Hosea 10
Divided hearts: God or money verse 1- 2
Israel is an empty vine – he brings forth fruit unto himself
according to the multitude of his fruit
he has increased the altars
according to the goodness of his land
they have made goodly images
Their heart is divided
NOW shall they be found faulty
HE shall break down their altars
HE shall spoil their images
Divided loyalty: King or self verse 3- 4
FOR NOW they shall say – We have no king
BECAUSE we feared not the LORD
What then should a king do to us?
They have spoken words
swearing falsely in making a covenant
THUS judgment springs up as hemlock
in the furrows of the field
Divided worship: God or idols verse 5- 8
The inhabitants of Samaria shall fear
because of the calves of Beth–aven
FOR the people thereof shall mourn over it
and the priests thereof that rejoiced on it
FOR the glory thereof
because it is departed from it
It shall be also carried unto Assyria for a present to king Jareb
Ephraim shall receive shame
and Israel shall be ashamed of his own counsel
As for Samaria – her king is cut off
as the foam upon the water
The high places also of Aven – the sin of Israel
shall be destroyed
the thorn and the thistle shall come up on their altars
and they shall say to the mountains – Cover us
and to the hills – Fall on us
Divided progress: Past or present verse 9- 10
O Israel – you have sinned from the days of Gibeah
there they stood
the battle of Gibeah against
the children of iniquity
did not overtake them
It is MY desire that I should chastise them
and the people shall be gathered against them
when they shall bind themselves
in their two furrows
Divided ground: Fruitful or fallow verse 11- 12
AND Ephraim is as an heifer that is taught
and loved to tread out the corn
BUT I passed over upon her fair neck
I will make Ephraim to ride
Judah shall plow – Jacob shall break his clods
SOW to yourselves in righteousness – reap in mercy
BREAK up your fallow ground
for it is time to seek the LORD
till HE come and rain righteousness
upon you
Divided trust: God or military verse 13- 15
You have plowed wickedness – You have reaped iniquity
You have eaten the fruit of lies
BECAUSE you did trust in your way
in the multitude of your mighty men
THEREFORE shall a tumult arise among your people
and all youry fortresses shall be spoiled
as Shalman spoiled Beth-arbel in the day of battle
the mother was dashed in pieces upon her children
SO shall Beth-el do unto you because of your great wickedness
in the morning shall the king of Israel utterly be cut off
COMMENTARY:
DAILY SPIRITUAL BREAKFAST: Young Believers
: 2 Their heart is divided; now shall they be found faulty: he shall break down their altars, he shall spoil their images. (2505 “divided” [chalaq] means smooth, slippery, plunder, false, deceitful, or flatter.)
DEVOTION: There are two sides to a coin. We call them heads or tails. We sometimes can’t make a decision so we toss a coin to help us make a decision.
We are born with a sin nature that stays with us until we die. When we reach as certain age we are told that the LORD loves us and has a gift to give to us if we are willing to make a commitment to HIM. The gift is eternal life in heaven and a new nature while we are here on earth. There is a choice to make.
If we chose to become a follower of Jesus Christ we have a new nature given to us to help us with all our decisions. The Bible gives us direction and we have a choice as to whether to follow it or not. Those who want to be faithful to the LORD will follow it. It is not an easy decision sometimes and sometimes we go back and forth in our decision making process.
Why is that? It is because we have the two natures in us that are working against each other. Our old nature likes sin. Our new nature wants us to say NO to sin. The battle is real and is for a lifetime.
Here we find that the children of Israel faced the same challenges in their life. The problem is that they chose the old nature more than the new nature and the LORD had to chasten them because of it.
We don’t usually set up altars in our homes or work places but they had places that they attended to worship false gods. We can go places to worship false gods even today.
As believers we have to avoid making false gods in our home or going to places where we worship false gods. How do we know it is a false god? We want to spend more time with it than with the LORD.
CHALLENGE: Look into your heart to see if it is deceiving you into thinking that you are worshiping only the True God of the Bible when you are really worshiping self or other gods.
