Hosea 13 - Bible Study, Explanation, and Application
Hosea 13 Bible Study
HOSEA CHAPTER REVIEW:
Hosea 1 – God told Hosea to marry a wife of whoredom as a picture of Israel’s unfaithfulness to Him. Hosea married Gomer, and together they had 3 children together. Their names were “Jezreel,” “No Mercy,” and “Not My People.” Though Israel had acted very wickedly, God promised them hope for a positive future, but judgement was coming first.
Hosea 2 – Hosea’s wife returned to her sins and committed adultery, just as Israel had turned its back on God repeatedly. God warned Israel to repent or suffer severe consequences. Israel didn’t realize all of its blessings came from God and God could take them all away. God would punish Israel, but Hosea foretold a day when God would restore His wife (Israel) to Himself by grace.
Hosea 3 – God told Hosea to buy his wife back after she was unfaithful to him. This was a picture of God’s grace to Israel after their unfaithfulness. Israel’s immediate future was going to be spend enduring the consequences of their sins, but God promised He would show them grace in the “latter days” when they were reunited under “David their king.”
Hosea 4 – Hosea described the sorry sinful state of the people of Israel. They were decaying as a nation because they lacked knowledge of the law of God. The priests were piranhas that fed on the sins of the people. Hosea described their unfaithfulness to God as whoredom and adultery.
Hosea 5 – This chapter continues listing the sins of the people of Israel and includes the unfortunate prophecy that Judah would fall into the same sins. God was tearing down the power of Israel and Judah little by little. He would eventually pour out His wrath on them and withdraw from them for a time, leading them to repentance.
Hosea 6 – God was frustrated with the sacrifices of the people. Though they made sacrifices, they made them without truly loving God in their hearts. It was just an empty ritual, and God informed them of its meaninglessness. Judah and Israel’s love for God was like the morning dew. It would reappear for a short time only to quickly vanish away.
Hosea 7 – Israel looked to Egypt and Assyria for help, but no ally, no matter how strong, could save them because God was their enemy. God compared them to “silly doves” that He would catch in His net and destroy. God didn’t want that to be Israel’s fate, He wanted to redeem them, but they refused to repent of their rebellion against Him.
Hosea 8 – Israel forgot the God the Maker and put their trust in things they made (kingdoms, fortifications, idols, etc.). God was going to give them over to the consequences of their choices. He described Assyria as a vulture, flying overhead and waiting for its prey.
Hosea 9 – God had a bad taste in His mouth when it came to the nation of Israel. It hadn’t always been that way, in fact God had once looked at Israel the way a wanderer in the wilderness looks at a ripe cluster of grapes. But because of their sins, God was going to strip the people and their children of their national identity.
Hosea 10 – Israel was a flourishing vine that God cultivated, but the more God blessed them, the more they multiplied their idols. They sowed sin into their fields and would harvest poison. Hosea encouraged them to break up their fallow ground and sow works of righteousness.
Hosea 11 – God pictured Israel as a child He raised. He taught them to walk, cared for them when they were sick, and helped them grow strong. But Israel turned their back on God. In the second half of the chapter, God described His affection for Israel and pointed towards a day when some of His people would return to Him.
Hosea 12 – God encouraged Judah to be like their father Jacob in his faith. God’s people were always blessed when they devoted themselves to Him, when they had faith like Jacob and listened to God’s prophets, like Moses. It was therefore perplexing why they put their faith in idols and ignored the true prophets.
TIMELINE:
The first verse of the book informs the reader that Hosea lived during the reigns of Uzziah (Azariah), Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah in Judah, and the reign of Jeroboam II in Israel.
Uzziah’s (Azariah’s) reign began around 815 B.C.
Hezekiah’s reign ended sometimes around 695 B.C.
Jeroboam II reigned ended in the mid-700s B.C.
This puts Hosea’s prophetic work squarely in the 700s B.C. The text indicates he did most of his teaching prior to 721 B.C. That was the year God punished Israel by bringing the Assyrians against them and exiling them from the Promised Land.
OUTLINE:
THE LION, THE LEOPARD, AND THE BEAR (13:1-16):
Ephraim was once respected, but they threw away their honor when they gave themselves to the worship of inanimate objects, Baals, and other false gods.
The spent their time crafting idols from silver, kissing the calf idols, and sacrificing children to their abominations.
Because of these shameful actions, God was going to cause them to vanish from the land, like mist in the morning or smoke out a window.
God was the One who saved them from Egypt, they had no savior but Him.
But at this point, God was not coming to them as a savior but as fierce and dangerous beast.
Israel ignored the danger of God’s wrath, like fat animals that had grazed in a field too long without worrying about predators, Israel lived without fear of God.
But God was lurking like a leopard (13:7). He said, “I will fall upon them like a bear robbed of her cubs; I will tear open their breast and there I will devour them like a lion, as a wild beast would rip them open (13:8).
God asked Israel, “Where now is your king, to save you in all your cities? Where are all your rulers – those of whom you said, “Give me a king and princes?” I gave you a king in My anger, and I took Him away in My wrath” (13:10-11).
Israel’s choice, made hundreds of years earlier, to reject God as their king and appoint a human king (1 Sam 8), had come back to haunt them. Now they needed God, but they had discarded Him.
God called them foolish babies, like a babies who refused to move into position when their mother started labor contractions. They refused to be delivered, even though the opportunity was presented to them. Israel had many chances to accept God’s mercy, but they refused to be delivered from the consequences of their persistent sins.
Verse 14, is a remarkable exception to the theme of the rest of the chapter. As is often the case in the prophets, a moment of God’s mercy can be seen through the gloom of God’s disappointment. In verse 14, there is an interjection of grace.
God said, “I shall ransom them from the power of Sheol; I shall redeem them from Death. O Death, where are your plagues? O Sheol, where is your sting?” (13:14).
God had a day of deliverance for Israel, and though it was a day in the distant future, it would be a day of reversal for their fortunes. God would redeem Israel from death, and the power of death would be overcome (Paul used extremely similar language in 1 Corinthians 15:55 when talking about how Jesus defeated death for Israel and all nations).
After this moment of mercy, the chapter concludes with a return to God’s anger and Israel’s punishment.
God was going to make Israel into a desert, stripped of life and prosperity. Samaria, Israel’s capital, would pay the price for its rebellion against the Lord.
APPLICATION:
Are you a fat and proud animal who has been grazing in the field without fearing the danger of ignoring the Lord?
You may have forgotten about Him, but you can be sure He is nearby watching you.
As we discussed previously in Hosea, God wants to be your friend, it brings Him joy to be your Savior, but those who disrespect Him and ignore Him should fear Him as a predator.
