Day 262. Hosea 10-14

It is part of the tragedy of the prophetic calling to know more about the probable future than those around you do—to see judgment looming and still hope against hope that there will be repentance and reconciliation. That is the position of the prophet Hosea, speaking primarily to the northern kingdom of Israel in the last years of its existence.
Using an image familiar to the Bible, Israel is described as a "luxuriant vine" that God has planted in his vineyard. But Israel builds altars to false deities and raises pillars in the vineyard—these pillars were phallic symbols of the fertility gods worshipped by neighboring peoples that so easily seduced a people lacking spiritual guidance. But the LORD promises that he "will break down their altars and destroy their pillars" (10:2). Hosea presents a picture of a corrupt society in disorder. The ordinary people have no respect for God or king. They perjure themselves without fear of punishment and make covenants they do not intend to keep—"so litigation springs up [everywhere] like poisonous weeds" (10:4). (This situation resembles our own, beloved.)
The inhabitants of Samaria, the capital of the northern kingdom, "tremble for the calf of Beth-aven"--this is a statute of the bull calf dedicated to the god Baal and erected under royal patronage. Hosea predicts that the bull, made of some precious metal, will be "carried to Assyria as tribute to the great king," and Israel "shall be ashamed of his idol" (10:6). The pagan "high places" and cult sites shall be abandoned and grow up to "thorn and thistle" (10:8)—but not soon enough to fend off disaster.
Hosea tells a little parable that begins--"Ephraim was a trained heifer." The heifer is a pet, trained to trample grain on the threshing floor, and for that reason she is unused to yoke and plow. But now that situation is about to change. Israel will have to "break the ground," and Judah will have to pull the plow.
If the two kingdoms would sow for themselves righteousness the prophet promises that that they will "reap steadfast love" (10:12) from the LORD. In the midst of so much condemnation, Hosea is a word of hope. But before there can be forgiveness, the people must first "break up [their] fallow ground"—soften their hearts and "seek the LORD" so that he "may come and rain righteousness upon you." But so far they have showed no sign of doing this; instead, they have "plowed wickedness . . . , reaped injustice . . . , and eaten the fruit of lies" (10:13). They have trusted in their own military strength and not the help of LORD. And because of Israel's "great wickedness" (10:15), they face the prospect of invasion, terrible defeat, and atrocities committed against helpless civilians.
It did not need to end this way. In chapter 11 God fondly remembers the childhood of Israel when he trusted and obeyed the voice of his Father. (11:1 is quoted in Matthew 4:14-15 as a prophecy of the flight of the Holy Family into Egypt and their return.) But obedient childhood becomes rebellious adolescence—"the more I called him the more [Israel] went from me" sacrificing to the Baals and offering incense to idols. God was there to teach "Ephraim to walk," tenderly taking him "up in my arms" (11:30), but now the people do not recognize his providence and loving care. Therefore, they shall "return to the land of Egypt" where they were slaves and from whence the LORD brought them; "Assyria shall be their king" because they have rejected God as their king (11:5).
Nevertheless God cannot bring himself to repudiate them forever; he cannot maintain his "fierce anger" (11:9) against his children, no matter how wayward. He will frighten them back to their senses. The LORD will roar "like a lion" and "his children shall come [back] trembling" like "little birds from Egypt"; like "doves from Assyria" they will come again to the LORD, and he "will return them to their homes" (11:11).
Ultimately, however, Hosea despairs of Ephraim, the northern kingdom, filled as it is with lies and deceit. But there is still hope that Judah, the southern kingdom, will remain faithful to the covenant. But Israel chases after false security, trying to make treaties with Assyria and carrying oil to Egypt in an attempt to buy protection (12:1) rather than trust the LORD.
It has always been so. Israel has been wayward from his birth. The LORD remembers how Jacob—also called Israel—struggled with his brother Esau in the womb—see Genesis 25:19ff-- and how he wrestled with God by the brook of Jabok—see Genesis 32:22 ff. Filled with guile, Israel was always trying to get the better of God and man, using "false balances" to oppress the poor and then hiding behind a mask of righteousness, saying—"no offense has been found in me that would be sin" (12:8). There has never been an end to Israel's rebelliousness and waywardness. Through history God has sent prophets to Israel to warn the people of the danger in which they stood, and now through the prophets the LORD "will bring destruction" upon them (12:11). By a prophet—Moses—Israel was brought out of Egypt, and by Moses he "was guarded" (12:13). But because Israel has not heeded the words of the prophets, the LORD is determined to "bring his
crimes down on him and pay him back for his insults" (12:14).
Chief among those insults is his persistent idolatry. Ephraim was chief of the ten tribes of Israel, and he led them all by his example into the worship of Baal. It is all such foolishness. The people make little silver images of the bull calf of Baal and worship them with sacrifices. They kiss them for luck (13:2)—God is horrified at such patent stupidity—Imagine! "People are kissing calves!" These inanimate objects, "the work of artisans" are worse than useless; they amount to less than nothing compared with the power of the LORD, who brought them out of the land of Egypt and fed them in the wilderness and who now says to them—"Besides me there is no savior" (13:4). He was their savior, but now rejection has transformed the LORD into a savage and dangerous beast, like a lion, a leopard, a "bear robbed of her cubs"; "as a wild animal [he] will mangle them" (13:8) and nothing will be able will not "redeem them from Death"
(13:14). The east wind—the armies of Assyria—"a blast from the LORD"-- will "dry up his fountain" and "strip his treasury of every precious thing." Because Israel "has rebelled against her God," the people of Samaria "shall fall by the sword" (13:15-16).
And it would not have had to be so! Nothing is fated. God is capable of mercy. In his last words to the people, the prophet begs them to return to the LORD. The power of Assyria cannot save them, nor can the horses of Egypt (14:3). But God will have compassion upon the repentant, the one in whom "the orphan finds mercy" (14:3) will have pity on his own children. If they will only return to him, the people will again flourish like a luxuriant vine. But God can never have anything to do with idols. He will not take second place to a man-made object. He is "like an evergreen cypress"—changeless, and the faithfulness of his people comes from him.
Those who are wise will "understand these things" (14:9) the prophet has spoken. The ways of the LORD "are right," and those who are "upright walk in them." But because they have no understanding—no trust in the LORD who alone gives the insight that leads to life--"transgressors"—both men and nations—"stumble" and fall.