Deeper Commentary

Hos 13:1 When Ephraim spoke with trembling, he exalted himself in Israel; but when he became guilty in Baal, he died- The "trembling" in view here and in Hos. 11:10,11 is trembling in repentance; "When Ephraim spoke with trembling, he exalted himself in Israel" (Hos. 13:1). "Afterward the children of Israel shall return, and seek Yahweh their God, and David their king, and shall come with trembling to Yahweh and to His blessings in the last days" (Hos. 3:5). Humility is the true exaltation. We can deduce that the second half of the verse therefore contrasts such "trembling" with the guilt of Baal worship; and exaltation with death / condemnation. Idolatry was and is therefore rooted in pride, the ultimate root of all sin and barrier to repentance. See on :16. The hoped for, fantasized about trembling in repentance had only been for a moment. Like Gomer, they slipped back to Baal worship.

Hos 13:2 Now they sin more and more- See on Hos. 7:4 Burning. As noted on Hos. 12:1, Israel were in a downward spiral of sin, portrayed by Gomer's sexual addiction.

 

And have made themselves molten images of their silver- The reference is to the golden calves of Jeroboam, so "silver" is better understood as 'wealth'. But the word strictly means "money", and is that used of how Menahem and other kings paid silver to the Assyrians rather than trusting in Yahweh (2 Kings 15:20; 16:8; 18:14). This trusting in human strength and personal wealth was effectively idolatry.

 

Even idols according to their own understanding- The tabernacle was made by craftsmen with God given understanding (Ex. 31:3; 35:31; 36:1 s.w.). The images and idols are presented as a fake tabernacle; it was all idolatry performed in the name of Yahweh worship. And this is our subtlest temptation today.

 

All of them the work of the craftsmen- There were two calves, but "all of them" sounds as if there were many. There were other shrines established, but it may also be that just as the singular calf in the wilderness was addressed in the plural (Ex. 32:4), here too there was an element of plurality within unity. This was the pagan background for the false doctrine of the Trinity.

 

They say of them, ‘They offer human sacrifice and kiss the calves’- Israel were famed amongst the Gentiles for the calves made by Jeroboam, to which they offered human sacrifice.  It was observed as ironic that they kissed in adoration that which they sacrificed their children to. Child sacrifice was typically associated with Baal; but here, to the calves. So again we see that Israel were mixing Yahweh worship with paganism, rather than having shrines for Yahweh and separate shrines for the idols. See on :16.

 

Hos 13:3 Therefore they will be like the morning mist, and like the dew that passes away early in the morning, like the chaff that is driven with the whirlwind out of the threshing floor, and like the smoke out of the chimney- Israel threshed themselves (Hos. 10:11), they sowed the wind (Hos. 8:7), chased the wind in going to Assyria for help (Hos. 12:1), and were now driven by the wind in condemnation. The driven chaff is representative of the destruction of the nations around Israel in Dan. 2:35. God's apostate people are "condemned with the world" (1 Cor. 11:32) in sharing that same fate. The arising of the sun is understood in Mal. 4:2 as the arising of Messiah at the restoration of the Kingdom. So the idea seemed to be that apostate Israel would be judged and destroyed, but this would usher in the Messianic kingdom. All this could have happened in some form when the exiles returned. But it was deferred and recalculated until our days.

 

Hos 13:4 Yet I am Yahweh your God from the land of Egypt; and you shall acknowledge no god but Me, and besides Me there is no saviour- As in Hos. 11:1; Ez. 16:22,43 and elsewhere in Hosea, God finds the memory of Israel's youth and the beginning of His relationship with them in the marriage at Sinai (Hos. 8:1) a memory which causes Him great pain. Just as in the breakup of any human relationship, it is the memories of the early days which crack us up. We again see God's humanity and the emotional nature of His being. All of Hosea contains allusion to Hosea's marital relationship with Gomer. "Saviour", "king" and even "your God" were terms which in Hebraic thought were titles for a husband. And yet Israel like Gomer looked to other gods and nations as their saviour. The New Testament presents the Lord Jesus as our "only saviour", Yahshua, Yah's salvation. Any practical, moral or intellectual turning to other saviours is tantamount to adultery. Despite all her adultery, Hosea was still Gomer's husband, just as likewise Yahweh was still Israel's God. They should "acknowledge" or "know" no other; and this too can be understood as a euphemism for the sexual act. To know other gods was adultery.

