Hosea 12 - Outline of Hosea (Book Notes menu page)

C. The LORD's case against Israel concluded (11:12- 14:9)
  1. A concluding indictment (11:12- 13:16)
  1. Israel's self-confidence is self-deception:
  In Jacob's weakness, the LORD was strong (11:12- 12:14)
  [This section includes the last verse of chapter 11, which is copied here, for convenience.]
11:12 Ephraim compasseth me about {ie., surrounds me} with lies,
and the house of Israel with deceit:
but Judah yet ruleth with God, and is faithful with the saints.
12:1. Ephraim feedeth on wind, and followeth after the east wind:
he daily increaseth lies and desolation;
and they do make a covenant with the Assyrians,
and oil is carried into Egypt.
2 The LORD hath also a controversy with Judah,
and will punish Jacob according to his ways;
according to his doings will he recompense him.
  Ephraim compasseth me about with lies {hypocrisy}... deceit {treachery}... lies {falsehood} and desolation {violence}...-
    Four different HB words are used to describe their relationship toward the LORD, toward their countrymen, and also toward the surrounding nations. cp. Hos 7:16; Psa 78:36; Isa 29:13,14; 59:3,4
  Ephraim feedeth on wind (Hos 8:7-9)... they do make a covenant with... Assyrians... Egypt...-
    They trusted in their alliances with other nations. But their covenants were futile, because their own lies invalidated them. Having made a treaty with one nation, they undermined it by seeking the favor of their ally's enemy. (v.1c; 2Kin 17:1-6; Isa 30:1-7; 31:1-3)
  but Judah yet ruleth with God...-
    In comparison to the northern kingdom, Judah was still relatively faithful to God. But the same hypocrisy which infected Israel was on the increase in Judah. Therefore, Hosea says: "the LORD hath also a controversy with Judah." That is, He was already pleading His case against them, as He had been doing with Israel (Hos 4:1). They were also deceiving themselves by placing confidence in their own strength and in alliances with other nations and their gods.
  He will punish Jacob... according to his ways... will He recompense him.-
    The twelve tribes, which comprised Israel and Judah, were all descended from Jacob. Both Israel and Judah would reap a bitter harvest, according to that which they were sowing. Hos 10:11-14
    It did not need to be this way. The ways of the sons of Jacob, who were headstrong to follow their own devices, were very different from the ways of their father, Jacob, who in weakness was made strong. Jacob's rest in the LORD's strength is reviewed in vs.3-6, below. (cp. 2Cor 12:9,10)
3 He took his brother by the heel in the womb,
and by his strength he had power with God:
4 Yea, he had power over the angel, and prevailed:
he wept, and made supplication unto him:
he found him [in] Bethel, and there he spake with us;
5 Even the LORD God of hosts; the LORD [is] his memorial.
6 Therefore turn thou to thy God:
keep mercy and judgment, and wait on thy God continually.
  He {ie., Jacob}...-
    - ...in the weakness of an infant in the womb,
    through the strength of God who accomplishes His purposes,
    Jacob was fore-ordained to receive the birthright. Gen 25:21-26,30-34; Rom 9:10-13
  - ...in his strength {ie., when he had reached manhood},
      through the weakness of insistent prayer,
      Jacob found the LORD, as his strength.
      The One who had revealed His covenant relationship with him at Bethel (Gen 28:10-19),
      became his confidence at Peniel (32:24-31).
      It is important to see that Jacob "prevailed" and "had power with God," because he realized that he was totally dependent upon the LORD. Therefore, "he wept, and made supplication to Him." In v.3,4, the two words translated 'power' are rooted in the HB word 'sar' {meaning 'prince'}. This power was not innate within Jacob. Rather, it was given to him, by the One who gave him a new name: 'Israel' {'a prince with God'}, because he prevailed {HB=yakol, 'overcame'} in prayer. Jacob knowing his own weakness, believed, with all his being, that the One to whom he clung in prayer, would indeed keep His Word (Gen 28:15). He overcame, not in his own strength, but through trusting the One who has all power. cp. 1Joh 5:4,5; Rev 3:21; 12:11
      Who is this One, who was the strength of Jacob?
    Even the LORD God of hosts... Therefore turn thou to thy God... (v.5,6)-
      God identifies Himself with His 'memorial name' (Ex 3:14,15), as the God of the covenant made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. It was He, the ever-living God of Israel and His everlasting covenant with their fathers, that they had disregarded. Yet, again, He invites them, like Jacob, to turn from themselves, to find their strength in Him.
