Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

When Israel was a child, I loved him,
    and out of Egypt I called my son.
The more they were called,
    the more they went away;
they kept sacrificing to the Baals
    and burning offerings to idols.
Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk;
    I took them up by their arms,
    but they did not know that I healed them.
I led them with cords of kindness,
    with the bands of love,
and I became to them as one who eases the yoke on their jaws,
    and I bent down to them and fed them.
They shall not return to the land of Egypt,
    but Assyria shall be their king,
    because they have refused to return to me.
The sword shall rage against their cities,
    consume the bars of their gates,
    and devour them because of their own counsels.
My people are bent on turning away from me,
    and though they call out to the Most High,
    he shall not raise them up at all.
How can I give you up, O Ephraim?
    How can I hand you over, O Israel?
How can I make you like Admah?
    How can I treat you like Zeboiim?
My heart recoils within me;
    my compassion grows warm and tender.
I will not execute my burning anger;
    I will not again destroy Ephraim;
for I am God and not a man,
    the Holy One in your midst,
    and I will not come in wrath.
They shall go after the Lord;
    he will roar like a lion;
when he roars,
    his children shall come trembling from the west;
they shall come trembling like birds from Egypt,
    and like doves from the land of Assyria,
    and I will return them to their homes, declares the Lord.
Ephraim has surrounded me with lies,
    and the house of Israel with deceit,
but Judah still walks with God
    and is faithful to the Holy One.

• Hosea 11:1-12

Noted Biblical Scholars, Teachers, and Preachers Comments

Hosea 11:1-11 ‘God’s Love for Israel’: “Hosea 11:1-7 shows how Israel turned her back on God’s love for her. Even in the face of Israel’s rejection, God states that He could not possibly give up on Israel nor destroy Israel totally as He did Admah and Zeboiim, two cities destroyed with Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 14:8 with 19:25). On the contrary, God clearly feels compassion for Israel. There-fore, He will not extend the fullness of His anger (Hosea 11:9), and although He must judge Israel for Israel’s sins, He will not judge the people to total destruction. He will judge them for the purpose of correction. Once they do come back to Him, only then will they experience the final regathering and the restoration of the land (verses 10-11). The fact that the regathering is not only from the north and south but also from the west is certainly possible after A.D. 70. The return from the captivity was from the east.”

• Tim LaHaye and Ed Hindson, Exploring Bible Prophecy

Hosea 11:1-4 ‘God loved Israel as a parent loves His child’: “God revealed another dimension of his love for Israel in these verses. In addition to loving her as a husband loves a wife, he loved her as a devoted and nurturing parent. Israel’s rejection of God’s love seemed even more outrageous in light of the tender care and interest he has always had for his cherished children.”

• Dorothy Kelley Patterson, General Editor, NIV Woman’s Study Bible (Karen H. Jobes, Minor Prophets contributor)

Hosea 11:1 ‘The Assyrians make a comeback’: “Assyria was not always a political state. It originated around the city of Asshur along the Tigris River and is first mentioned in Accadian sources in the late 3rd millennium B.C. The Assyrians evidently forged an independent state in the early 2nd millennium B.C. (c. 1800 B.C.), but did not become a lasting political force until the 14th century B.C. The reign of Ashuruballit I (c. 1363–1328 B.C.) marked the beginning of a stable empire.
“Even though Assyria was now an influential kingdom, it was not yet a major power. Assyrian expansionist tendencies did not begin until the late 13th century B.C. under Tukulti-Ninurta I (c. 1243–1207 B.C.). It was not until the 9th century B.C. that Assyria threatened Syria-Palestine, primarily under Shalmaneser III (858–824 B.C.) and his successors.
“After Shalmaneser, the Neo-Assyrian Empire declined to a low point. By 745 B.C. its political structure was fragmented, and the kingdom of Urartu threatened its northern territory. At this crucial time for the empire a new king took power, beginning a revival of Assyrian strength. From 744 to 681 B.C., our Assyrian kings, all of whom appear in the Bible, led Assyria to its greatest period of imperial power: Tiglath-Pileser III, Shalmaneser V, Sargon II, Sennacherib.
“The revived Assyria threatened the very existence of the small states to the west. In 734 B.C. Tiglath-Pileser III mounted a ferocious offensive against the western states. This campaign culminated in the conquest of Damascus in 732 B.C. and forced most other states to pay tribute to Assyria.
“A decade later the Assyrians laid siege to Samaria, the capital of Israel, and ended its existence. Shalmaneser V conducted a 3-year siege, climaxing in Samaria’s fall in 722 B.C. Sargon II succeeded Shalmaneser in that same year and probably was the king who carried the Israelite people into exile. Israel experienced the reality of Hosea’s prophecy: ‘The Assyrian shall be his king’ (Hos. 11:5).
“Assyria had come back as a major power, and she would flex her new strength quickly. Sennacherib (704–681 B.C.) seized most of the major towns in Judah in his campaign of 701 B.C., then destroyed Babylon in 689 B.C.”