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:2 The hearts of the people are fickle; they are guilty and must be punished. (NLT)
DEVOTION: As we grow up we change our opinion on almost everything. Girls usually like dolls and boys like cars. Boys like action movies and girls like love stories. Things are changing all the time as we get older.
People are funny. One day they will like you and the next they won’t speak to you. One day they are your best friends and the next they are nowhere to be found.
Now we come to the time period when we think we are in love. One day will be starry eyed over someone and the next we think they are not right for us. Some girls will like boys that won’t like them and some boys will like girls that won’t like them.
The LORD gives Hosea instruction regarding people and their relationship to HIM. One day they like HIM and the next they are going after foreign gods. The LORD wants consistency in our life.
HIS desire for us is that we learn more about HIM each day and then start practicing what we learn. The Christian life is a growing life. We have a goal to be like Christ before we go to heaven. Each year we should do more things for the LORD.
Most of the people in Hosea’s day wanted to just please themselves and not serve the LORD. It is because of this that they had to be punished. God gives blessings to those who are faithful to their growth in HIM. These blessings don’t always include getting rich in the wealth of the world. Sometimes they do. Most of the time the blessings are in personal relationships with other believers.
CHALLENGE: Don’t be fickle!!! Don’t change loyalties every few weeks or years. A divided heart doesn’t work with the LORD.
DAILY SPIRITUAL LUNCH: Transitional Believers
: 12 Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you. (6666 “righteousness” [ts@daqah] means justice, truthfulness, rightness, innocence, doing right or salvation.)
DEVOTION: There is a book written whose title is “No place for Truth.” It is a good book to read. It states that here in America truth is a lost art. He concentrates on the fact that our leaders are not telling the truth. We find that Israel believes a lie.
The first verse informs us that Israel is an empty vine. It has no fruit. It is lifeless. It is worthless. They are a double-minded people. They want the blessings of the LORD but at the same time they want to worship false gods. They can’t have it both ways. If they want both they don’t have the LORD. The New Testament tells us that a double-minded man is unstable in all his thinking. Israel is unstable.
The LORD gives them a choice to make. They have to change their ways. They have to listen to Hosea. Our verse for today states that they need to sow rightness back into their land. It is a farming term. Before there can be any planting of seed there must be a plowing of the land. The plow breaks up the ground so that the seed can be planted. Once the seed is planted it needs rain to grow.
Just like the ground needs to be plowed, so do the minds of the children of Israel. They have to rethink their priorities. They have to rethink who they are going to worship. They have to get rid of wrong thinking and start thinking Biblically. They have to think Godly. Once this begins they can reap mercy from the LORD. Once mercy starts flowing, they need to seek the LORD with all their hearts regularly. After they have done the right thinking, the LORD will rain more right thinking into their lives. Israel will then be in a right relationship with the LORD.
The same is true of us today. The steps are there. There is always a way to return to the LORD if we take the right steps. HE wants to have fellowship with us. We need to want HIS fellowship to grow in our relationship with HIM. HIS mercies are new every morning.
What are we going to sow today? Are we willing to break up the hard parts of our hearts? Do we want HIM to rain justice down on us? Do we want to be known as a truthful nation? Is our nation able to turn around if all those who are true followers of the LORD seek HIM wholeheartedly?
CHALLENGE: The promise is that the LORD will honor us if we honor HIM. We need to improve on our righteous living.
DAILY SPIRITUAL SUPPER: Mature Believers
:13 You have plowed wickedness; you have reaped iniquity. You have eaten the fruit of lies, because you trusted in your own way, in the multitude of your mighty men. (982 “trusted” [batach] means confidence, confident, careless, hoped, sure, unsuspecting, or lead to believe.)
DEVOTION: It is said that a majority of those who graduate from high school and attend college never return to church. It used to be that this group did return to the church. Now however the church seems unimportant or irrelevant to the lives of young adults.
I have known many who have returned to church but again they have to work hard at staying. Sometimes the adult service is not meeting their needs. It is geared for older people who have children that are grown up and out of the house. The sermons don’t get the minds of young adults involved. This doesn’t have to be.
