Hosea · chapter 13 of 14
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Hosea 13 recalls that Ephraim was exalted but died through Baal, and that his idolatrous worship will make him pass like mist and dew. The Lord has been Israel's only savior since Egypt, but once satisfied they forgot him, and he will meet them like a lion, a leopard and a bear. It announces the fall of Samaria and leaves a question about redeeming from death.
Hosea 13 is the last of the great oracles of judgment in the book. It summarizes the history of Israel: a people God delivered, fed in the wilderness and blessed, who responded with forgetfulness and idolatry. The chapter ends with the fall of Samaria, but in the center is one of the most surprising verses in the Old Testament about death and redemption.
When Ephraim spoke there was trembling; he was exalted in Israel, but he incurred guilt through Baal and died. Now they sin more and more, making cast images of silver, idols made by craftsmen, and it is said of them that those who sacrifice kiss calves. Therefore they will be like the morning mist, like the dew that goes early away, like chaff that swirls from the threshing floor and like smoke from a window.
God tells them: I am the Lord your God from the land of Egypt; you know no God but me, and besides me there is no savior. I knew you in the wilderness, in the land of drought. But when they had grazed, they became full, and when they were full, their heart was lifted up; therefore they forgot him. So I will be to them like a lion, like a leopard and like a bear robbed of her cubs; I will tear them and devour them. He has destroyed you, O Israel, but in me is your help. Where now is your king, to save you in all your cities? I gave you a king in my anger and took him away in my wrath.
The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up; his sin is kept in store. The pangs of childbirth come for him, but he is an unwise son, for at the right time he does not come to the opening of the womb. Then comes a question: shall I ransom them from the power of Sheol? Shall I redeem them from death? O Death, where are your plagues? O Sheol, where is your sting? Compassion is hidden from my eyes. Though Ephraim flourishes among his brothers, an east wind will come, a wind of the Lord rising from the wilderness, and his fountain will dry up. Samaria will bear her guilt, because she has rebelled against her God; they shall fall by the sword, their little ones dashed in pieces and their pregnant women ripped open.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
God recalls that he is the Lord their God from Egypt, that they know no God but him and that there is no savior besides him. It is one of the clearest statements in the book about the exclusivity of Israel's God as savior.
When they had grazed they became full, and when they were full their heart was lifted up, and they forgot God. The text describes a permanent risk: abundance can produce forgetfulness of the giver.
He has destroyed you, O Israel, but in me is your help. God points out that Israel's ruin is the work of its own hand, but that help is only in him.
God asks whether he will ransom them from the power of Sheol and redeem them from death, and calls on death and Sheol to bring their plagues. Paul takes up these words in 1 Corinthians 15 to proclaim the victory of the resurrection in Christ.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: He incurred guilt through Baal and died. — Hosea 13:1
Answer: To morning mist, dew that passes, chaff from the threshing floor and smoke. — Hosea 13:3
Answer: That there is no savior besides him, and that he knew them from Egypt and in the wilderness. — Hosea 13:4-5
Answer: Their heart was lifted up and they forgot God. — Hosea 13:6
Answer: To a lion, a leopard and a bear robbed of her cubs. — Hosea 13:7-8
Answer: Whether he will ransom them from the power of Sheol and redeem them from death, and he calls death to bring its plagues. — Hosea 13:14
Hosea 13 warns about the danger of fullness. When all goes well, the heart grows proud and forgets. In a small group you can talk about which routines help us remember God in times of abundance: gratitude, generosity and time for prayer.
Verse 4 recalls the only source of salvation. Kings, idols and resources fail, and only God saves. And verse 14, although in its context it is a harsh announcement, has been read by the New Testament as an echo of Christ's victory over death. Whoever follows the Lord can expect that the last word on death does not belong to death.
Hosea 13 ends with the fall of Samaria and the violence of war. But the last chapter, Hosea 14, is an invitation to return and one of the most beautiful promises of healing: God will love freely those who return to him.
In 1 Corinthians 15:55 Paul adapts these words as a triumphant question, where, O death, is your victory, to celebrate the resurrection of Christ. In Hosea the tone is more ambiguous and announces judgment, but Paul sees the deeper truth: God has power over death.
It is an image of protective fury. God, who cared for Israel, reacts with the violence of one who has been betrayed, and the people, who should have depended on him, experience him as a threat. The text does not stop saying that Israel's help is in God.
The final verse describes the brutalities that accompanied ancient wars, like the fall of Samaria to Assyria in 722 BC. It is not an instruction to act, but a warning about the suffering judgment brings, which the prophets wept over.