• Timothy B. Cargal, et al., The Chronological Study Bible

Hosea 11:1 ‘Jesus experienced what His people experienced’: ”The baby Jesus has to flee with his parents. Could God not protect him from Herod in Bethlehem? Certainly, but we don’t need to ask about what God could do or would do, but what God really wants to do. God wants Jesus to flee to Egypt. In this way, God shows that from the very beginning Jesus’ way is a way of persecution, but God is also showing that he can protect Jesus and that nothing will happen to him as long as God does not allow it. Jesus now lives in Egypt, where his people once had to live in slavery and adversity. The king is now supposed to be where his people were. He is supposed to experience the history of his people in his own body. In Egypt, Israel suffered adversity; in Egypt, adversity also begins for Jesus; In Egypt, God’s people and their king live in misery in a strange land. Out of Egypt, however, God led his people into the promised land, and out of Egypt God calls his son back into the land of Israel. What the prophet once said in regard to the people of Israel is now fulfilled in Jesus: ‘Out of Egypt I called my son.’ (Hos. 11:1). The flight into Egypt was not blind chance but divine promise and fulfillment. In Egypt, Jesus became one with the sufferings and joys of his people, of God’s people, of us all. In Egypt, he is with us in a strange land; with him we will also move out of a foreign land and into God’s land.”

• Dietrich Bonhoeffer, I Want to Live These Days with You, devotional compiled from several of his writings

Hosea 11:2 ‘diverting from the path’: ” Over time, Israel’s relationship to God routinely declined. Though continually called by God, their devotion digressed further and further away from him. Children can be happy to receive a parent’s gifts, but still not want to obey the giver. Likewise, the Hebrews enjoyed the idea of being God’s chosen and elect, but they did not want to live in faithfulness to the Lord. Through their calling, Israel received something exceptionally valuable. Sadly, they did not care for it as they should.”

• Jay McCluskey, A Long Walk with the Minor Prophets

Hosea 11:3 ‘The need to thank God’: “God has done great things for many of us who, possibly, have never noticed his hand at work on our behalf. Lives that were in great peril have been saved, yet the goodness of God has never been acknowledged by those whom he has delivered. People have been raised up from beds of sickness, yet the great and good healer has never been thanked for what he has done for them. Oh, how sad it is that God should do so much for us and yet that we should not even thank him for doing it!“

• Charles H. Spurgeon, from sermon notes

Hosea 11:4 ‘God wants you to willingly come to Him’: “God says, ‘I did not force them to serve Me.’ God will not force Himself upon you either, my friend. Many people say, ‘Why doesn’t God break through today? Why doesn’t He do this or that?’ I don’t know why God doesn’t do a lot of things—He just hasn’t told me. He is God, and I happen to be a little creature down here and I lack a great deal of information. Although I’m not able to answer that, I do know this: God will not force you. The only band He will put on you is the band of love. He says, ‘I won’t bridle you, I won’t push you, the only appeal I make to you is that I love you.’ My friend, that is the appeal that God makes to you and to me today. He moved heaven and hell to get to the door of your heart, but He stopped there and politely knocks on the door and says, ‘Behold, I stand at the door, and knock …’ (Rev. 3:20). That is where He is—He has never crashed the door; He is not going to push Himself in. You will have to respond to His love.
“It is interesting that love has always been the strongest appeal. It is said that Napoleon made the statement, ‘Charlemagne, Alexander the Great, and other generals have built up empires, and they built them on force, but Jesus Christ today has millions of people who would die for Him, and He built an empire on love.’ That is His only appeal to you—don’t think He will use any other method. He will judge you, but He will not draw you to Himself except by love. That is the strongest appeal that can possibly be made. The band is a band of love.”

