Joe 2:1

BLOW THE TRUMPET IN ZION: A call to military alertness (Num 10:9). The duty of the watchman (Eze 33:1-7).

TRUMPET: The “shofar”, or ram’s horn. Cp v 15; Jer 4:19; Amo 2:2; Josh 6:20; Jdg 7:18; Zeph 1:16.

ON MY HOLY HILL: An alert to a danger esp to the city of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount.

THE DAY OF THE LORD IS COMING: A unique concentration of calamity and judgment.

IT IS CLOSE AT HAND: Cp, generally, Jam 5:8. Such a warning would impart an element of absurdity to the message if its relevance was only to the Last Day, more than 2500 years after Joel’s own time. A near reference is demanded first of all; and the best candidate is the Assyrian invasion of Sennacherib/Hezekiah is plain.

Joe 2:2

DARKNESS… GLOOM… CLOUDS… BLACKNESS: Cp with Egypt’s Passover plague of darkness (just before deliverance; Exo 10:22,23) and the day of Christ’s crucifixion (Mat 27:45).

LIKE DAWN SPREADING ACROSS THE MOUNTAINS: But instead of light creeping across the mountains, at the dawn of a new day, it is darkness creeping along to herald the arrival of the great conquering army! At the very time when the brightness of the sun should be bursting forth over the summit of the Mount of Olives, a deep impenetrable darkness rolls in instead. Such passages as Mal 4 and Zec 14:6,7 echo this.

A LARGE AND MIGHTY ARMY COMES: It is not a locust invasion after all; it is a human army!

Joe 2:3

BEFORE THEM THE LAND IS LIKE THE GARDEN OF EDEN, BEHIND THEM, A DESERT WASTE: Fire and flame fill the landscape again (Joel 1:19,20). A fertility comparable to Eden, the result of the prosperous years of king Uzziah (2Ch 26:10), is transformed to a sickening desolation, as happened in the time of Abraham when that Garden of Eden was also the moral cesspool of Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen 13:10). “As it was in the days of Lot… so shall it be” (Luk 17:28,29).

Joe 2:4

Vv 4-9: // to Assyrian army passages in Isa 33:3 and Nah 3:15,17.

HORSES: The instruments of war: Job 39:19-25; Hab 3:15; Zech 10:3; Rev 19:11.

Joe 2:6

Helpless horror written on every face! (cp Nah 2:10). “How well these words describe a nation reduced to utter hopelessness, as of course it is God’s intention that they shall be, so that with every vestige of their incomparable self-reliance gone they will be driven to respond to the prophet’s appeal for repentance: ‘Therefore…’ (v 12)” (WJoel).

Joe 2:7

Vv 7-9: An irresistible enemy — they run, they climb, they fly as a dense dark cloud, and as the most disciplined army that ever was they march and march without ever a break in the ranks; thus they refuse to be hindered.

Joe 2:8

THEY PLUNGE THROUGH DEFENSES WITHOUT BREAKING RANKS: The KJV (“When they fall upon the sword, they shall not be wounded”) is not a good translation, and has even been misused to “prove” that this describes an immortal, indestructible army — which is certainly not the case. The whole context militates against this.

Joe 2:10

BEFORE THEM THE EARTH SHAKES, THE SKY TREMBLES, THE SUN AND MOON ARE DARKENED, AND THE STARS NO LONGER SHINE: “In savage despite crops were fired, and a pall of smoke ascended up to heaven (Joel 1:19,20). Gloom both in spirit and atmospheric fact, hung over the whole Land. But there was no fire of sacrifice ascending up to God, nor any of the tokens of thanksgiving with which a good harvest would normally fill the temple court. It was the total eclipse of Israel. Their sun and moon and stars were darkened. All glory gone!” (WJoel).

EARTHQUAKE: “There is room also for the earthquake mentioned here to be both literal and figurative (cp Mat 27:51). In other places earthquake is a token of (a) the wrath of God (eg Psa 18:7); (b) the end of a worthless dispensation (eg, Heb 12:27). Both ideas are appropriate to the situation described here. The modern state of Israel, reared entirely on human effort and cleverness and with scarcely a vestige of faith in Jehovah (Deu 32:20), must be destroyed. For Israel was chosen to glorify God by their faith in Him and to be a missionary nation to all the Gentiles (Exo 19:6); and modern Israel is the quintessence of the very opposite of these. So Jehovah does well to be angry.

“Yet, has God cast away His people whom He foreknew? God forbid. So Joel goes on to show how a new dispensation will be inaugurated with repentance in Israel…” (WJoel).

Joe 2:11

THE LORD THUNDERS AT THE HEAD OF HIS ARMY: 3. Cp Isa 8:7,8; 10:5-7; and the same idiom in Mat 22:7; Rev 9:11. Although the army in question is the Assyrian — yet the LORD God is still in charge, directing that army to fulfill His purpose.

HIS FORCES ARE BEYOND NUMBER: “The Lord… is a man of war, Jehovah is His name. All the forces of heaven are at His beck, legions wait at His door, cherubim and seraphim, watchers and holy ones, principalities and powers, are all attentive to His will. If our eyes were not blinded by the ophthalmia of the flesh, we should see horses of fire and chariots of fire round about the Lord’s beloved. The powers of nature are all subject to the absolute control of the Creator: stormy wind and tempest, lightning and rain, and snow, and hail, and the soft dews and cheering sunshine, come and go at His decree… Earth, sea, and air, and the places under the earth, are the barracks for Jehovah’s great armies; space is His camping ground, light is His banner, and flame is His sword. When He goeth forth to war, famine ravages the land, pestilence smites the nations, hurricane sweeps the sea, tornado shakes the mountains, and earthquake makes the solid world to tremble. As for animate creatures, they all own His dominion, and from the great fish which swallowed the prophet, down to ‘all manner of flies,’ which plagued the field of Zoan, all are His servants, and like the… the caterpillar [and locust] are squadrons of His great army, for His camp is very great… See to it that thou be at peace with this mighty King, yea, more, be sure to enlist under His banner, for to war against Him is madness, and to serve Him is glory… If I be already, as I hope I am, a soldier of the cross, let me be of good courage; for the enemy is powerless compared with my Lord, whose camp is very great” (CHS).

THE DAY OF THE LORD IS GREAT; IT IS DREADFUL. WHO CAN ENDURE IT?: This grim picture makes a great impression on later prophets, and is quoted in Mal 3:2; 4:5; and Rev 6:17.

Joe 2:12

Vv 12,13: A solemn call to repentance, to turn aside — if possible — the devastating Assyrian invasion. Such repentance came, but almost too late — for only Jerusalem (and those who sought shelter there) were spared.

“Here… is the only solution to Israel’s woes and troubles: Repentance! It is doubtful whether any exhortation to a new life is to be found in the Bible to compare with this sustained and detailed pleading. But for long centuries God’s people have been impervious to these appeals of heaven. Yet repentance — note the piling up of phrases — is the only thing that can save Israel from the unparalleled disaster which today appears threateningly on the horizon.

“It is an aspect of the teaching of God’s Word concerning Israel, which the New Israel just as stubbornly refuses to recognize, that except there be repentance first, even the omnipotence of an Almighty God cannot save the people of His choice. It is not possible to print out in full the entire list of Scriptures about this. Instead, the bald references are given. If any reader doubts the Bible’s intensity of emphasis is really as strong as all that, let him work his way patiently through the subjoined catalogue. He will then ask himself, and his fellows, in amazement why such a vital theme has gone so much ignored for so long a time. Is it because earlier teachers left it alone, and if they didn’t see it, it can’t have been there? Or is it because, even for those who are spiritually streets ahead of natural Israel, repentance is an unpopular topic?

“Zech 6:15; 12:10-14; 13;9; Isa 17:6-8; 19:20; 59:20; Eze 20:42-44; 36:24-28; 37:11,23; Psa 81:13,14; Rom 11:15,26; Jer 3:14-18; 4:1,2; 29:12-14; Deu 4:27-31; 30:1-3; Mat 23:39; Amos 5:15; Lev 26:40ff; 1Ki 8:47-49; Gen 18:19; Zeph 2:1-3; Acts 3:19,20.

“In the face of this sustained remonstration, is it possible to believe that the Second Coming of the Lord will/can take place except the people of God demand it by their holy way of life and godliness? (2Pe 3:11,12).

“The character of the repentance called for by the prophet Joel is spelled out very precisely, both as to disposition and the practical godliness summed up in the religious routine appropriate to his own day: ‘meal offering and drink offering unto the Lord.’ In practice, in this 20th century, what sort of repentance does Jehovah demand from His Israelis? One thing, for certain: an avowal of faith in Jesus as the Messiah. Let a Jew of today make that initial big step, and Messiah Jesus will see to the rest in due course. The guarantee for this, says Joel, is the character of the God of Israel which he quotes with gusto from Jehovah’s own declaration to Moses: ‘gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness’ (Exo 34:6). This character of God had been exhibited in His longsuffering extended to brutal grasping Assyrians in the days of Jonah (Jon 3: 5-10; 4:11); and, thanks to the godly zeal of Hezekiah, was exhibited by the chosen people, undeserving, in Joel’s own day (see, by all means, 2Ch 30:6-9)…

“Happily, neither Joel nor any other inspired writer goes so far as to assert that Messiah will come to the rescue of his nation only when all Israel is repentant. If Jehovah treasured seven thousand in the days of Elijah, is He not likely to be content with even fewer in the 3 1/2 year ministry of Elijah’s great successor (Mal 4:6)?” (WJoel).

RETURN TO ME WITH ALL YOUR HEART: A full grief and repentance — as one might expect from a young widow (cp Joel 1:8). Half-hearted repentance will not do (Exo 35:5; Lev 22:21), and in fact is a contradiction in terms.

FASTING: If genuine, their fasting would have nothing to do with self-pity (Zech 7:5,6), but rather would be directed toward pity and care for others (Isa 58:6,7).

FASTING… WEEPING… MOURNING: The three words used here also occur in Est 4:3 — the mourning of Mordecai and the Jews at the king’s decree calling for the extermination of all the Jews.

Joe 2:13

REND YOUR HEART AND NOT YOUR GARMENTS: “Garment-rending and other outward signs of religious emotion are easily manifested and are frequently hypocritical; but to feel true repentance is far more difficult, and consequently far less common. Men will attend to the most multiplied and minute ceremonial regulations — for such things are pleasing to the flesh — but true religion is too humbling, too heart-searching, too thorough for the tastes of the carnal men; they prefer something more ostentatious, flimsy, and worldly. Outward observances are temporarily comfortable; eye and ear are pleased; self-conceit is fed, and self-righteousness is puffed up: but they are ultimately delusive, for in the article of death, and at the day of judgment, the soul needs something more substantial than ceremonies and rituals to lean upon. Apart from vital godliness all religion is utterly vain; offered without a sincere heart, every form of worship is a solemn sham and an impudent mockery of the majesty of heaven” (CHS). See Job 1:20; 2:12; Est 4:1; Deu 10:16; Jer 4:4; 5:23,24; Psa 34:18; 51:17; Isa 66:2.

HE IS GRACIOUS AND COMPASSIONATE…: Cp Exo 34:5-7 — the characteristics of the Covenant Name of Yahweh: “…the LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin…”

Joe 2:14

WHO KNOWS?…: Even the prophet could not know if repentance would be sufficient to turn aside the absolute wrath of the Almighty! It was, but only barely!

AND LEAVE BEHIND A BLESSING: See esp Num 6:23-27: ” ‘The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace.’ So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.” This is Day of Atonement language: after the assembling, and fasting, and repentance of the nation (vv 15-17), the LORD will answer, and the Glory of the LORD will shine forth and then withdraw, leaving behind Him a high priest emerging from the sanctuary to convey to his people an assurance of sins forgiven and of heavenly protection

Joe 2:15

Vv 15-17: “The summons to war (v 1) is now repeated as a call to observe with a new unparalleled sincerity the Day of Atonement that has hitherto left Israel’s sins unforgiven. Phrase after phrase is significant…

BLOW THE TRUMPET: See Lev 23:24.

DECLARE A HOLY FAST: Lev 16:29.

CALL A SACRED ASSEMBLY: Lev 23;27.

Joe 2:16

CONSECRATE THE ASSEMBLY; BRING TOGETHER THE ELDERS…: The whole nation gathered together, on the Day of Atonement, praying and fasting, and awaiting the blessing of God.

Joe 2:17

THE PRIESTS: Who had already been marked out as apostate (Joe 1:13).

Joe 2:18

THEN THE LORD WILL BE JEALOUS FOR HIS LAND AND TAKE PITY ON HIS PEOPLE: When Israel’s strength is gone (Deu 32:36), in the “time of Jacob’s trouble” (Jer 30:7), Yahweh will move for His people’s redemption through Elijah (Mal 4:5,6), and those brought through the furnace of affliction will seek Him in truth (Zech 13:9).

Joe 2:19

I AM SENDING YOU GRAIN, NEW WINE AND OIL, ENOUGH TO SATISFY YOU FULLY: The language is that of a Year of Jubilee, such as was promised to Hezekiah (Isa 37:30,31) — the windows of heaven opened in blessing and fruitfulness, transforming the dereliction of a ravaged land (cp Joel 1:9,10) into an incredible fertility.

