Hosea 11-12 (01/25/2026)

Podcast

Welcome and prayer: Jim Calhoun

Come Lord, join us here today
If the proof is in the pudding
Then the pudding for us
Is how we treat other people.
We can claim you love us
And set us free
And made us whole
And we can claim we love You
With all we are
It is easy.
And the words can be
Dead empty

Help us to love those
Near to us
Giving up
Our desire to be right
Or one up
Instead treating them with tenderness
Patience
Gentleness
Kindness
Bearing their burdens
Lightening their loads
Standing with them
Standing up for them
Sharing their joys
and fears

And let us
Do good for all people
Defending the vulnerable
Feeding the hungry
Welcoming the stranger
granting hospitality
Sacrificing for others
No longer standing in the way
But letting justice roll down
Because we really do love you
And honor your love
And your sacrifice
For us
Amen

Morning Talk: chuck smith, jr.

Intro: Friday morning, near the end of a long walk,

I passed by a mother and her toddler son
– he was on a small four-wheel bike, perfectly fitted to him
• he was poised to move from asphalt to a dirt slope
◦ I said, “Looks like you’re about to go off-roading,”
◦ more for his mom’s sake than his
• he looked at me with the most engaging smile
◦ it was the loveliest moment of my morning
– I kept walking, but he didn’t take his eyes off of me
• he turned his head as I passed,
◦ so I had to walk backwards to hold his gaze
◦ his mom was quiet, but enjoying her son’s response
• if cherubs were small, toddler-looking angels,
◦ he could have been a model for the prototype

My mind kept returning to him as I prepared for this morning
– that’s because we have come to an unexpected twist
• God drops the unfaithful wife theme and shifts to a paternal analogy
• there is a gripping message here of God’s intense love
◦ only now it is not for his wife, but for his son
– chapters 11 and 12 paint a picture of God as parent and Israel as child
• the focus of chapter 11 is on the parent – God
◦ the focus of chapter 12 is on the child; who is both:
◦ Jacob the man and Israel the nation–moving back and forth from one to other
• and as we read these chapters, we wonder, how God could love these people as deeply as he does

God opens his heart in a rare display of vulnerable love
For Israel was a lad and I loved him,
and from Egypt I called to My son.
They called to them,
yet they went off from them.
To the Baalim they sacrificed,
and to the idols they burned incense.
Yet I taught Ephraim to walk,
took him by his arms,
but they did not know that I had healed them.
With human cords I tugged them,
with bonds of love,
and I became to them
like those who lift an infant to their cheeks,
and I bent over them and fed them Hosea 11:1-4

In chapter 12, God will explain that he communicated with Israel though his prophets
“[with] many visions [and] showed forth images”
– we also see that much of the prophetic word was cast in the form of poetry,
• which is the expressive language of the human soul
◦ poetry is meant to speak to our experience, move our emotions, and inform our thoughts
• here, at beginning of chapter 11, Israel is a lad, God’s son
◦ and God’s comment regarding him goes right to my heart, “and I loved him”
◦ this is a love poem to from God to his people
– he called his son out from Egypt
• the “they” in verse 2 probably refers to God’s agents who called to his people
◦ e.g., Moses, Aaron, and the prophets
• but after leaving Egypt, Israel went off from them,
◦ making sacrifices and offering incense to the Baal gods (Canaanite deities)

Yet I taught Ephraim to walk
– this is a big moment for every parent – their baby’s first step
• one that mom and dad enjoy sharing together
◦ those wobbly steps take clumsy steps forward, as their brain creates new neural pathways
• and in this particular instance, we watch God as he’s bending over his toddlers,
◦ holding onto their arms to steady them
◦ sharing his children’s joy as they develop this new skill
“but they did not know that I had healed them”
– I imagine God thumbing through his photo album
• we begin to see a pattern: God acts in love for Israel, but they fail to reciprocate
• of course, teenagers don’t remember learning to walk
◦ they hardly understand how much attention they received when very small

