at the Jehovah’ s Witness organization that erects its entire doctrinal system on the name Jehovah. In theological literature, the Hebrew Word YHWH is called the Tetragrammaton. By “ memorial” he is not just saying that Jehovah is his proper name, but it is the name that properly reveals his nature as the unchanging God.

The paragraph is concluded by a call to repentance “ Turn thou to thy God,” and a charge to manifest that change of heart by practicing kindness and justice towards their fellowmen. Then they must patiently wait for God to work out his good pleasure on their behalf as did father Jacob (Hosea 12:6). The concept of patiently waiting on God was a favorite idea of the psalmists and prophets (See Psalms 25:5 and Isaiah 40:31).

Hosea 12:7-14 continues the list of sins for which the nation of Israel stood condemned. By reading the lines carefully one will note the following items of wrongdoing: Deceitful business practices, Oppression, A self-righteous belief that they were above judgment, Idolatry, They had forgotten God. He calls his fellow-Hebrews “ traffickers” (Hosea 12:7). A trafficker is a “ merchant.” The word comes from the Hebrew term “ canaanite” which had a dual meaning. It was a generic name for the earlier inhabitants of the land which Israel had displaced. It also identified merchants and traders. The Hebrews felt vastly superior to their Canaanite neighbors whom they viewed as godless heathen. By using this term, Hosea consciously rebuked them by saying that they were no better than their despised heathen neighbors: The reason for this blistering charge was they use deceitful balances (scales) in their business.

Such was specifically forbidden by Moses (Leviticus 19:35-36). They readily oppressed the poor whom God had said they must protect (Exodus 22:21-23). They boasted of their ill-gotten wealth and placed their hope in it (Hosea 12:8). Solomon warned that “ he that trusteth in his riches shall fall” (Proverbs 11:28). Their foolishness is seen in their boast that no one would catch them in their crooked business dealings (Hosea 12:8). They had forgotten that Jehovah was the all-seeing God from whom nothing is hidden (Jeremiah 16:17).

Verse 9 of chapter 12 expands the thought of the unchangeable nature of their God. The same Jehovah who had delivered their fathers from Egyptian bondage and then sentenced them to forty years of wandering in the desert for their rebellion would now be forced to send the nation back into captivity (in Assyria) because of their sin. To dwell in tents as in the days of the solemn feast alludes to their method of observing the feast of tabernacles (Leviticus 23:39­43). The festival commemorated their forty years of desert wandering. The thing he threatens is captivity in the land of the Assyrians.

In Hosea 12:10 God reminds the people that their judgment was not unannounced. Through his prophets, God had frequently warned them of the dangers of disobedience (Jeremiah 7:25-26). Two cities are singled out for rebuke and judgment: Gilead on the east and Gilgal on the west of Jordan (Hosea 12:11). This implies that the coming judgment would sweep across all the land. The Amplified Bible helps to clarify vs. 11 which is obscure in our standard translations. “ If Gilead is given over to idolatry, they shall come to nought and be mere waste; If they (insult God by) sacrificing bullocks in Gilgal (on heathen altars), their altars shall be as heaps in the furrows of the fields.”

Both Gilead and Gilgal were centers for the idolatrous Baal worship. “ In the days of Pekah, King of Israel, came Tiglath-piliser, King of Assyria, and took.. ..Gilead.. ..and he carried them captive to Assyria” (2 Kings 15:29).

“ Altars are as heaps in the furrows of the field” means that their pagan altars will be reduced to rubble, like the piles of stones gathered out of the plowed fields (Hosea 12:11 b). Some take this to mean their pagan altars were as numerous as the furrows in a plowed field.

In Hosea 12:12, Hosea returns to his illustrations from the life of Jacob (See Hosea 12:2-5). Their father, Jacob, to avoid marrying one of the idolatrous women of Canaan, traveled all the way to Aram (Padan-Aram of Gen 28:2), the ancestral home of his mother, to find a righteous mate. But Jacob’ s children had eagerly embraced the corrupt paganism of their Canaanite neighbors. Jacob served as a lowly shepherd for twenty years to get a righteous wife (Genesis 31:38-41), but his heirs manifested none of his faith and conviction. The prophet speaks thus to shame them.

