THE BOOK OF HOSEA
Part Two: Lesson 6
Chaptes 6-7
"For their own
good, God demanded of the Israelites not sacrifices and holocausts, but faith,
obedience, and righteousness. He revealed his will through the words of the
prophet Hosea: I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of
God rather than burnt offerings (Hos 6:6). The Lord gives further
advice, saying: And if you had known what this means, I desire mercy, and
not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the guiltless
(Mt 12:7); and thus, bears witness on behalf of the prophets, who preached the
truth, against all those who threw their ignorance in the faces of God's
servants."
St. Irenaeus, Adversus haerseses, 4, 17, 4
+ + +
Part Two: The Sins and Punishment of Israel (Hosea 4:1-14:9)
Chapters 6-7
Israel's Response and Yahweh's Reply
Hosea 6:1-11a ~ Failure of Repentance and Railed Relationships
1 Come, let us return to Yahweh. He has rent us, and
he will heal us; he has struck us, and he will bind up our wounds;
2 after two days, he will revive us; on the
third day, he will raise us up, and we shall live in his presence.
3 Let us know, let us strive to know Yahweh; that he will come is as certain as the
dawn. He will come to us like a shower, like the rain of springtime to the
earth. 4 What am I to do with you, Ephraim? What am I to do with
you, Judah? For your love is like morning mist, like the dew that quickly
disappears. 5 This is why I have hacked them to pieces by means of
the prophets, why I have killed them with words from my mouth, why my sentence
will blaze forth like the dawn "6 for faithful love [hesed] is what
pleases me, not sacrifice; knowledge of God, not burnt offerings.
7 But they have broken the covenant at Adam and betrayed me there.
In verses 1-7, led by their representatives, the Israelites respond to the call to return to God at the end of the last oracle (5:15). Having felt the force of God's wrath (verses 1-2), they announce that they are ready to repent and return to the obligations of Yahweh's covenant. Because they believe that God is merciful, they are convinced that He will "bind up their wounds, forgive them, and continue to bless them.
Returning, renting (tearing), and healing in verse 1 are all terms from the last judgment oracle in 5:13-15. Binding is from the reference to "wounds" in 5:13. The "let us return" is Israel's response to the declaration in 5:15 of Yahweh's own "return" to His place until the sinners acknowledge their betrayal and sincerely seek Him.
2 after two days he will revive us, on the third day, he
will raise us up, and we shall live in his presence.
The Church Fathers, like Tertullian (d 160 AD), read this
verse as a prophecy of Jesus's death, and after two days in the tomb, His resurrection
on "the third day," when His victory empowered all who believed in Him to "live
in his presence" forever. The New Testament refers to Jesus's rising from the
dead "on the third day according to the Scriptures," referring to the Old Testament
Scriptures (cf. 1 Cor 15:4) and to what Jesus said in His post-Resurrection
appearance in the Upper Room in Luke 24:46 (cf. CCC 627). Other scholars say it
only refers to a short period of time.
God responds to the people's continuing faithlessness in verses 4-6 with two questions. The rhetorical questions He asks in 6:4 are identical except for the change of address between Ephraim (Israel) and Judah. He charges them with fickleness, using the example of the fleeting morning mist to define the brief commitment of Ephraim and Judah to Yahweh and His covenant (cf. 13:3).
6 for faithful love [hesed] is what pleases me, not
sacrifice; knowledge of God, not burnt offerings.
The New
Jerusalem version always translates "hesed" as "faithful love." As in Hosea 2:21,
the Hebrew word hesed means love in the context of a covenant relationship,
whether it is covenant marriage (Gen 24:67) or in the reciprocal love between
Yahweh and His covenant people
(cf. Ps 17:7; 26:3; 33:22; etc.;
Jer 9:24; 16:5; 31:3; 32:18;
Hos 2:19; etc.).
