HOSEA LESSON 7

     We will begin this lesson in Hosea 7:1 "When I would have healed
Israel, then the iniquity of Ephraim was discovered, and the
wickedness of Samaria: for they commit falsehood; and the thief cometh
in, [and] the troop of robbers spoileth without."

     God's desire, all along, was to heal Israel. We have talked a
great deal about the will of man. Even though God wanted to heal them,
they had to be willing to give up the worship of false gods. As we
said, in an earlier lesson. In the time of Jereboam the second, they
made a calf and put it in their place of worship as symbolizing God.

     Hosea 7:2 "And they consider not in their hearts [that] I
remember all their wickedness: now their own doings have beset them
about; they are before my face."

     The heart of man is what he is. It is desperately wicked, or it
is stayed upon God. In the case of those of Israel, they were
desperately wicked. Their sins are the very things that cause this
terrible judgement to come upon them.

     Hosea 7:3 "They make the king glad with their wickedness, and the
princes with their lies."

     This was a corrupt society. The king was even pleased at the
corruption. The king and the princes were just as involved as the
people themselves.

     Hosea 7:4 "They [are] all adulterers, as an oven heated by the
baker, [who] ceaseth from raising after he hath kneaded the dough,
until it be leavened."

     "Leaven" speaks of sin. The fact that it is leavened, means it
has risen to the height of sin. This adultery, again, is spiritual
adultery. They are unfaithful to God. The kneading speaks of working
the leaven down. It does not stay down. The sin is too great.

     Hosea 7:5 "In the day of our king the princes have made [him]
sick with bottles of wine; he stretched out his hand with scorners."

     Drunkenness goes with sin. Wine dulls the senses, and causes
one's will to be weak. At all sorts of celebrations, such as the
birthday of the king, there were drunken parties. Not only did this
wine make them not able to make correct decisions, but it gave them a
false sense of security, as well. This wine dulled their senses for
the evil sins they committed, as well. The sad thing is the fact, that
the king joined the princes in this.

     Hosea 7:6 "For they have made ready their heart like an oven,
whiles they lie in wait: their baker sleepeth all the night; in the
morning it burneth as a flaming fire."

     They have turned their hearts over to sinful lust. Lust feeds
upon itself, and gets hotter and hotter. The lust of this sort springs
into action, when it breaks forth in flame.

     Hosea 7:7 "They are all hot as an oven, and have devoured their
judges; all their kings are fallen: [there is] none among them that
calleth unto me."

     Anyone who opposed them, they removed from authority. The judges
and prophets were not supposed to be subject to the king, or the
people, but they have all been done away with. There is no one to cry
out to God for the people, when the religious leaders are removed.
Sometimes people have fallen so far, it is difficult for them to reach
out to God. This was certainly the case here.

     Hosea 7:8 "Ephraim, he hath mixed himself among the people;
Ephraim is a cake not turned."

     This is speaking of God's people mixing with the heathen people
around them. It, also, is speaking of a cake that had been cooked with
uneven heat. It was well done on the one side, and the other side of
the cake was raw. This is speaking of a person whose life is not
consistent. He proclaimed to love God and to live for God, but he
played around with the worship of false gods at the same time. He was
unstable in all of his ways.

     Hosea 7:9 "Strangers have devoured his strength, and he knoweth
[it] not: yea, gray hairs are here and there upon him, yet he knoweth
not."

     This is saying that the sin crept in without him being aware of
it. Such a person turns gray one hair at a time, and does not realize
he is gray until after it is complete. The sinful nature came in a
little at a time and he was not even aware of it until it was too
late.

     Hosea 7:10 "And the pride of Israel testifieth to his face: and
they do not return to the LORD their God, nor seek him for all this."

     They were so sure of their standing with God, they did nothing to
assure its continuance. They thought of themselves as God's chosen
people, and they felt they were beyond being judged of God. Pride, of
this kind, comes just before a fall. They had overlooked the necessity
of maintaining their standing with God by their faithfulness. They
took God for granted, and began seeking thrills with false gods.