These years don’t have to be a time of plowing wickedness if there are individuals who love them and show them that service to the LORD is worthwhile. Too often this doesn’t happen. The young adults believe the lies of the world that say that God isn’t real and they don’t need HIM.
Watch out for people who say that you have to go your own way. Usually our own way is away from the LORD. We are naturally sinners who see sin as something exciting and church as boring. This is wrong. Retool yourself into thinking differently from others. True Christianity is exciting and worthwhile for those who trust in the LORD to work with their individuals gifts for service.
CHALLENGE: Watch who you have confidence in. It should always be the one that the LORD through prayer instructs you to have confidence in.
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DISCIPLINES OF THE FAITH:
BODY
Chastity (Purity in living)
Fasting (Time alone with LORD without eating or drinking)
Sacrifice (Giving up something we want to serve the LORD)
Submission (Willing to listen to others and LORD)
Solitude (Going to a quiet place without anyone)
SOUL
Fellowship (Gathering together around the Word of God)
Frugality (wise use of resources)
Journalizing (Writing down what you have learned from the LORD)
Study and Meditation (Thinking through your study in the Word)
Secrecy (Doing your good deeds without others knowing but God)
SPIRIT
Celebration (Gathering around a special occasion to worship LORD)
Confession (Tell the LORD we are sorry for our sins on a daily basis)
Prayer (Conversation with God on a personal level)
Silence (Letting the LORD deal with some problems and needs)
Worship (Time to praise the LORD alone or in a group)
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DOCTRINES OF THE FAITH:
Scripture (66 inerrant books of the Bible)
God the Father (First person of the Godhead)
LORD – Jehovah (Covenant keeping, Personal) verse 3, 12
Judgment of LORD verse 4
I shall chastise them verse 10
I will make Ephraim to ride verse 11
I will make Judah to plow verse 11
Jacob shall break his clods verse 11
Rain righteousness on Israel verse 12
God the Son (Second person of the Godhead –God/man, Messiah)
God the Holy Spirit (Third person of the Godhead – our comforter)
Trinity (Three persons of the Godhead who are co-equal = ONE God)
Angels (Created before the foundation of the world – Good and Evil)
Man (Created on the sixth twenty-four hour period of creation)
Assyria verse 6
King Jareb verse 6
Shalman verse 14
Betharbel verse 14
Sin (Missing the mark set by God on man and angels)
Empty verse 1
Altars to false gods verse 1, 2, 8
Images of false gods verse 1, 2
Heart is divided verse 2
Faulty verse 2
Feared not the LORD verse 3
Swearing falsely verse 4
Calves of Beth-aven verse 5
False priests verse 5
Shame verse 6
High places of Aven – destroyed verse 8
Sinned verse 8, 9
Iniquity verse 9
Plowed wickedness verse 13
Reaped iniquity verse 13
Fruit of lies verse 13
False trust: mighty men verse 13
Tumult arise verse 14
Great wickedness verse 15
Salvation (Provided by Christ’s death on the cross for our sins)
Covenant verse 4
Chastise verse 10
Taught verse 11
Loved verse 11
Sow to yourself righteousness verse 12
Reap mercy verse 12
Break up your fallow ground verse 12
Seek the LORD verse 12
Trust in the LORD verse 13
Israel (Old Testament people of God)
Israel verse 1, 6, 8, 9, 14, 15
Empty vine
Increased the altars
Goodly images
Heart is divided
Swearing falsely in making a covenant
Judgment springs up
Ashamed of his own counsel
Sin of Israel – from the days of Gibeah
Fortresses shall be spoiled
King of Israel utterly cut off
Samaria verse 5 – 7
Inhabitants of shall fear
False god p calves of Beth-aven
False priests
Carried into Assyria
Her king is cut off
Want mountains to cover them up
Bethaven verse 5
Ephraim verse 6, 11
As an heifer that is taught
Days of Gibeah verse 9
Judah verse 11
Jacob verse 11
Bethel verse 15
Church (New Testament people of God)
Last Things (Future Events)
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QUOTES regarding passage
Still using the agricultural metaphor as a transition, Yahweh again returns to the false faith of Israel and here especially to their military establishment. This movement is similar to that seen in 6:4, where immediately after an appeal to repent Yahweh declares that the people are incurably evil. The fruit Israel grows and eats is “false fruit” (not “fruit of lies”), which is here similar to the poisonous fruit of v. 4. That is, it appears to be good and edible, but it actually is poison. In light of the context of 10:1–4, the “false fruit” probably is idolatry, but it also includes the dependence on military power. The phrase “your system” (NIV: “your own strength”) implies everything that Israel had built itself upon, including the fertility cult, political alliances, military fortifications, and raw violence. Above all, it was the pride and glory of an ancient state, their army. The term also looks back to the “counsel” of 10:6, of which Israel would become ashamed. (Garrett, D. A. (1997). Hosea, Joel (Vol. 19A, p. 217). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.)