• J. Vernon McGee, Thru the Bible, Vol III, Proverbs to Malachi

Hosea 11:5-6 ‘Hoshea’: “Hoshea’s refusal to pay tribute to Assyria had dire consequences. The Assyrian king Shalmaneser V (726–722 B.C.) laid siege to Samaria from 725 to 722 B.C. and, at some point, imprisoned Hoshea. Samaria lost her king (Hos. 10:3, 7; 13:10, 11). The policy pursued by King Hoshea to lean upon Egypt for help against Assyria would not succeed in preserving the nation from destruction (11:5, 6; 13:16).”

• Timothy B. Cargal, et al., The Chronological Study Bible

Hosea 11:5 ‘Matthew and Old Testament Fulfillment’: “Matthew also announced fulfillment of Hosea’s prophecy, ‘Out of Egypt I called My Son’ (Matt. 2:15). The first line of this verse in the Old Testament (Hos. 11:1) shows that the prophet was actually referring to God calling Israel out of Egypt in the Exodus. But Matthew reinterpreted the words as a picture of God’s providing salvation by bringing the child Jesus back from Egypt.”

• Timothy B. Cargal, et al., The Chronological Study Bible

Hosea 11:6-7 ‘backsliding’: “This is the second time in Hosea that the word backsliding occurs. Again, it is the figure of the backsliding heifer, that little calf who, when you try to push her up the runway into the old wagon, simply puts down her front feet and begins to slide backwards—and you just have to start all over again. That is a picture of what backsliding is—it is to refuse to listen to God, to refuse to come to Him.”

• J. Vernon McGee, Thru the Bible, Vol III, Proverbs to Malachi

Hosea 11:8 ‘God showed sympathy to them’: “God had sympathy for his people. God did not want to see his people utterly destroyed, as were Admah and Zeboyim, the cities of the plain, destroyed with Sodom and Gomorrah (see Ge 10:19; 19:24; Dt 29:23).”

• Dorothy Kelley Patterson, General Editor, NIV Woman’s Study Bible (Karen H. Jobes, Minor Prophets contributor)

Hosea 11:9 ‘God is near’: “Before you read any further, reflect on those last four words, ‘I am among you.’ Do you believe that? Do you believe God is near? He wants you to. He wants you to know he is in the midst of your world. Wherever you are as you read these words, he is present period in your car. On the plane. In your office, your bedroom, your den. He’s near.
“God is in the thick of things in your world. He has not taken up residence in a distant Galaxy. He has removed himself from history. He has not chosen to seclude himself as a on a throne in an incandescent castle.
“He has drawn near. He has involved himself in the carpools, heartbreaks, and funeral homes of our day. He is as near to us on Monday as on Sunday. In the school room as in the sanctuary. At the coffee break as much as the communion table.“

• Max Lucado, And Angels Were Silent

Hosea 11:10-11 ‘the repentant will return’: “God’s repentant people will be returned to their land. The ‘lion’ simile is used for God. The ‘roar’ of the ‘lion’ suggests a clear and loud call from God to his people. Christ is the Lion of Judah (Rev 5:5). The ‘sparrow’ and ‘dove’ images represent Israel. ‘Sparrow’ and ‘dove’ suggest the swiftness of the future return of God’s people. These images strengthen the pictures of divine authority (‘lion,’ v. 10), violated by Israel’s rebellion (v. 12). This return of God’s chastened and obedient people took place after they had served their time of punishment in exile.”

• Dorothy Kelley Patterson, General Editor, NIV Woman’s Study Bible (Karen H. Jobes, Minor Prophets contributor)

Hosea 11:10 ‘will roar like a lion’: “Though the Lord would, as a lion, roar against Israel in judgment (cf. Amos 1:2), He would also roar for the purpose of calling, protecting, and blessing (cf. Joel 3:16). from the west. Returns from Assyrian and Babylonian captivities were from the E. This undoubtedly has reference to His return at the Second Advent to set up the millennial kingdom (cf. Is. 11:11, 12) when He calls Israel from their worldwide dispersion and reverses the judgment of 9:17.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

Hosea 11:11-12 ‘no good kings for the northern kingdom’: “Judah still had a few good kings in the southern kingdom, but there were none in the northern kingdom. Some of the kings made a profession, but they were using lies and deceit. My friend, I believe we live in a day when you can fool everyone. Abraham Lincoln made the statement (everybody believes it because good old Abe said it), ‘You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time.’ Lincoln did not live in this day of television and brainwashing. You can fool all the people all the time. There has never been such a day of brainwashing as today. But nobody is fooling God. He knows, and someday He will judge according to truth.”

