Hosea Chapters 7-8 01/11/2026

Podcast

Welcome and Prayer: Jim Calhoun

Come Lord, join us here today
Together
We come
Our hearts full
And we offer
Our gratitude
Our thankfulness
Our praise
For all of it
Every joy
Every lament
All of it

We are ready to sing
Every smile and giggle
Every surprise
Every blessing
Every sweet memory
That have filled our days
For us
This is easy

Let us,
Cause us to also
sing our sorrows with you
Of our losses
Of our hearts being torn
Of lives broken before our eyes
About cruelty
And injustice
And destruction
We are seeing
Experiencing
Of lies being told
And repeated
And repeated
And repeated

And show us the way
Back to joy
And justice
And peace
And we will come along
And sing that song too
Amen

Morning Talk: chuck smith, jr

Imagine you’re walking through an art gallery, and standing nearby is the artist whose work you admiring. So you point to an object in one corner of an especially beautiful painting, and ask the artist, “Why did you put this right here? What does it mean?” The artist–if a true artist answers, “Well, if I could explain it, I would not have had to paint it.” You would get a similar answer from a poet, a composer, a sculpture, and most any other artist. “If I could explain it, I would not have had to write it, compose it, sculpt it.” Their work does not always begin with an idea, but oftentimes with an inspiration.

Intro: I’m not trying to avoid jumping into Hosea

However, I want to enter Hosea’s by way of Matthew’s gospel
“When [Jesus] saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd” (Mt. 9:36-37)
– this is a simple observation, the Lord saw something, and it made an impression on him
• but Matthew provides more than the bare details of the narrative.
◦ he includes a description of how the people looked to Jesus: “like sheep without a shepherd”
• we’re not supposed to read this literally
◦ Jesus was looking at people, not sheep,
◦ and they appeared to be leaderless, but they did not need a shepherd
– we refer to literary analogies like this as metaphors
• if we’re going to be technical, this instance is not a metaphor, but a simile
◦ that is, a comparison of an act or object to something unrelated using words “like” or “as”
(metaphors do not use those words)
◦ but since we’re not writing an essay, and I’m not going to be graded on this, I’ll use only the word metaphor
• there are two ways that I want to demonstrate how metaphors assist the reader:
◦ first, comparisons can add a different dimension of information that clarifies a statement
◦ second, metaphors appeal to emotion and generate feelings regarding literal statements
(That is what I like about this example of Jesus; seeing through his eyes we’re able to feel what he felt)

Hosea, chapters 7 and 8 are peppered with metaphors

Those will be our way points through these chapters
– we’ll see that most of them are introduced with “like a . . .”
• for instance, in 7:4 (the first of our metaphors) reads, “All of them are adulterers like a burning oven”
• let’s get started

When I would restore the fortunes of My people,
and I would heal Israel,
Ephraim’s crime is laid bare
and the evils of Samaria,
for they have acted in lies;
the thief comes within
and the gang raids outside.
And let them not say in their heart
that I have recalled all their evil.
Now their deeds have turned them around —
before My face they are.
In their evil they gladden the king,
and with their deceits, the nobles.
All of them are adulterers,
like a burning oven.
The baker ceases from stirring,
from kneading the dough till it rises.
On the day of our king
the nobles made him sick with poisoned wine.
He had set his hand with the scoffers.
For they drew near in their ambush,
their hearts like an oven.
All night their leader sleeps,
in the morning he burns like a tongue of flame.
They all grow hot like an oven,
and devour the judges
All of their kings have fallen,
none among them calls to Me Hosea 7:1-7

The phrase “restore the fortunes” occurs many times in Hebrew Scriptures
– it is the promise that God would bring Israel to the blessings they once enjoyed in a previous era of prosperity
(a promise of healing, repair, and renewal of their covenant relationship)
• if some of Israel’s people were held captive in foreign lands, “restore the fortunes” would mean their return to their own land
• if the nation had been looted by enemy invaders or devastated by crop failure, “restore the fortunes” would mean God replenishing Israel with new blessings
– by far, the majority of times this phrase appears is in the books of the prophets
• mostly Jeremiah and Ezekiel, though we also find it in Deuteronomy, Job, and the Psalms
• God is saying that he was prepared to do this again for Israel — and it was long overdue
◦ however, their spiritual and moral failure got in their way
◦ theirs was a society compromised by lies (e.g., “the deceits of the nobles”)
• and the corruption was internal as well as external
“the thief comes within
and the gang raids outside”
• and God had not even “recalled all their evil”
◦ we might hope that the nation’s rulers would put a stop to the lies and corruption
◦ but those sins “gladdened the king” and their deceits pleased his nobles
▫ that is, those who shared and enforced his rulership

