Hosea 11:12-14:9 "Jacob and His Children" May 27, 2007 Hosea retells the story of Israel in the context of judgment. The whole story of Israel, from Jacob to the present, is retold in the light of the end of the story. This is what the gospel writers will do 750 years later: retell the story of Israel in the light of the end of the story. This is what Hebrews does most explicitly in chapter 11 retelling the whole story of Israel in the light of the end of the story. This is what the apostles do throughout the book of Acts (as we'll see in Stephen's sermon in the coming weeks). As we have gone through Hosea, we have seen God's love for his people. As God said to Hosea, Go again, love a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress, even as the LORD loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love cakes of raisins. (3:1) This is the sort of love that makes us wonder whether we want to love. You don't mind loving your wife because she loves you too (at least most of the time)! But God calls Hosea to love a woman who despises him who cheated on him indeed, who turned to prostitution. If your wife decided to become a prostitute, would you still love her? But that is what we have done to God. We have loved creatures more than our Creator. We have set our hearts on earthly things. And yet he still loves us. Tonight we are looking at the conclusion to the book of Hosea. There are four parts the first three retell the story of Israel, from Jacob into Egypt (11:12-12:14) from Egypt to King Saul (13:1-11) and concluding with the coming end of Israel (13:12-16) Part four then calls Israel to return to the LORD (14:1-8). As we remember the history of the people of God, let us remember that we are called to return to the LORD our God; for God is a faithful father who rejoices at the return of his children. 1. From Jacob to Egypt (11:12-12:14) Our first two verses, 11:12-12:1, set up the context transitioning from the previous section: 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. Ephraim feeds on the wind and pursues the east wind all day long; they multiply falsehood and violence; they make a covenant with Assyria, and oil is carried to Egypt. Hosea speaks of the wind particularly the "east wind" which throughout scripture is associated with the wind of judgment (After all, in Palestine the east wind blows hot and dry off the desert it never brings rain, and only brings drought and devastation). We will feel the scorching east wind again at the end of our passage in 13:15 (which reinforces the division of the passage that I have suggested). Hosea prophesies in the last days of the kingdom of Israel his reference to the faithfulness of Judah probably refers to the renewal of the covenant in the days of Hezekiah. Throughout the passage (and in deed throughout the book) Hosea uses "Ephraim" as the name of the northern kingdom in order to distinguish Israel from Judah. But while Judah is presently more faithful, Judah is also a son of Jacob, and God is not pleased with any of Jacob's sons. The LORD has an indictment against Judah and will punish Jacob according to his ways; he will repay him according to his deeds. Throughout this passage Hosea will weave together the individual story of Jacob with the collective story of Israel. It was Jacob who took his brother by the heel in his mother's womb, and in his manhood he strove with God (this should be taken both as a reference to Jacob individually and to Israel corporately) He strove with the angel and prevailed; he wept and sought his favor. He met God at Bethel, and there God spoke with us Yahweh, the God of Hosts, Yahweh is his memorial name. It was at Bethel that God had revealed himself to Jacob, both when Jacob left the land (the vision of the ladder in Gen 28), and when he returned (when God spoke to him in Gen 35). But Bethel is also the place where Jeroboam had set up one of the golden calves. Bethel, the house of God the place where earth and heaven met has become a house of idols. Hosea has been consistently rebuking Bethel (or Beth-aven), but now he reminds Israel of Bethel's origin. God spoke to us at Bethel not just in Jacob's day but even when the man of God from Judah came to Bethel in the days of Jeroboam, and predicted the destruction of the altar at Bethel. God has spoken to us at Bethel! Do not forget Yahweh! So you, by the help of your God, return, hold fast to love and justice, and wait continually for your God. We have seen the theme of return throughout Hosea. Israel is called to return to the LORD, but they will not. Instead, they will return to exile return to Egypt. After all, Ephraim is A merchant, in whose hands are false balances, he loves to oppress. Ephraim has said, "Ah, but I am rich; I have found wealth for myself; in all my labors they cannot find in me iniquity or sin." God had warned his people in the wilderness, "Do not say in your heart, My strength has gotten me this wealth." But Ephraim has forgotten God's warnings. And so God warns, I am the LORD your God from the land of Egypt; I will again make you dwell in tents, as in the days of the appointed feast. The God who delivered Israel from Egypt will now send his people back. They were supposed to go to Jerusalem every year for the feast of Tabernacles and dwell in tents (or booths); but they have failed to do this. So instead they will go back to living in tents in exile. I spoke to the prophets; it