NEVER AGAIN WILL I MAKE YOU AN OBJECT OF SCORN TO THE NATIONS: The Law had promised that this would happen (Deu 28:37), but now — never again! Cp the assurances of Eze 36:12-15.

Joe 2:20

I WILL DRIVE THE NORTHERN ARMY FAR FROM YOU: No locust plague comes into Israel from the north — so this suggests a human army: the Assyrians, who arrive from that direction.

(LD) Not the Gogian invader of Eze 38; 39 — whose devastations to the Land do not appear to come close to what is described in Joel. Rather, an Arab coalition (see Lesson, Arab-Israeli war).

THE EASTERN SEA: The Dead Sea, as the NIV mg. See Eze 47:18; Zec 14:8.

THE WESTERN SEA: The Mediterranean, as the NIV mg. See Deu 11:24; 34:2; Zec 14:8.

Would a locust swarm travel with the wind in two opposite directions?

Joe 2:21

Vv 21-23: the order of rejoicing: land, animals, men — the same order as in the Creation (Gen 1).

BE NOT AFRAID, O LAND; BE GLAD AND REJOICE: “What splendid imperatives!… They are made all the more heart-warming by the designed contrast with the preceding pictures of brutal invasion and the ruthless resolve to reduce a Land flowing with milk and honey to the barrenness of a wilderness. The campaign of destruction may succeed, but the rapidity of its recovery will be even more marvellous. Just as, in Hezekiah’s time, the utter desolation of the Land by the Assyrians was followed in a year, two years, by unexampled fruitfulness and plenty, so also in Jacob’s last unendurable ‘time of trouble’ when all seems lost, ‘the Lord will do great things’ ” (WJoel).

SURELY THE LORD HAS DONE GREAT THINGS: The northern invader did “great things” AGAINST Israel (v 20)! But the LORD will do “greater things” FOR Israel!

Joe 2:22

BE NOT AFRAID, O WILD ANIMALS, FOR THE OPEN PASTURES ARE BECOMING GREEN: There are now adequate pastures and water supplies, reversing the disaster of Joel 1:18-20. Cp Isa 35; 65:17-25.

THE FIG TREE AND VINE YIELD THEIR RICHES: Both symbolic of the nation of Israel (Rom 11:12,13; Mic 4:7,8; Zec 8:13,23).

Joe 2:23

Vv 23-26: “Did Isaiah make a correct inference from the lovely pictures of blessedness painted by Joel, or was there a separate inspiration, which communicated to Hezekiah that the bad years would be atoned for with the double fertility and rich blessing of a Year of Jubilee? (Isa 37:30,31). In brief alluring pictures it was now made plain to God’s stricken people that all that had been brutally snatched away from them would be restored in abundance, ‘pressed down and running over’ ” (WJoel).

PEOPLE OF ZION: Or “children of Zion” (AV). Before the spiritual regeneration called for in vv 15-17, unrepentant Israel was called “the people” (vv 6,16). But after their response, they are called “His people” (vv 18,19), then “My people” (vv 26,27; Joel 3:2,3), and now “children of Zion” (cp Psa 87:5,6).

THE AUTUMN RAINS IN RIGHTEOUSNESS: Lit, “in the time of righteousness” — which could easily be translated “…the TEACHER of righteousness” (NIV mg, AV mg)! “Normally the Hebrew word ‘hammoreh’ means ‘the teacher’, but here and in Psa 84:6 it seems to refer to the ‘early rains’. Elsewhere the word for ‘early rains’ is ‘yoreh’. The phrase used here (‘hammoreh lisdakah’) is similar to the expression ‘teacher of righteousness’ (Heb ‘moreh hassedeq’) found in the DSS in reference to a particular charismatic leader, although the Qumran community seems not to have invoked this particular text in support of that notion” (NETn).

BOTH AUTUMN AND SPRING RAINS: “In a good season the climate of Israel is blessed with two periods of abundant rain — the early rains in October, the time of the sowing of barley and wheat, and the latter rains not long before Passover, filling out the ripening ears of corn. Israel, saved from its enemies, will have these blessings as never before” (WJoel). “For half the year Palestine is generally dry. The rainy season begins with the early rains usually in late October to early December, followed by the latter rains in March and April. Without these rains productive farming would not be possible, as Joel’s original readers knew only too well” (NETn).

Joe 2:24

THE THRESHING FLOORS WILL BE FILLED WITH GRAIN: Ct the desolate and broken down garners and barns (Joel 1:17).

THE VATS WILL OVERFLOW WITH NEW WINE AND OIL: KJV “fats” sb “vats”, of course, or even “winepresses” (Roth, and so translated in Isa 5:2; Num 18:27,30, etc).

NEW WINE AND OIL: Wine came from the grape harvest (July/Aug), and oil from olives (Aug/Sept). As the barley and wheat were being sown, the last of the fruit harvest was being gathered. Very effectively, therefore, the three products mentioned describe a continuous cycle of prosperity.

Joe 2:25

THE YEARS THE LOCUSTS HAVE EATEN: In other words, all the good that would have accrued to the people of Israel, which was lost during the times of devastation and famine, will be restored — and more (ct Joel 1:4-7)!

MY GREAT ARMY THAT I SENT AMONG YOU: The Assyrian army (Isa 10:5,6,15). And even the latter invaders of Israel will be… “the armies of Yahweh”, because — though they know it not — they are sent at His command!

Joe 2:26

NEVER AGAIN WILL MY PEOPLE BE SHAMED: The material blessings are evidence of a spiritual blessing, and a renewed fellowship — which never will be broken again.

Joe 2:27

THEN YOU WILL KNOW THAT I AM IN ISRAEL, THAT I AM THE LORD YOUR GOD, AND THAT THERE IS NO OTHER: The union of Israel, once again, with its God will be the result of renewed knowledge of Him — and not just theoretical knowledge, but living knowledge and experience, leading to true repentance and faith.

Joe 2:28

Vv 28-32: These vv were quoted by Peter on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2), when the Holy Spirit and the gift of tongues came upon the believers in the Temple, and many saw and heard and believed and were baptized. But, even though Peter applies these vv to that time, he must have known that they could only be the initial, and incomplete, fulfillment of everything that Joel’s word implied — for the end result of his prophecy would be the Kingdom of God reestablished! Still, for Peter, what was happening in Jerusalem in the first century was a great step in that direction. And who knew if the rest of the prophecy might not be fulfilled, and that very soon? (As it well might have been, had the nation of Israel repented in sufficient numbers and intensity.)

AND AFTERWARD, I WILL POUR OUT MY SPIRIT ON ALL PEOPLE: “This gracious outpouring of Holy Spirit inspiration will take place amongst the people of Israel, and not in far-flung countries of the Gentiles, as modern pentecostals want to read it. The entire prophesy hitherto, and esp v 32 (and Acts 2:16-18) make this conclusion inescapable.

“Nor can a dialectic emphasis on ‘all flesh’ impede this conclusion. Those who read this as meaning all nations have missed the point of the designed allusion, in contrast, to Exodus 30:22ff, which specifically required that the holy anointing oil was to be used only in the consecration of the high priest. Instead, in the happy days to come this high privilege will be extended to include the repentant people of Israel of all classes — old and young, of both sexes too.

“It may be that this comprehensive language supplies the clue to the meaning of Malachi’s prophecy that through the ministry of an Elijah prophet in the last days ‘the hearts of the fathers (will be turned) to the children and the hearts of the children to the fathers’ (Mal 4:6); for, earlier, Malachi has already twice quoted from Joel” (WJoel).

Joe 2:29

SERVANTS, BOTH MEN AND WOMEN: “The mention of ‘servants and handmaids’ should perhaps be taken to refer to the inclusion of Gentiles who have come to be willing servants of the God of Israel, and sharing the Hope of Israel: Isa 60:3ff; Zech 8:23; Mat 21:43; Gal 3:29; Rev 21:24. (This could hardly be true of pentecostals, for even the best-informed among them appear to be strangely inadequate in their grasp of Jehovah’s Israelitish purpose).

“There is a remarkable similarity of idea in Isa 44:3, to Joel’s words here. Did Isaiah lean on Joel, or Joel expand what he found in Isaiah? The prophets of the OT were great borrowers and collaborators. And similarly one is tempted to believe that Paul had his eye on Joel when he wrote Gal 3:28” (WJoel).

Joe 2:30

Vv 30,31: “There may be passages, which use language of this kind in a palpably figurative fashion (eg, Jer 31:35,36; Gen 37:9,10); but somehow this seems different. In spite of the sensational character of the language it is by no means easy to read it figuratively. And the literal sense is frightening. It will be, in truth, a ‘great and terrible day of the Lord’ (cp Mal 4:5)…

“Yet elsewhere — dramatic language like this about sun, moon and stars clamours for a figurative interpretation with reference to Israel…

“So the student, faced with a challenging ‘crux interpretum’ of this kind, may find that he has to learn to come down on both sides of the fence at once, that is, if he is an acrobat.

“If Peter’s quotation of these words in Acts 2 is to be taken seriously with reference to the first century, a symbolic anticipation of the horrors of the Roman war (AD 67-70; 3 1/2 years) fits the circumstances readily enough. But even at that time there were sensational appearances in and round Jerusalem providing fairly appropriate literal fulfillment also… Is it possible, then, that a prophecy such as this is intended to have both double and dual fulfilment? The present commentator dares not offer a dogmatic answer” (WJoel).

WONDERS IN THE HEAVENS AND ON THE EARTH: Cp figures of speech in Isa 37:36; 30:30-33; 31:8,9.

BLOOD AND FIRE AND BILLOWS OF SMOKE: All this language suggests sacrifices: throats cut and burnt on the altar, with smoke rising. God will have his sacrifices, one way or another! Those who attack His people, and desecrate His holy places, if they do not repent… that is, become their own “living sacrifices”… will have to be His own sacrifices, in their own bodies, consumed by Divine fire! And one way or another, God WILL BE glorified! Cp such passages as Eze 39:17-20; Rev 19:19-21; Lev 10:1,2; Isa 63:1-6.

BILLOWS: Or “pillars” (AV), but lit “palm trees” — suggesting smoke from a volcano (HAL) or even an atomic “mushroom cloud” (TofE 28).

Joe 2:31

THE SUN WILL BE TURNED TO DARKNESS: All other lights and powers will be eclipsed when the Sun of righteousness (cp the “teacher of righteousness” in v 23) will rise upon Israel (Mal 4:2), and the glorified saints will shine forth in the Kingdom of God (Dan 12:3; Mat 13:43).

AND THE MOON TO BLOOD: Cp Rev 6:12.

BEFORE THE COMING OF THE GREAT AND DREADFUL DAY OF THE LORD: “Before” in the sense of “in the face of”. Christ will sweep all opposition BEFORE him, as a great flood might sweep away all debris! Cp same phrase, Mal 4:5.

Joe 2:32

AND EVERYONE WHO CALLS ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED: Cit Act 2:21 (Peter at Pentecost in Jerusalem), and Rom 10:11-14 (more generally, by Paul, involving Gentiles as well as Jews in the universal extension of the gospel).

WHO CALLS ON THE NAME OF THE LORD: Elsewhere, this may mean also “who calls HIMSELF by the Name of the LORD” (cp LXX; Acts 2:21; Acts 22:16; Jam 2:7; Rev 14:1).

ON MOUNT ZION AND IN JERUSALEM THERE WILL BE DELIVERANCE: Suggests the Sennacherib/Judah invasion — wherein only the city of Jerusalem itself was safe from the Assyrian marauders.

(LD) Suggests an Arab-Assyrian coalition invading Israel in the Last Days (see Lesson, Arab-Israeli war; Lesson, Assyria in prophecy).

DELIVERANCE… AMONG THE SURVIVORS WHOM THE LORD CALLS: “For ‘deliverance’ LXX has ‘them that are saved’ — fully saved (with an emphatic prefix in the Greek verb). And, even more impressively LXX continues: ‘and the preachers of the gospel whom the Lord shall call (to Himself)’ ” (WJoel).

AS THE LORD HAS SAID: “There is also a significant phrase in the middle of this verse, which very easily goes overlooked: ‘as the Lord hath said’. The implication is that the very idea expressed in this verse has already been made familiar to Joel either by an earlier revelation of which nothing is known, or — much more likely — through his acquaintance with some earlier prophecy; almost certainly the latter, in which case there is a choice between Oba 1:17 and Isa 37:32, both of which were roughly contemporary with Joel. It is another example of the prophets being glad to have reinforcement of their message from the writings of other inspired Scripture” (WJoel).

Hos 10:1

ISRAEL WAS A SPREADING VINE: Not pruned? The grapevine was a common figure for Israel. Yahweh had planted Israel in Canaan as a vine and had blessed it with fruitful prosperity (Psa 80:8-10; Jer 2:21; Eze 19:10,11).

AS HIS FRUIT INCREASED, HE BUILT MORE ALTARS: The more the Lord blessed Israel, the more the Israelites multiplied altars and sacred pillars to honor idols. They worshipped pagan gods in response to Yahweh’s blessing.

Hos 10:2

THEIR HEART IS DECEITFUL: Or “divided” (AV). Heb “halaq” may sig “hypocritical”. “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money” (Mat 6:24).

Hos 10:3

WE HAVE NO KING: When the Lord brought destruction, the people would realize that their self-appointed king had failed them and that they did not respect the Lord. They would acknowledge that no human king could help them.