“I became like those who lift an infant to their cheeks”
– it is not just that an infant’s cheeks are smooth and soft,
• but the skin of a parent’s cheek is more sensitive than their calloused hands
◦ this physical touch communicates love and connection
• then the human cords and bonds of love become critical factors in the child’s care
◦ the psychology of attachment formation has taught us,
◦ how our ability to form healthy relationships later on,
depends on these interactions between child and care giver

Again, the pattern of this chapter, as God loves and the child pulls away
No! He turned back to the land of Egypt,
and Assyria was his king,
for they refused to come back to Me.
And the sword shall swoop down on his towns
and destroy his limbs
and devour because of their counsels.
And My people cling to rebellion against Me.
When they call him on high,
he does not rise up Hosea 11:5-7

To me, this looks like adolescent rebellion,
– when our children don’t feel they need or want our help
• what they go through may be a normal phase of maturing
• but it’s a phase that if not carefully approached, in wisdom and love, can become a way of life,
in which they habituate a fixed attitude of fighting and rebelling

If we don’t read this next passage well, we are like to get wrong ideas|
How can I give you over, Ephraim
surrender you, Israel?
How can I make you like Admah,
set you like Zeboiim?
My heart churns within me,
My compassion altogether is stirred.
I will not act in My blazing wrath,
I will no more destroy Ephraim.
For I am God and not a man,
the Holy One in your midst,
and I do not desire to root out.
After the LORD they shall go,
like a lion He shall roar.
When he roars,
the sons shall hasten from the west.
They shall hasten like a bird from Egypt,
like a dove from Assyria’s land
and I will settle them in their homes, said the LORD Hosea 11:8-11

The Bible is not at all embarrassed by representing God as human
– he is clearly not human, but infinitely more and “other than” human
• but if his true nature is transcendent, and beyond our experiencing, or knowing, or understanding,
◦ how can we say anything about him?
◦ our human words and concepts will always be inadequate, and if inadequate, then wrong
• God presents himself to us with ideas, pictures, analogies, metaphors, parables, and so on
◦ the human aspect of these stories are meaningful to us, because they fit in our world
◦ so God’s self-revelation is generally:
anthropomorphic: as having a human form
anthropopathic: as having human feelings and emotions
– this is how God reveals himself to us in these verses, and it is overwhelming

God reveals himself as torn up by an intense inner turmoil
– he knows, if he can create in us a feeling of total frustration,
• then we’ll understand something about his experience with Israel
“How can I give you over? How can I surrender you?”
• he can’t bring himself to let go of his people or see them destroy themselves
◦ his love for them won’t allow him to give up on them
◦ Admah and Zeboiim were two cities that were destroyed along with Sodom and Gomorrah
“My heart churns within me,” God says
◦ we might say, “My stomach is in a knot”
This is a frustration so great that it is felt in the deepest regions of the body
– then God comes to a decision, “I will not act in My blazing wrath”
• how can he do this? How can he suspend judgment?
• he is able to come to this decision on the basis of who he is
“For I am God and not a man” – God always has the ultimate and final say
◦ he leans on his own authority to determine how he will respond to Israel

What God is saying in verses 10-11, is that when the lion roars, it is call its cubs to come running. This reminds me of the way Dad would signal my brother to rush home. He could whistle so loudly three specific notes, that we could hear him from several blocks away and would immediately race home. Both Isaiah and Zechariah make reference to God’s whistle:
“He will raise a signal for nations far away,
and whistle for them from the ends of the earth;
and behold, quickly, speedily they come!” (Isa. 5:26)
“I will whistle for them and gather them in,
for I have redeemed them,
and they shall be as many as they were before” (Zech. 10:8)

Chapter 12 offers us a different way to review Israel’s history

It is biography of Jacob–wrestling: with Esau in womb; with Laban; and with God
– in his third contest, God renamed him Israel
• the biography splices together Jacob and nation of Israel,
◦ moving from one to the other and back again

“Ephraim encircled Me in denial,
and the house of Israel in deceit.
But Judah still stays with God
and with the holy ones is faithful.
Ephraim herds the wind
and chases the east wind all day.
Lies and plunder he multiplies
and seals a pact with Assyria,
oil to Egypt is brought” Hosea 12:1-2)