 "Saviour" is 'yasha', from whence Yahoshua, Yah saves, Jesus. Knowing God involves knowing Him as saviour; and a husband is to be trusted as a saviour: "the husband is the head of the wife and Christ is the head of the church- himself being the saviour of the body" (Eph. 5:23). It is knowing / experiencing Yah's salvation in the Lord Jesus which is to know Him. But Israel like Gomer, saw their salvation as coming from many sources- various Baals, Assyria, Egypt, Yahweh etc.

"I am Yahweh your God from the land of Egypt" suggests Yahweh had always been their God from their first marriage to Him. But Hosea, in line with God's Spirit, had called Gomer's child "Lo Ammi", I am not yours. But God's love was such that although He said that, in His heart, they were still His people. Even at this late stage of Hos. 12:9 and Hos. 13:4, perhaps many years later in Hosea's hopeless marriage. 

Hosea speaks of how Yahweh is still Israel's God from the land of Egypt (Hos. 12:9,13; 13:4). There, Yahweh had revealed Himself as their "I am", who would always be "I will be" for them (Ex. 3:14; 6:7). But He has stated in wrath that "I am not I AM for you" (Hos. 1:9). But on the other hand, He assures them that He is still just as much "I am" for them. In the Hosea-Gomer drama, Hosea remembered Gomer's apparent love for him when they first met, just as Yahweh remembered Israel's apparent love for Him when they left Egypt ["she will respond there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt" Hos. 2:15]. The truth was, both Israel and Gomer were unfaithful to their amazing lover even then. Yahweh like Hosea could never actually tear Himself away from being who He essentially was- the One who was "I am" and "I always will be" for His people.

Hos 13:5 I knew you in the wilderness, in the land of great drought- Ez. 16 is likewise full of such Divine memories, of how fragile and desperate Israel were in the desert, totally dependent upon Him for food, clothing and water- the very duties of a Hebrew husband toward his wife. Yet Gomer sought these things from her lovers, as explained in Hos. 2. God's 'knowing' of Israel should have resulted in their exclusive 'knowing' of Him (:4). The knowledge in view is in the Hebraic sense of relationship, not academic knowledge of theological propositions as enshrined in a statement of faith.

Yahweh knew Israel in the desert (:5), but they didn't know  / ackowledge Him (:4). It was a relationship where one party loved and was intimate with the other, but the beloved didn't respond with the same intimacy. It is our awkwardness, that we are in a relationship where He loves us more than we love Him.  

 

Hos 13:6 According to their pasture, so were they filled; they were filled, and their heart was exalted- As explained on :1, it is pride which leads us away from God and true repentance, and it is material blessing which often leads to pride; and it is humility which exalts before God. Israel "waxed fat and kicked" (Dt. 32:15). As explained on Hos. 2, the parallel was with how Hosea provided Gomer with all she wanted, even giving her his entire wealth, quite simply because he loved her; but she used it on her lovers and idolatry, then claiming that the payment and apparent blessings she received from both her lovers and her idolatry were her own legitimate personal income. Materialism is the reason why men forget their God. So any desire to be rich / wealthy is hereby automatically outlawed for God's people.

 

Therefore they have forgotten Me- Pride is associated with forgetting God in Dt. 8:14. This is where the prosperity Gospel is so wrong. The more human strength we have, the more likely we are to forget God. It's why most believers have not been given wealth; because God doesn't want us to forget Him.

 

Hos 13:7 Therefore I will be like a lion to them, like a leopard I will lurk by the path- Lion, leopard, bear and wild beasts (:8) were all elements of Daniel's prophecies concerning the powers who would dominate the land promised to Abraham. But God was behind all those powers.  All these beasts are significant because of what they do to Israel; that is the territory and arena of their domination. But they are all acting as it were on God's behalf, like the four beasts of the cherubim. There is no radical evil, evil out of control in the cosmos, with God's people at risk from being dominated by it. God is completely in control, and even the terrible things done to Israel by the beasts are under His total control.