And so it was in Jesus’ day: “But they shouted, ‘Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!’ ‘Shall I crucify your king?’ Pilate asked. ‘We have no king but Caesar,’ the chief priests answered” (John 19:15).

Hos 10:4

POISONOUS WEEDS: Refers to a “poisonous plant” (Deu 29:17; Hos 10:4) or “bitter herb” (Psa 69:21; Lam 3:5) (BDB; HAL). Perhaps the poppy, grown widely in the Middle East today.

The word used is “rosh” and is elsewhere translated gall (Deut 29:18; 32:32; Psa 69:21; Jer 8:14; 9:15; 23:15, Lam 3:5, 3:19; Amos 6:12), venom (Deut 32:33) poison (Job 20:16).

Hos 10:5

THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN SAMARIA FEAR FOR THE CALF-IDOL OF BETH AVEN: When God destroyed Israel’s altars (v 2), specifically the golden calf at Beth Aven (ie, Bethel: cp v 8; Hos 4:15; 5:8), the Israelites who lived in Samaria, Israel’s capital, would fear.

ITS PEOPLE WILL MOURN OVER IT, and so will its idolatrous priests: They would mourn, and the idolatrous priests (Heb “kemarim”: 2Ki 23:5; Zeph 1:4) who served there would bewail the demise of this altar, since its glory had departed from the land.

Hos 10:6

IT WILL BE CARRIED TO ASSYRIA AS TRIBUTE FOR THE GREAT KING: The Assyrians would carry the golden calf to their land in honor of their king (cf Hos 8:10).

EPHRAIM WILL BE DISGRACED: Israel would then feel great shame because the Israelites had decided to trust in a foreign alliance with the Assyrians for their security (Hos 5:13; 7:8,9,11; 8:9,10).

Hos 10:8

THORNS AND THISTLES WILL GROW UP AND COVER THEIR ALTARS: The curse of Eden (Gen 3:18), sym the prevalence of sin that chokes out righteousness.

THEY WILL SAY TO THE MOUNTAINS, “COVER US!” AND TO THE HILLS, “FALL ON US!”: Cit Luk 23:30. Jesus predicted that, when the Romans came to Jerusalem, the Israelites would express their terror over this judgment by calling on the mountains and hills to cover them (cp Rev 6:16). They would prefer death to life (Jer 8:3; Rev 9:6).

Hos 10:9

GIBEAH: Cp Hos 5:8; 9:9. The Israelites had sinned consistently since the days of the atrocity at Gibeah (Jdg 19; 20; cp Isa 1:10).

Hos 10:10

THEIR DOUBLE SIN: (1) Forsaking God, and (2) turning to idols.

Hos 10:11

EPHRAIM IS A TRAINED HEIFER THAT LOVES TO THRESH: Ephraim had abandoned this comparatively light service in preference for becoming yoked to sin (v 10).

SO I WILL PUT A YOKE ON HER FAIR NECK: As punishment Yahweh would yoke the people of both Northern and Southern Kingdoms to an enemy who would greatly restrict their movements and force them to do hard work.

JUDAH: The Southern Kingdom.

JACOB: The Northern Kingdom, using the name of the patriarch that stresses this ancestor’s rebelliousness.

Hos 10:12

SOW FOR YOURSELVES RIGHTEOUSNESS, REAP THE FRUIT OF UNFAILING LOVE: God’s mercy is still a possibility.

BREAK UP YOUR UNPLOWED GROUND: …if you turn about and begin diligently to serve Him. Fallow or unplowed ground needs to be broken up — which is hard work — thus exposing that which hides under the surface: unconfessed sins.

FOR IT IS TIME TO SEEK THE LORD, UNTIL HE COMES AND SHOWERS RIGHTEOUSNESS ON YOU: “Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon” (Isa 55:6,7).

“Our nature at its largest is but a small farm, and we had need to get a harvest out of every acre of it, for our needs are great. Have we left any part of our small allotment uncultivated? If so, it is time to look into the matter and see if we cannot improve this wasteful state of things. What part of our small allotment have we left fallow? We should think very poorly of a farmer who for many years allowed the best and the richest part of his farm to lie altogether neglected and untilled. An occasional fallow has its benefits in the world of nature; but if the proprietor of rich and fruitful land allowed the soil to continue fallow year after year we should judge him to be out of his wits. The wasted acres ought to be taken from him and given to another husbandman who would worthily cherish the generous fields and encourage them to yield their harvests.

“Bad is the man who neglects to cultivate his farm, but what shall be said of the sluggard who fails to cultivate himself? If it be wrong to leave untended a part of our estate, how much worse must it be to disregard a portion of ourselves! Now, there is a part of our nature which many allow to lie fallow. It is not often that they neglect the clay soil of their outward frame. They dress that field which is called the body with sufficient care; and truly I would not that they should be careless about it, for it is worthy to be kept in due order and culture. Albeit that it is a very secondary part of our nature, yet it is so interwoven with the higher that it is most important that the body should not be neglected. See ye well to that field, and by temperance, cleanliness, and obedience to the rules of health let it be as a garden… Few need to be exhorted to pay attention to their bodies… The fault is not that they care for the body, but that it takes an undue share of consideration, and usurps a higher place than it can claim.

“There is another field in man’s self-farm… The soil where true religion should flourish in the furrows is left by many to produce the deadly nightshade of superstition, the hemlock of error, or the thistle of doubt… Your hearts, your innermost natures, have been neglected, and from the finest part of your being the Lord has derived neither rent nor revenue. Your best acres lie fallow — fallow when you have good need to cultivate every inch of the ground.

“Do you know what happens to a fallow field? how it becomes caked and baked hard as though it were a brick? All the fragile qualities seem to depart, and it hardens as it lies caked and unbroken; I mean, of course, if year succeed year, and the fallow remains untouched. And then the weeds! If a man will not sow wheat, he shall have a crop for all that, for the weeds will spring up, and they will, seed themselves, and in due time the multiplication table will be worked out to a very wonderful extent; for these seeds, multiplying a hundred-fold, as evil usually does, will increase, and increase, and increase again till the fallow field shall become a wilderness of thorns and briars, and a thicket of nettle and thistle” (CHS).

Hos 10:14

SHALMAN: King Shalmaneser III, an Assyrian who conducted campaigns in the West in the ninth century BC. Or, the Assyrian king Shalmaneser V who prepared the way for Israel’s captivity by invading the land (cf 2Ki 17:3-6).

BETH ARBEL: Poss the town of Arbela about 18 miles se of the Sea of Chinnereth (Galilee) or to Mount Arbel two miles west of that sea. In any case, the battle had been a bloody one that the Israelites of Hosea’s day remembered vividly. The enemy had slaughtered mothers and their children without mercy.

Hos 10:15

THUS WILL IT HAPPEN TO YOU, O BETHEL, BECAUSE YOUR WICKEDNESS IS GREAT: The Israelites would suffer a similar slaughter at Bethel because of their great wickedness. “Bethel” here may refer to the town or to the whole nation of Israel (by metonymy: cp v 7).

WHEN THAT DAY DAWNS, THE KING OF ISRAEL WILL BE COMPLETELY DESTROYED: And, finally, at the beginning of a new day, the true King of Israel — Jesus Christ — would be cut off; and the sin of the House of God would be complete!

Hosea sees the cutting off of Israel’s king as the nation’s final break with its God. Israel will now suffer at God’s hands and be rejected — for a long age at least — while God’s love is transferred to a new Son, Jesus the spiritual “Israel”. Through him a new nation, a new “Israel”, will be created.

Hos 11:1

Hos 11: “What a wondrous message in this ch! Yahweh’s love ensures Israel’s final restoration. His family, both natural and spiritual, will be redeemed. And this, notwithstanding the wickedness and infidelity of His people. In this we ‘behold the goodness and severity of Yahweh,’ for this balanced character of our Father is essential to His righteousness and our salvation. The ch opens with a parental statement, which applies to both natural Israel, and to the Lord Jesus (Isa 49:3). Yahweh’s true sons will fulfil the type (Act 15:14), and be restored out of the Egyptian society to become exclusively devoted to the righteousness of the Father. The way in which this is achieved is set out by the prophet: (1) Yahweh’s early love for His people: vv 1-4. (2) Yahweh is forced to punish the people because of their ingratitude and contempt of His divine law: vv 5-7. (3) Yahweh’s love contends with His justice: vv 8-11. (4) Israel is unworthy of the divine love: v 12–Hos 12:2.

“Thus, the ch sets the platform for the Father’s work amongst His people, and leaves open the question: ‘How will the work of divine restoration be achieved?’ The answer is outlined in the remaining chs of the prophecy” (GEM).

The flight of Joseph’s family into Egypt, and their return after the death of the king, are shown by Matthew to be a fulfillment of Hosea’s prophecy: “Out of Egypt I called my son” (Mat 2:15; quoting from Hos 11:1). God’s Son in the OT was a national, plural “son” (Exo 4:22,23), but in the NT the prophecy is given a definitely singular emphasis. The reason is not difficult to grasp. “Not all who are descended from Israel are Israel” (Rom 2:28; 9:6), and only those with the faith of Abraham are fit to be called his “children” (Rom 4:11-13; Gal 3:8,9; Mat 3:8,9; Joh 8:33,39). According to the apostle Paul, Jesus was the singular seed of Abraham (Gal 3:16); he proved his claim to that family inheritance by perfectly obeying the will of God. In doing so he became the “hope of Israel”, the singular and only-begotten Son, through whom others might become “sons”, associated with the promises to the fathers of Israel. Like Moses before him, but in a fuller and richer sense, Jesus will bring “Israel” out of “Egypt” (symbolic of sin and death, Rev 11:8) by the blood, not of a passover lamb, but of himself, the Lamb of God (Joh 1:29) and the true passover (1Co 5:7; Heb 13:20).

The exodus from Egypt is a parable, then, of our redemption in Christ, and a foreshadowing of Christ’s role as the true passover for the true Israel. How appropriate then that in the life of him who is the “Israel” — the “prince with God” (cp Isa 49:3) — there should be a physical coming out of Egypt as a preview of the greater salvation which is the keynote of our Lord’s mission!

The allegory is even more firmly grounded in Scripture. The first acts of Christ after reaching maturity, as a prelude to entering upon his life’s work, also follow the “Egypt-passover” pattern. His baptism echoes the “baptism” of God’s national son in the Red Sea (1Co 10:1,2). His 40-day wilderness temptation likewise finishes the 40-year wilderness trial of the children of Israel. Where the nation in the wilderness grumbled and failed, the Son in the wilderness brings Scripture to bear upon his temptations, resists them in faith, and succeeds!

“Out of Egypt I called my son” (Hos 11:1; quoted in Mat 2:15). Matthew does not quote Hosea as an isolated phrase that “sounds good”. It should never be supposed that Bible quotations are mere verbal “echoes” without substance. There are definite themes throughout the book of Hosea which find confirmation and fulfillment in the life of Christ, of which Hos 11:1 is but one example. Two consistent threads run through the whole of Hosea’s prophecy: (1) God’s continuing love for His people; and (2) Israel’s continuing rejection of that love. In God’s eyes Israel is an unfaithful wife as well as a wayward, rebellious child. Israel the unfaithful wife never quite puts away her adulteries, yet Yahweh, her Husband and Lord, is patient and full of mercy. Israel the wayward child never quite “grows up”, yet Yahweh gently takes him by the hand and with “ties of love” leads him out of danger (Hos 11:3,4). Though Israel backslides and falls away again and again, still the Father will not forget His “son”: “How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel?” (Hos 11:8).

In counterpoint to God’s abiding love there is Israel’s stubborn rebellion and rejection. Israel rejects God, rejects God’s Son, and finally is rejected by God, whose longsuffering can be stretched no further. This reciprocal rejection is the constant theme of the last sections of Hosea’s prophecy, and is especially evident in the verses preceding Hos 11: 1:

• Hos 9:7: “The days of punishment [literally, visitation] are coming” — The “King”, Jesus, visits his city and is rejected. “They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you” (Luk 19:44).
• Hos 9:9: “The days of Gibeah” — an echo of “Gabbatha” (Joh 19:13), the judgment seat where the King was at last and conclusively rejected.
• Hos 9:10: “The early fruit on the fig tree” — “nothing on it except leaves” (Mat 21:19), and the “fig tree” nation of Israel is cursed by Jesus.
• Hos 9:12: “Even if they rear children, I will bereave them of every one” — an evident similarity to Jer 31:15, the slaughter of the Bethlehem children.
• Hos 9:14: “Give them wombs that miscarry and breasts that are dry” — Because Israel rejected God in crucifying His Son, they would themselves be rejected: “Jesus turned and said to them, ‘Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children. For the time will come when you will say, “Blessed are the barren women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!” ‘ ” (Luk 23:28,29).
• Hos 9:15: “All their wickedness (is) in Gilgal” — a possible reference to “Golgotha”. “I will drive them out of my house” — the cleansing of the temple, not once, but twice (Joh 2:13-17; Mat 21:12, 13). “Look, your house is left to you desolate” (Mat 23:38).
• Hos 9:17: “They will be wanderers among the nations.”
• Hos 10:3: “Then they will say, ‘We have no king’ ” — that is, no king but Caesar (Joh 19:15).
• Hos 10:5: “Its splendor, because it is taken from them into exile” — “For I tell you, you will not see me again…” (Mat 23: 39).
• Hos 10:8: “Thorns and thistles will grow up and cover their altars. Then they will say to the mountains, ‘Cover us!’ and to the hills, ‘Fall on us!’ ” — This is cited explicitly in Luk 23:30.
• Hos 10:15: “When that day dawns, the king of Israel will be completely destroyed.” Hosea sees the cutting off of Israel’s king as the nation’s final break with its God. Israel will now suffer at God’s hands and be rejected — for a long age at least — while God’s love is transferred to a new Son, Jesus the spiritual “Israel”. Through him a new nation, a new “Israel”, will be created.