     Hosea 7:11  "Ephraim also is like a silly dove without heart:
they call to Egypt, they go to Assyria."

     A "silly dove" is unaware of the danger of flying head long into
a net. Ephraim has forgotten their help is in God. They seek help from
Egypt {world}, and from Assyria. They are heading for their own trap.

     Hosea 7:12 "When they shall go, I will spread my net upon them; I
will bring them down as the fowls of the heaven; I will chastise them,
as their congregation hath heard."

     Just as the silly dove is caught in the net unexpectedly, they
are caught in the trap of their own making. They were unaware that
Egypt, or Assyria, was not where their chastisement would come from,
but from God. God could use any country He chose to for the carrying
out of His chastisement. They had angered God with their actions.

     Hosea 7:13 "Woe unto them! for they have fled from me:
destruction unto them! because they have transgressed against me:
though I have redeemed them, yet they have spoken lies against me."

     They have left the safety of their God and sought others. The
safest place for a bird is in his own nest. The destruction comes on
them, because they have transgressed God's law. God was their
redeemer. They have become unfaithful to Him. It appears their lying,
here, is a denial of God.

     Hosea 7:14 "And they have not cried unto me with their heart,
when they howled upon their beds: they assemble themselves for corn
and wine, [and] they rebel against me."

     It appears, from this verse, they cried upon their beds at night,
but did not direct those cries to God. At least they did not cry for
Him with their hearts. Their hearts were far from God. This
"assembling themselves for corn and wine" could be speaking of some
false worship they were involved in. To rebel against God, is to rebel
against His authority. I Samuel 15:22 "And Samuel said, Hath the LORD
[as great] delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying
the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey [is] better than sacrifice,
[and] to hearken than the fat of rams." Jesus said the following, that
is the same statement. John 14:15 "If ye love me, keep my
commandments."  They did not keep God's commandments, because they did
not love God. They rebelled against Him.

     Hosea 7:15 "Though I have bound [and] strengthened their arms,
yet do they imagine mischief against me."

     It was God who had made them strong in the first place. They did
not realize who had really helped them. They did not know who their
friend was. They looked to the world for answers that only God had the
answer to.

     Hosea 7:16 "They return, [but] not to the most High: they are
like a deceitful bow: their princes shall fall by the sword for the
rage of their tongue: this [shall be] their derision in the land of
Egypt."

     Their denying God got them into the difficulty they were in.
A deceitful bow is one that sends an arrow in another direction other
than to the target. You may aim at one thing, and hit another with a
deceitful bow. You cannot trust that bow. They have missed the target.
They are not even smart enough to come back to God for help. They have
returned to their idol worship. "Derision" means speak unintelligibly.
                          Hosea 7 Questions


1.  What was God's desire all along?
2.  Why did God not heal them?
3.  What terrible thing had they done in the time of Jereboam the
    second?
4.  What reveals what a man is?
5.  What causes the terrible judgement to come upon them?
6.  What unusual thing is said, in verse 3, about the king?
7.  Leaven speaks of ___.
8.  The fact that it is leavened, means what?
9.  The princes have made the king sick with ________ of _______.
10. What does too much wine do to you?
11. What have they turned their hearts over to?
12. What is verse 6 speaking of?
13. What did they do with those who opposed them?
14. What does verse 8 say Ephraim had done?
15. What is wrong with the cake of verse 8?
16. What type of person does this cake describe?
17. What happened to his strength?
18. What is meant by the gray hairs being here and there upon him?
19. What was their problem mentioned in verse 10?
20. What had they overlooked?
21. What does a "silly dove" do?
22. Where would their chastisement come from?
23. God redeemed them, and how did they repay Him?
24. Quote 1 Samuel chapter 15 verse 22.
25. Quote John chapter 14 verse 15.
26. Why did they not keep God's commandments?
27. ____ had made them strong in the first place.
28. Who had they looked to for answers?
29. They returned, but not to the _______ ______.
30. What got them into their difficulty?