"Lurk" is literally 'to observe' and the Hebrew word is soon used again when we read that God will observe His people for good on their reconcilliation and restoration (Hos. 14:8).

Being ravaged by wild animals is the language of the curses for breaking the covenant (Dt. 26:22). As Gomer had broken the marriage covenant, so Israel had broken the old covenant. But they were by grace being offered a new covenant- but even that they, and Gomer, refused. And so it was offered to us.

 

Hos 13:8 I will meet them like a bear that is bereaved of her cubs- "Bereaved" is the same word used of how Zion would be bereaved of her children during the invasions which God would bring (Is. 49:21; Jer. 18:21). God is saying that although He had brought the invasions and was totally identified with them, yet He was also totally identified with Israel in the suffering and pain they would bring. This is the other side to the complaint that God brings suffering into our lives; He does, but He is totally identified with us in that suffering and suffers with us and even, in His Son, for us.

 

And will tear the covering of their heart. There I will devour them like a lioness, tear them like a wild animal- The language is extreme; but this is the extreme wrath of God at human unfaithfulness to Him, as so often mentioned in Hosea (see on Hos. 11:8; 12:14). The extent of the damage is fatal; surely the idea is that Israel would be killed by this bear. This is the force of Hos. 6:1 (see note there): "He has torn, and He will heal us". That 'healing' was therefore nothing short of a resurrection from the dead, and this was the extent of power available to Israel in the miraculous restoration from exile which God potentially enabled. But Israel for the most part didn't want to know.

God would rend their hearts, like a furious lion. But the same term is used in Joel 2:13 in an appeal for Israel to rend their hearts in repentance. On one hand, the idea is that if they didn't rend their hearts in repentance, then God would rend their hearts in judgment. But as will be developed in Hos. 14, the idea could be that through death, death as a result of Divine judgment, their hearts would at resurrection be as He wanted then. 

 

Hos 13:9 You are destroyed, Israel, because you are against Me, against the One who is your help- As noted on :8, God through the invaders had mortally ravaged Israel, and yet even from that desperate situation, He who had torn could also heal, restore and resurrect (see on Hos. 6:1). But Israel didn't want that help. Or we can read as AV: "O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself; but in me is thine help". Here we see grace even beyond grace. Although God had destroyed them through the wild beasts of the invaders (see on :7); yet still He offered them His help. And that amazing offer is there to this day for all Israel.

 

Hos 13:10 Where is your king now, that he may save you in all your cities? And your judges, of whom you said, ‘Give me a king and princes?’- Often in Hosea, God appeals to Israel to let Him be their ‘king’. But there is a Hebraism whereby a husband is called the ‘king’ of his wife. God’s appeal was reflected in Hosea’s desire for Gomer to as it were re-marry him, to let him truly be her king / husband. And yet she felt like Israel: “What then should a king do [for] us?” (Hos. 10:3). She was so selfish that she didn’t see anything in it for her… when so much love was being offered to her. We noted on Hos. 9:15 that Israel's desire for a human king was a rejection of God as their king / husband, and had been tantamount to adultery. This verse appears to be spoken to Israel at a time when they have no king (:11). It is hard to determine when that might have been during Hosea's ministry (Hos. 1:1); so this can be taken as a future prophetic word. We note too that Israel's demand for a king as recorded in 1 Samuel graciously omits to record that they also asked for "princes", even though they had already had "judges" raised up by God. They wanted a king and a royal family, to be the equivalent to the Divine "judges" or saviours whom He had raised up. So often the Divine record reflects God's grace.

The AV may be correct: "I will be thy king: where is any other that may save thee in all thy cities?". Understanding "king" as metaphor for husband, we have a reference to Hosea's desire to truly be Gomer's husband. This is a continued expression of hope for further relationship. But it comes right after the language of death and total destruction of Israel expressed in the previous verses. The implication is of resurrection in order to achieve that relationship, and this will be stated explicitly in :14 and the idea developed in the next chapter.  