Moses was the prophet by which Jehovah delivered Israel from Egypt and preserved them in the wilderness (Deuteronomy 34:10-12). God had saved the Hebrews from slavery and provided their every need for the forty years of their sojourn in the wilderness. They repaid him by provoking him “ to anger most bitterly” by their rebellion and disgusting idolatry (Hosea 12:13-14 a). “ Therefore” they leave God no choice but to pour out his wrath upon them. Their guilt would be upon their own heads. They would reap what they had sown (Galatians 6:7).

Hosea Chapter TwelveVerse 1 We are grateful indeed to find a wonderful evaluation of the endless and contradictory emendations (corrections!) that scholars have presumed to make in this chapter. The following quotation from James Ward expresses exactly how this writer feels concerning the text of the Holy Bible. We shall take the liberty of quoting somewhat at length from him: Nowhere is the text of Hosea more obscure than in Hosea 12 … One impulse that comes over the commentator as he works over these lines is to re-arrange them. Few have resisted the impulse. I have pondered them all and played with new combinations of my own. In the end, I have found them all failures … The only genuine alternative to this counsel of despair is to make sense boldly of the text as it comes to us. (We say, Amen) …

Perhaps I have stared at the received text (the Masoretic text) of Hosea 12 too long and have finally seen order where none exists. Nevertheless I do see order there, in the poetic structure of the larger components if not in every line or phrase. This order becomes clearer to the reader of the Hebrew text as he finds it resisting his effort to refashion it into some other form.[1]We have stressed this remarkable insight of Ward’s, because this is a concise statement of our attitude toward all of the countless changes which modern critical scholars attempt to make in nearly any passage of the Holy Bible. None of them, nor all of them put together, affords any genuine improvement, serving only to obscure and confuse what the sacred writers wrote. It is our conviction that the duty of a faithful commentator on the Word of God is that of interpreting the text as we have received it, instead of guessing what the prophet should have written, or intended to write! The Bible makes sense as it is written, and the speculative guesses of uninspired men, who in not a few instances are evil men, afford a very poor substitute for the passages of Scriptures they presume to displace.

