Hosea 7:3–12 Israel’s sin described by various metaphors

    [11] For you also, O Judah, a harvest is appointed,
        when I restore the fortunes of my people.

    [7:1] When I would heal Israel,
        the iniquity of Ephraim is revealed,
        and the evil deeds of Samaria;
    for they deal falsely;
        the thief breaks in,
        and the bandits raid outside.
    [2] But they do not consider
        that I remember all their evil.
    Now their deeds surround them;
        they are before my face.
    [3] By their evil they make the king glad,
        and the princes by their treachery.
    [4] They are all adulterers;
        they are like a heated oven
    whose baker ceases to stir the fire,
        from the kneading of the dough
        until it is leavened.
    [5] On the day of our king, the princes
        became sick with the heat of wine;
        he stretched out his hand with mockers.
    [6] For with hearts like an oven they approach their intrigue;
        all night their anger smolders;
        in the morning it blazes like a flaming fire.
    [7] All of them are hot as an oven,
        and they devour their rulers.
    All their kings have fallen,
        and none of them calls upon me.
    [8] Ephraim mixes himself with the peoples;
        Ephraim is a cake not turned.
    [9] Strangers devour his strength,
        and he knows it not;
    gray hairs are sprinkled upon him,
        and he knows it not.
    [10] The pride of Israel testifies to his face;
        yet they do not return to the LORD their God,
        nor seek him, for all this.
    [11] Ephraim is like a dove,
        silly and without sense,
        calling to Egypt, going to Assyria.
    [12] As they go, I will spread over them my net;
        I will bring them down like birds of the heavens;
        I will discipline them according to the report made to their congregation.
(Hosea 6:11-7:12 ESV)


6:11b–7:2 God wants to heal but Israel's sin prevents it

This is a graphic picture of God who is just looking for a way to restore the fortunes of Israel. But their sins are always there staring him in the face, exposed and revealed. They engulf them and there is no way through for God—and no way out for the people. In the middle of these descriptions Hosea refers to two specific sins which he has mentioned before: deceit and robbery (1b). V 2a observes a common human problem, that of thinking that what we see is all there is. They do not know that their sins engulf them, nor realise ('say in their hearts') that sins now past are remembered by God. Remember the fearful statement that Samson 'did not know that the LORD had left him' (Jdg. 16:20b; cf. 2 Ki. 6:17; Ps. 50:21a).

7:3–12 Israel's sin described by various metaphors

Vs 3–7 form a double-decker sandwich such as we have seen before. The sequence is: king and princes (3)—oven (4)—king and princes (5)—oven (6–7a)—(rulers and) kings (7b). This suggests that this is a picture which should be considered as a whole.
The leaders, the king and the princes, do nothing to correct the climate of dishonesty and wickedness (3). They relish it, for it is the way to satisfying the personal lusts of those who are strong, and scruples do not interfere. But see v 7b for a nasty shock that is coming to them!
They are like an oven (4) that generates its own heat. Their passions, once aroused, continue at full heat. It seems that the baker is simply part of the picture, rather than representing a particular person. V 5 is quite obscure, but the NIV looks reasonable: the king and princes join in some sort of unsavoury revelries. Some feel that the mockers are those who plot against the king. He himself is unaware of this and joins hands with them, while the princes are unable, in their drunken state, to protect him.
The oven metaphor continues in vs 6–7. It looks as if it is simply expanding on what was said before: the oven carries on burning. In the morning it has not died down at all, but blazes up. But v 7 tells us of an unexpected result: there are plots to overthrow the leaders. There were several such plots at the end of the northern kingdom's history (e.g. 2 Ki. 15; 17; and see on 5:13–15). Those who take the law into their own hands should not be surprised when others do the same, and do it more efficiently and ruthlessly. The kings fall, but it does not occur to them to call upon God (7b).
In vs 8–12 Hosea gives us a string of metaphors, all describing something horrible. Ephraim (i.e. Israel) mixes with the nations, losing his purity and single-minded devotion to God (8a). Israel is a flat cake not turned over, raw on one side and overdone on the other (like a barbecue sausage!). Foreigners sap his strength but he does not realise it. They take a heavy tribute from him (giving nothing in return) and he seems unaware of what is happening. He does not notice that he is going grey; he thinks he is still in his prime, a sign of the arrogance mentioned in v 10. Despite all the misfortunes suffered, Israel does not return to the LORD his God or even search for him. Surely Hosea is justified in calling Ephraim a silly and senseless dove, that tries in turn to find a solution from Egypt or Assyria (11). What will happen to this silly bird? God will catch it in a net, and it will be unable to fly anywhere, completely at his mercy.


New Bible commentary: 21st century edition. 1994 (D. A. Carson, R. T. France, J. A. Motyer & G. J. Wenham, Ed.) (4th ed.) (Ho 6:11–7:12). Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press.

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Regards,
Ryan Chia

Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Mission exists
because worship doesn't. Worship is ultimate, not missions, because God is
ultimate, not man.

*From John Piper, Let The Nations Be Glad*