Against this backdrop of Hosea, then, Matthew, and his reference to Hos 11:1, may be seen in perspective. Matthew’s is the Gospel that particularly portrays Jesus as the king of Israel: he is born to be a king, announced by a heavenly sign, worshiped by Gentile “kings” who lay their treasures at his feet. He preaches the coming of the Kingdom in his own person, and its final establishment in his return in royal power and authority, as portrayed in many parables: “The kingdom of heaven is like unto…”

As with Hosea, however, there is a darker side to the picture of God’s love shown toward and through His Son. There is the familiar two-fold rejection: Israel’s rejection of God’s King, and God’s consequent rejection of Israel. Even in the beginning, Christ is hunted by the murderous Herod, “King of the Jews”, who will allow no one to rule over him, and thus the family must flee to Egypt (Mat 2:13-15; Hos 11:1). As Matthew’s Gospel unfolds, the kingly parables give way to more forbidding ones — like those of the vineyard, and the sheep and the goats — which speak of rejection and judgment. Israel’s destiny is sealed when, in a fateful morning, they utterly cut off their king. “We will not have this man to reign over us,” they say, but at the end they will find themselves rejected with “weeping and gnashing of teeth”.

In view of the foregoing, Hosea 11:1 may be seen not as an isolated verbal link, but as part of a continuous theme found both in the prophet and the Gospel.

OUT OF EGYPT I CALLED MY SON: Cp Deut 14:1; 32:6; Isa 1:2-20; 3:9; Jer 3:19,22; 4:22; 31:9,20.

Hos 11:2

BUT THE MORE I CALLED ISRAEL, THE FURTHER THEY WENT FROM ME. THEY SACRIFICED TO THE BAALS AND THEY BURNED INCENSE TO IMAGES: God continued to call the Israelites after they left Egypt. He did so through His prophets. But the more the prophets appealed to the people to follow Yahweh, the more the people turned aside from following Him. They kept sacrificing to Baal and kept burning incense to idols (cf Jdg 2:11-13).

Hos 11:3

IT WAS I WHO TAUGHT EPHRAIM TO WALK, TAKING THEM BY THE ARMS; BUT THEY DID NOT REALIZE IT WAS I WHO HEALED THEM: Israel demonstrated this ungrateful apostasy even though it was Yahweh who taught His son Israel to walk (ie, behave, or live: cp Deut 1:31; Isa 1:2). This is a poignant picture, of a doting father helping a little toddler learn to take his first steps. God provided tender loving care, and healed his son when he needed restoration. Yet none of this was enough to insure that His “son” (ie, Israel) would return that love to Him.

Hos 11:4

I LED THEM WITH CORDS OF HUMAN KINDNESS, WITH TIES OF LOVE: The restraints that the Lord had placed on Israel in its youth were cords of love designed to protect and preserve the people rather than robbing them of freedom.

For “leading” or “drawing”, see John 6:44 (note: this is in the context of Jesus also providing the true “manna” from heaven).

I LIFTED THE YOKE FROM THEIR NECK: The yoke = the oppressive bondage of slavery in Egypt.

AND BENT DOWN TO FEED THEM: The provision of the manna in the wilderness (Psa 78:25; John 6:49,50, etc).

The image of a loving herdsman taking care of his animal is in view here. Often a cattleman would lift the yoke from an ox’s shoulders so when it bent over to eat it would not slide down over its face and impede its feeding.

Hos 11:5

WILL THEY NOT RETURN TO EGYPT AND WILL NOT ASSYRIA RULE OVER THEM BECAUSE THEY REFUSED TO REPENT?: Because Israel refused to return to Yahweh after so many appeals by His prophets (v 2), He would send the nation back into captivity. Yet the place of exile would not be Egypt but Assyria. In other messages Hosea identified Egypt as the place of Israel’s future exile (cf Hos 8:13; 9:3,6), but here it becomes clear that He was only using Egypt as a metaphor for a place of captivity. Assyria would be the geographical location of Israel’s exile.

However, in the Last Days, the remnant of Israel will be restored and recovered, from both Assyria AND Egypt: see Isa 11:11; 19:23-25; 27:12,13; Mic 7:12.

Hos 11:6

SWORDS WILL FLASH IN THEIR CITIES, WILL DESTROY THE BARS OF THEIR GATES: Enemy soldiers would swarm around Israel’s cities and break down the gate bars that secured them against foreign attack.

AND PUT AN END TO THEIR PLANS: They would consume the Israelites because of the decisions the Israelites had made to depart from Yahweh (cp Mic 6:16). These were the result, in part, of false prophets’ advice. Yahweh had fed His people (v 4), but now the sword would feed on them (Isa 1:19,20)!

Hos 11:7

MY PEOPLE ARE DETERMINED TO TURN FROM ME. EVEN IF THEY CALL TO THE MOST HIGH, HE WILL BY NO MEANS EXALT THEM: The Israelites’ resolve to abandon Yahweh was firm. In spite of the prophets’ appeals to return to Him, none of them exalted the Lord by doing so.

Hos 11:8

HOW CAN I GIVE YOU UP, EPHRAIM? HOW CAN I HAND YOU OVER, ISRAEL?: Strong expressions of divine love for His chosen people. God takes no pleasure in punishing His people, even when they are wicked (Eze 33:18…).

ADMAH… ZEBOIIM: Two cities destroyed along with Sodom and Gomorrah (cp Gen 10:19; 14:2,8; Deut 29:23).

MY HEART IS CHANGED WITHIN ME: Or “overturned” (cp KJV). God will not “overturn” Israel, at least not completely and eternally. Rather, He will “overturn” (change, repent, reverse) His heart. In other words, He cannot bring Himself to the final act of Israel’s utter destruction (see v 9).

ALL MY COMPASSION IS AROUSED: “Compassion” is sw as Joseph’s “yearnings” or being “deeply moved” in Gen 43:30.

Hos 11:9

I WILL NOT CARRY OUT MY FIERCE ANGER, NOR WILL I TURN AND DEVASTATE EPHRAIM: Following on from v 8, God did not change His mind about bringing judgment on Israel, but He promised not to apply the full measure of His wrath or to destroy Ephraim again in the future. FOR I AM GOD, AND NOT MAN — THE HOLY ONE AMONG YOU. I WILL NOT COME IN WRATH: He would show restraint because He is God, not a man who forgets His promises, is arbitrary in His passions, and might be vindictive in His anger (cf 1Sa 15:29). He was the Holy One in the midst of the Israelites, so He would be completely fair with His people. He would not descend on them with unbridled wrath.

Hos 11:10

THEY WILL FOLLOW THE LORD; HE WILL ROAR LIKE A LION: In the future the Israelites would follow the Lord (cp vv 2,5). He would again announce His intentions like a roaring lion (Hos 5:14; 13:7; Amo 1:2; 3:8).

WHEN HE ROARS, HIS CHILDREN WILL COME TREMBLING FROM THE WEST: However this time it would not be as a lion about to devour its prey but as a lion leading its cubs to safety. The Israelites would follow Him trembling from the west (Hos 3:5; Exo 19:16).

Since Assyria lay to Israel’s east, it seems that this reference to regathering from the west does not refer solely to Israel’s return from Assyrian captivity. Rather, it refers to return from another worldwide dispersion. Presently the Israelites live dispersed all over the world. This verse then probably alludes to a still future restoration from our perspective in history — the streaming of Israel back into the land following Jesus Christ’s return to the earth (cp Isa 11:11,12).

Hos 11:11

THEY WILL COME TREMBLING LIKE BIRDS FROM EGYPT, LIKE DOVES FROM ASSYRIA: The Israelites had been as silly as pigeons seeking foreign alliances (Hos 7:11), but now they would return as vulnerable and as swift as doves to the land (Psa 55:6,7; Isa 60:8).

Hos 11:12

EPHRAIM HAS SURROUNDED ME WITH LIES, THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL WITH DECEIT: Yahweh complained that Ephraim (Israel) had consistently lied and tried to deceive Him. He described Himself as surrounded and under attack by His own people. Wherever He looked all He saw was cheaters. Deception (Heb “mirmah”, or unfaithfulness) had also marked Israel’s ancestor, Jacob (cf Hos 12:3,4,12; Gen 27:35).

“We know from experience that this contrast exists within any community. All we can do as individuals is to place ourselves at the mercy of God, confessing our sins and pleading His forgiveness. We are not justified in bad behaviour by the lies and ill practices of those around us” (PC).

AND JUDAH WAS UNRULY AGAINST GOD, EVEN AGAINST THE FAITHFUL HOLY ONE: The kingdom of Judah had also been unruly (Heb “rud”, or wayward) in its relationship with the Holy One (cf v 9) who is faithful. Yahweh was always faithful to His covenant promises even though these groups of His people had wandered from Him and sought out Baals and foreign allies. Both kingdoms had been unfaithful to the covenant Yahweh had made with them.

Hos 12:1

EPHRAIM FEEDS ON THE WIND: Figuratively, he pursues vain efforts that do not satisfy (cp Hos 8:7; 13:15).

THE EAST WIND: The hot desert wind — a dry, harsh, injurious wind, which no one in his right mind would wish for.

AND MULTIPLIES LIES AND VIOLENCE: Evidences of internal social injustice (Hos 4:2; 7:1).

HE MAKES A TREATY WITH ASSYRIA AND SENDS OLIVE OIL TO EGYPT: Ephraim makes covenants (treaties) with Assyria and Egypt rather than trusting in God (Hos 5:13; 7:8,11; 8:8,9; 2Ki 17:3,4; 18:21; Isa 30:7).

Hos 12:3

IN THE WOMB HE GRASPED HIS BROTHER’S HEEL: Jacob received his name (“Supplanter”, or “the one who grabs by the heel”) when he grasped his brother’s heel while he was still in the womb of his mother Rebekah (Gen 25:26). This was a preview of the grasping character that marked him all his life (Gen 27:35,36).

AS A MAN HE STRUGGLED WITH GOD: In later life Jacob also continued to struggle or wrestle with God (v 4).

Hos 12:4

HE STRUGGLED WITH THE ANGEL AND OVERCAME HIM; HE WEPT AND BEGGED FOR HIS FAVOR: Jacob was contending with God when he wrestled with the angel at Peniel; yet there he prevailed over God’s angel — not by strength of arm — but by weeping and pleading with him to bless him (Gen 32:22-32). This event was a turning point in Jacob’s life because he finally realized that he could not succeed simply by manipulation and trickery. He recognized His need for God’s help and turned to Him in desperation. This was the occasion of Jacob’s repentance.

HE FOUND HIM AT BETHEL AND TALKED WITH HIM THERE: Another significant event in Jacob’s life was when he returned to Bethel, where God had appeared to him in a dream years earlier (Gen 28:10-22). This return to Bethel and the act of worship Jacob performed there were in obedience to God’s word to him to go there and fulfill his former vow (Gen 35:1-14). This too was an act of submissive obedience and resulted in God changing Jacob’s name to Israel (sig “prince with God”), blessing him, and renewing the Abrahamic covenant with him.

It is ironic that the place where Jacob put himself right with God was Bethel, since Bethel was the place where the Israelites went wrong by worshipping idols. Jacob’s return to God at Bethel provided a good example for Israel: they might still set themselves right with God at the same place as their ancestor had!

AND TALKED WITH HIM THERE: Whereas the NIV has “and talked with HIM there”, the AV reads “and there he spake with US.” Several translations follow the LXX and Syriac: “there he spoke with HIM” (RSV, NEB, NIV) — while others follow the Masoretic Text: “there he spoke with US” (KJV, NASB). The “us” reading very reasonably suggests that the prophet Hosea was keen to apply the lesson to himself and all Israelites. So often in the Bible, when God speaks to an individual, we should realize that — through the inspiration and preservation of the Scriptures and His providence — He is speaking with… every one of us! (In this connection, notice how the very last verse of Hosea emphasizes this point — that the whole of the book is given to ALL OF US, that is, to ANY who will listen!)

Hos 12:5

THE LORD GOD ALMIGHTY: Sig “the Lord God of armies, or hosts”. A ref to the mighty legions of angels at His disposal: cp Gen 32:1,2.

Hos 12:6

BUT YOU MUST RETURN TO YOUR GOD; MAINTAIN LOVE AND JUSTICE, AND WAIT FOR YOUR GOD ALWAYS: Like Jacob, the Israelites should return to their God, remembering His covenant with them. They should practice loyal love and justice in their dealings with one another rather than being like the old Jacob. And they should commit to waiting in faith for God to act for them — rather than trying to seize control of the situation, as Jacob so often had done.