If, as Ward stated, this chapter of Hosea (admittedly one of the most obscure in the Bible) makes sense when studied and understood, how much more is it true of the whole Bible? Hosea 12:1“Ephraim feedeth on wind, and followeth after the east wind: he continually multiplieth lies and desolation: and they make a covenant with Assyria, and oil is carried into Egypt.“Feedeth on wind … east wind …” This is a similar metaphor to the one used earlier (Hosea 8:7), “Sowing to the wind, reaping the whirlwind.” What is clearly meant is the vanity and fruitlessness of Ephraim’s self-directed efforts to secure his safety and prosperity while pursuing a rebellious course contrary to the will of God. “Multiplieth lies and desolation …” This is more adequately explained in the next line, where the courting of both their mortal enemies at the same time is mentioned. Ephraim, in order to provide against the eventuality of an Assyrian invasion, made a covenant with Assyria, but at the same time he was trying to buy the friendship of Egypt with gifts of oil. Ward’s rendition of this verse is: “Ephraim herds a wind, chases an east wind all day. He compounds lies with violence, They make a covenant with Asshur, and oil is carried to Egypt.” This conduct on the part of Ephraim was reprehensible because, “Rather than seeking the Lord and keeping the Covenant, they were playing the game of international politics and perhaps intrigue."[2] “The outcome of Ephraim’s activity, according to the figure, is something void and empty."[3]Verse 2 “Jehovah hath also a controversy with Judah, and will punish Jacob according to his ways; according to his doings will he recompense him.“The judgment visible in these first two verses is not at all confined either to Israel or Judah, but is to fall upon Jacob, a fitting title here for both Ephraim and Judah, since Jacob was the great ancestor of both. “The prophet pronounces his judgment upon both Israel and Judah."[4]“Jehovah hath also a controversy …” “The language of Hos 12:2 is technical."[5] Just as in Hosea 4:1, Hosea is presenting the case against all Israel (both houses) in the terminology of a formal indictment and trial, a trial at which the Lord is both the prosecuting attorney and the Judge. The use of the same terminology here which was used earlier in Hosea’s lawsuit against Gomer points up the analogy. Just as Gomer was divorced and put away for adultery, a similar rejection and reduction of the status of all Israel will follow in this replay of the former scene. It will also be remembered that Gomer never returned as Hosea’s wife. “Thou shalt not be wife to any man!” (Hosea 3:3). The Word of God has no promise whatever of the old secular, fleshly, Israel again playing a historical role as Jehovah’s wife. Verse 3 “In the womb he took his brother by the heel; and in his manhood he had power with God.“The reference to Jacob in this passage seems to have been with a double purpose: (1) for demonstrating that the cunning, deceit, and guile of the Israel in Hosea’s day was in character with that of the old “heel catcher” from whom they had all descended, and (2) in order to emphasize that, with all of Jacob’s faults, he did honor the promises of God, struggled with God to receive his blessings, tenaciously fought onward against all obstacles in order to receive the blessing. “Took his brother by the heel …” This, of course, is a reference to the Genesis account of Jacob’s birth. The most amazing comment encountered on this passage is May’s denial that Hosea knew this story as recorded in Genesis![6] The inconsequential difference in details given, such as Jacob’s weeping (Hosea 12:4), or his taking his brother by the heel “in the womb” instead of after he came out, are no basis whatever for denying that here we have a solid reference to the Book of Genesis. “In his manhood he had power with God …” Some would take this as a negative statement with reference to Jacob, but the fact of God’s speaking with Jacob must be understood as desirable and complimentary to Jacob. Furthermore, the context reveals that God’s speaking to Jacob was upon behalf of all of his posterity, and not for his benefit only. See under Hosea 12:4, below. Uniting the twin purposes of the references to Jacob by Hosea in these verses, it is clear that, “The prophet urged the people to return to God as Jacob did after his spree of deception and guile."[7]“Both nations of the covenant people may have God’s mercy, if they would exercise the same zealous faith to obtain it that their progenitor, Jacob, exercised in obtaining the birthright."[8]Verse 4 “Yea, he had power over the angel, and prevailed; he wept and made supplication unto him: he found him at Bethel, and there he spake with us.““Yea, he had power over the angel …”; Genesis 32:24 has, “There wrestled a man with him”; and some have tried to make a contradiction out of this; but that very passage makes the supernatural identity of the wrestler absolutely certain. The fact of his being introduced first as “a man” is exactly in harmony with the way angels were usually introduced in the Old Testament, as for example the angels who spent the night with Lot (Genesis 19:5). Angels customarily appeared as men, their full identity being apparent afterward. Thus, Lot “entertained angels unaware” (Hebrews 13:1). Mays, whose critical comment on this passage denied the validity of Jacob’s weeping, as mentioned here, wrote: “The weeping is possibly Hosea’s embellishment; the Genesis story knows nothing of it."[9] Aside from the uncertain placement of the expression “he wept” which might very well have been Hosea’s allusion to the weeping that Jacob was said to have done upon that very same day and in connection with that very event (Genesis 33:4), the matter of Hosea’s inspiration should also be considered, making the information (if it pertains here) to be supplementary to the Genesis account. “He found him at Bethel, and there he spake with us …” Jacob’s experience at Bethel was God’s renewal of the Abrahamic covenant with Jacob; and it corresponds in all of its essential details exactly with the promise to Abraham. Here again the prior existence of Genesis, and the absolute familiarity with it on the part of both Hosea and his hearers is undeniable. It included the promise that God would give the land of Canaan to the Jews, and that in Jacob and his seed “all the families of the earth should be blessed.” The Israelites of the northern kingdom, however, had construed this promise as unconditional, whereas, in truth, it was contingent upon their fidelity to the holy Covenant God made with the people when they were brought up out of the land of Egypt. “There at Bethel, Jehovah had spoken to Jacob, and through him to his descendants."[10] “Hosea here regarded the promises of God to Jacob as made to the people of Israel, which in fact they chiefly concerned."[11] Hindley is doubtless correct in seeing the purpose of Hosea’s mention of the event at Bethel as that of reminding Israel that the true God of Israel was inseparably linked to that place, instead of the vulgar bull-gods which they were worshipping there instead of Jehovah. “It was to link Jacob’s vision at Bethel with Jehovah’s name and title,"[12] next mentioned in Hosea 12:5, below. Verse 5 “Even Jehovah, the God of hosts; Jehovah is his memorial name.“The full messages of these verses was thus summarized by Hailey: “The power of Jacob to prevail was the power of Israel of Hosea’s day if they would but avail themselves of it. The power was in the name of Jehovah, the God of hosts, and was to be laid hold upon by weeping and supplication, as in the case of Jacob."[13]“Jehovah, the God of hosts; Jehovah is his memorial name… THE NAME JEHOVAHThe sacred Hebrew Tetragrammaton, the mystic four-letter word used of the Deity, is composed of the four Hebrew consonants Y-H-W-H, usually translated “Jehovah” in the American Standard Version (Exodus 17:15). The true and original pronunciation of it has been totally and completely lost. That loss came about because the Jews took a very strict and almost fanatical view of the third commandment (Exodus 20:7), and decided not to pronounce the name at all. That way they could keep from taking God’s name in vain! This occurred about 300 B.C. When they came to that word in reading, they pronounced the word “[~‘Adonay],” meaning Lord; and thus when the Septuagint (LXX) was translated, they rendered it “Lord,” which is the rendition found in the AV.

