HOSEA 7
When I would heal Israel, the iniquity of Ephraim is revealed,
and the evil deeds of Samaria, for they deal falsely;
the thief breaks in, and the bandits raid outside.
2 But they do not consider that I remember all their evil.
Now their deeds surround them; they are before my face.
3 By their evil they make the king glad, and the princes by their treachery.
4 They are all adulterers; they are like a heated oven
whose baker ceases to stir the fire, from the kneading of the dough until it is leavened.
On the day of our king, the princes became sick with the heat of wine;
he stretched out his hand with mockers.
6 For with hearts like an oven they approach their intrigue;
all 5 night their anger smolders; in the morning it blazes like a flaming fire.
7 All of them are hot as an oven, and they devour their rulers.
All their kings have fallen, and none of them calls upon me. – Hosea 7:1-7
HOSEA 7 THEY HAVE FORGOTTEN GOD
John Gill’s introduction to chapter seven says that it is either a new sermon, a discourse or a prophecy or a continuation of the former except that this time it is only directed to Israel. They are charged with ingratitude to God. They became complacent and expected that what they were doing was going to be tolerated by God. They have forgotten that God hated sin and they indulged in these immoral acts.
The Israelites lived with pagans and embraced their culture. As a result, they learned their ways and brought their superstition and idolatry into the worship of God. They have forgotten that God required them to worship Him in truth and in Spirit. They were so ensnared with their beliefs that they have compromised their worship of God. They have defiled themselves and are no longer pure and holy to be worthy of worshiping the Lord. As a result of such defilement, they continued seeking after wickedness. They engaged in drunkenness, sexual immorality, theft, corruption and many other sins. “He stretched out his hand with mocker” meant according to Gill’s commentary that the king forgot his dignity by too much familiarity with persons of low life and ill behavior.”
REFLECTION
· Why is it important to choose our friends according to Proverbs 22:24-25?