Hos 12:7

THE MERCHANT: Lit “a Canaanite”. “The singular noun, ‘a merchant; a trader’ (BDB) is used in a generic sense to refer to the merchant class of Israel as a whole (eg, Eze 16:29; 17:4; Zep 1:11)” (NETn). Cp also Zech 14:21: “And on that day there will no longer be a Canaanite [or merchant] in the house of the LORD Almighty.”

DISHONEST SCALES: Deceitful trading, characteristic of Jacob in his early life.

Hos 12:8

WITH ALL MY WEALTH THEY WILL NOT FIND IN ME ANY INIQUITY OR SIN: The Israelites considered their wealth a blessing from God (cp the Laodiceans in Rev 3:17,18), which they interpreted as the result of their cleverness and His approval of their lifestyle. In reality, it was due to His grace in spite of their sins.

Hos 12:9

I WILL MAKE YOU LIVE IN TENTS AGAIN, AS IN THE DAYS OF YOUR APPOINTED FEASTS: Yahweh reminded His people that He had been their God since before the Exodus. He was able to make them revert to a humble wilderness lifestyle again, as they did in their annual Feast of Tabernacles (Lev 23:33-43). This is clearly an allusion to the coming captivity of Israel.

Also, the return from captivity would be characterized by once again dwelling in tents (Neh 8:17) — as will the final return of the Last Days (Zec 14:16).

Hos 12:10

I SPOKE TO THE PROPHETS, GAVE THEM MANY VISIONS AND TOLD PARABLES THROUGH THEM: Yahweh also reminded them that He had spoken to them through prophets many times (Hos 9:7; 11:2; Heb 1:1). He had given the prophets visions, and they had taught their lessons to the Israelites. Nevertheless, in spite of so many exhortations to return to the Lord, the people had not responded.

Hos 12:11

IS GILEAD WICKED? ITS PEOPLE ARE WORTHLESS!: Gilead was the scene of Israel’s depravity (Hos 6:8,9).

DO THEY SACRIFICE BULLS IN GILGAL?: In Gilgal, too, worthless Israelites were sacrificing bulls, expensive offerings, on numerous altars that they had built there.

THEIR ALTARS WILL BE LIKE PILES OF STONES ON A PLOWED FIELD: The number of the pagan altars at Gilgal was as great as the piles of stones, which the farmers had gathered together in their fields. (There is a play on the name “Gilgal,” which sounds like the Heb “gallim”, meaning “pile of stones”.)

Hos 12:12

JACOB FLED TO THE COUNTRY OF ARAM; ISRAEL SERVED TO GET A WIFE, AND TO PAY FOR HER HE TENDED SHEEP: The Lord reminded the Israelites again of their humble origins. Jacob was a refugee who migrated to the land of Aram. There he had to work to pay for a wife (Gen 29:20,28), and he did so by tending sheep, a very humble occupation (Deut 26:5).

Though Jacob’s beginnings were humble, yet out of them God lifted him up, and blessed him greatly, when he learned to trust in the Almighty. This was the lesson for Israel and Ephraim.

Hos 12:13

THE LORD USED A PROPHET TO BRING ISRAEL UP FROM EGYPT, BY A PROPHET HE CARED FOR HIM: Later the Lord brought the Israelites out of Egypt and kept them alive during their wilderness wanderings by using a prophet, Moses (Deu 18:18). The Israelites, as well as Jacob, had experienced hardship while in a foreign land. By implication they should not, therefore, have despised the prophets that Yahweh had sent them since Moses (v 10). Furthermore, they should remember that they could return to these conditions if they were not careful.

Hos 12:14

EPHRAIM HAS BITTERLY PROVOKED HIM TO ANGER: In spite of these mercies the Israelites had provoked the Lord to bitter anger with their idolatry (Deu 4:25; 9:18; 31:29; 32:16,21; Jdg 2:12; 1Ki 14:9,15).

HIS ANGER WILL LEAVE UPON HIM THE GUILT OF HIS BLOODSHED: Consequently Yahweh would not remove the guilt of their sins by forgiving them, but would pay them back with punishment and shame. This was the sentence of their divine judge. God’s wrath will abide upon him: cp John 3:36; 9:41.

Hos 13:1

WHEN EPHRAIM SPOKE, MEN TREMBLED: When members of the tribe of Ephraim spoke, the other Israelites trembled because they looked to Ephraim for leadership (Jdg 8:1-3; 12:1-6).

HE WAS EXALTED IN ISRAEL: Jacob had prophesied that Ephraim would lead (Gen 48:13-20), and the first king of the Northern Kingdom, Jeroboam I, had come from the tribe of Ephraim (1Ki 11:26; 12:25). The Ephraimites exalted themselves in the North as well.

BUT HE BECAME GUILTY OF BAAL WORSHIP: But being leaders can be a dangerous responsibility, because it can result in great evil as well as great good. The men of Ephraim were also the leaders in Baal worship (cp 2Ki 17:16). Anything that we worship which is not God is an idol, so let us not deceive ourselves. This world, in which we live, thrives on covetousness, which is idolatry (Col 3:5).

AND DIED: They were as good as dead, since God would judge idolaters.

Hos 13:2

NOW THEY SIN MORE AND MORE; THEY MAKE IDOLS FOR THEMSELVES…: The Ephraimites, and the other Israelites, had continued to sin more and more by making molten images and carved idols of silver (cf Exo 20:4,5; 34:17; Deu 5:8,9).

CLEVERLY FASHIONED IMAGES, ALL OF THEM THE WORK OF CRAFTSMEN: They took great pains to make beautiful idols by employing skilled craftsmen for their construction.

THEY OFFER HUMAN SACRIFICE: “The last two lines admit of two renderings: The key words in the last two lines are ‘zobehe adam’, which can mean either ‘sacrifices of men’ (ie, ‘human sacrifices’) or ‘sacrificers among men’ (ie, ‘men who sacrifice’); here the second meaning is preferable. Our translation [the NIV] takes them to refer to ‘human sacrifice.’ This, however, seems unlikely since no other indication is given that human sacrifice was practiced at Bethel or Dan. The other and more likely rendering may be expressed as follows: ‘In respect to the images [of the calves], they [leaders in this form of worship] are saying, “Let the sacrificers among men [ie, those who would sacrifice] do so by kissing the calf-idols.” ‘ To kiss an image was to do homage to it (see 1Ki 19:18; cf Psa 2:12). Jeroboam I had first bidden the people to give this homage, and leaders in the worship were continuing the practice. Persistence in this sin, answered Hosea, would have but one outcome. This he traced in four striking figures (v 3) that reiterate how surely and speedily the offending people would disappear and perish” (EBC).

AND KISS THE CALF-IDOLS: For the men of Ephraim, there would be no half-hearted devotion in the service of these “gods”. They also required that those who made sacrifices to them profess their devotion and homage by kissing the images. (In later times, Jews were compelled to kiss the image of a pig, set up in the temple, as a particularly hideous test of their allegiance to the Greek conquerors: cp 1Ki 19:18; Rom 11:4.)

Hos 13:3

Four things which are most easily dissipated, being driven by the wind and vanishing away. Judgment would come swiftly and surely upon Ephraim.

Hos 13:4

I AM THE LORD YOUR GOD, WHO BROUGHT YOU OUT OF EGYPT. YOU SHALL ACKNOWLEDGE NO GOD BUT ME, NO SAVIOR EXCEPT ME: Yahweh had been Israel’s God since the Israelites had lived in Egypt. He had commanded the Israelites not to acknowledge any gods beside Himself, because He was the only God who could save them (Deu 11:28; 32:17; Jer 9:2; 31:34). For them to become idolaters would only be frustrating and futile, for they would be abandoning their only hope of salvation.

Hos 13:5

God’s miraculous provisions, of food and water, and shelter, for Israel in the wilderness.

IN THE LAND OF BURNING HEAT: Cp Deu 8:15.

Hos 13:6

Prosperity is often a greater temptation to depart from conscious dependence on God than adversity is, and Israel fell into this trap.

Hos 13:7

Vv 7,8: The lion, leopard, and bear were all wild animals native to Canaan that were notorious for their relentless manner of killing prey. The four beasts here recall the four Gentiles kingdoms symbolized in Dan 7, as well as the great beasts of Rev 12; 13 — these would be the “destroyers” of Israel (v 9)! — the “lion” (Dan 7:4), the “leopard” (Dan 7:6), the “bear” (Dan 7:5), and the “wild beast” (Dan 7:7,8).

A LION: The black Ethiopian lion.

A LEOPARD: Distinguished by its spotted skin.

I WILL LURK BY THE PATH: Hiding in the high underbrush, waiting to trap unsuspecting prey.

Hos 13:8

A BEAR ROBBED OF HER CUBS: And thus noted for its great ferocity: 2Sa 17:8; Pro 17:12.

A LION: Heb “labi” — an old, strong lion.

Hos 13:9

How ironic that Israel’s helper would become her destroyer!

Hos 13:10

WHERE IS YOUR KING, THAT HE MAY SAVE YOU?: All these other kings had proved ineffective in saving the Israelites. Only Yahweh was their savior (v 4).

WHERE ARE YOUR RULERS IN ALL YOUR TOWNS, OF WHOM YOU SAID, ‘GIVE ME A KING AND PRINCES’?: Reference to the time Israel cast off God as their King, and demanded a human king from Samuel: 1Sa 8:1-9; 12:12. And, more recently, to the kings of Israel — who were not of David’s line but were kings of the people’s own choosing (1Ki 12:16-20).

Hos 13:11

SO IN MY ANGER I GAVE YOU A KING, AND IN MY WRATH I TOOK HIM AWAY: God conceded to His people’s request for a king, but it made Him angry because is expressed their reluctance to trust and obey Him. When Saul proved ineffective, since He did not trust in Yahweh, the Lord removed him, which also made Him angry (1Sa 30; 31). The Lord would also remove all the Ephraimite kings because they followed the pattern of Saul. The sins and bad times that all these kings’ reigns brought on Israel were unnecessary and displeasing to Yahweh, who wanted His people to enjoy peace and prosperity.

Hos 13:12

THE GUILT OF EPHRAIM IS STORED UP, HIS SINS ARE KEPT ON RECORD: God would not forget Israel’s sins. Its iniquities were rolled up (Heb “sarar”) in a bundle like a scroll and stored up (Heb “sapan”) like a treasure — which would be revealed at the appropriate time. Then they would stand as irrefutable evidence to condemn the nation.

Hos 13:13

PAIN AS OF A WOMAN IN CHILDBIRTH… HE DOES NOT COME TO THE OPENING OF THE WOMB: Israel was like a baby that refused to come out of its mother’s womb in the sense that it refused to leave its comfortable sin. Despite the mother’s (God’s) strenuous efforts to bring the child into freedom, Israel refused to repent. This was evidence that Israel was a foolish child. She would die rather than leave her sins apparently feeling that the proper time for repenting was not yet.

Or, Israel was like a woman travailing in childbirth, whose pain would never be alleviated.

Hos 13:14

I WILL RANSOM THEM FROM THE POWER OF THE GRAVE; I WILL REDEEM THEM FROM DEATH. WHERE, O DEATH, ARE YOUR PLAGUES?: The LORD asked rhetorically if He should buy the Israelites back out of death’s hand. Should He pay a price for their redemption?

I WILL HAVE NO COMPASSION: And the answer, after reflection, is… No. In the case of Ephraim, compassion would be hidden from His sight; He would have no pity on them.

Later, we know, God DID provide a ransom for His people from the power of the grave, and a price of redemption from death. He did this through His Son, Jesus Christ, who died on the cross and rose again. God’s future redemptive work for His people meant that death would not be the end for Israel — even though judgment in the near future was inevitable.

Paul quoted this phrase in 1Co 15:55, and applied it to the effect of Christ’s redemption on all of God’s people. Because God did provide a ransom and redeemed His people, death and the grave are not the final judgment and resting place of the believer. God has a glorious future — beyond His punishment for sin — for His own people, both for national Israel (those who believe) and for Christians. God’s purpose will not be fulfilled in a regathered 10-tribe (or even 12-tribe) Israel only, but in a calling of faithful believers out of all nations, to inherit the “hope of Israel”.

Here in Hosea the promise is that the Israel of that day would indeed suffer death and the grave, not that she would escape it. But Paul turns the passage around, and shows that Jesus Christ’s resurrection overcame the judgment and death that are otherwise inevitable for sinners.

Hos 13:15

With the removal of God’s compassion (v. 14), Israel’s prosperity would end. Hosea described that change like a hot eastern desert wind (cp Hos 12:1) sweeping over Israel and drying up all its water sources. Israel had flourished among its neighbors, as a plant does when it grows in shallow water among reeds. Like a sirocco Assyria would sweep over Israel from the east and cause the nation of Israel to wither. The Assyrians would plunder everything valuable in the land.

Hos 13:16

THEIR LITTLE ONES WILL BE DASHED TO THE GROUND, THEIR PREGNANT WOMEN RIPPED OPEN: These shocking brutalities are in keeping with the character of the Assyrians as revealed by archaeology (cp 2Ki 15:16; Amos 1:13). These were curses that the Lord warned would follow rebellion against the terms of His covenant (Lev 26:25; Deu 28:21; 32:24,25; Amos 4:10).