The American Standard Version renders it Jehovah. The Tetragrammaton is derived from a root word, meaning “To be,” and is related to “I am that I am” of Exodus 3:14. The word means that God is the Absolute, the Uncaused One, holy and eternal. There are no less than ten combinations of the name Jehovah in the Old Testament. These were listed by Butler as: [~Jehovah-ropheka], “Jehovah hath healed thee” (Exodus 15:26) [~Jehovah-mequaddeshkem], “Jehovah who sanctifies you” (Exodus 31:13) [~Jehovah-tsabaoth], “Jehovah of hosts” (1 Samuel 1:3) [~Jehovah-elyon], “Jehovah Most High” (Psalms 7:17) [~Jehovah-roi], “Jehovah my Shepherd (Psalms 23:1) [~Jehovah-jireh], “The Lord will provide” (Genesis 22:14) [~Jehovah-nissi], “Jehovah is my banner” (Exodus 17:15) [~Jehovah-shalom], “Jehovah is peace” (Judges 6:24) [~Jehovah-shammah], “Jehovah is there” (Ezekiel 48:35, margin) [Jehovah-tsidkenu], “Jehovah is our righteousness” (Jeremiah 33:6; Jeremiah 33:16)[14]Hosea’s emphasis upon that holy name in this passage indicates that Israel had slipped away from any real recognition of the true God. Verse 6 “Therefore turn to thy God: keep kindness and justice, and wait for thy God continually.“Israel no longer knew God, hence the challenge here for them to turn to God. The real hope of Israel could not lie in the vulgar pagan worship of their licentious bull-gods, even at Bethel, made sacred in Hebrew memory by the place’s association with their patriarch Jacob; the real God was not what they were worshipping there. The true God was the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. “Kindness and justice …” The social results of the false worship were serious and detrimental to the life of the people; but such things had come about from their forsaking God, and no return to them could come about in any other way except by a return to Jehovah. Verse 7 “He is a trafficker, the balances of deceit are in his hand: he loveth to oppress.“Certain words in this verse are capable of other renditions. Ward rendered it, “A merchant with crooked scales, he loved to cheat."[15] The word “trafficker” is actually “a Canaanite,"[16] a word that came to mean merchant or trader, and especially a deceitful and crooked one. It was originally applied to the old Phoenicians whose reputation for deceitfulness and dishonesty was known all over the world. Homer’s Odyssey (XIV, 290,291) mentioned them, and Given thus renders one of the references to them: “A false Phoenician of insidious mind, Vers’d in vile arts, and foe to mankind."[17]Thus, the old Canaanite traders gave humanity a word, in the same sense that the Corinthians did. “To Corinthianize” meant to debauch; and “Canaanite” meant a crooked, false trader. The significance of that old word surfacing here in Hosea is that Israe! had become one in character with the vile Canaanites who preceded him in that land. The spiritual overtones of the passage are this: God had destroyed the Canaanites to permit Israel to occupy the land; now that Israel had become “Canaan,” God would displace them also. Verse 8 “And Ephraim said, Surely I have become rich, I have found me wealth: in all my labors they shall find in me no iniquity that were sin.“This is an astounding defense by Ephraim. Sure, he is as crooked as any of the old Canaanites ever were, but he got rich; that makes it right! His wickedness is not “sin,” because it works! Here is the old doctrine that the end justifies the means. There was in the crooked weights and false balances of Ephraim a brazen and arrogant denial of covenant obligations as spelled out in Leviticus 19:36; Deuteronomy 25:13; Deuteronomy 25:15, andProverbs 16:11. As a result of his violation of God’s law, Ephraim had become guilty; and all his wealth could not cleanse him of his guilt. Thus, we understand, “the second half of the verse as a rejoinder to the first part."[18]Verse 9 “But I am Jehovah thy God from the land of Egypt; I will yet again make thee to dwell in tents, as in the days of the solemn feast.““God from the land of Egypt …” has the meaning of “thy God since the days when I brought thee up out of Egypt.” It is a mistake to see in this the origin of the Covenant in Egypt or even in the wilderness. God brought up the children of Israel out of Egypt because of the Covenant already in existence and dating from the times of Abraham. The Exodus was a result of the Covenant, not the cause of it. “I will yet again make thee to dwell in tents …” This plain reference to the Feast of Tabernacles, during which the children of Israel lived in make-shift outdoor shelters as a reminder of their once great poverty, is another example of the way the Book of Genesis and the whole Pentateuch dominate every word of Hosea. Without that prior written Covenant in all its details, Hosea has no meaning whatever. What is promised here is that Israel shall again dwell in tents, not for a few days, as in the feast, but permanently. God will again reduce the nation to poverty, slavery, and deprivation, because they forgot the Lord and walked in wicked ways. Verse 10 “I have also spoken unto the prophets, and I have multiplied visions; and by the ministry of the prophets have I used similitudes.