21/12/2022 Wednesday
Hosea
Hosea warns, it is time to seek the LORD!
Chapter 10
OUTLINE OF HOSEA The Ryrie Study Bible
1. The Prodigal Wife, 1:1-3:5
A. Her Unfaithfulness, 1:1-11
B. Her Punishment, 2:1-13
C. Her Restoration and Israel’s, 2:14-23
D. Her Redemption, 3:1-5
2. The Prodigal People, 4:1-14:9
A. The Message of Judgment, 4:1-10:15
1. The indictment, 4:1-19
2. The verdict, 5:1-15
3. The plea of Israel, 6:1-3
4. The reply of the Lord, 6:4-11
5. The crimes of Israel, 7:1-16
6. The prophecy of judgment, 8:1-10:15
B. The Message of Restoration, 11:1-14:9
1. God’s love for the prodigal people, 11:1-11
2. God’s chastisement of the prodigal people, 11:12-13:16
3. God’s restoration of the prodigal people, 14:1-9
God’s word against Israel, Hosea 10:1-4
• Hosea 10:1, Israel is an empty vine. The KJV1611 footnote reads, a vine emptying the fruit which it giveth.
• God had made Israel to prosper as a fruitful vine, but Israel accredited that goodness to idols to which he made many
altars and goodly images.
• Hosea 10:2, their heart is divided between Jehovah and their idols.
• Finding them faulty (i.e., guilty), God will break down their altars and spoil their images.
• Hosea 10:3, they will admit that this judgment is because they did not fear Jehovah, and that no human
king could save them.
• Hosea 10:4, They broke many promises, to God, to each other, and to other nations. Judgment would
spring up as poisonous weeds in their fields.
God’s word against Samaria, Hosea 10:5-8
• Hosea 10:5-6, Hosea addressed residents of Samaria, the capital.
• They will fear when their calves of Bethaven (Hosea’s contemptuous name for Bethel Ryrie) are carried to Assyria as a
present to king Jareb. The fact that their calf-gods were powerless to defend them shamed Ephraim and Israel.
• Hosea 10:7, Samaria’s king is cut off as the foam upon the water.
• Hosea 10:8, The high places* of Aven shall be destroyed and covered with thorns and thistles. God had
called it Bethel (the house of God), then Bethaven (the house of vanity), now just Aven (vanity). * hill tops
where they worshipped
• We must never forget how much God hates competition. God hates it when we give the things of this life
priority over Him.
God’s word against Israel, Hosea 10:9-10
• Hosea 10:9, The days of Gibeah refer to the battle against Benjamin for defending immoral Gibeahnites.
• “The ten tribes were greater sinners than those Gibeonites; so the prophet compareth the sins of the present age and that
past [event].” Poole
• Hosea 10:10, God will chasten them. KJV1611 footnote, “when I shall bind them for their two
transgressions.” He may be speaking of their two golden calves.
• If we humbly seek it, God will forgive our past failures, but he expects us to learn from our failures and
change our ways.
God’s word against Ephraim, Hosea 10:11-15
• Hosea 10:11, God said that Ephraim was like a young female cow trained to tread the grain. This was easy
work and the cow could eat its fill.
• In judgment, Ephraim would have to carry a rider. Judah would pull a plough. Jacob (the 10 tribes) would pull a cultivator.
Each was hard work.
• Hosea 10:12, Here God injects a plea for their repentance.
• If you are not as close to the Lord as you once were, “It is time to seek the LORD.”
• Hosea 10:13-15, They had sown humanism (v.13), and they would reap tumult (uproar) and be spoiled
(devastating ruin) (v.14). The sins of Bethel would bring such evil on them (v.15). The northern kingdom
would be carried away captive and her king cut off.
Note similes and metaphors in this chapter
• as hemlock in the furrows of the field (v.4) – judgment would come just like this poison weed grew of its
own accord in their fields.
• cut off as the foam upon the water (v.7) – foam on rolling waves simply disappears
• as an heifer that is taught (v.11) – this ox is trained for easy work of treading grain
• as Shalman spoiled Betharbel in the day of battle (v.14) – “Shalman” is, no doubt, “Shalmaneser king of
Assyria” who cruelly spoiled Betharbel (a town unknown to us).
Applications for Us Today
• God’s holiness does not allow Him to overlook sin.
• As with Israel, God has blessed us abundantly, and He deserves our loyalty. If we are disloyal, we must
expect His judgment.
• Israel did not learn from the Gibeah conflict. God desires that we learn from history. If we don’t we must
expect trouble.
• God has been good to us. We are like the heifer taught to tread grain, but God can take away that
goodness and increase our burdens if we neglect Him.
• Ponder again God’s plea in verse 12 “It is time to seek the LORD!”