Hosea · chapter 7 of 14
Updated on
Hosea 7 describes the depth of Israel's corruption: deceit, intrigue in the palace and alliances with Egypt and Assyria. God says he would heal his people, but they lie and do not cry out to him from the heart. Ephraim is like a cake not turned and like a silly dove, and so God will spread his net over them.
Hosea 7 belongs to the years of political instability that followed the death of Jeroboam II, when several kings of Israel were assassinated within a few years. The prophet compares the life of the kingdom to a blazing oven and to a cake burned on one side only. The chapter shows the tragedy of a people destroying themselves, while God still wants to save them.
When God would heal Israel, the iniquity of Ephraim is exposed and the evil of Samaria, for they deal falsely, the thief breaks in and the bandits raid outside. They do not consider that God remembers all their evil; their own deeds surround them and are before his face. By their evil they make the king glad and by their lies the princes.
They are all adulterers, like an oven heated by a baker, who ceases to stir the fire from the kneading of the dough until it is leavened. On the day of their king, the princes become sick with the heat of wine, and the king joins with scoffers. Their hearts are like an oven, and all night their anger smolders; in the morning it blazes like a flaming fire. They devour their rulers, all their kings fall, and none among them calls on God.
Ephraim mixes himself with the peoples, a cake not turned. Strangers devour his strength and he does not know it; gray hairs are sprinkled on him and he does not notice. The pride of Israel testifies against him, yet they do not return to the Lord or seek him. Ephraim is like a dove, silly and without sense: they call to Egypt, they go to Assyria. God will spread his net over them and bring them down like birds. He says: woe to them, for they have strayed from me; I would redeem them, but they speak lies against me. They do not cry to God from the heart when they wail on their beds; they gather for grain and wine, and they rebel against him. God trained and strengthened their arms, yet they devise evil against him. They return, but not to the Most High; they are like a treacherous bow. Their princes will fall by the sword because of the insolence of their tongue, and this will be their derision in the land of Egypt.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
When God would heal Israel, the iniquity of Ephraim and the evil of Samaria are laid bare. Healing requires bringing to light what is wrong, and the people answer with more deceit.
Ephraim is a cake not turned, burned on one side and raw on the other. The image describes a half-done people who mix with the nations and never become mature or loyal.
Ephraim is like a silly dove that calls to Egypt and goes to Assyria. Israel runs from one power to another looking for security without realizing it is falling into their nets.
They did not cry out to God from the heart, though they wail on their beds, and they gather for grain and wine. God distinguishes between pain that seeks resources and a cry that seeks God.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: The iniquity of Ephraim and the evil of Samaria are exposed. — Hosea 7:1
Answer: To an oven heated by a baker, smoldering at night and blazing in the morning. — Hosea 7:4-6
Answer: A cake not turned. — Hosea 7:8
Answer: That strangers devour his strength and that gray hairs are sprinkled on him. — Hosea 7:9
Answer: As a silly dove, without sense, calling to Egypt and going to Assyria. — Hosea 7:11
Answer: God would redeem them, but they speak lies against him and do not cry to him from the heart. — Hosea 7:13-14
Hosea 7 describes a people who look for solutions everywhere except in God. In a small group you can ask to which Egypt or Assyria we run today for security: money, position, relationships or programs. The image of the half-done cake invites us to check whether our faith is complete or lukewarm on one side.
The phrase I would redeem them shows the heart of God: he wants to save, even when his people drift away. The chapter also distinguishes between wailing on a bed and crying out to God: there is pain that seeks only relief and there is prayer that seeks God himself. Asking God to teach us to cry out from the heart is a good prayer for this reading.
Hosea 7 leaves Israel with no political or spiritual way out. In Hosea 8 a trumpet announces that the enemy comes like an eagle over the house of the Lord, and God denounces the kings set up without his consent and the calf of Samaria.
A bread oven stays hot through the night, even if the baker sleeps, and blazes again in the morning. Hosea uses it to describe the passions and conspiracies of the rulers, which are always ready to burst out and which end up destroying their own kings.
A cake that is not turned burns on one side and stays raw on the other, so it is useless. It is an image of a people who are not loyal to God nor consistent in behavior: they are half done, and therefore worthless.
Most scholars place it in the years of instability after Jeroboam II, when several kings of Israel were assassinated within a few years and the kingdom sought alliances with Egypt and Assyria. The text gives no dates, but this context fits its description.