“Hailey has a concise paraphrase of this as follows: “They had no excuse for their ignorance of Jehovah, for he had spoken to them through prophets, through multiplied visions, and by the use of similitudes through which they should have learned."[19]“I have spoken unto the prophets …” In addition to the great prophet Moses, “That Prophet like unto Christ,” Calvin gave the following list of prophets who had preceded Hosea: “Abijah the Shilonite, Shemaiah, Iddo, Azariah, Hanani, Jehu, Elijah, Elisha, Micaiah, Joel, and Amos."[20]“I have used similitudes …” There were a number of acted parables of God’s Word in the Old Testament, but for sheer dramatic impact, nothing exceeds the example of Hosea himself in his relationship with Gomer, a type of the rejected Israel. Verse 11 “Is Gilead iniquity? they are altogether false; in Gilgal they sacrifice bullocks; yea, their altars are as heaps in the furrows of the field.““Gilead …” is mentioned in Hosea 6:8 and was one of the places in Israel associated with wickedness and false worship. Altars and shrines devoted to the bull-gods had been multiplied there, and this verse pronounces a judgment against them. “Is Gilead iniquity …?” This is a sarcastic question designed to say that, “Of course, Gilead IS iniquity!” “In Gilgal they sacrifice bullocks …” There was one altar where the Jews were commanded to worship God, but they had perverted that by multiplying and setting up altars all over the nation. Gilgal was especially associated with the worship of the bull-gods; see under Hosea 4:15, above. “Their altars are as heaps in the furrows of the field …” This is the judgment, uttered in the prophetic tense. It is already a fact, as much so as if it had already happened. All of those altars upon which Israel had lavished wealth and adoration would finally be nothing more than rubble that a farmer had to plow around when working his field. Verse 12 “And Jacob fled into the field of Aram, and Israel served for a wife, and for a wife he kept sheep.“This was spoken by way of reminder to Ephraim who now styled himself as a rich man, that he was, in fact, descended from a man who was a servant, not much better off than a slave, in Padan-Aram, where he served his uncle Laban for fourteen years for his wife. With an experience like that in his great ancestor, Ephraim should have been willing to acknowledge the providence of God in his temporary prosperity. “The tending of cattle was one of the hardest and lowest descriptions of servitude."[21]Verse 13 “And by a prophet Jehovah brought Israel up out of Egypt, and by a prophet was he preserved.“The intervention of God had made all the difference in the history of Jacob’s posterity. Their whole nation was hopelessly locked in the most galling slavery, but God, through Moses, intervened, visited his wrath upon the Egyptians, smote their nation with and with a high hand led the people out of into liberty and independence. “And by a prophet was he preserved …” Furthermore, the prophetic arm had guided and protected Israel throughout the period of their wilderness wanderings, providentially aided them in driving out the Canaanites, defended them against their enemies, preserved and watched over them continually, all of this contrasting with the state of slavery in which both Jacob and the entire nation had once been submerged. As a result of all that providential interference upon his behalf, Ephraim was lifted up with pride against his God, glorifying himself, boasting of his riches, forgetting God altogether, and lavishing his favors upon his false gods and even upon his enemies! The blow of eternal justice was poised to fall, and fall it did! “Ephraim had rejected the hand that led him and fed him; it was the sheep deserting the shepherd, the wife the husband, the child the father, and such opposition could not go unpunished."[22]Verse 14 “Ephraim hath provoked to anger most bitterly: therefore shall his blood be left upon him, and his reproach shall his Lord return unto him.“If God’s people today are to avoid the error of Ephraim, they must have regard, not only to the grace and mercy of the Lord, but also to the fact, “Of God’s demands upon the covenant community."[23] Nobody ever trusted any more completely in God’s promises than did Ephraim; but he made the mistake of supposing that they were unconditional, a mistake exactly like that of people today who fancy that they are “saved by faith alone.” Ask Ephraim! God had promised Ephraim that he would give the land of Canaan (Genesis 30:13-15) to them; and Ephraim, like the Pharisees long afterward, concluded that this promise on God’s part was theirs, no matter what they did, how they lived, or anything else! He was operating by faith alone, and it did not work. You say, “but that was not real faith!” Of course, it was not, and neither is it when people presume to be saved without obeying the gospel, without being baptized, without belonging to the church, without taking the Lord’s Supper, without anything else, really, just their so-called “faith.” Polkinghorne summarized the terse sentence of judgment pronounced in this verse thus: Hosea 12:14 gives the final verdict on Israel from the patriarchal period onward. His severe provocation of the Lord necessitates the death penalty, which it is not proposed to waive. Only here does Hosea use the Hebrew word for “Lord,” “[‘Adonay],” as distinct from [~YHWH].[24]