Hos 14:1

Hos 14: “In beauty of expression these final words of Hosea rank with the memorable chapters of the OT. Like the rainbow after a storm, they promise Israel’s final restoration. Here is the full flowering of God’s unfailing love for his faithless people, the triumph of his grace, the assurance of his healing — all described in imagery that reveals the loving heart of God” (Wood, cited in Const).

“As the prophecy comes to an end, [1] a response to the divine invitation is heard: vv 1-3. Then comes [2] Yahweh’s acceptance of His people in love: vv 4-8, followed by [3] A general summary and exhortation to faithfulness: v 9.

“After all the strain and difficulties that faced this courageous prophet, the voice of Yahweh’s mercy was a most encouraging and satisfying experience. He repeated Elijah’s appeal (Jer 3:19-20; cp Hos 2:1-7). The nation, previously involved in the wickedness of idolatry, respond with an acknowledgement that they will no longer seek them (v 8). There is a full and final renunciation of idolatry. Ephraim speaks of himself as a ‘green fir tree’ (v 8), the evergreen that does not change. But he also sees himself as the ‘roots of Lebanon’ (v 6), and any who have seen how the mountain itself rises from great roots, cast out across the land like those of some giant oak, will appreciate the metaphor. Thus the standing appeal is there: ‘Who is wise…?’ It requires the exercise of humility to heed the divine appeals, reproofs, warnings and exhortations of this book. They were reflected by the Jews and Gentiles of Paul’s day, hence his comments in 1Co 1:20 is based on this statement” (GEM).

Vv 1,2: The correspondence of offering and praise, song: Psa 50:13,14; 51:15-17; 69:30,31; 141:2; 40:6-10; Jer 33:11.

RETURN, O ISRAEL, TO THE LORD YOUR GOD. YOUR SINS HAVE BEEN YOUR DOWNFALL: Cp this v, along with v 2, with the prodigal son: Luke 15:18 (also cp Isa 55:6,7). We know from Israel’s history that Hosea’s generation of Israelites did not repent, but still God’s invitation was open and genuine.

Hos 14:2

THAT WE MAY OFFER THE FRUIT OF OUR LIPS: Lit “the CALVES of our lips” (as AV). “The MsTx reads ‘bulls’, but the LXX reflects ‘fruit’ (‘that we may offer the fruit of [our] lips [as sacrifices to you].’ Although the Gr expression in Heb 13:15 (‘karpon ceileon’, ‘the fruit of lips’) reflects this LXX phrase, the MsTx makes good sense as it stands; NT usage of the LXX should not be decisive in resolving OT textual problems” (NETn). Cp “calves” here with the “calf-idols” of Hos 13:2. More generally, cp Psa 69:30,31 and 1Pe 2:5,9.

The basic teaching is that lips giving praise to God are the best of all “sacrifices”!

Hos 14:3

WAR-HORSES: Prob another allusion to Egypt, famous in the ANE for its horses.

Hos 14:4

I WILL… LOVE THEM FREELY: That is, despite their sins and shortcomings, without reciprocal payment or service, solely on the basis of their faith and turning to Him. “Justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus” (Rom 3:24). “His glorious grace, which He has freely given us” (Eph 1:6). “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God — not by works, so that no one can boast” (Eph 2:8,9).

Hos 14:5

I WILL BE LIKE THE DEW TO ISRAEL: Considering the nature of the climate of Israel, dew can be a great blessing, providing a significant portion of the moisture needed to the soil. Cp Pro 19:12.

HE WILL BLOSSOM LIKE A LILY: Instead of being dry and withered (Hos 13:15), Israel would blossom like the prolific spring lily (or crocus: Song 2:2).

LIKE A CEDAR OF LEBANON HE WILL SEND DOWN HIS ROOTS: They would become as beautiful as an olive tree — not only attractive but the source of beneficial products (Psa 52:8; Jer 11:16). Israel would take root and grow strong, like a cedar of Lebanon (cp Song 4:11).

Hos 14:7

MEN WILL DWELL AGAIN IN HIS SHADE: Israel will once again be a blessing to other nations (cp Isa 19:23-25), as God Himself has been a blessing: “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty” (Psa 91:1,2).

HE WILL FLOURISH LIKE THE GRAIN: The Israelites would again grow grain, a mark of covenant blessing (cf Hos 2:21-23; Deut 28:4,8,11; 30:9; Amos 9:13-15).

HE WILL BLOSSOM LIKE A VINE: The nation would be like a fruitful vine that produced the best wine, no longer like a scraggly vine in the wilderness (Hos 10:1).

HIS FAME WILL BE LIKE THE WINE FROM LEBANON: Their fame (Heb “zikro”, “his remembrance”) will spread abroad like the fame of Lebanese wine.

Hos 14:8

EPHRAIM, WHAT MORE HAVE I TO DO WITH IDOLS?: Ephraim would repudiate her dealings with idols (cf Hos 2:8; 4:17; 8:4-6).

I WILL ANSWER HIM AND CARE FOR HIM: Consequently, the LORD would respond with a commitment to care for her. Formerly He lay in wait (Heb “shur”) for Israel like a leopard ready to pounce on her in judgment (Hos 13:7), but now He would care (Heb “shur”) for her!

YOUR FRUITFULNESS COMES FROM ME: “Our fruit is found from our God as to union. The fruit of the branch is directly traceable to the root. Sever the connection, the branch dies, and no fruit is produced. By virtue of our union with Christ we bring forth fruit. Every bunch of grapes have been first in the root, it has passed through the stem, and flowed through the sap vessels, and fashioned itself externally into fruit, but it was first in the stem; so also every good work was first in Christ, and then is brought forth in us.

“Our fruit comes from God as to spiritual providence. When the dew-drops fall from heaven, when the cloud looks down from on high, and is about to distil its liquid treasure, when the bright sun swells the berries of the cluster, each heavenly boon may whisper to the tree and say, ‘From me is thy fruit found.’ The fruit owes much to the root — that is essential to fruitfulness — but it owes very much also to external influences. How much we owe to God’s grace-providence! in which He provides us constantly with quickening, teaching, consolation, strength, or whatever else we want. To this we owe our all of usefulness or virtue.

“Our fruit comes from God as to wise husbandry. The gardener’s sharp-edged knife promotes the fruitfulness of the tree, by thinning the clusters, and by cutting off superfluous shoots. So is it with that pruning which the Lord gives to thee. ‘My Father is the husbandman. Every branch in Me that beareth not fruit He taketh away; and every branch that beareth fruit He purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit’ [Joh 15:1,2]. Since our God is the author of our spiritual graces, let us give to Him all the glory of our salvation” (CHS).

Hos 14:9

WHO IS WISE? HE WILL REALIZE THESE THINGS: “Paul’s application of this to the transformation of the faithful in Christ from mortality to immortality gives it a far deeper significance than just the political resurrection of Israel to which it primarily applies. We are taught by this, as we are so often taught elsewhere, that as Hosea was an allegory to Israel, so Israel is an allegory to us. Therein lies the great significance of the final words of the prophecy… Who IS wise? God said sadly through Hosea — ‘My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge’ (Hos 4:6).

“How much do we care about knowing these things? How much real, sincere effort have we put in this past week to learn and understand the lessons of God’s Word through which we have been passing in our daily readings? To what extent have we meditated upon it and prayed for understanding? Let us face these questions honestly. Are we truly ANXIOUS and concerned to learn more and more about God and His Word?

“It is so easy to just go through the motions and think we are in the Truth, without ever having the real love of and yearning toward the knowledge of God which is essential to salvation. This is what marks off the true disciple from the common run of mankind. These divine words are life. They are essential meat and drink. In them alone is the power of love and of holiness and godliness and of overcoming the flesh” (GVG).

Nothing is known for certainty about the ancestry of Joel, or about him personally. There is even some uncertainty as to the precise time when he prophesied, although the prophecy itself provides a number of clues, as shall be seen.

Literal locusts?

Joel pictures an enormous locust invasion brought by God upon His land, as a punishment and a warning to His people (Joel 1:15; 2:11). The devastation wrought by the locusts brings the inevitable famine, and Joel chronicles the suffering of man and beast alike, in its wake (Joel 1:4,5,9-12,16-18).

Outline

Joe 1:1

See Lesson, Prophet, the.

See Lesson, Minor prophets, and their messages.

See Article, Joel, the problem of.

JOEL: Nothing is known of this man except his name. “Joel” may be a combination of the divine names: “YHWH is EL” (cp Elijah — the same in reverse).

PETHUEL: “The prophet’s patronymic provides little assistance, for the resemblance to Hebrew words for ‘deceive’ and ‘sudden’ are not exactly helpful. However, in LXX the name is: Bethuel (an easy confusion between B and P in Hebrew). This yields the obvious and very meaningful: ‘laid waste by God’ (sw Isa 5:6) with reference to the main theme of the prophecy. Such a meaning would be readily chosen by the prophet himself to prepare his readers for what is coming, the true patronymic being the much more likely: — ‘ben-Azariah’ (2Ch 29:12). This would make Joel a Levite, and most probably a priest. What splendid appropriateness can now be seen in Joel 2:12ff!” (WJoel).

Joe 1:2

ELDERS: Old men, but here in the sense of leaders and rulers (cp v 14).

Joe 1:3

TELL IT TO YOUR CHILDREN, AND LET YOUR CHILDREN TELL IT TO THEIR CHILDREN, AND THEIR CHILDREN TO THE NEXT GENERATION: “In this simple way, by God’s grace, a living testimony for truth is always to be kept alive in the land — the beloved of the Lord are to hand down their witness for the gospel, and the covenant to their heirs, and these again to their next descendants. This is our first duty, we are to begin at the family hearth: he is a bad preacher who does not commence his ministry at home. The heathen are to be sought by all means, and the highways and hedges are to be searched, but home has a prior claim, and woe unto those who reverse the order of the Lord’s arrangements. To teach our children is a personal duty; we cannot delegate it to Sunday School teachers, or other friendly aids; these can assist us, but cannot deliver us from the sacred obligation; proxies and sponsors are wicked devices in this case: mothers and fathers must, like Abraham, command their households in the fear of God, and talk with their offspring concerning the wondrous works of the Most High. Parental teaching is a natural duty — who so fit to look to the child’s well-being as those who are the authors of his actual being?” (CHS).

“The remembering of the outstanding acts of God on behalf of His people, or in furthering their discipline, must be carried on faithfully from generation to generation. From earliest days Moses had striven to establish this tradition: ‘Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons’ sons; specially the day that thou stoodest before the Lord thy God in Horeb’ (Deu 4:9,10). If these exhortations of Joel and Moses had been heeded, would the day of Babylonian invasion some five generations later have ever happened?…

“You are to establish a tradition in your families, urges the prophet. From father to son to grandson this cherished message must be faithfully handed on. How many generations are involved here? Is it five or six? And how many generations of the Truth faithfully preserved are there in these Last Days, all of them scanning the horizon eagerly for the dawn yet to be seen rising over the Mount of Olives?

“In modern times the five generations of the New Israel, having such a Word, as others do not know and with its fulfilment so nigh unto them are yet content to set their children and their grandchildren a mediocre characterless example of diluted enthusiasm.

“Remember! Remember! Teach! Teach! These should be welcome duties. Yet Moses had learned that neglect might overtake them. Specially pointed and valuable is this precept: ‘Teach them thy sons AND THY SONS’ SONS!’

“Yet how often it happens that grandparents treat ‘their sons’ sons’ as though they were a box of chocolates — a luxury to be enjoyed now and then — and not at all as a holy commission entrusted to their care; [vessels] to be filled with precious jewels of Truth.

“Alas, it is so much more comfortable to write Joel off as out-of-date and incomprehensible, and to bequeath THAT tradition to those whose future is one’s own special responsibility!” (WJoel).

This is true, in general, but here the special emphasis is — not upon the goodness of God’s arrangements — but upon the judgments that Joel is about to describe. So terrible are these that four or five generations cannot remember anything that compares

Joe 1:4

Description of locust invasion: LB 416-419.

“The prophet’s language is truly horrific. Crops devastated, flocks and herds famished through lack of fodder, the sky is darkened with the spreading cloud of irresistible devastation, the husbandman miserable in his sense of helplessness, the inexorable advance of a hostile army disciplined to be ever closing ranks and marching with callous indifference to every obstruction.

“Another locust swarm, this time of commentators, has decided that Joel saw a recent locust invasion of the Holy Land as a judgment from God intended to warn His people of their need for repentance.

“The main idea, of a lesson to be learned from a harrowing experience, is certainly correct. But was this the horror of a locust swarm or of an invasion of pitiless Assyrians?

“When the details are considered carefully, it becomes clear that, if indeed there was a locust invasion, the prophet meant his people to see it as a God-provided warning of an imminent over-running of the Land by the worst enemy they had ever encountered [ie, the Assyrians of Sennacherib]…

“The mention at the outset of four different kinds of locust is usually taken to indicate different stages of development of these creatures. [In fact, the Heb words mean, successively, gnawer”, “swarmer”, “devourer”, and “consumer”!: GB.] But it seems not unlikely that these four names are introduced to suggest the four great Assyrian monarchs whose campaigns all included onslaught on the people of God: Tiglath-pileser III, Shalmanezer V (who died at the siege of Samaria), Sargon II (Isa 20:1) and Sennacherib, the worst of the lot…

“In the mind of Sennacherib there was evidently such an implacable hatred of Israel and Israel’s God that his campaign of destruction was pursued with almost lunatic ferocity. A conqueror that has his wits about him will subjugate in order to harness the prosperity of the victim people to the further enhancement of the civilisation of his own land and people. Other empire builders had the sense to do this to the progressive glory and luxury of their reigns. But not so Sennacherib on this occasion! He was set on reducing Israel to a wilderness. He would show the world what he thought about the God these Jews worshipped. But Isaiah and Joel knew him to be the instrument of Jehovah (Isa 8:7,8; 10:5-7). His army was ‘MY army’ (Joel 2:11)” (WJoel).