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13 Instead of doing this, however, the people were planting (ḥāraš, “plowing”) wickedness and reaping evil. Deceit and its baneful results therefore abounded. Most authorities relate the “because” (kî) of line 4 to the earlier part of the verse, but this does not make good sense. Our text relates it more aptly to v.14. It was because Israel had depended on her own strength and her many warriors that God would permit the roar of battle to come against the people. (Wood, L. J. (1986). Hosea. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Daniel and the Minor Prophets (Vol. 7, p. 211). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.)
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10:13. The exhortation in verse 12 actually summarizes the appeal made by Israel’s prophets throughout her history. But the sinful nation had not responded properly, producing instead wickedness (cf. v. 15), evil, and deception. Rather than relying on the power of God, the nation had depended on her own military might. The contrast between God’s desires and Israel’s response heightens her guilt. So the call to repentance (v. 12) had a twofold function: it testified to the Lord’s grace and contributed to the development of the prophet’s accusation. (Chisholm, R. B., Jr. (1985). Hosea. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 1, p. 1401). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.)
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The lesson of the vine is an important one, which we shall do well to trace out through both Testaments. In Psalm 80, beginning at ver. 8, we have a most significant statement. “Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt: Thou hast cast out the heathen and planted it. Thou preparedst room before it, and didst cause it to take deep root, and it filled the land. The hills were covered with the shadow of it, and the boughs thereof were like the goodly cedars. She sent out her boughs unto the sea, and her branches unto the river.” This was Israel according to the mind of God, as His testimony in the earth. Such they would ever have remained, had there been lowliness of mind and subjection of heart, leading to confidence in and dependence upon Him continually. But the very opposite of this was developed, as we well know, and Scripture makes abundantly clear. Therefore “the boar out of the wood doth waste it, and the wild beast of the field doth devour it” (ver. 13 of the same psalm). God came looking for fruit in accordance with Isaiah 5. Gazing down upon His vine, seeking grapes, He found only wild grapes. It was, as described by Hosea, “an empty vine;” there was no fruit for the Lord. All was for self.
Therefore the vine of the earth was set aside eventually, its enclosing wall broken down, and it will be fully judged in the awful vintage yet to come (Rev. 14:18–20). Meantime upon the rejection of the empty vine, God brings in a vine that will bear—one that He will ever find fruit upon. So the Lord Jesus, the Man of God’s purpose, tells His disciples in John 15 of “the True Vine,” even Himself. He takes the place of Israel to maintain a testimony for God in the earth. In matchless grace He associates His redeemed with Himself in this: “I am the Vine, ye are the branches.” Empty branches, with no vital link, may be intruded among the branches as belonging to the vine; but as there is no living connection with the vine there will be no fruit. Such are false professors who are cut off, and cast forth as branches, withered, and whose end is to be burned. The fruit-bearing branches are purged that they may bear more fruit. Yea, God the Father is glorified when they bear much fruit!
It will be seen from this that the vine refers to the earth. It is God’s testimony in the world; once committed to Israel, now maintained by Christ through His beloved people in this scene. The empty vine has been set aside in judgment. The True Vine has taken its place, and shall never be set aside, for it is Christ Himself and His people in Him. Therefore, however individuals fail, we find Him introducing Himself to Laodicea as “The faithful and true Witness” (Rev. 3:14). (Ironside, H. A. (1909). Notes on the Minor Prophets. (pp. 76–78). Neptune, NJ: Loizeaux Brothers.)