Hosea 12:1

Hosea 12:1, Ephraim (Israel) feedeth on wind denotes that he is interested in that which is without substance. East -wind is an allusion to the wind that blows off of the desert of Arabia called a simoon. Webster defines this word, “ A hot, dry, violent wind laden with dust, that blowB occasionally In Arabia, Syria, etc,” This wind would hence be of no value, but would be in-jurious. It is used figuratively, to denote the evil nature of the manner of life that the people of God were following. The literal instance of this sinful conduct was the traffic which was carried on by Israel with Assyria and Egypt.

Hosea 12:2

Hosea 12:2. It has been stated that most of this book is about the affairs of the 10-tribe kingdom (Israeli, but some verses are written concerning Judah, the 2-tribe kingdom. So here it is stated that the Lord had a controversy (accusation) with Judah. Jacob is a more general term and applies to the descendants of that patriarch. In spite of the advantage of observation on the conduct of Israel, these descendants of Jacob who formed the 2-tribe kingdom of Judah finally were wrong also.

Hosea 12:3

Hosea 12:3. This verse specifies some of the indications of Jacob’ s special favors. The action of the infant while in the mother’s womb was necessarily a miraculous one, and was caused by the Lord, in keeping with His prediction in Genesis 25:23. The assertion is made that it was by the power of God, and that power will be further explained in the next verse.