(LD) Another possible reason for the FOUR types of locusts: four separate Arab invaders of Israel; the names mentioned later in the prophecy suggest Tyre and Zidon (Lebanon); Philistia (the Palestinians); Egypt; and Edom (Jordan and/or Saudi Arabia).

GREAT LOCUSTS: “Arbeh”. The two words arbeh (locust) and arbi (Arab) are almost identical in the Heb. “Etymologically, an Arab and a locust are almost the same in radicals and pronunciation… In Jdg 6:5, in the original, the locust is used to designate the number and character of invading Arab hosts…” (cp also Jdg 7:12) (Eur 2:458). JT also wrote that the locust is a well-recognized symbol of the Arab nations, and that “Mohammedan tradition speaks of locusts having dropped into the hands of Mohammed, bearing on their wings the inscription, ‘We are the army of the great God’.” Notice that the locust invasion of Joe 1; 2 is particularized in Joe 3, ref Tyre, Philistia, Egypt, and Edom (Joe 3:4,19). Cp also Rev 9:1-11.

EATEN… EATEN… EATEN: “They [the Assyrian armies] know the military technique of living off the land. Indeed that is what they are there for. Always, as they go, they are eating, eating, eating. Before them, the Land is a Garden of Eden, God’s own garden; behind them there is only a desolate wilderness (Joel 2:3) — vines, fig trees (v 7), cattle and sheep (v 18), all are lost” (WJoel).

Joe 1:5

WAKE UP, YOUR DRUNKARDS, AND WEEP!…: ” Of course, there was a reason for God being on the side of the big brutal battalions. Apart from a faithful remnant (Joel 2:32) the nation was well on the way to forgetting Hezekiah’s great reformation (2Ch 29,30) which for a time at any rate had pulled the nation back from the brink of complete apostasy. Priests and aristocrats, for example, were a drunken worldly lot (cp Isa 28:7,8).

Drunkenness also sym slavery to false doctrine: Isa 19:14; 24:1-9,20; 28:1,3; Job 12:25; Jer 51:7.

(LD) The corruption of western society has found its way into modern Israel. There is the same inequality between rich and poor, the same decadent indulgence in drink and sex and drugs; and the same corruptness of religion.

WAIL… WAIL: Heb “yalal” = to cry out, to lament, to howl: sw Isa 13:6; 15:3; Jer 25:34; Amo 8:3. This word echoes the Heb “hallel”: to praise, as in “Halleluyah”. Cries of praise to God had turned, so easily, into howls of pain and indignation.

THE NEW WINE… HAS BEEN SNATCHED FROM YOUR LIPS: Cp Isa 32:10.

Joe 1:6

A NATION HAS INVADED MY LAND, POWERFUL AND WITHOUT NUMBER: “These invaders are ruthless cruel empire-building Assyrians. In fact, not one nation only, but a confederacy of several nations willing to cooperate with the Assyrians rather than suffer from their matchless cruelty and barbarism. ‘All nations’ is Joel’s phrase (Joel 3:2)” (WJoel).

MY LAND: Israel, of course: Deu 11:12; Lev 25:23; Jer 23:39.

IT HAS THE TEETH OF A LION, THE FANGS OF A LIONESS: Not reasonable, of course, about literal locusts. But easily identified with Assyria: “Layard and other archaeologists have brought to light that these Assyrians thought of themselves as a pride of lions. It was a symbol, which the Babylonians were glad to take over after the collapse of Nineveh (Dan 7:4)” (WJoel).

Lion, generally, sym strength (Num 23:24) and cruelty (Pro 28:15).

Joe 1:8

MOURN LIKE A VIRGIN IN SACKCLOTH GRIEVING FOR THE HUSBAND OF HER YOUTH: Or, more reasonably, as the mg: like a young woman (recently married) lamenting for the death of her young betrothed. “The figure is an easy and obvious one — a young woman betrothed to a husband and looking forward to a full and satisfying married life, finds herself bereft of the joyous prospect. Within a short while her husband-to-be wilts and dies, and she is left alone, pathetic and helpless. But the reader can hardly help wondering if there is not a special aptness about this simile: just as at the time of the Assyrian invasion the nation was left without the leadership of its king on whom so much depended (because of Hezekiah’s grievous sickness: Isa 38:1), so also in the final crisis, soon to come, help against Arab invaders will come too late. For a good while, the sympathy and material aid so lavishly provided for Israel by USA and American Jewry has shown signs of drying up. This trend will go further. How long before Israel finds herself friendless?” (WJoel).

Israel has played the harlot to her betrothed, that is, to Yahweh: Jer 3:1-4; Eze 23:3.

Joe 1:9

GRAIN OFFERINGS AND DRINK OFFERINGS ARE CUT OFF FROM THE HOUSE OF THE LORD: The result of the “locust invasion”, or the Assyrian invasion — with its terrible depredations.

THE PRIESTS ARE IN MOURNING: Not so much for the sins against God, which these suffering suggest — but because the source of their livelihood has been dried up (cp v 13)!

Joe 1:10

Vv 10-12: The destruction of all the different crops of the land, all together, suggests much more than a single locust invasion — which might be over and done with in week or two. The effects of this “invasion” last for many months, all through the various harvests of the year — such was the Assyrian invasion of both Israel and Judah.

Joe 1:12

APPLE: The Heb “tappuwach” is prob derived from the Hebrew rt meaning “scent, breath” which is related to the Arabic rt meaning “fragrant scent” (HAL). Hence, the term ref to a fruit with a fragrant scent. The term occurs 4 times in Song (Song 2:3,5; 7:8; 8:5) and twice outside (Pro 25:11; Joe 1:12). It may ref to “apples” or “apricots” — known esp for their fragrance. “…Sometimes associated with the ‘apple’ tree, but while domesticated apple trees are now found in Israel, wild specimens are not believed to have grown there in biblical times since it is a tree native to the northern hemisphere. Apricots, however, grow in warmer climes and are native to China; they have long been abundant in Israel and most prob were introduced in Bible times. Apricots in Cyprus are still known as ‘golden apples’ [poss ref to Pro 25:11?]” (ABD).

Joe 1:13

SACKCLOTH: Sym bitterness and reproach (Amo 8:10; Jer 6:26).

WAIL: Heb “yalal” (cp v 5).

YOU WHO MINISTER BEFORE THE ALTAR: Num 8:16-19; 18:1-7,20-24; Lev 17:10,11; Mal 1:7-12; Eze 41:22; 44:16.

Joe 1:14

FAST… SACRED ASSEMBLY: Prob written at or just before the Day of Atonement. A time of solemn reflection, self-examination, repentance, and renewal.

SACRED ASSEMBLY: Heb “atserah”. As at the feast of tabernacles, in the 7th month (Lev 23:36).

Joe 1:15

ALAS FOR THAT DAY!: Isaiah similarly described the Assyrian invasion as an act of God (Isa 10:5,6; 8:6-8).

FOR THE DAY OF THE LORD IS NEAR: “The day of the LORD is coming! It is near. There is a real urgency about this message from the prophet Joel. The day of the LORD could be here at any moment — and you are not ready. You need to repent and plead with God for deliverance from the day of His wrath, Joel told the people of Israel, and you need to do it now before it is too late!

“This message to the people of Israel and Judah is just as applicable to us in our lives today. In the days Joel spoke, Israel and Judah were about to be taken into captivity. Nations had invaded them and had sapped their strength and the final day of the LORD was just around the corner.

“We know that we live in the last days. Nearly everything God has said will happen before the return of Christ, has happened. When the rest begins to happen we may find ourselves caught up in what is going on, and it may be too late for us to do anything about it. The day of the LORD is coming for us. The message is urgent because we must act while we still have the time — but time will run out.

“Will you be ready for the day of the LORD?” (RP).

DESTRUCTION FROM THE ALMIGHTY: A pun: ‘like destruction (shod) shall it come from the Almighty (shaddai).’ This meaning of this divine name occurs frequently in Job and Psalms (contrast the alternative derivation ‘prosperity, fruitfulness’ in the Book of Genesis: WBS 15:01).

Joe 1:17

THE SEEDS ARE SHRIVELED BENEATH THE CLODS: ” ‘Under their clods’ is little more than a translator’s guess. A cognate word appears in Jdg. 5:21 (and there is no other occurrence): ‘The river Kishon swept them away.’ This might suggest: ‘The seed is rotten under their sweeping advance’ (another guess — by this translator). LXX adds here: ‘What shall we lay up for ourselves?’ ” (WJoel).

THE STOREHOUSES ARE IN RUINS, THE GRANARIES HAVE BEEN BROKEN DOWN: “The picture of desolation continues to be painted in lurid colours, and with special emphasis on food and fodder scarcities. But one detail serves to reinforce the conclusion already reached that it is the devastation brought by war and not by locust plague that is being described here, for barns and granaries are not broken down by a travelling swarm of locusts. Instead, what is suggested here is the wilful destruction of farm buildings” (WJoel).

Joe 1:19

Vv 19,20: “Even the best-regulated families of locusts do not burn up pasture or trees” (WJoel) — suggesting that this “locust” invasion is really a human army. (The alternative would be that the effect of the locust invasion would be the same as a great fire!: cp Joel 2:3.)

Hos 7:1

WHENEVER I WOULD RESTORE THE FORTUNES OF MY PEOPLE, WHENEVER I WOULD HEAL ISRAEL, THE SINS OF EPHRAIM ARE EXPOSED AND THE CRIMES OF SAMARIA REVEALED: Yahweh longed to heal Israel, but when He thought about doing so, new evidences of her sins presented themselves. The prophets He sent to them were mainly ineffective in stemming the tide of rebellion. Most people’s reaction to their messages was rejection and further heart-hardening.

Hos 7:2

THEIR SINS ENGULF THEM: Their evil deeds surrounded them like a wall, so they were constantly before His eyes. They reminded Him of their sins whenever He looked in their direction.

Hos 7:3

THEY DELIGHT THE KING WITH THEIR WICKEDNESS, THE PRINCES WITH THEIR LIES: Their political leaders rejoiced in the wickedness of the people because that made it easier for them to get away with sinning. These leaders, of course, should have opposed all forms of ungodliness since they were Yahweh’s representatives on earth.

Hos 7:4

THEY ARE ALL ADULTERERS, BURNING LIKE AN OVEN WHOSE FIRE THE BAKER NEED NOT STIR FROM THE KNEADING OF THE DOUGH TILL IT RISES: Their burning heat of passion — to commit adultery — was so high, that it was like an oven that did not need to be tended or stoked from night until morning, but burned on its own.

Or, alternatively, “it rises” refers to the adding of the leaven — which itself is a symbol of sin, introduced slyly or secretly (cp Mat 16:6; 1Co 5:6-8).

Hos 7:5

ON THE DAY OF THE FESTIVAL OF OUR KING THE PRINCES BECOME INFLAMED WITH WINE, AND HE JOINS HANDS WITH THE MOCKERS: The political leaders became drunk on a particular festive occasions that honored the king. The king himself joined in scoffing what was holy.

WINE: The AV has “bottles [actually, skins] of wine”. They are not content with glasses, but must resort to whole bottles of wine!

Hos 7:6

THEIR HEARTS ARE LIKE AN OVEN; THEY APPROACH HIM WITH INTRIGUE. THEIR PASSION SMOLDERS ALL NIGHT; IN THE MORNING IT BLAZES LIKE A FLAMING FIRE: The princes eagerly plotted to overthrow the king. Their anger with him smoldered for a long time and was not obvious to him, like a fire hidden in an oven (cp v 4), but at the proper time it flared up and consumed him and his supporters. Hosea saw this happen four times. Shallum assassinated Zechariah, Menahem assassinated Shallum, Pekah assassinated Pekahiah, and Hoshea assassinated Pekah (2Ki 15:10,14,25,30).

Hos 7:8

EPHRAIM MIXES WITH THE NATIONS: Ephraim had mixed itself with the pagan nations (cp Psa 106:35), like unleavened dough mixed with leaven. She had done this by making alliances with neighbor nations as well as by importing heathen customs and pagan gods into Israel. Hoshea’s “foreign policy” illustrates this confusion. In 732 BC, Hoshea, after killing Pekah, suddenly shifted from alliance with Egypt, Philistia, and Aram to alliance with Assyria. A few years later he broke that alliance, and coming virtually full circle, again sought alliance with Egypt.

EPHRAIM IS A FLAT CAKE NOT TURNED OVER: Ephraim was similar to a pancake that the cook had not turned over, all burnt and black on one side and soggy and runny on the other. In other words, she was only half baked, worthless, not what God intended or what could nourish others. She was crusty toward Yahweh but soft toward other nations.

