Hosea 7:5-10
by
Rev. Mark Perkins, Pastor
Denver Bible Church
326 E. Colorado Ave.
Denver, Colorado 80210
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Hosea 7:5-7
"On the day of our king, the princes became feverish
with the heat of wine; He extended his hand to scoffers, for
their hearts are like an oven as they draw near their intrigue;
their baker sleeps all night, in the morning he burns like a
flaming fire. All of them are hot like an oven, and they consume
their rulers; all their kings have fallen. None of them calls
on Me. "
1. This is another series of powerful similes. These concentrate
on the government of Israel, and its relationship with the people.
2. First, the princes get sick with the heat of wine on the king's
day.
a. The king's day does not have a parallel in the system of Levitical feasts. Therefore, this must be talking about the coronation of a new king.
b. All of the princes become sick with wine on this day.(1). There is more to this sickness than meets the eye. The word for sickness is HALAH. It usually denotes sickness or weakness due to illness, and could even here construe sickness from alcohol poisoning. But, the word also comes to mean lovesick, or sick with passion; feverish and obsessive with regard to mental things.
(2). The idea of fever is reinforced by the word YAHAM, which often means sexual heat. We use it of our pets now: they go into heat, and are ready to conceive. The fever is one of conception.
(3). The agent of conception is wine, YAYIN. This is a picture of disgruntled princes on the day of coronation. They are power mad, and so they immediately get drunk, and feverishly hatch plots against the king. In the context, these are inevitably assassination plots.
Hosea 7:8,9
"Ephraim mixes himself with the peoples; Ephraim has
become a cake not turned. Strangers devour his strength, yet
he does not know it; gray hairs also are sprinkled on him, yet
he does not know it."
1. And now, a rationale for the discipline of Israel.
2. Ephraim is again synonomous with Israel, the Northern Kingdom
after the split.
3. The Northern kingdom "mixes himself with the peoples".
a. The verb to mix is the hithpael imperfect of YITHBOLAL. The hithpael is the reflexive stem, and it shows that whatever action is done, is done to oneself. The imperfect tense reveals that this mixing oneself is an ongoing thing.
b. The noun AM is 'people'. Remember Hosea's second son, Lo-ammi? Well, this relates to that. Lo-ammi is "not my people".(1). AM is not the exact equivalent of GOYIM. GOYIM describes the unbeliever-foreigner of the age of Israel, while AM is more neutral - it describes people of all kinds, even Jews.
(2). Here, however, there is a very strong sense of that GOYIM meaning. Just from the context it comes out well this way.c. The mixing is at least of a sexual nature, wherein marriage is optional. It means that for the sake of sexual pleasure and temporary emotional satisfaction they have mixed themselves with unbelievers.
d. When a believer has sexual relations with an unbeliever, in or out of wedlock, they make a powerful bond. As such, it becomes very difficult to maintain their relationship with God.
e. Furthermore, when illicit sexual relations are had with an unbeliever, the believer has gone over to the beliefs of his or her partner with that very act.
f. Also, recovery from this situation is very difficult indeed, for it requires the severing of what is designed to be a very strong bond. In the case of marriage, it requires the maintenance of that bond alongside relationship with God, which is difficult as well.
g. But, there is no concern here with genetic matters. Unbelievers did become a legitimate part of the nation, and were accepted fully into it, as long as they believed in Jesus Christ. Moses had a non-Jewish wife. Rahab and Ruth were also non-Jewish. But in all three cases, these women were believers in Christ, and true Jews by that definition.
4. Next is an illustration of the statement: Ephraim has become
a cake not turned.
a. The word for turned is the qal passive participle HAPHUCHAH. This means to 'turn over', and the picture here is more of flipping a pancake than it is of turning an object clockwise or counterclockwise. In the ancient world, the bread had to be flipped in order to bake it correctly. Furthermore, the metaphor cannot be about mixing, because this phrase indicates that a mixing has not occurred.
b. A cake not turned will inevitably be burned on one side, and uncooked on the other. So also Ephraim:(1). They are overdone in the area of sex and idolatry.
(2). At the same time, they are almost completely uncooked in the realm of relationship with God.
5. Verse nine follows with a statement which describes an Israel
unaware of his weakness. Here, it is a kind of political blindness.
a. First, they are unaware that foreigners devour their strength.
(1). Now, the strength of Israel was never in themselves, or their military. Instead, it was in God, first and always. Many, many of the Psalms testify to this very thing.
(2). By intermingling with strangers, and adopting their idolatrous ways, the people of Israel sapped their strength, which was the infinite strength of God.b. Second, they are unaware that their days are numbered. Their national hair is turning gray, and not too many years remain.
End of Lesson 23
Grace Notes
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