Hosea 7:1-7
1 When I would heal Israel,
The wrongdoing of Ephraim is uncovered,
And the evil deeds of Samaria,
For they practice deception;
The thief enters,
A band of robbers attack outside,
2 And they do not consider in their hearts
That I remember all their wickedness.
Now their deeds surround them;
They are before My face.
3 With their wickedness they make the king happy,
And the officials with their lies.
4 They are all adulterers,
Like an oven heated by the baker,
Who stops stoking the fire
From the time the dough is kneaded until it is leavened.
5 On the day of our king, the officials became sick with the heat of wine;
He stretched out his hand with scoffers,
6 For their hearts are like an oven
As they approach their plotting;
Their anger smolders all night,
In the morning it burns like flaming fire.
7 All of them are hot like an oven,
And they consume their rulers;
All their kings have fallen.
None of them calls on Me.
Confusion of Israel’s Internal Affairs
Israel the sick
In today’s passage, the northern kingdom of Israel is described as a sick person. God desires to bless and heal His people, but each time, the true condition of their sin is exposed. (1) The people of the northern kingdom of Israel were deeply diseased, both inwardly and outwardly. Their condition is described in the words: “For they practice deception; the thief enters, a band of robbers attack outside.” This portrays a society corrupted from the inside and ravaged from the outside. (2) The greatest reason the people of Israel would not accept the restoration God desired to give them was ignorance. They did not know God (nor did they seek to know Him), and furthermore, they did not realize that God remembered all their evil deeds. This is a serious sin of ungodliness.
Conspiracies within the court
During the reign of Jeroboam II, the northern kingdom reached its greatest period of prosperity. After his reign, however, the kings who followed were increasingly entangled in court conspiracies (In the southern kingdom, the throne was passed down through the line of David, but in the northern kingdom, the one who became king was the person appointed by the Lord through a prophet). (1) The king’s attendants incited him to commit evil in order to climb the ladder of power. This situation is expressed through the metaphor of “a baker’s oven.” A baker keeps the oven at a steady temperature so that the dough can ferment. In the same way, the conspirators would quietly keep their schemes “heated” within themselves, waiting in silence until the right moment came to carry out their plans. (2) “The day of our king” likely refers to either the king’s birthday or his coronation day. On this day, the rulers drank excessively, becoming sick from drunkenness. (3) Verses 6-7 describe how the kings of the northern kingdom fell one after another through conspiracies. In the southern kingdom, only those belonging to the line of David inherited the throne. But in the northern kingdom, nine different dynasties arose and collapsed. Among the last six kings, four were assassinated: Zechariah, Shallum, Pekahiah the son of Menahem, and Pekah (2 Kings 15). The words in verse 7, “None of them calls on Me,” are deeply sorrowful. Are you crying out to the Lord in your days of trouble? Let us store this word in our hearts: “Call upon Me on the day of trouble; I will rescue you, and you will honor Me” (Ps. 50:15).
Today's prayer
O God of Israel, on the day of trouble I cry out to You. Please rescue me and set me on level ground. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen.