Hosea 2016

This chapter deals with the fact that after Israel turned away from Elohim, they turned to their prosperous economy for their salvation. They tried to increase the production of their land. Their prosperity blinded them to their spiritual emptiness and their sins. Elohim is going to judge them for being a whore. Hosea 9:1 Do not rejoice, O Israel, with exultation like the nations! For you have played the harlot, forsaking your God. You have loved harlots' earnings on every threshing floor. Hosea is telling Israel that they should not rejoice in their prosperity like other nations do. They have sinned against Elohim and ignored His ways. Elohim says they are being whores and He has had about enough. There was an abundance of food. They had plenty of wine and all luxuries that life had to offer back then. Elohim had given them all their prosperity and they used their prosperity as the means to forget about Him. He is going to judge them for that. Hosea 9:2 Threshing floor and wine press will not feed them, And the new wine will fail them. Their wealth is going to turn to "want." They are going to lose everything. Elohim has judged Israel. Hosea 9:3 They will not remain in the LORD'S land, But Ephraim will return to Egypt, And in Assyria they will eat unclean food. Ephraim will be expelled from the land and will go back into captivity in a similar way they were slaves in Egypt. Only this time the captivity will be in Assyria. 2 Kings 17:6-18 In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and carried Israel away into exile to Assyria, and settled them in Halah and Habor, on the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes... Elohim is saying that they have been enjoying sin during these years they have been turned away from Him. Over time, they were sinning more and enjoying it less. They were now going to have the opportunity to be forced into sin by not having the clean diet they have had. They are going to literally have sin shoved down their throats buy eating unclean things. Chapter 10 is going to tell us more of the judgement that is to come upon Israel. Hosea 10:1 Israel is a luxuriant vine; He produces fruit for himself. The more his fruit, The more altars he made; The richer his land, The better he made the sacred pillars. Hosea 10:1 Hosea is not saying that Israel in not producing fruit. He is saying that all their fruit went for themselves. Israel was prospering greatly. They took all their wealth and used it up for their own pleasure. They used their prosperity to increase in their sin. The more money they had, the bigger they built their idols. They took what Elohim gave them and used it on their false gods. They didn't use their wealth to glorify Elohim, but to increase in sin. Hosea 10:2 Their heart is faithless; Now they must bear their guilt. The LORD will break down their altars And destroy their sacred pillars. Hosea 10:2 "Their heart is faithless (divided - kjv).." They would want Elohim and then pray to their false gods. Elohim says He doesn't want a divided heart. James 1:8 being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. James 4:4 You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 1 John 2:15 Do not love the world, nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. Rev 3:15-16 ‘I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I would that you were cold or hot. 16‘So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth. 1 Kings 18:21 And Elijah came near to all the people and said, “How long will you hesitate between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.” But the people did not answer him a word. 2 Kings 17:41 So while these nations feared the LORD, they also served their idols; their children likewise and their grandchildren, as their fathers did, so they do to this day. Is 29:13-14 Then the Lord said, “Because this people draw near with their words And honor Me with their lip service, But they remove their hearts far from Me, And their reverence for Me consists of tradition learned by rote, 14Therefore behold, I will once again deal marvelously with this people, wondrously marvelous; And the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, And the discernment of their discerning men shall be concealed.”

Israel has turned away from Elohim and relied on silly idols of gold and wood to deliver them. They didn't consult Elohim or His Word in setting up their kings and princes. Israel was being foolish and now they are going to pay the price for their foolishness. Hosea 8:1 Put the trumpet to your lips! Like an eagle the enemy comes against the house of the LORD, Because they have transgressed My covenant, And rebelled against My law. Elohim says His judgement is going to come like an eagle to strike Israel. An eagle is a very intelligent and tactical predator. It swoops down upon it's prey with great efficiency. It happens so quickly that the prey is usually in the talons of the eagle before they even know danger is nearby. Elohim is warning that judgement is coming. Elohim once again says why this judgement is coming, "Because they have transgressed My covenant And rebelled against My Torah." Elohim makes Himself very plain. Hosea 8:2 They cry out to Me, "My God, we of Israel know Thee!" Israel claims to know Him, but they are disobedient to His Torah. Scripture tells us that if we do not obey His commandments, but say we know Him, we are a liar. 1 John 2:3-7 And by this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. 4The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; 5but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: 6the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked. 7Beloved, I am not writing a new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning; the old commandment is the word which you have heard. Matt 7:21-24 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven. 22“Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ 23“And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’ 24“Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine, and acts upon them, may be compared to a wise man, who built his house upon the rock. If we know Him, or love Him, we will keep His commandments. John 14:15 “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. John 14:21-24 “He who has My commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves Me; and he who loves Me shall be loved by My Father, and I will love him, and will disclose Myself to him.” 22Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, “Lord, what then has happened that You are going to disclose Yourself to us, and not to the world?” 23Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him, and make Our abode with him. 24“He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me. Deut 10:12-13 “And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require from you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, 13and to keep the LORD’s commandments and His statutes which I am commanding you today for your good?

Hosea is going to beckon the people to turn back to Him. They are currently going to be judged for their sins. Hosea 6:1 "Come, let us return to the LORD. For He has torn us, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bandage us. Elohim is making one last call before He shuts down the nation of Israel. Elohim wants them to repent. Hosea 6:2 "He will revive us after two days; He will raise us up on the third day That we may live before Him. This is an extraordinary verse. This is the passage in the Tanakh that speaks of the timeframe of the death, burial and resurrection of Messiah. 1 Cor 15:3-4 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, "He will raise us up on the third day that we may live before Him." It is through the death of Messiah that we are made alive. John 14:19 “After a little while the world will behold Me no more; but you will behold Me; because I live, you shall live also. Romans 8:10-14 And if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness. 11But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who indwells you. 12So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh— 13for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. This passage is speaking of the life we have through the New Covenant which is given through the blood of Messiah. Romans 6:12-13 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body that you should obey its lusts, 13and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. Chapters 7-12 deal with the fact that Elohim wants Israel to repent. He will not judge Israel if they would turn back to Him. Hosea 7:7 All of them are hot like an oven, And they consume their rulers; All their kings have fallen. None of them calls on Me. "They are all hot, like an oven, And have devoured their judges;" Any judge who did what was right and enforced the law and morality was removed. "All their kings have fallen." Four of the last six kings of Israel were murdered. There was a tremendous amount of corruption on the throne. But the people actually got what they deserve. "None among them calls upon me." There was not a king in the northern kingdom that was any good at all. Not one of their kings turned to Elohim. They were all very evil. Most of the kings in Judah were bad also. But the southern kingdom had five kings that led the nation back to Elohim. Hosea 7:8 Ephraim mixes himself with the nations; Ephraim has become a cake not turned. Ephraim mixes himself with the nations;" They have mingled and married among pagan nations. The people were warned against this in Torah. Exodus 34:15-16 lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land and they play the harlot with their gods, and sacrifice to their gods, and someone invite you to eat of his sacrifice; 16and you take some of his daughters for your sons, and his daughters play the harlot with their gods, and cause your sons also to play the harlot with their gods. Deut 7:3-5 “Furthermore, you shall not intermarry with them; you shall not give your daughters to their sons, nor shall you take their daughters for your sons. 4“For they will turn your sons away from following Me to serve other gods; then the anger of the LORD will be kindled against you, and He will quickly destroy you. 5“But thus you shall do to them: you shall tear down their altars, and smash their sacred pillars, and hew down their Asherim, and burn their graven images with fire. 2 Cor 6:14-18 Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? 15Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? 16Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, “I WILL DWELL IN THEM AND WALK AMONG THEM; AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE. 17“Therefore, COME OUT FROM THEIR MIDST AND BE SEPARATE,” says the Lord. “AND DO NOT TOUCH WHAT IS UNCLEAN; And I will welcome you. 18“And I will be a father to you, And you shall be sons and daughters to Me,” Says the Lord Almighty.

Hosea 5:3 I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from Me; For now, O Ephraim, you have played the harlot, Israel has defiled itself. "Ephriam" is the name of just one of the tribes, but Elohim used it to refer to the entire nation. Ephriam was the very center of idolatry in Israel. The first golden calf was set up by Jeroboam in Beth-el and later one was set up in Samaria, which was in Ephriam. Beth-el was actually of the tribe of Benjamin, they revolted with the tribe of Ephriam. Idolatry was the greatest sin of Israel and Ephriam was leading the way. "I know Ephraim, And Israel is not hidden from Me; For now, O Ephraim, you commit harlotry; Israel is defiled." Calf worship and Baal worship had been set up by Ephriam, and it defiled all the ten tribes because they all participated in it.

