Hosea 11 - The Gathering
by Lance Ponder(95)http://fkiprofessor.xanga.com
Loving Father
Hos 11:1 When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. The language of the eleventh chapter takes a marked turn. Through Hosea, God reveals His powerful and passionate love for Israel through the imagery of father-son metaphor. It is not unusual in Hebrew literature to mix the marriage and parent metaphors. These were commonly understood word-pictures representing the relationship between ruler and ruled or sovereign and subject and certainly between God and His people. Hos 11:1 depicts an intense love. The later descriptions of equally powerful chastening are fitting for a passion so great, particularly in the context of ancient near-east culture where love and order were synonymous. It is important to note that the exodus of Israel from Egypt in the time of Moses was an unquestioned historical fact, even among Israel’s neighbors. Although Jeraboam began the practice of teaching through his false prophets a lie that it was a golden calf that brought the people out of Egypt, the cultural memory of the exodus was never questioned. Certainly God did not forget bringing His children up out slavery. The nation of Israel was still very new, a tender babe in the eyes of its loving Father, when the Lord called Israel out of bondage. Out of context we could use this verse to argue for a softhearted heavenly Father. Love, however, is something that can be rejected even when it is offered freely. YHWH demonstrated His divine love with great and terrible signs and wonders during the exodus. When His children who have received such love turn in open rebellion against that love, is it any wonder wrath awaits?
Rebellious Child
Hos 11:2 The more they were called, the more they went away; they kept sacrificing to the Baals and burning offerings to idols. People tend to be creatures of habit. We fear what we don’t know and don’t understand. We’re also prideful creatures that enjoy feeling superior. Faced with a choice between the comfort of idols you know and are not threatened by and the discomfort of obedience to an unknown sovereignty, is it any wonder Israel willingly withdrew from YHWH? As humans we rationalize our faults away and pretend they don’t matter to an all-loving heavenly Father. At some point faults become sin and sin becomes rebellion and we find we are somewhere other than we imagined. Those of us who claim to know this Father should embrace His love, not continue in worldly pursuits that take us into rebellion against holiness. In a broader sense God calls out to all of humanity. Much of the population of the earth continues in its course, ignoring the call of the Creator. In blissful ignorance these teaming billions press on toward oblivion. Certainly the harvest is ready and the workers are few. A verse such as this should galvanize believers to take the message of eternal hope and deliverance to a dying world.
Love Remembered
Hos 11:3-4 Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk; I took them up by their arms, but they did not know that I healed them. I led them with cords of kindness, with the bands of love, and I became to them as one who eases the yoke on their jaws, and I bent down to them and fed them. Blissful ignorance was the order of the day even among many of God’s chosen people. The people were oppressed in Egypt and YHWH rescued them. The people whined in the wilderness and the Lord fed them. For a time the people drew close to God and were often obedient once they were thoroughly sifted by the wilderness experience. In time, though they still kept YHWH worship active in their land, through interaction with their pagan neighbors they begged God for a human king. God continued to answer their requests even though He warned them of what would happen. Saul was appointed the task of uniting and ruling all of Israel. David was well loved by God and obedient, but his rulership was dominated by war. By the time Solomon took over the wars were largely over and prosperity became widely known. God acted through each of these men to bless the people. After Solomon died the kingdom was divided. Too many people were too comfortable in their prosperity and the result was rebellion. Human kings, even the ones who loved YHWH and tried to obey, were far from perfect. In spite of all this, the Lord remembered His covenants and continued to make ancient Israel prosperous. Hosea uses the image of a loving father raising his children with kindness to illustrate the compassion of God. There is certainly danger in appealing in faith, receiving with happiness, and rebelling in ignorance. The metaphor of leading with cords and band and a yoke on the jaw mixed with the paternal metaphor is designed to indicate that a loving father provides wise direction and rightfully requires obedience.
Future Chastening
Hos 11:5-7 They shall not return to the land of Egypt, but Assyria shall be their king, because they have refused to return to me. The sword shall rage against their cities, consume the bars of their gates, and devour them because of their own counsels. My people are bent on turning away from me, and though they call out to the Most High, he shall not raise them up at all. Obedience is not required in order to obtain the love, but it is the only right response to love. Rebellion results in chastening or worse. What is worse than being chastened by God? It seems that being abandoned by Him is worse. Jas 4:8 says, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.” The implication, particularly if you review the context of Jas 4:8, is that if you defy, rebel, and remain stiff-necked and proud against God then He will withdraw from you. All of the great problems of history were because of human rebellion against God. Adam disobeyed and his rebellion led to separation between God and man. This was only the first of countless examples of human rebellion, which is to say sin, being the cause of division and the breaking of the cords of love (Hos 11:4). When God stops alleviating the weight of the yoke of sin, that yoke will grow difficult and finally impossible to carry. We end up being crushed. At the end of time God promises heaven to the obedient, those who return His love, and destruction to those who remain in rebellion. In this passage of Hosea we see the promised fruit of God’s withdrawal. Israel’s rebellion has left them at the mercy of the region’s most powerful and brutal neighbor, Assyria. Since they refused to allow God to rule, they shall have Assyria to rule them. On the day of destruction they will cry out, but their situation will be of their own making. They will cry out as Esau cried out, not because of love and willingness to repent, but out of selfish desire. Just as Esau wept, so too the nation of Israel would soon suffer and cry crocodile tears.