"King and princes" are seen as responsible for the state of Judah's downfall. God laments that He has given them a king and princes (Hos. 13:10); they were addicted to alcohol (Hos. 7:3). And so Yahweh says they are to abide many days without a king and princes, so that they might learn faithfulness to Him (Hos. 3:4). He gave them a king and princes, knowing what this would lead to. Unfaithfulness to Him. But we see here how in the end, God gives man what he wants, as He did to the prodigal son. The issue is desiring the right things- His Kingdom and His righteousness.

However the initial reference was to the 10 tribes. They were dissatisfied with the Davidic line and likewise wanted a king; and God gave them Jeroboam. This is probably the initial reference here.

Hos 13:11 I gave you a king in My anger, and have taken him away in My wrath- As explained on :10 and Hos. 9:15, Israel's rejection of God for a human king made God "hate" them. It was effectively a divorce from Him; this is how seriously God sees our turning to visible human help rather than to Him. God so respected human freewill decisions that even when His wife wanted to go off with another man, He "gave" her this; and even worked through the system of human kingship in order to continue some level of relationship with Israel, such was His love for them. God sees a connection between His giving of a king, and His taking away of a king. Before they had a king, they were exclusively His. So the taking away of their king was in fact not simply a punishment, but in wrath He remembered mercy, and hoped that this would in fact be the path back towards their accepting Him as their king. So often we see God's hope for restoration expressed within and next to His angry statements of judgment. His anger is therefore unlike human anger; there is always the love which seeks longer term restoration.

Hos 13:12 The guilt of Ephraim is stored up, his sin is stored up- It was stored up within God's memory. Often He seeks to remind Israel that He has not forgotten their sins. There is an assumption that if we forget our sins, then God does too. The passage of time and fading of memory thereby works a kind of pseudo atonement for us. But God remembers, and there has to come some form of judgment. And we must ever consider this in our hearts. Israel's lack of self-examination is quite a theme; see on Hos. 7:2,9.

Hos 13:13 The sorrows of a travailing woman will come on him. He is an unwise son; for when it is time, he doesn’t come to the opening of the womb- Male Israel are likened to a woman; the rather awkward grammar which is necessary for this to be expressed ["woman... him"] is to flag up the continued connection between Israel and Gomer. But Israel are likened to both the travailing mother, and the baby boy who refuses to be born. The travail of Israel in exile (Jer. 22:23 "how greatly to be pitied you will be when pangs come on you, the pain as of a woman in travail!") was intended to bring forth new birth, making all her travail worthwhile; and if they had repented, they could have brought forth before they travailed (Is. 66:7). But most of them preferred to remain in exile, to remain within the womb; and those who did return were not spiritually reformed. And so it was pain and suffering all round, as there is in the lives of all those who refuse the birth of the Spirit and are left just with the pains of travail with nothing to show for it (Jn. 3:3-5). They were "unwise"; and the word is only used again in Hosea in the final appeal of Hos. 14:9 to repent. This was the true wisdom, which would enable the birth of the reborn, restored Israel.

 

Hos 13:14 I will ransom them from the power of Sheol, I will redeem them from death! Death, where are your plagues? Sheol, where is your destruction?- This is quoted in the New Testament regarding resurrection from the dead at the last day. Resurrection is completely in line with the context here. As noted on :9, He who had torn Israel to the death could also heal, restore and resurrect (see on Hos. 6:1). We noted on :13 that God's intention was that the suffering community in exile would give birth to a man child at the restoration; and Ez. 37 speaks of resurrection to new life at this time. But most of the exiles didn't return, and the child refused to be born (:13). The same was true of the revival of the remnant at the time of Hezekiah; there was no strength to bring forth the child (Is. 37:3). And so this promise of restoration to new life from the dead comes true in the birth of the Spirit in the hearts of a new Israel; for the promises of new life are part of the new covenant intended for the exiles in Jeremiah and Ezekiel. And it comes to its final term in the resurrection of the body at the last day. It could be that historical Israel will all be resurrected at the last day, as God somehow forces through His purpose of love with them. Because He does force through at times, over and above human freewill. The wages of sin is death, but still He finds a way, as love does. Israel had been ransomed and redeemed from captivity (Is. 35:10; Jer. 31:11). But although "I have redeemed them, yet they have spoken lies against me" (Hos. 7:13). This ransom from death therefore became reapplied to the redemptive work of the Lord Jesus, resulting in our entry of the new covenant, the birth of the Spirit in our cleansed hearts, and finally the resurrection of the body from death. The power of death [its "plagues"] was finally destroyed in the work of the Lord Jesus- these words are clearly alluded to in Heb. 2:14.

 

Compassion will be hidden from my eyes- AV "repentance". It could be that this is simply saying that although He has changed His mind over things, He would not do so over this. God knows He has changed His position on Israel to and fro, just as Hosea had with Gomer. He says that He will not change again; and yet such is His grace and eternal love for Israel, that He does change again. Or He could be determining as chapter 14 will develop, that He will save them anyway, through resurrection. Likewise we read that "I have purposed it, and will not repent" (Jer. 4:28); and yet God does. Such is His apparent humanity, the depth of His internal struggles between anger and grace, judgment and mercy, hate and love. The fact He as it were comes down on the side of "God is love", upon the pole of grace rather than anger, is not simply because that is how He is. He has come to that position through terrible internal struggle; see on Hos. 11:8.

 

Hos 13:15 Though he is fruitful among his brothers, an east wind will come, the breath of Yahweh coming up from the wilderness, and his spring will become dry, and his fountain will be dried up. - As noted on Hos. 12:1, the east wind was Assyria, whom Israel had once chased after for help, and which would now return as a whirlwind to destroy them. Their armies approached from the desert (1 Kings 19:15). But God was intensely identified with that wind or spirit, it was as it were His very own breath. As noted on :7, the invaders of Israel were all totally identified with Yahweh, and yet He was also absolutely identified with His people in their resultant sufferings. "Ephraim" means 'fruitful'; the idea is that although he has been fruitful, yet he will "become dry". This exactly fits Gomer, who after her marriage to Hosea bore children to her lovers. We have noted earlier that these children were destined to destruction at the hands of the invaders, and she was cursed with infertility. Her fertility therefore was worthless; "though he is fruitful...".

 

He will plunder the storehouse of treasure- Perhaps a reference to the kings contemporary with Hosea using the temple treasures to buy off invaders or hire human help. Or the reference could be to the invaders plundering the wealth of Israel and Judah at the invasions; the inscriptions in Sargon's palace at Khorsabad list the treasures taken from Israel. The wealth they had trusted in could not save them, and that is an abiding lesson.

 

Hos 13:16 Samaria will bear her guilt; for she has rebelled against her God. They will fall by the sword- The same word for "guilty" is found in Hos. 10:2, where as noted there, we also have the idea of God in court against His people. Finally, they are guilty. Despite their prayers and religious rituals, they had rebelled against Him, and so must "fall by the sword"- also judgment language. But "guilty" is the word used in :1; they had themselves made themselves guilty, and this final verdict was of their own choice. Sin is its own judgment, chosen by men and only confirmed by God.

'Bearing guilt' is also translated 'atone'. The only atonement for sin is death, to take the wages for sin which is death. So the only way to salvation is through grace, leading to a resurrection from that death. And through identification with someone else who has died that death and yet risen to life again, the Lord Jesus.

Falling by the sword and dashed infants is the language of the curses for breaking the covenant (Dt. 26:25). As Gomer had broken the marriage covenant, so Israel had broken the old covenant. But they were by grace being offered a new covenant- but even that they, and Gomer, refused. And so it was offered to us. And yet there is the message of resurrection for them despite all this death that is to come upon them.

Their infants will be dashed in pieces, and their pregnant women will be ripped open- Israel had offered their children to Baal and were famed for it (see on :2). Some of the infant slaying rituals involved not only burning the child but also dashing it to pieces. The invaders who "ripped open" the women would themselves be judged for what they did (Am. 1:13 s.w.). But this was all part of the Divine 'tearing' of His people (s.w. Hos. 13:8). Yet even from that, on a communal level, they could be restored- if the remnant repented.