This is a brief introduction to the chapter
– the two halves of the nation went different ways–Israel to the north while Judah remained in the south
“Ephraim herds the wind” is a way of saying they will come to nothing but futility and emptiness (v. 12)

From their births on, Jacob was a “cheat”
“And the LORD has a cause against Judah
to make a reckoning with Jacob for his acts,
by his deeds He shall pay him back.
In the womb he cheated his brother,
and with his power he strove with God.
He strove with the Messenger and prevailed—
he wept and pleaded with him.
At Bethel he did find him,
‘And there he spoke with us’” Hosea 12:3-5

– Bethel is prominent in Jacob’s story for two reasons:
• first, he rested there on his way to Laban and again returning home twenty years later
• second, God appeared to him and spoke to him both times

God had a destiny for Jacob other than what he engineered
“And the LORD God of Armies,
the LORD is what He is called.
As for you, to your God you shall turn back,
faithfulness and justice keep,
and hope for your God always” Hosea 12:6-7

“the LORD God of Armies” is a title for God found many times in the Psalms and Prophets

A one word description of Israel
“A huckster in whose hand are cheating scales
loving to exploit!
And Ephraim said,
“’Why I have grown rich,
found power for myself.
All my gains do not expose for me
a crime that is an offense’” Hosea 12:8-9

The Hebrew word translated “huckster” (or merchant) is the name of the land of Canaan
– situated along three important trade routs, Canaan was naturally a land of merchants
• God named his people “Israel,” but they became Canaan
• and Jacob, likewise, was a clever and unscrupulous trader
– previously we’ve seen how materialism has become a deity that competes with God for our hearts
• what is sad about Ephraim, is the justification they used to exploit others to expand their riches
“All my gains do not expose for me
a crime that is an offense”
• if we’re making lots of money, we need to ask ourselves, “Who is benefitting and who is burdened?”
◦ lots of people (even some ministers) assume their material success proves that they’re pleasing God
◦ a believer may think, “I happen to be good at what I do,”
while God observes them and says, “Huckster”

God was determined to bring Israel to their appointed destiny

“But I am the LORD your God
from the time of the land of Egypt
Once more will I settle you in tents
as on the festival days.
And I spoke to the prophets,
and I framed many visions
and through the prophets showed forth images.
If Gilead does wrong,
they become an empty thing.
At Gilgal they offered bulls.
Their altars, too, are like heaps of ruins
in furrows of the field.
And Jacob fled to the field of Aram,
and Israel labored for a woman,
(referring to Jacob serving Laban for seven years in exchange for his daughter, Rachel, to be his wife)
and for a woman he guarded the flocks.
But by a prophet the LORD brought up Israel from Egypt,
and by a prophet it was guarded” Hosea 12:10-14

Whereas they boasted their wealth, God was going to again settle them in tents
– at the end of the chapter, Jacob is contrasted to Moses
Robert Alter, “There is an antithesis here: Jacob labored for a woman, but it was by Moses that God rescued the Hebrews from slavery. . . . . The guarding of the people by a prophet is a nobler thing than the guarding of flocks by Jacob.”

Conclusion: Of course, Hosea can’t leave us on an up note!
“Ephraim was bitterly vexing,
and his bloodguilt shall be set upon him,
and his Master shall pay him back for his shame” Hosea 12:15

But then again, we do have to make a decision regarding God’s faithful love
Will I make my home in the world’s iniquity or God’s intimacy?

My first real encounter with Hosea (and it was life-changing)
occurred when reading a devotional book by the Reverend G. Campbell Morgan:
Hosea: The Heart and Holiness of God
Morgan explains that the right thing to do with Israel, would be to abandon them,
to leave them to the destructive consequences of their sins
God knew what they deserved, but something was holding him back
G. Campbell Morgan, “It was not something in Israel, but something in God.”
The same thing is true of all of us
“As God is my witness, I cannot see it when I look at myself. That is the amazing thing. Because of what God is, He sees me, and sees my possibility….”
He sees our possibility, because he placed it there within us
And through the wrenching ordeal his love for us caused him,
he will preserve, promote and perfect that possibility
until it is the shining characteristic of our life in him