Hosea 3:1 Then the LORD said to me, "Go again, love a woman who is loved by her husband, yet an adulteress, even as the LORD loves the sons of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love raisin cakes." Elohim tells Hosea, "Go get that woman that is being used by others and love her. This is the same thing I do for Israel." Elohim says that Israel looks to other gods and loves the raisin cakes (not "flagons of wine" (kjv). The raisin cakes were offerings in that day used in Baal worship. Hosea 3:4 For the sons of Israel will remain for many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar, and without ephod or household idols. This is another one of the most amazing prophecies in Scripture. Hosea tells the Israelites they shall abide "many days" without: 1. "..a king..." The people of Israel have been without a king or prince ever since Nebuchadnezzar removed Zedekiah from the throne, had his sons killed, and put out his eyes in 586 B.C. They are without a king today almost 2600 years later. They won't have a king until Messiah returns and assumes the throne of David. 2. "or prince," Israel has no one to succeed the throne. There is no one waiting in the wings to be the next king. 3. "sacrifice" They do not have a place for sacrifice and have not had one since the Dome of the Rock was built. But this verse says that will not always be the case. Hosea says they will be without for many days, but not forever. 4. "sacred pillar," They will no longer engage in idolatry. It would appear that Israel abandoned idolatry when they were taken into captivity by Nebuchadnezzar. They have not engaged in idolatry in the almost 2600 years since, just as Hosea says. The religion of Israel today appears to be atheism at the moment. But that too, will soon change. 5. "Ephod." The ephod was a part of the high priest's attire (Ex 28:6-14). They would be without a legitimate High Priest. They have been without one since 70 AD. 6. "Household idols." They would not have idols nor a priest for many days. That still holds true today.

Hosea 2:1 Say to your brothers, "Ammi," and to your sisters, "Ruhamah." In the previous chapter, Hosea was told to name his daughter "Lo-Ammi" which means "not my people." "Lo" means "not." Therefore, "Ammi" means "my people." "Ruhamah" means "compassion (or mercy) is shown." Elohim is saying that there are those who are brothers and sisters to Hosea. He will show compassion to them and they are His people. Hosea 2:2 "Contend with your mother, contend, For she is not my wife, and I am not her husband; And let her put away her harlotry from her face, And her adultery from between her breasts, Elohim is using the sins of Gomer to demonstrate the sins of the nation of Israel. Hosea married a girl who was a prostitute. After he had been with her a long time and he even had three children by her, and then she went back into prostitution. During all this, he loved her. Elohim tells those that are His people that they should bring charges against their mother (the nation of Israel). He says that He is not her husband, and that Israel must leave the harlotry. Elohim uses the husband/wife analogy to describe His relationship with His people Israel (Isa. 54:5-6, 62:4-5, Jer. 31:31-33). It is this redeemed Israel (and NOT "the Christian Church") that is the bride of Elohim. Christianity has misled the masses for centuries stating that they were the Bride of Messiah basically from one passage in Revelation (Rev. 19:7-9). Rev 19:7-9 “Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready.” 8And it was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. 9And he said to me, “Write, ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.’” And he said to me, “These are true words of God.” Not only is the Christian reference (instead of Israel) fallacious, but the bride is described as "New Jerusalem" in Revelation. Paul made a couple references in his letters to the bride being the assembly. That is obviously a reference to that assembly he is addressing being a part of Israel (Eph. 5:22-24). Hosea 2:16 "And it will come about in that day," declares the LORD, "That you will call Me Ishi And will no longer call Me Baali. "Ishi" means "my Husband." They will call Him Ishi in that day. They will no longer call Him "Baali" meaning "my Owner." Hosea 2:17 "For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, So that they will be mentioned by their names no more. They will no longer remember the names of the idols they worshipped. In a way, that has come true today!

Imagine a certain man who loves a certain woman more than anything else in this world. He loves her so much that he marries her and dedicates his life to her happiness and well-being. But while this woman initially responds to his affections, she later turns away from him to become a prostitute. She would rather have adulterous sex with hundreds of men than have the love and security of this man that truly loves her. He keeps taking her from the streets of prostitution and even buys her from slavery in order to take her back as his wife. But she keeps sneaking back into the sick world of being a whore. The story of that certain man is the life of Hosea. Elohim used Hosea as that certain man to illustrate how Israel was unfaithful to Him. Hosea and Jeremiah were very similar in many respects. They both spoke the heart of God. Jeremiah spoke from heartbreaking experiences of the nation. Hosea spoke from the heartbreaking experiences of his home. Hosea's wife was unfaithful to him and became a whore. He loved her so much that he took her back again. She left him to become a whore again. Speaking from this heartbreaking experience, this man walked out in front of the nation of Israel, with tears streaming down his face saying, "I want you to know how God feels about you, because I feel the same way." This man could speak God's heart because he experienced God's heart toward His people. River Valley Torah Assembly