was I who multiplied visions, and through the prophets gave parables. But Israel has not listened. From Gilead to Gilgal (Gilead is the easternmost part of Israel; Gilgal is at the center) from the periphery of Israel to the heart of Ephraim Israel has rebelled and gone its own way. And so Hosea reflects on the history of Jacob: Jacob fled to the land of Aram; there Israel served for a wife, and for a wife he guarded sheep. This is a reference to Genesis 28-29. But it is also connected to Israel's sojourning in Egypt guarding Pharaoh's sheep. By a prophet the LORD brought Israel up from Egypt, and by a prophet he was guarded. Even as Jacob guarded the sheep of Laban, so Moses guarded Israel. You can see here the foundations of the hermeneutic that Stephen will use in Acts 7, or that Matthew will use in his gospel. Hosea is interpreting the story of Israel as a recapitulation of the story of Jacob. By using parallels between Jacob and Israel he is explaining the present situation in the light of the past (or perhaps better, he explains the past in the light of the present) You only properly understand the past in the light of the end of the story. I could say this about your story as well. Church history only makes sense in the light of the end of the story. Your own life only makes sense in the light of the end of the story. It is only when your story is retold in the light of the narrative of Jesus Christ that your story becomes meaningful. 2. From Egypt to Saul (13:1-11) Ephraim had been exalted. But he incurred guilt through Baal and died. Hosea has already told us in 9:10 about how Israel pursued the Baals. Now in his conclusion he says that Israel's idolatry is the reason for his "death." Hosea views exile as a kind of death. And now Ephraim is sinning "more and more" in their idolatry. Therefore they shall be like the morning mist or like the dew that goes early away, like the chaff that swirls from the threshing floor or like smoke from a window. Ephraim is fleeting. Israel is here today, but gone tomorrow. This is the fate of all idolaters. The wicked are like the chaff that the wind blows away. But I am the LORD your God from the land of Egypt; you know no God but me, and besides me there is no savior. God alone can save Israel from his living death, as he did in the wilderness: It was I who knew you in the wilderness, in the land of drought; but when they had grazed, they became full, they were filled, and their heart was lifted up; therefore they forgot me. Once again Hosea connects the history of Israel with the present with the "end of the story" as it were. God had warned in Deuteronomy that Israel should not forget him, but that they should remember his faithfulness (Dt 8:12-14). He promised that if they remembered him, he would protect them from wild animals, but if they forgot him, then he would unleash the wild beasts against them. No Hosea says that God himself will become like a wild beast: So I am to them like a lion; like a leopard I will lurk beside the way. I will fall upon them like a bear robbed of her cubs; I will tear open their breasts, and there I will devour them like a lion, as a wild beast would rip them open. The God who protected them will now become their worst enemy. Verses 10-11 then takes us from the wilderness to King Saul: Where now is your king, to save you in all your cities? Where are all your rulers those of whom you said, 'Give me a king and princes'? I gave you a king in my anger, and I took him away in my wrath. Israel is rebellious, and Israel's kings are no better. As we saw in chapter 10, Saul was only a prelude to Jeroboam and all the rest. When we went through Samuel, we saw that 1 Samuel 8-10 was not anti-monarchical, it was anti-Israel. Israel was supposed to be the faithful son of God. Israel should not need a king, because Israel is the royal son. But the book of Samuel makes it clear that Israel has utterly failed to be the son. Some have said that Israel was wrong for the way that they asked for a king, "a king like the other nations," but that is the exact phrase in Dt 17:14 that permits a king "a king like the nations." God's problem with Israel is not that they asked for a king; nor was it that they asked for a king like the other nations. God's problem with Israel was that they had refused to worship him! So God gave Israel a king as a mediator between Israel and God. If they king succeeded where Israel had failed, then God would have mercy on Israel. But as verse 4 of Hosea 13 says "besides me there is no savior." And verse 10 asks "where is your king, to save you"? And while there seems to have been some optimism at the beginning, we have now reached the end of the story. And you only properly understand the past in the light of the end of the story. Why is that children dream of being firefighters? Baseball players? Doctors? Builders? It is because they want to mean something. No child ever says "When I grow up I want an insignificant job that doesn't mean anything to anyone." That's one reason why I delight to hear little girls say that they want to be Mommies. Because they understand (regardless of whether our culture does) that "Mommy" is one of the most significant jobs around. 