Eventual Mercy
Hos 11:8-9 How can I give you up, O Ephraim? How can I hand you over, O Israel? How can I make you like Admah? How can I treat you like Zeboiim? My heart recoils within me; my compassion grows warm and tender. I will not execute my burning anger; I will not again destroy Ephraim; for I am God and not a man, the Holy One in your midst, and I will not come in wrath. Even as God prepares to execute His punishment upon rebellious Israel, He speaks directly to them with a depth of compassion any good parent could empathize with. The Lord looked upon the various tribes of Israel as His children. It is with great pain that He undertakes this chastening. Admah and Zeboiim were cities on the plain near the southern end of the Dead Sea (Gen 10:19) that were destroyed along with Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen 19:23-25). Even as God prepares his judgment He remembers the destruction of the evil cities of Abraham’s time. The idea of such terror visited upon His children is enough to remind Him of His love. Also important to understanding this passage is to understand there is both a change in voice as well as a change in the frame of reference. Hos 11:5-7 speaks of Israel in the third person (they, them), but in this passage He speaks directly of Israel in the more personal second person voice (you, your). With this change of voice comes the change of context from the impending exile to the final Messianic judgment. At that judgment God will not destroy those who are His. Final wrath will come to those who are not His. His own children will be saved from the great final wrath. He promises to come at that time and establish His habitation with His children.
Ultimate Gathering
Hos 11:10-11 They shall go after the Lord; he will roar like a lion; when he roars, his children shall come trembling from the west; they shall come trembling like birds from Egypt, and like doves from the land of Assyria, and I will return them to their homes, declares the Lord. Although these verses return to third person voice, the Messianic overtones grow even stronger. Destruction will come, wrath will be doled out, but God’s people will be spared the brunt of divine wrath. God’s people will seek Him and He will restore them. When he calls, His people will come to Him. They will come from distant lands to the place the Lord has prepared for them. Although some Israelites returned to the region of Samaria after the Babylonian conquest of Assyria in the seventh century BC, this does not seem like the likely fulfillment Hosea was speaking about. Most people exiled by Assyria did not even return when the Jews returned to Jerusalem in the late sixth and fifth centuries BC. Some believe that the modern state of Israel is the literal fulfillment of this portion of the prophecy, and that may well be true. In recent decades people of Hebrew descent living in other lands are returning to modern Israel. They are adopting the Jewish faith and being welcomed back and settled in homes with the help of the government of Israel. Even as Israel is being reconstituted politically, the Jewish faith in modern Israel is growing in scope and intensity among both clerics and lay people. They are going so far as to assemble a new Sanhedrin and there are plans to eventually construct a new grand temple on or near the site of previous temples. This modern fulfillment of ancient prophecy is certainly potent, but it is not the only fulfillment expected by many Christians. Followers of Jesus Christ expect him to return in the clouds, resurrect the dead and change the living, then bring them to a new and sacred place where they will live in the presence of Messiah continually.
Israel vs. Judah
Hos 11:12 Ephraim has surrounded me with lies, and the house of Israel with deceit, but Judah still walks with God and is faithful to the Holy One. This verse is counted as the first verse of Hos 12 in the Jewish bible. The reference “the Holy One” sounds Messianic, as do the previous verses, but the accusation against Ephraim appears to fit better with 12:1 where Ephraim is again under indictment. Jesus was from the tribe of Judah. He did walk with God and was utterly faithful. Jerusalem in Hosea’s time was not as corrupt as Samaria, but it was in moral decline. Hezekiah propped up YHWH worship during the years when Assyria’s army was conquering the lands the Northern Kingdom and baring down on Jerusalem itself. Jews generally credit Hezekiah with fulfilling the prophecies of these last several verses of Hos 11. Whether that is a reasonable proposition or not, certainly Jesus was faithful. He represented Judah. The house of Israel could certainly be viewed as the corrupt Herodian government, a puppet of the Roman Empire at the time of Jesus. Some “dispensationalists” interpret this passage as saying Ephraim represents all the unrepentant people, including modern Jews who reject Jesus as Messiah, and that Judah represents the born again believers who belong to Jesus. While it is true that unbelievers who claim to represent God are liars and Jesus is completely faithful, one should not take the dispensational view at the expense of discarding literal fulfillment. The official government of Jesus’ time was corrupt and deceitful.
Majoring in the Minors
Hosea Chapters:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
Article submitted Wednesday, March 24, 2010 & read 159 times.
Leave Your Comments:
» left by Teresa (142 days 23 hours ago.)
Hi Lance, Two things stick out here, one being that God bent down to them - stooped to their level. This always amazes me everytime I read Psalm 18. The fact that God stoops to our level so that we can understand Him blows my mind and is truly humbling. Secondly, I think about the walls and instruments being prepared for the third temple - the temple that will end all earthly temples. Time is drawing near and you are right, we need to share the truth and be that living epistle that Paul speaks of.Great study, lots to chew on and add to. Blessings, TeresaRespond to this comment
