HOSEA 12
Ephraim feeds on the wind and pursues the east wind all day long;
they multiply falsehood and violence; they make a covenant with Assyria,
and oil is carried to Egypt.2 The Lord has an indictment against Judah
and will punish Jacob according to his ways; he will repay him according to his deeds.
3 In the womb he took his brother by the heel, and in his manhood he strove with God.
4 He strove with the angel and prevailed; he wept and sought his favor.
He met God at Bethel, and there God spoke with us—
5 the Lord, the God of hosts, the Lord is his memorial name:
6 “So you, by the help of your God, return, hold fast to love and justice,
and wait continually for your God.”– Hosea 12:1-6
HOSEA 12 FEEDING ON THE WIND
In the first verse of this chapter, the prophet reiterates his words in Hosea 8:7 when he said that if you sow the wind, you will reap the whirlwind. All of the things they chased such as their idols resulted in nothing. They were sowing unfaithfulness, so they reaped violence and more deceived minds. They began to rely on Assyria which cannot truly give them assurance.
In Proverbs 11:29, we hear again about the wind. It says “Whoever troubles his own household will inherit the wind, and the fool will be servant to the wise of heart.” The wind symbolizes things that we chase that cannot satisfy us because the wind is something we cannot hold on to. John 4:14 on the other hand, tells us to drink the living water because if we do, we will never be thirsty again. Unlike feeding on the wind which does not result in life, the living water brings us eternal life. A commentary says “The point is actually fairly simple. Wind is not filling. It cannot satisfy. No matter how much you eat of it, you will never be full. It has zero nutrition.” The phrase “pursue the east wind all day long” has almost the same meaning as Solomon states in Ecclesiastes 1:14 when he said “I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and striving after wind.”
Hosea reminded God’s people of Jacob’s fight with Esau even in their mother’s womb and we know that Ephraim and Judah all came from Jacob’s tribe. It is not hard to deduce that the sinful nature of Jacob could have been passed on to the next generations after him.
REFLECTION
· What do people usually chase that make them feed on the wind?