7 But they have broken the covenant at Adam, there they
have betrayed me.*
*Verse 7 can also be translated, But they have broken the
covenant like Adam and have betrayed me. Since the sentence's
subject is unfaithfulness to the covenant with Yahweh, it seems to be the
better translation. God's covenants have a history extending back to Adam and
Eve in Eden and their faithlessness to His covenant that was as short-lived as "morning
mist" (verse 4). See the chart on Yahweh's Eight Covenants.
Jesus made two significant statements in Matthew 12:6-7. First, He said something "greater than the Temple is here," and then He quoted from the book of the prophet Hosea 6:6, saying if they understood what "I desire mercy, not sacrifice" meant, they would not have condemned His guiltless/innocent disciples. This is the second quote from Hosea 6:6 in Matthew's Gospel (see Mt 9:13). The quotation in Hosea that Jesus alluded to refers to God's desire for the genuine sacrifice of self-surrender, submission, and repentance in being reconciled with Him. Animal sacrifices symbolized the surrender to God of the life of the humble and repentant person making the offering (Lev 17:11). It was the spirit of the Law and not the letter of the Law that mattered (also see 1 Sam 15:22-23 and Ps 51:16-17).
Hosea 6:8-11 ~ An Indictment Against the Priests
8 Gilead is a city of evil-doers, full of
bloody footprints. 9 Like so many robbers in ambush, a gang of
priests commits murder on the road to Shechem "what infamous behavior! 10 At
Bethel I have seen a horrible thing; there Ephraim plays the whore, Israel is
befouled. 11 For you too, Judah, a harvest is in store ...
It isn't always easy to determine where the oracles in the Book of Hosea begin and end, but in 6:8-7:16, four oracles of denunciation can be identified. There are two general oracles against priests and leaders who have forsaken God in 6:8-11 and 7:13-16. And within them are two others denouncing court intrigue (7:1-7) and treaties with pagan nations (7:7-12). All four oracles address the failure to obey Yahweh's covenant with Israel in religious worship, politics, and prayer. Israel does not heed the commandments of her God!
The first oracle addresses the priests who are accused of being like a band of robbers committing murder (6:9). In Hebrew, Gilead (verse 8) means "pile of testimony." It is a mountainous region in Transjordan (east of the Jordan River). The region and the city of Gilead are named after Gilead, the son of Machir of the tribe of Manasseh (Num 26:29; 36:1; 2 Chron 2:21). However, this is the only place where Gilead is referred to as a "city" instead of a region. Sometimes the name Gilead was used for the town of Bethel in Scripture, which may be the case in this passage. No specific sin is mentioned, except general idolatry into which the priests led Israel.
Shechem, in central Israel at one end of a pass between Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal, is the first city in the Promised Land mentioned in the Bible (Gen 12:6). The mountain pass near Shechem became an important site of covenant renewal. God commanded Moses to renew the covenant there (Dt 11:29-32; 27:11-26). Joshua fulfilled that command after he led the Israelites into the land of Canaan (Josh 8:30-35). At the end of the conquest of Canaan, before Joshua's death, he gathered the elders of the Israelites at Shechem for Israel to formally recommit itself to the Lord and the demands of His covenant (Josh 24:1-28). In the allotment to the tribes, Shechem was in the territory of Ephraim (1 Chron 7:28) and was a city of refuge and a Levitical city (Josh 20:7; 21:21; 1 Chron 6:67).
Bethel is a town about 14 miles north of Jerusalem. Jacob named it "house/place of God" after receiving a heavenly vision and God's promise to renew the covenant with Abraham through him (Gen 28:10-19). Jacob consecrated it twice (Gen 28:18-22 and 35:6-15). The Patriarchs worshipped there, and after the conquest, the Tabernacle was located there for a time (Judg 20:26-27). It was assigned to the tribe of Ephraim. Negatively, it was the place where Jeroboam I established golden calf worship to supersede worship in Jerusalem for his people of the Northern Kingdom (1 Kng 12:28-33). At that time, it became "a city of evil-doers."