Hosea 12:4

Hosea 12:4. The power referred to in the preceding verse is recorded in Genesis 32:25. As long as the angel conducted his wrestling as ‘‘ a man,” he was unable to prevail against Jacob: and only when he employed his supernatural talent as an angel, did he succeed in the contest. The events of this verse are not chronological, for the wrestling with the angel took place many years after the night at Bethel. At that time the people of Judah were In existence only in the loins of Jacob, but the things said and done were regarded as pertaining to the interests of said people, lienee the word us with which tie verse closes.

Hosea 12:5

Hosea 12:5. Hosts means an army, especially the army of heaven, Lord is his memorial denotes that the holy name is that by which He is to be remembered.

Hosea 12:6

Hosea 12:6. The exhortation given had special application to the leaders or princes of the nation who were cruel to the common people, and who denied them their just rights in matters of controversy.

Hosea 12:7

Hosea 12:7. Merchant is from KENAAN and Strong defines it, “Kenaan, a son of Ham; also the country inhabited by him.” The thought of the verse is an accusation that the people of the land had become deceitful, especially their leaders.

Hosea 12:8

Hosea 12:8. Ephraim (Israel) had become prosperous, and it caused him to be vain and rebellious. (See Deuteronomy 32:15.) It was bad enough for Israel to become disobedient in his prosperity, but he even used his condition as a basis for denying that he had any guilt.

Hosea 12:9

Hosea 12:9. From the land of Egypt. God has always existed, but Israel as a people first knew Him at the time they left Egypt. At the time they left that country they had to begin living in tents, and the fact was commemorated by a special feast designated by the name. Yet make thee to dwell in taber-nacles is a prediction Of the return from the captivity, at which time they were to resume their festivities of services towards the Lord. (See Nehe- miah 8: 17.)

Hosea 12:10

Hosea 12:10. These various methods of communicating with His people are referred to in Hebrews 1:1. The present purpose of mentioning this is for a reminder that the people of the land of Canaan were without excuse in their unlawful conduct. Also, when the calamity of exile comes against them, they will have no ground of complaint as if they had been taken unawares.

Hosea 12:11

Hosea 12:11. This verse is a general statement of the national corruptions of ilie people of God- Oilead was a large area in the vicinity of Palestine that was supposed to produce healing articles; but it had become tinctured with the germs of a false religion. They are vanity means that all of the devotions to false gods would prove to be empty of any value. The emptiness of the Idol worship la likened to the demolished condition of an altar whose sLones have been scattered over the ground.

Hosea 12:12

Hosea 12:12. We know that Jacob went into the country far beyond what is commonly understood as Syria. The subject will be clarified by a quotation, from a reference work as follows: ‘‘ Aramaic Languages are so called from AH AM, a geographical term which In old Semitic usage designates nearly the same district as the Greek word, Syria. Aram, however, does not include Palestine, while it comprehends Mesopotamia (Hebrew, Aram of two rivers), a region which the Greeks fre-quently distinguish from Syria proper. Thus the Aramaic languages may he geographically defined as the Semitic dialects originally current in Meso-potamia and the regions extending S. W. from the Euphrates to Palestine,"— Britannica, Volume 2, page 307.

He is called Israel at the time he was serving Laban, although that name was not given to him until he returned to his home land (Genesis 32:28); but it had become history at the time that Hosea wrote his book. The Significance of mentioning this was to remind the people of the humble estate of the man from whom they received their name.

Hosea 12:13

Hosea 12:13. The dependence of the peo-ple upon the Lord is still the thought in the passage. The prophet referred to was Moses, who was given divine power in his leadership of the people, else they never could have escaped from the land of Egypt, and been pre-served after escaping and going through the wilderness with all its perils.

Hosea 12:14

Hosea 12:14. Ephraim (Israel) provoked him (the Lord) with his many acts of rebellion. Therefore shall he (the Lord) leave his (Ephraim’s) blood upon him, meaning that the people of Israel were to be chastised for their iniquity.