Hosea 10 − Commentary
The Riches of Israel Lead to Her Worship of Idols
But Israel became rich,
and so she built more
Her land became better and better.
This meant that she could build special stones. She built stones that she could
But now she must accept that she is
The
He will destroy her special stones.
because we did not
But even if we had a king, he could do nothing for us'.
They make agreements with other countries.
People argue with each other in the courts.
These things are like weeds in a field that someone will plough.
They have poison.
They will cry because their
Their
They were very happy with their beautiful
But now someone will carry the
It will be a gift for the king of Assyria.
The people of
They will be ashamed that they brought
He (the king) will be like a piece of wood that water carries away.
These are places where Israel has
Weeds will grow on their
They will say to the hills, 'Fall on us!'
God gave Israel many things but she did not use them in the correct way. She made many
Hosea says that the time of kings will have to end (verse 3). Kings joined in the
Verse 5 says that people
Israel will Pay for Her Sin
You have continued to
But war came to those wicked people of Gibeah.
Nations will join together to attack them.
They will put the people of Israel in prison because of their terrible
She is like a cow that loves to walk on grain.
But I decided to put a
I wanted to guide her so that she could work hard.
I wanted Judah to break up the ground.
Jacob, too, must break up the ground.
Break up the ground that you have not ploughed.
Because it is time for you to look for the
When he comes, he will make good things fall on you like rain!
These plants have grown and they have brought you evil things.
You have eaten the fruit that your lies have brought you.
You put your hope in your own power and in your soldiers.
Your enemies will destroy your strong places.
It will be like the time that King Shalman destroyed the city of Betharbel in war.
At that time, people killed mothers with their children.
because you did so many wicked things.
When that day begins, I will destroy the king of Israel.
In verse 9, Hosea writes again about what he said in 9:9. There were some terrible
A new part of this chapter begins in verse 11. Hosea uses words in a special way to describe Israel. She is like a young cow. Her work was quite easy. The picture is of a cow that is pulling a special tool over corn. This tool separates the corn from the grain that the farmer does not want. The cow prefers pulling a plough. Because she can eat the corn whenever she wants (see Deuteronomy 25:4). Israel was like this in her early years. But God had something else for Israel. He wanted her to break up the ground. They should do this work together. Her 'field' was to obey God. The word 'Jacob' means both Israel and Judah. God is telling Israel again about one of the first people that he chose to follow him. Jacob obeyed God.
Verse 12 is a famous verse. Many people have written songs about it. God looks back at Israel's past but he also looks to the future. God wants Israel to be true to him. This is what he really wanted in his
Israel is going to hear the sounds of war (verse 14). She will be afraid. Her walls are strong (Deuteronomy 28:52) but they will not help Israel. We do not know about the events at Betharbel. We also do not know about Shalman. But terrible things happened in war in those days. Armies did not listen to what people said about what they did (see Amos 1:13). The Assyrians took King Hoshea in war (verse 15). They put him in prison (2 Kings 17:4). Everything that Hosea said would happen came true.