7. [He is] a merchant, the balances of deceit [are] in his hand:
he loveth to oppress {HB='ashaq, oppress, extort, violate}.
8 And Ephraim said, Yet I am become rich, I have found me out substance:
[in] all my labours they shall find none iniquity in me that [were] sin.
  But, rather than turning to the LORD, the nation was self-confident in their self-sufficiency. They thought their own labors and their cunning business sense had made them rich. Though their business dealings were characterized by deceit and extortion, they could not see their own corruption, and considered their prosperity as evidence of God's blessing.
9 And I [that am] the LORD thy God from the land of Egypt
will yet make thee to dwell in tabernacles,
as in the days of the solemn feast.
10 I have also spoken by the prophets,
and I have multiplied visions, and used similitudes,
by the ministry of the prophets.
11 [Is there] iniquity [in] Gilead?
surely they are vanity: they sacrifice bullocks in Gilgal;
yea, their altars [are] as heaps in the furrows of the fields.
  I... the LORD thy God... will yet make thee to dwell in tabernacles...-
    They were willfully ignorant that the LORD, who had brought them out of Egypt and established them in the land, would also remove them, and cause them to dwell again in tents (temporary shelters, as opposed to permanent dwellings), not only at the annual Feast of Tabernacles, but year round.
  I have... spoken... I have multiplied visions, and used similitudes...-
    They were deaf and blind to the message of God's Word, delivered on many occasions and in various ways by His prophets. The prophets spoke: 'Thus saith the LORD...' according to what He had revealed to them (Isa 30:15; Jer 35:15). Their messages were often illustrated by 'similitudes' {comparisons} to familiar aspects of human life (eg., Hos 1:2-9; 3:1-5; Isa 5:1-7).
    Yet, while refusing to hear God's Word, they remained exceedingly religious, bringing their vain sacrifices to empty idols and multiplying their altars everywhere.
  Is there iniquity {HB='aven, trouble, wickedness, idolatry} in Gilead? -
    The name 'Gilead' is applied to the region, east of the Jordan River, where two and a half tribes settled at the end of the Exodus from Egypt. This region was part of the northern kingdom. The name probably derives from the Hebrew word 'Galyed' {from: HB=gal, heap; HB= ed, witness} meaning 'a heap of witness' (Gen 31:46-49). Similarly, several other 'monuments of witness' were raised in this area, after the conquest of the land, to affirm and memorialize the covenant relationship of Israel with the LORD (eg., Josh 22:34; 24:19-27).
    But the nation had forgotten. Their multiplied altars, like heaps in every field, bore witness to their apostasy from the LORD and their affinity to Gilgal (one of the centers of idolatry). Yes. The iniquity in Gilead was well attested.
    (Re: Gilgal, see the Book Notes at Hos 4:15 and 9:15.)
  In contrast to their vain self-confidence, Jacob, in his weakness, was made strong by clinging to the LORD...
12 And Jacob fled into the country of Syria,
and Israel served for a wife, and for a wife he kept [sheep].
13 And by a prophet the LORD brought Israel out of Egypt,
and by a prophet was he preserved.
  ...Jacob... served for a wife... for a wife he kept sheep...-
    In the lowly position of a servant, a mere shepherd (in contrast to those who were cunning businessmen), Jacob humbled himself under the deceitful hand of his uncle Laban, to receive a wife. The LORD, in His strength, prospered him and brought him out of Syria back to the land. (Genesis ch. 28-32)
  ...by a prophet the LORD brought Israel out of Egypt...-
    As God had dealt with Jacob, the man, so he had dealt with the nation which was descended from him. When they humbled themselves to obey God's Word through the prophet (Moses), the LORD preserved them and brought them out of Egypt into the land of promise.
  But the nation, to which Hosea spoke, had not humbled themselves to submit to God's Word.
14 Ephraim provoked [him] to anger most bitterly:
therefore shall he leave his blood upon him,
and his reproach shall his Lord return unto him.
  Israel had provoked the LORD to anger when they turned to false gods (Deu 4:25,26). But the nation had added "bitternesses" {the word is plural} by their eager pursuit of idols and their obstinate refusal to heed His Word (2Kin 17:7-18).
    Therefore, in contrast to Jacob and the nation that followed Moses, Ephraim would not be delivered...
    - from blood guiltiness. Hos 7:16; Eze 33:1-9
    - from reproach {disgrace}. cp. Jer 24:9,10; 29:18,19

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