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Ver. 13. Ye have ploughed wickedness, &c.] Contrived it, and took a great deal of pains to commit it; by ploughing sowed it, and which sprung up in a plentiful crop: it may denote their first sins, from whence all others arose; as their irreligion and infidelity; their apostacy from God; their idolatry and contempt of his word and prophets: ye have reaped iniquity; abundance of other sins have sprung up from thence; a large harvest of them have been reaped and got in; or great numbers of other sins have been committed; one sin leads on to another, and these proceed ad infinitum, wickedness is of an increasing nature, and grows worse and worse, and proceeds to more ungodliness: many understand this of the punishment or reward of sin: ye have eaten the fruit of lies; as a sweet morsel, though bread of deceit; which could not profit them, nor yield them in the issue the pleasure it promised them, and they hoped for from it: because thou didst trust in thy way; in the worship of their idols, and in their alliances with neighbouring nations, and promised themselves great prosperity and happiness from hence: and in the multitude of thy mighty men; their valiant soldiers, their numerous armies, and the generals of them, well skilled in war, and courageous; and also in their auxiliaries, which they had from the Egyptians and others; these they put their confidence in, to protect them; and so in their garrisons and fortresses, as the following words shew:
Ver. 14. Therefore shall a tumult arise among thy people, &c.] Because of their wickedness and vain confidence, the Assyrian army should invade them; which would cause a tumultuous noise to be made throughout the tribes in all cities and towns, a cry, a howling, and lamentation; especially among fearful and timorous ones, as women and children; who would be thrown into a panic at hearing the news of a powerful foreign enemy entering their country, and laying waste all before them; a voice of clamour, as Jarchi observes, crying, flee, flee: and all thy fortresses shall be spoiled; the strong holds, in which they put their confidence for safety; every one of these should be taken and demolished by the enemy, in all parts of the kingdom; so that there should be none left to flee unto, no place of retreat: as Shalman spoiled Beth-arbel in the day of battle; that is, Salmaneser king of Assyria, his name being abbreviated, as Beth-aven is called Aven, ver. 8. who had lately, though there is no account of it elsewhere, spoiled this place, demolished its fortresses, and destroyed the inhabitants of it; which is thought to be either the city of Arbel beyond Jordan, 1 Maccab. 9:2. which Josephus calls a city of Galilee, and sometimes a village; and which, according to him, was not far from Sipphore, and in lower Galilee, near to which thieves and robbers dwelt in caves and dens, difficult to come at; and so a Jewish writerl places Arbel between Sipphore and Tiberias; and elsewhere mention is made of the valley of Arbel, near to those places: and Jeromn says, there was the village Arbel beyond Jordan, on the borders of Pella, a city of Palestine; and another of this name in the large plain, nine miles from the town of Legio: and he also speaks of an Arbela, the border of the tribe of Judah to the east; perhaps the same with Har-baalah, whence Arbela, or the mount of Baalah, Josh. 15:11. now one or other of these places might be laid waste by this king of Assyria, in the first year of Hoshea, when he came up against him, and made him tributary: though some think Arbela in Assyria or Armenia is meant, famous for the utter defeat of Darius by Alexander, four hundred years after this, when it might have been rebuilt, and become considerable again: some of the Jewish writers say there was a place near Nineveh so called; Benjamin of Tudela saysp, from Nineveh to Arbel is one parsa, or four miles: and others think Samaria itself is meant; but that cannot be, since the destruction of that city is here prophesied of, which should be as this: some conjecture it was the temple of a deity called Arbel, as Schmidt: but, be it what or where it will, here was a great devastation and slaughter made; which at this time was well known, and to which the desolation that would be made in the land of Israel is compared. The Vulgate Latin version is, as Salmana was wasted by the house of him who judged Baal in the day of battle; which the patrons and defenders of interpret of the slaughter of Zalmunna by Jerubbaal, that is, Gideon; but the names of the one and the other are very different; nor does the text speak of the slaughter of a prince, but of the destruction of a city, and not of Shalman, but of Arbel; and refers not to an ancient, but recent history. Mr. Whiston places the spoil of Arbela in the year of the Julian period 3982, and before Christ 732. The mother was dashed in pieces with her children: women big with-child, or having their children in their arms, had no mercy shewn them, but were destroyed together; so it had been at Arbel, and would be again in Israel, which was dreadful to think of: according to Kimchi and Ben Melech, Arbel was the name of a great man in those days, whose family, meant by beth or a house, was thus cruelly destroyed. (Gill, J. (1810). An Exposition of the Old Testament (Vol. 6, pp. 431–432). London: Mathews and Leigh.)