Hosea 6:11b-7:1-2 ~ Their Bad Deeds Encompass Them
11b when I restore my people's fortunes. 7:1 Whenever
I would heal Israel, I am confronted by the guilt of Ephraim and the
evil-doings of Samaria; for deceit is their principle of behavior; the thief
breaks into the house, marauders raid in the open; 2 and they never
pause to consider that I remember all their wicked deeds; and now their own
deeds hem them in and stare me in the face.
Samaria was the capital city of the Northern Kingdom of Israel: In the thirty-first year of Asa king of Judah, Omri became king of Israel and reigned for twelve years. He reigned for six years at Tirzah. Then, for two talents of silver, he bought the hill of Samaria from Shemer and built a town which he named Samaria after Shemer, who owned the hill (1 Kng 16:23-24, NJB). The study of the cross-linking of the dates for the various kings of the Northern Kingdom with the dating of the kings of Assyria, who mention a number of the kings of Israel in their inscriptions, has allowed archaeologists to establish that the date of the founding of the royal complex at Samaria occurred in about 800 BC. King Omri of Israel and his successors reigned from Samaria until the kingdom's destruction by the Assyrians in 721 BC. Then it became, in succession, the residence of the governors of the Assyrian, Neo-Babylonian, Persian, and Hellenistic provinces of Samaria.
Verse 11b is a positive promise of restoration. However, whenever God considers restoring and healing Israel, He remembers the people's guilt and their evil works, using the words Ephraim and Samaria for the people of the Northern Kingdom. The second oracle (7:1-7) condemns those responsible for the turmoil in the country. God identifies deceit as their "principle of behavior." They act like thieves and marauders with no conscience and never consider that God sees and remembers their "wicked deeds" that determine God's response to them.
The conclusion of verse 2 is chillingly somber. The people have not considered the consequences of their iniquity or that God remembers their wicked deeds. The connection between "remembering" and God's reaction to their evil deeds is a matter of act and consequence. Israel's wrongdoing is ever "before" God, who is prepared to act in judgment to oversee the reaping of consequences.
Historically the turmoil may refer to the events in 747 BC when Menahem assassinated King Shallum and took the throne, ruling from 747-737 BC. His son, Pekahiah, succeeded him (737-735 BC) but was murdered by Pekah, a captain in the army, who reigned as Israel's king from 735-732 BC (2 Kng 15:13-31).1
Hosea 7:3-7 ~ All Adulterers and Their Kings Have Fallen:
Conspiracy is the Order of the Day in Israel
3 They amuse the king with their wickedness and the chief
men with their lies. 4 They are all adulterers, hot as an oven which
the baker need not stoke from when he kneads the dough until it rises. 5 At
the holiday for our king, the ministers become inflamed with wine, while he
accepts the homage of people 6 who laugh at him. Their hearts are
like an oven as they plot, all night their passion slumbers, then in the morning,
it bursts into flame; 7 yes, all of them as hot as ovens, they
consume their rulers. All their kings have fallen; thus, not one of them has ever
called on me.
Through the prophet, God denounces the ruler's advisors as wicked men who lie and calls them "adulterers." Hosea's accusation against the adulterous idolaters uses a parable of bread-making. It suggests that the baker (the king) fails to watch the oven (the conspiring advisors/chief men), so he is responsible for the dough (the situation of the kingdom) becoming overheated. During all the turmoil, none of the kings of Israel appealed to Yahweh for guidance or protection.
The Northern
Kingdom is Swallowed up by Foreign Nations (7:8-9:9)
Ungrateful Israel Ruined by Relying on Foreign Powers (7:8-16)
Hosea 7:8-12 ~ Israel Faces Ruin by Relying on Foreign
Nations
8 Ephraim mixes with the nations. Ephraim
is a half-baked cake. 9 Foreigners have eaten his strength away, but
he is unconscious of it; even his hair is turning grey, but he is unconscious
of it. 10 (Israel's arrogance is his own accuser; but they do not come back to
Yahweh their God or seek him, despite all this.) 11 Ephraim is like
a silly, witless pigeon calling on Egypt, turning to Assyria. 12 Wherever
they turn, I shall spread my net over them, bring them down like the birds of
the sky, and punish them for their perversity.