3. The End of Israel (13:12-16) Ladies, can you imagine being in labor, but your child decides not to come out? No matter how hard you push, that baby just sits there, content to stay forever inside you. The pangs of childbirth come for him, but he is an unwise son, for at the right time he does not present himself at the opening of the womb. You know as well as I do what would happen: the mother would die! Ephraim is an unwise son. He refuses to come out. And so God asks, Shall I ransom them from the power of Sheol? Shall I redeem them from Death? O Death, where are your plagues? O Sheol, where is your sting? Compassion is hidden from my eyes. For Hosea this appears to be a call for Sheol and Death to triumph, but Paul quotes this in 1 Cor 15 as a description of how death has lost its sting! Some people have thought that Paul is just ignoring the context of Hosea and using verse 14 as a prooftext wrenched from context. But Hosea's whole point in this question is that God is the only Savior, but that now is not the time of salvation. What Paul is saying is that what God did not do in the days of Hosea, he has now done in Jesus. The sting of Sheol will fall upon Israel in Hosea's day, but because it has fallen upon Jesus, therefore the sting of death and the grave will not fall upon those who are in Christ. But in Hosea's day you feel the sting of Sheol through the scorching east wind: Though he may flourish among his brothers, the east wind, the wind of Yahweh, shall come, rising from the wilderness, and his fountain shall dry up; his spring shall be parched; it shall strip his treasury of every precious thing. Samaria shall bear her guilt, because she has rebelled against her God; they shall fall by the sword; their little ones shall be dashed in pieces, and their pregnant women ripped open. Drought, war, and brutal devastation will come against Samaria because she has rebelled against her God. Is rebellion really worth it? If you haven't figured this out yet for yourself, take this lesson from Israel: rebellion results in destruction! Sin is counter-productive. Sin does not produce happiness, joy, or peace. Sin produces misery, death, and chaos. And so Hosea's words to Israel are aimed at us as well: 4. Return to the LORD (14:1-8) Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity. Take with you words and return to the LORD; say to him, 'Take away all iniquity; accept what is good, and we will pay with bulls the vows of our lips. Since God alone can save, Israel must confess, Assyria shall not save us; we will not ride on horses (e.g., our own might will not save us) and we will say no more, 'Our God' to the work of our hands. In you the orphan finds mercy. Repentance is not just saying "I'm sorry." Repentance involves a commitment to new obedience. When we repent of our sins, we must also repent of our confidence in ourselves, and in other powers, and entrust ourselves entirely to the God who alone can save us. And then hear God's comforting words: I will heal their apostasy; I will love them freely, for my anger has turned from them. I will be like the dew to Israel; he shall blossom like the lily; he shall take root like the trees of Lebanon; his shoots shall spread out; his beauty shall be like the olive, and his fragrance like Lebanon. They shall return and dwell beneath my shadow; they shall flourish like the grain; they shall blossom like the vine; their fame shall be like the wine of Lebanon. God promises that he will heal the repentant. He declares that he will refresh and nourish Israel, and make Israel to bloom and take root and flourish. Hosea frequently uses the language of grain, wine and oil, the three chief crops of Israel. But here he says that Israel will become these crops: the olive, the grain, the vine. In a parting plea God says, O Ephraim, what have I to do with idols? It is I who answer and look after you. I am like an evergreen cypress; from me comes your fruit. Jesus will draw on this language when he says "I am the vine, you are the branches." God alone can save. And he alone is the one who gives life to his people. Conclusion (14:9) Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; whoever is discerning, let him know them; for the ways of the LORD are right, and the upright walk in them, but transgressors stumble in them. This conclusion is unique in prophetic literature. It sounds much more like Proverbs than prophets. But this proverb concludes the book with a call to wisdom. Israel must learn to walk in the ways of the LORD, or else they will stumble and fall. There is something incomplete about Hosea. Hosea makes it sound like the solution is for Israel to repent and obey God. If only Israel would walk in the ways of the LORD, then everything would be okay. But the problem (as Hosea shows us) is that Israel keeps sinning! Hosea saw clearly that Israel must return to the LORD and walk in his ways. When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. But my son is unwise, and he will not come out of the womb! As long as Israel is understood corporately, the message of Hosea will sound like a message of works-righteousness. The message of Hosea only becomes a message of hope when you realize that Jesus is the embodiment of Israel. Jesus is the upright one the wise man who walks in the ways of the LORD. Hosea is about this shocking love the love of a prophet for his prostitute wife and the love of God for his prostitute people. But what Hosea does not yet see is the way in which God will show his love for his adulterous people. Because while we were yet sinners, Christ loved us and gave himself for us.