• J. Vernon McGee, Thru the Bible, Vol III, Proverbs to Malachi

Hosea 11:12-14:8 ‘Israel’s Sin and God’s Salvation’: “The prophecies in this passage intermix past and future fulfillment. Hosea begins by contrasting the nation of Israel with Jacob, the father of Israel (11:12-12:14). Whereas Jacob sought after God and His blessing, Israel sought idolatry and, for that reason, calamity came upon the land (13 1-16). However, the judgment upon Israel, which will be a judgment of destruction, will not be total (13:14), for God declares that death and Sheol will nor win, and God intends to ransom Israel from Sheol and death. When God declares that ‘compassion will be hidden from My sight’ (13: 14). He is saying that He will not change His mind about the future salvation of Israel. Therefore, it will indeed come.
“Hosea concludes with a look at Israel’s future and final salvation (14:1-8). He begins with a call to repentance (verses 1-3), which is followed by God’s promise that once Israel does repent, God will indeed respond (verses 4-5). This in turn will lead to Israel’s future fruitfulness (verses 5-8). Thus, in the messianic kingdom, Israel will be a fruit-bearing nation that will benefit the Gentiles as well. With that positive note, Hosea concludes his book by confessing his great impression of the wisdom of God, just as the apostle Paul does in Romans 11:33-36.”

• Tim LaHaye and Ed Hindson, Exploring Bible Prophecy

My Thoughts

Matthew quotes Hosea 11:1 when Joseph takes Mary and the baby Jesus to Egypt.  They are brought out of Egypt, just like the people of Israel during the exodus.  And the verse states God’s Son.  This could be interpreted as the offspring of Israel or Jesus.

Hosea writes that God loved Israel as a child.  God brought Israel out of Egypt.  God taught Ephraim how to walk.  God healed them when they were sick.

But Ephraim worshipped the Baals instead.  The northern tribes never thanked God for anything that He had done for them.

I have stopped myself while praying on numerous occasions.  I keep saying, “Lord, help me,” but how often do I say, “Thank You, God.  My strength comes from You, and You save me from myself far more often than I can imagine.”

In asking for help, we are acknowledging that God is the source of that help.  But saying thank you is important too.

Israel will be exiled, but not back to Egypt.  The Assyrians will send them into exile.

But God speaks of still having love for Israel.  He will roar like a lion and then the remnant will be restored.

In describing the restoration and where they come from, Hosea alludes to the disbursement of Israel.  They will be scattered to the west, to Egypt and to Assyria.  While Babylon would keep family groups together in exile, Assyria split them up.  With a nation that has no distinct identity, they are less likely to establish a successful revolt.

Some Serendipitous Reflections

Hosea 11 1. When have you found painful discipline necessary? How did you feel, carrying out the sentence? Did you ever change your mind about doing so? Why?
“2. How has God shown a parent’s love to you? In what ways have you spurned that love?
“3. How is Hosea’s story like Abram’s, who reasoned with God to spare Sodom (see Ge. 18)? Like the father who waited for the prodigal son (see Lk. 15)?
“4. How are God’s justice and mercy reconciled in each case? How has God reconciled his justice and mercy toward you, in Christ? What is the only precondition in order to be restored to him?
“5. What comfort do you take in God’s enduring love? How will you share that with those who have yet to ‘come home’?”

• Lyman Coleman, et al, The NIV Serendipity Bible for Study Groups

Hosea 11 has one set of questions.

Substitute whatever group for any reference to a small group or ask who could come to your aid.

If you like these Thursday morning Bible studies, but you think you missed a few, you can use this LINK. I have set up a page off the home page for links to these Thursday morning posts. I will continue to modify the page as I add more.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.