Session 16 | Hosea 13:16-14:9
Hosea 13:9-16 | Incrimination And Promises
Verses 9-14 – see session 15.
Verse 15 –
The text reverts again to the singular, speaking of Jeroboam (as we interpreted beginning in Hos. 13:1). But since Jeroboam the individual is already dead, he stands as representative of all Israel (as does Ephraim, from whom Jeroboam descended).
The life of Jeroboam is one of what might have been. He was at one time righteous and God-fearing, but quickly abandoned God when he came to power.
Verse 16 -
Samaria is the capital of the Northern Kingdom and thus stands as a representative for the kingdom altogether. The sin is stated plain: she hath rebelled against her God. The punishment is harsh: their infants shall be dashed in pieces, and their women with child shall be ripped up.
Is this hyperbole? Why such horrendous punishment? First, this was (from what we know) common treatment of infants and pregnant women during times of ancient war. Rather than asking, “why did God have the infants killed,” we should recognize that God was simply stating what the enemy was going to do
Note on verse 15: Jewish versification makes Hosea 13:16 to be Hosea 14:1
Hosea 14:1-9 | A Message For The Future
Verse 1 –
This call to return unto the LORD thy God is more likely to be directed to future Israel than the Israel of Hosea’s day, since the prophetic wheels of justice had already begun to roll. But even with the foretold destruction of the Kingdom, God has promised to restore the nation and will thus always have an invitation to return.
Verse 2 –
The future return of Israel will be by public confession and thus by works.Notice that the nation is very clearly commanded to take with you words and turn…and say…
Speaking and turning are works, under any definition.
This instruction fits perfectly with Paul’s instruction to Israel in Romans 10:13, that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved, which itself is a quote of Joel 2:32. Though most Christians take the Romans 10 context to be the plan of salvation during the age of Grace, I contend that the message is to Israel in the latter days, matching the context of all of Romans 9-11.
Jesus also gave a similar instruction to speak up. In Matthew 23:39 He told the nation, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, sBlessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.
Thus, there is a harmony of Scripture showing the requirement for Israel to call upon the name of the Lord in her later days. The Lord will respond to her public cry and will rescue her.
The phrase, the calves of our lips is a Hebraism, meaning “the sacrifice of our lips.”
Verse 3 –
Verse 3 is part of the confession, which pre-records the cry of future Israel. The statement that Asshur shall not save us is, it seems to me, a future rejection of the one we call the antichrist. Asshur is the same as Asyria, and the Assyrian is a reference to the coming antichrist.
Ultimately the nation realizes that in God the fatherless finds mercy. Thus, Lo-Ruhammah now becomes Ruhammah.
Verses 4-7 –
The Lord Himself now speaks directly to Israel concerning His response to their cry, and it is a glorious response indeed! The response is filled with grace and blessing.
Verse 7 gives a promise to the ones that dwell under his shadow, they are the ones that shall return and revive. Compare Psalm 91, which is also a promise to those under the shadow of the Almighty (Ps. 91:1). These “shadow dwellers” are what we often call the remnant.
Passages such as this one display so much of the grace of God that many Christians confuse God’s grace with the dispensation of the grace of God (Eph. 3:1). God has always been filled with grace, but He has not always offered salvation a relationship with Him that is by grace, through faith (Eph. 2:8). This is a strong distinctive of rightly dividing the word of truth (2 Tim. 2:15).
Verse 8 –
This prophetic word from God allows us to know fully that Israel (represented in Ephraim will someday repent to the Lord. The Lord promises to be like a green fir tree offering shade and provision.
Verse 9 –
This verse serves as a summary to the entire book.
Hosea promises that the one who is wise …shall understand the things of the book. In our efforts to rightly divide Hosea we have learned emphasized Israel, and not the Body of Christ, as the focus of God’s revelation to Hosea. We (saved under grace) are not found in the book at all. We are not the Lo Ammi who shall be Ammi or are we the Lo Ruhammah that shall be Ruhammah. The oracle, from start to finish, is for Israel alone. When taken this way, we recognize Israel’s past, and take it literally, and we see Israel’s future restoration, and rejoice.