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FROM MY READING:
As C. S. Lewis wrote, “Good and evil both increase at compound interest. That is why the little decisions you and I make every day are of such infinite importance. The smallest good act today is the capture of a strategic point from which, a few months later, you may be able to go on to victories you never dreamed of.”
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Who Is Faithful?
“Most men will proclaim every one his own goodness: but a faithful man who can find?” (Proverbs 20:6)
Faithfulness is like a rare and precious gem. It is difficult to find a real such gem, though there are many who will offer their virtues as a substitute.
Moses, however, was one such man. “And Moses verily was faithful in all his house” (Hebrews 3:5). So was Abraham. “So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham” (Galatians 3:9). Moses and Abraham were full of faith in God’s Word; therefore they were faithful to God’s Word. The very word “faithful” means “full of faith.”
God is not impressed with those who boast of themselves and their qualifications or who belittle others. “It is not good to eat much honey: so for men to search their own glory is not glory” (Proverbs 25:27). Actions speak louder than words, and it is better to let one’s works speak for themselves. “Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works” (James 2:18). The rare quality of faithfulness—firm and reliable commitment to one’s convictions and responsibilities, in accordance with God’s Word and God’s leading—is proved in practice rather than proclamation. May God help us to be faithful servants, for “it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful” (1 Corinthians 4:2). It is quality, not quantity, of service that God measures. Faithfulness—not fruitfulness—is required.
There is one glorious promise regarding faithfulness—not our faithfulness, but the faithfulness of our Savior. “If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself” (2 Timothy 2:13). “For what if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith [literally, ‘faithfulness’] of God without effect? God forbid: yea, let God be [found] true, but every man a liar” (Romans 3:3-4). (HMM, The Institute for Creation Research)
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RIGHT THINKING
It is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves. Psalm 100:3
Get right in your thinking about yourself; then think of yourself in your relationship to God. And the moment you do so, you will realize that you are utterly dependent upon Him. “It is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves.” Our times and our breath are in His hand. God brought us into being, and He could end it in a moment. We, none of us, control life; God controls it all. But men and women do not stop and think about that. They say, “What shall I put on tonight? How shall I dress tomorrow?” They may be dead before tomorrow! But they do not think of that. The whole of life, for them, is without God; He does not enter into their calculations.
That is why the world is as it is, says our Lord. If only all men and women believed in God, they would all humble themselves before Him. If only the whole world believed in God, there would be no preparation for war, there would be no jealousy and envy and rivalry, because all men and women would be bowing before Him and worshiping Him and living to His glory and His praise. But because they do not, they set themselves up as gods, and they worship themselves. So there are barriers between nations. “I am going to be bigger,” says one; so he makes a bigger bomb. “I will make a bigger one!” says the other. And up and up and up we go, and we get worse. “Whence come wars and fightings among you. Come they not hence, even of your lusts…? Ye ask, and receive not,” says the apostle James (James 4:1,3).
You will never satisfy your god, and so, according to the Bible, we get all the troubles in the world–individual troubles and collective troubles, national troubles and international troubles! All this rivalry is because we are not living as under the eye of an almighty God.
A Thought to Ponder: If only all men and women believed in God, they would all humble themselves before Him. (From The Kingdom of God, p. 40. by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones)
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