“In the East it is the custom to heat the hearth, then sweep carefully the portion heated, put the cake upon it, and cover it with ashes and embers. In a little time the cake is turned. It is then covered again, and this process is continued several times, until the cake is found to be sufficiently baked. Ephraim has many representatives at this hour: (1) The man who lives for pleasure alone is a cake not turned. One side of his nature is unduly baked, the other is entirely neglected. Pleasure has its uses, but pleasure as a business is a very poor business indeed. There are many such persons, both in the lower and in the higher grades of society. The man who lives for pleasure is dead while he liveth. He is a wretched parasite; he is a reproach to his species. One side of his nature is burnt to a crust by the fires of unholy desire; the other side of his nature is raw dough. Both are worthless. (2) The man who lives for business alone is a cake not turned. Business is good. Even though it be honourable, and the methods of its pursuit unobjectionable, the man who lives for this life alone loses this life as well as the life that is to come. The man to whom this world is a god is a wretched idolater. This life is never truly lived except it is used for the good of others and for the glory of God. If a man lives for business alone, one side of his nature is scorched by the friction of the world’s cares, and the other is raw dough. (3) A man who lives for culture alone is a cake not turned. No man can claim the honours of culture, portions of whose nature lie fallow. A true culture sweeps across every faculty. Man has earthward, manward, and Godward relations. If lacking in any of these directions, it is a partial, defective, and unauthoritative culture. Tried by this true standard many claimants for the honour of culture will be found wanting. That is not true culture which fails to cultivate the nobler, the Diviner elements of the soul. (4) A man who is half-hearted in religion is a cake not turned. Ephraim, though proud and haughty as a tribe, had been lacking in moral backbone, in loyalty, in consecration, in the service of God. There are such professors of religion today. A half-and-half man is a failure always and everywhere. Today Jesus Christ calls for men with one heart, and that heart on fire with His love. We want no unturned cakes. We want men with convictions. It is said of some men that they are very pious Godward, and very crooked manward. That is a severe criticism when it is true. That is not Christ’s model man. He is symmetrical: he is baked through and through. Christ alone can make such men” (BI).

Hos 7:9

FOREIGNERS SAP HIS STRENGTH, BUT HE DOES NOT REALIZE IT: Foreign alliances had sapped Ephraim’s strength rather than adding to it, but the Israelites were ignorant of this. They thought they were as strong as ever. Tribute payments to allies constantly drained the nation’s wealth and weakened its economy (2Ki 15:19,20; 17:3).

HIS HAIR IS SPRINKLED WITH GRAY, BUT HE DOES NOT NOTICE: Israel was unaware of its real condition, as when a person’s hair becomes gray but he does not notice it. Others can sense the approach of death, but he does not. Israel was dying in the late 730s and early 720s, but its own people did not know it.

Hos 7:11

EPHRAIM IS LIKE A DOVE, EASILY DECEIVED AND SENSELESS: Ephraim was behaving like a dove, a bird proverbial for its supposed silliness and naive nature (cf Matt 10:16). It turned every which way except back to its God (cp Isa 9:13).

NOW CALLING TO EGYPT, NOW TURNING TO ASSYRIA: Expediency and human wisdom marked by vacillation had guided Israel’s foreign policy for years rather than the will of God. This was “bird-brained” diplomacy — desperate, confused and inconsistent. Emissaries had fluttered off to Egypt (2Ki 17:3,4) and Assyrian (2Ki 15:29; cp Isa 8:6,7) seeking aid without realizing the danger that these nations posed (cp Hos 11:11). (Were birds used to carry diplomatic messages?) Finally, because Israel turned from Assyria to Egypt for help against Assyria, Assyria destroyed the Northern Kingdom.

Hos 7:13

THEY HAVE STRAYED FROM ME: Or “fled”, as KJV. The frantic, fluttering, flight of a frightened bird: v 11; Pro 27:8; Isa 16:2. Similar to sheep straying from their Shepherd.

I LONG TO REDEEM THEM: His desire was to redeem them from destruction, but that desire was abortive — because of their persistent indifference to His offers of help.

BUT THEY SPEAK LIES AGAINST ME: That is why they made foreign treaties: to defend themselves since they thought Yahweh would or could not. The God of the Exodus was unchanged in His will, but because of Israel’s lies there will be no “exodus” from the Assyrian danger.

Hos 7:14

BUT WAIL UPON THEIR BEDS: In cries of anguish, but not cries to Yahweh for help. When the people cried out, it was not in prayer to God but out of self-pity over their miserable condition. These tears did not impress Him.

THEY GATHER TOGETHER FOR GRAIN AND NEW WINE BUT TURN AWAY FROM ME: They assembled (or slashed themselves, as in NIV mg) to obtain food and drink from their idols. Crying out, wailing, and slashing oneself were all aspects of the Canaanite worship style that the Israelites adopted (cp 1Ki 18:28). They turned away from Yahweh, the only one who could provide their needs, like stubborn and rebellious children.

Hos 7:15

I TRAINED THEM AND STRENGTHENED THEM, BUT THEY PLOT EVIL AGAINST ME: It was Yahweh who had taught His people how to be strong. He had also made them strong militarily (cp idea, Eze 30:24,25), ie, during Jeroboam II’s reign (2Ki 14:25-28). Yet they had used what He had given them to sin against Him (cp Gen 50:20). They treated Him as their enemy. This was further evidence of their ingratitude.

Hos 7:16

THEY DO NOT TURN TO THE MOST HIGH; THEY ARE LIKE A FAULTY BOW: They had looked around to other nations for help, but they had not turned their hearts and eyes to heaven to seek the Lord’s help. They had become like a warped bow in Yahweh’s hands, which sent arrows at something other than the intended target. Rather than shooting His enemies, they shot their own leaders and slew them (eg, Zechariah, Shallum, Pekahiah, and Pekah).

THEIR INSOLENT WORDS: In the days of Jeroboam II the Israelites had also boasted insolently about not needing Yahweh to the Egyptians.

FOR THIS THEY WILL BE RIDICULED IN THE LAND OF EGYPT: But the Egyptians, their treaty partner on several occasions, would deride them for their weakness.

Hos 8:1

Hos 8: “The day of judgment thundered against the evil generation in the days of Hosea. The ecclesia had warped its responsibility, and were facing inevitable punishment because Yahweh is just, and will not forsake His holiness, even though the people did (vv 1-4). Apostasy must be dealt with, so that Yahweh is seen to be holy. The nation had allowed a compromise religion to occur: Jeroboam had set up calves at Bethel and Dan when he returned to Israel from Egypt (1Ki 12:28,29). This religion was supported by the government ultimately set up in Samaria. This probably reflected the Egyptian environment conveyed through Jeroboam (1Ki 11:40). The Egyptians worshipped the calf or ox by the name Apis at Memphis and Mnevis, at On (Heliopolis). There was thus an admixture of truth and error in the worship of the northern kingdom, as in 2Ki 17:33. To the spiritual influence of Egypt they consistently turned (Hos 8:13; 9:3,6). But there would unavoidably come the judgment of Yahweh against the brotherhood of Israel. Even the claim by the ecclesia that they upheld Yahweh’s honour (Hos 8:2) was answered by the divine statement that the people were hypocritical (v 3). Their religious devotions (v 13) were unacceptable to God, because there was no true response. It was merely a stage appearance. The final v of the ch says it all!” (GEM).

PUT THE TRUMPET TO YOUR LIPS: The blowing of the “shophar” announced that an invader was coming (cp Hos 5:8; Eze 33:6).

AN EAGLE IS OVER THE HOUSE OF THE LORD: Israel’s enemy would swoop down on the nation as an eagle attacking its prey (cf Deu 28:49; cf, more generally, Hos 5:14).

Hos 8:2

O MY GOD, WE ACKNOWLEDGE YOU: “Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ ” (Mat 7:22,23). The Israelites claimed that they acknowledged (knew) the authority of their God, but their transgressions and rebellion proved that they did not (Hos 4:1,6; 5:4). Also cp Isa 29:13; Jer 22:9; Luk 6:46.

Hos 8:3

BUT ISRAEL HAS REJECTED WHAT IS GOOD: Yahweh’s moral and ethical requirements.

AN ENEMY WILL PURSUE HIM: Cp Deu 28:45: God’s curses will pursue them and overtake them.

Hos 8:4

THEY SET UP KINGS WITHOUT MY CONSENT: No king of Israel, after the invasion, was ever anointed by God.

Hos 8:5

THROW OUT YOUR CALF-IDOL: “Thy calf hath cast thee off” (AV) is incorrect. Either Israel is being commanded, once again, to throw out the idol. Or, alternatively, it is Yahweh who has rejected the calf-idol that had come to mark Israelite worship since Jeroboam I first set up images of calves in Dan and Bethel (1Ki 12:28-30).

Hos 8:6

A CRAFTSMAN HAS MADE IT; IT IS NOT GOD: The simplest and most conclusive proof against any form of idolatry: the “god” has been made by man, not the other way around (Isa 40:18-20; 44:9-20)! When Jeroboam I originally presented these idols to the people of Israel, he said, “Behold your gods, O Israel” (1Ki 12:28; cp Exo 32:4).

IT WILL BE BROKEN IN PIECES: Thus demonstrating the impotence of the idols themselves.

Hos 8:7

THEY SOW THE WIND AND REAP THE WHIRLWIND: Israel had sown the wind, something foolish and worthless (cp Job 7:7; Prov 11:29; Ecc 1:14,17), namely idolatry. Sowing the “wind” of vanities (idols) will yield the “whirlwind” of Divine judgment! “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life” (Gal 6:7,8).

THE STALK HAS NO HEAD; IT WILL PRODUCE NO FLOUR: The “whirlwind” from God will destroy their crops.

WERE IT TO YIELD GRAIN, FOREIGNERS WOULD SWALLOW IT UP: And even if the “whirlwind” of God does not destroy all their crops, then alien marauders will take anything that is left.

Hos 8:8

ISRAEL IS SWALLOWED UP: The nation would be swallowed up, as when someone eats grain (v 7). Israel would become a part of the nations having gone into captivity, and thus having lost its own sovereignty and even its identity.

NOW SHE IS AMONG THE NATIONS LIKE A WORTHLESS THING: “A vessel wherein is no pleasure” (AV). Like an earthenware pot that no one wants because it is broken (cp Jer 22:28; 48:38; 2Ti 2:20).

Hos 8:9

FOR THEY HAVE GONE UP TO ASSYRIA: Ephraim, or Israel, had made treaties with Assyria to help protect her from her enemies (Hos 7:11), but the Assyrians would turn and devour Israel.

WILD DONKEY: Wild donkeys were notorious for their willfulness and vanity and lust, and for being difficult to control (Jer 2:24; Job 39:5-8).

EPHRAIM HAS SOLD HERSELF TO LOVERS: Ephraim was also like a harlot, but even worse in that she paid others to love her rather than receiving pay from them (cp Hos 2:5; Jer 2:23-25). This was a bitter experience for Yahweh — since He had promised to care for the nation because He loved her.

Hos 8:10

MIGHTY KING: Heb “melek sarim” = “king of princes”. Sig the king of the Assyrian Empire, the very king to whom the Israelites appealed for protection (cp Hos 10:6; Isa 10:8).

Hos 8:11

THOUGH EPHRAIM BUILT MANY ALTARS FOR SIN OFFERINGS, THESE HAVE BECOME ALTARS FOR SINNING: In rebellion against Yahweh’s covenant the Israelites had also built many altars. They built them to offer many sin offerings, but since God had not authorized these altars they became places for sinning rather than places for being forgiven.

Hos 8:12

I WROTE FOR THEM THE MANY THINGS OF MY LAW, BUT THEY REGARDED THEM AS SOMETHING ALIEN: The king should have written out a copy of the law and studied it daily (Deu 17:18); then he would have be able to teach the people faithfully. King Jeroboam is being reproved because of the way in which he dismissed those “great things” (AV) which the law contained.

Hos 8:13

THEY WILL RETURN TO EGYPT: He would send them back to Egypt where they used to live as slaves before He redeemed them in the Exodus (Hos 9:3). Perhaps many Israelites fled there, as a result of the Assyrian depredations. Others were carried captive to Assyria, which for all practical purposes was but another “Egypt” (Hos 11:5; Deu 28:68). Since they would not live “free” with their God, they would be sold into “slavery” to Sin (cp Rom 6)!

Hos 8:14

ISRAEL HAS FORGOTTEN HIS MAKER AND BUILT PALACES; JUDAS HAS FORTIFIED MANY TOWNS. BUT I WILL SEND FIRE UPON THEIR CITIES THAT WILL CONSUME THEIR FORTRESSES: Both Israel and Judah had forgotten that Yahweh had made her what she had become. Instead of continuing to trust and obey Him, the people had put their confidence in their own ability to provide for themselves. This attitude of self-reliance manifested itself in their building palaces and fortified cites as places of prominence and protection.

Palaces and fortified cites are not wrong in themselves, but in this context, set against remembering Yahweh, they were expressions of self-trust.

As judgment the Lord would burn down their palaces and fortified cities. He would remove the objects of their confidence and teach the people their personal inadequacy. Tiglath-Pileser III did this when he destroyed Samaria and the other Israelites cities, and Sennacherib did it when he attacked all the fortified cities of Judah (2Ki 17:6; 18:13).