Hosea 7 - Bible Study, Explanation, and Application

Hosea 7 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.  

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 SILLY DOVES OF ISRAEL (7:1-16):

  • God wanted to heal Israel, but every time He looked at them, He saw their evil deeds and corrupt dealings.

  • God remembered everything, even when the Israelites thought their sins were hidden or forgotten.

  • The kings and princes of Israel found joy in the wickedness and didn’t condemn it.

  • God called Israel a nation of adulterers. He said they were like an oven whose “baker ceases to stir the fire, from the kneading of the dough until it is leavened” (7:4).

  • The next several verses present Israel as a burning oven, hot and ready at any moment to do evil. They burned in the heat of their passion to sin, like a baker’s oven (7:4, 7), with the heat of wine (7:5), with smoldering anger (7:6).

  • God said Ephraim (Israel) was like a cake not turned, a cake of bread that the baker forgot to flip, burnt on one side and doughy on the other, good for nothing.

  • Their nation was decaying, but they were too proud to see it and return to God.

  • Like a silly dove, they ran to Egypt and Assyria trying to make alliances to save their nation, not realizing no one could save them from the anger of God.

  • God said He would catch them in His net and destroy them.

  • Israel had betrayed the Lord. He raised them and made them strong, then they turned against Him.

APPLICATION:

• If you’ve run into trouble in your life, and you haven’t been living faithfully to God, you may never find a solution to your trouble, no matter how much you scheme, plot, plan, strategize, and take action to resolve that trouble, because it may be the Lord who is fighting against you.

• Israel tried to get help from Assyria and Egypt, no doubt they made other efforts to change their circumstances, but God was determined to see them pulled down.

• God would have healed them, He would have redeemed them (7:1, 13), but they wouldn’t submit to Him.

• So, if you’ve found yourself in trouble after having lived distant from God, fix your relationship with God before you attempt to plot your way out of trouble without Him.