The third oracle is a prophetic denunciation of the policy of making alliances with foreign nations. It recalls the oracle's warning in 5:1-15: political treaties with pagans were never without consequences. They always ended with Israel's religion being compromised and contaminated, and the people being drawn away from the proper practice of religion and damaging their covenant relationship with Israel's God.
In 7:8b, Hosea used another parable about baking; this time, it is a "half-baked cake." The hot oven bakes the underside of the cake, but because the baker (the king) fails to turn it, the cake is not entirely baked because the top remains uncooked. The point is that treaties with foreign nations like the Assyrians and Egyptians are without value because they are incapable of being an advantage to Israel and instead destroy Israel's strength. But in their arrogance, the people and their leaders refuse to turn back to Yahweh.
Next, Ephraim/Israel is compared to a silly, witless pigeon who seeks help from the Assyrians and Egyptians. However, God will not allow them to prosper under such conditions and will punish them for their perversity in seeking out forbidden alliances, like a hunter shoots down a bird in the sky (verse 12). What has happened to his people grieves Hosea. He sees the unfolding events that will lead to disaster but is powerless to prevent it.
Hosea 7:13-16 ~ The Ingratitude and Punishment of Israel
13 Woe to them for having fled from me!
Ruin seize them for having wronged me! I have rescued them repeatedly, and they
have only told lies about me. 14 Theirs is no heartfelt cry to me
when they lament on their beds; when they gash themselves over the grain and
new wine, they are still rebelling against me. 15 Though
I supported and gave strength to their arms, they plan how to hurt me. 16 They
turn to what does not exist, they are like a faulty bow. Their leaders will
fall by the sword because of their arrogant talk; how they will be laughed at
in Egypt!
In verse 13, Yahweh announces a "woe" judgment against the Northern Kingdom for having abused His covenant with them, even though He had rescued them numerous times throughout their history. Their arrogance has reached the point that they refuse to repent and continue to rebel. Therefore, God will allow the "ruin" of their own making to "seize them."
15 Though I supported and gave strength to
their arms, they plan how to hurt me.
Hosea reminds his readers how God protected His covenant
people in the past from foreign nations. He writes that the people's
unfaithfulness and abandonment of their loving divine husband have caused
Yahweh emotional distress like Gomer caused Hosea emotional suffering.
16 They turn to what does not exist, they
are like a faulty bow. Their leaders will fall by the sword because of their
arrogant talk; how they will be laughed at in Egypt!
In verses 13-16, the last oracle provides an overview of
what happened in Israel's history when the people repeatedly acted without
considering their covenant with Yahweh. Adulterous Israel's false lovers, the
Assyrians, and Egyptians, whom they counted on to protect them, will abandon
them (Egypt) and turn against them (Assyria) to laugh at their distress.
Bows and arrows, and swords were the principal weapons in times of war. However, a faulty or broken bow would give a false sense of security but could not offer any meaningful defense. The Israelites no longer have Yahweh's protection, and their weapons are useless against their stronger enemies. Their arrogant leaders who rejected God's call to repentance and believed they could secure the nation's future will die in battle, and their deaths become a source of glee for their former Egyptian allies.
Questions for discussion or reflection:
There is a saying that those who do not learn from the
past are doomed to repeat the same mistakes.
Question: Are there lessons for the New Covenant people in remembering the history of the Northern Kingdom and how arrogance in denying the need for Yahweh's protection and guidance led to disaster? Are we personally or collectively as a people behaving as badly as the covenant people of the Northern Kingdom in Hosea's day?
Question: Are we making alliances with the secular world's values and tolerating or even adopting practices contrary to the life God wills for us?
Question: Are we failing to see God's hand in the events in our lives, our nation, and the world?
Endnote:
1. 2 Kings 15:13-31 covers the same events described by Hosea in 7:7.
Catechism references (* indicates Scripture is either
quoted or paraphrased in the citation):
Hosea 6:1-6 (CCC 2787*);
6:2 (CCC 627*);
6:6 (CCC 589*, 2100*)
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