This brings us to our first metaphor,
“all of them are adulterers
like a burning oven”
– heat is introduced here and becomes theme for several verses
• but the metaphor will have different applications
◦ here, the heat refers to sexual passion (like an “animal in heat”)
◦ next, it is their hearts that are “like an oven,” cooking up plots and conspiracies
◦ then their leader responds when he wakens in the morning, burning “like a tongue of flame”
• as this metaphor fades, we learn why we don’t play with fire
“All of their kings have fallen”
◦ this was the fate of every king in northern Israel
◦ and why had they fallen? We’re told, “none of them calls to Me”
– this completes the thought that began in verse 1
• God was ready to restore their fortunes
◦ but none of their leaders were seeking God or his help
◦ so the restoration had not occurred

In the next metaphor Israel appears as a half-baked nation
Ephraim among the nations —
it is he who mingles.
Ephraim is like a loaf
not turned over.
Strangers consume his strength,
but he did not know.
His hair turned suddenly gray,
but he did not know.
And Israel’s pride bore witness against it,
yet for all that they did not seek him. Hosea 7:8-13

“Ephraim” became the leading tribe of northern Israel
– here Ephraim represents the entire nation
• God set Israel apart from all the nations, but they mixed in with them
◦ they were compromised by their idolatry and pagan gods
• the next metaphor is,
“a loaf
not turned over”
◦ and refers to a flat bread, like pita, baked over coals
◦ if it isn’t turned, it bakes on one side and is raw on the other
– half-baked devotion to God is a divided loyalty
• Jesus’ lesson comes to mind, “No one can serve two masters”
◦ but what is really scary about this condition, is that,
◦ the nation was deteriorating, and no one noticed it!
“Strangers consumed his strength,
but he did not know.
His hair turned suddenly gray,
but he did not know
(Who doesn’t notice when their hair turns gray?!)
• do we get a clue as to why they were unable to see their demise?
◦ it was their “pride [that] bore witness against it”
◦ and they continued down this road because “they did not seek him”

Two more impressive metaphors
And Ephraim became like a
foolish senseless dove.
To Egypt they called,
to Assyria they went.
Where they go
I will spread my net upon them.
Like the fowl of the heavens I will bring them down.
I will bind them as their kinfolk listen.
Woe to them for they have wandered from Me.
Disaster for them, as they rebelled against Me!
Shall I redeem them
when they have spoken against Me lies?
And they did not cry out to Me from their heart,
but they wailed upon their couch,
over grain and new wine they gashed themselves,
they swerved away from Me.
I braced, I strengthened their arm,
but against Me they plotted evil.
They go back to what is worthless,
they are like a faulty bow.
Their nobles shall fall by the sword
because of their angry tongue,
which is their mockery in the land of Egypt Hosea 7:14-16

How was it that Ephraim was “a foolish senseless dove”?
– first it flitted off to Egypt, and then flew up to Assyria
• in other words, they lack a dove’s powerful homing instinct
◦ they can’t find their way back to their dove cote
◦ their true home was God and not in the other nations
“Woe to them for they have wandered from Me”
• what does God do about this silly dove, flying in circles?
“I will spread my net upon them”
◦ obviously, nets were used to snare birds
◦ then, with another metaphor,
“Like the fowl of the heavens I will bring them down”

And then:
Woe to them for they have wandered from Me.
Disaster for them, as they rebelled against Me!
– wandering away is one thing, rebellion is another thing altogether
• but wandering can easily evolve into rebellion
• implies they had indeed cried out to God, but not from their heart
(that is, not sincerely, not to prepared to surrender to him completely)
◦ I’m going to be blunt regarding how this appears relevant
◦ ninety percent of what I see posted in social media that is meant to represent scripture or the mind of God, is either wrong, offensive, or nonsense
– there are many people who assume they are Christians, doing God’s will
• but if you don’t even know God’s will, how can you possibly be doing it?

The last metaphor in the chapter, “they are like a faulty bow”
– with a warped or broken bow, you’re going to miss the target or possibly harm yourself

Chapter 8 begins with something like an air-raid siren
A ram’s horn to your lips!
—he is like an eagle against the LORD’s house.
For they have breached My covenant
and rebelled against My teaching.
To me they cry out —
“We know you, O God of Israel!”
They set up kings but not through Me,
installed nobles but without My knowledge.
From their silver and their gold
they made themselves idols,
that they might be cut off.
Your calf rejects you, Samaria,
My wrath against them flares.
How long will they fail to be clean?
And it—a craftsman made it,
and it is not a god.
For shards it shall become,
the calf of Samaria.
For they sow the wind
and harvest a storm.
Standing grain that has no sprouts,
it will not make flour.
If it should perhaps make some,
strangers will swallow it up.
Israel has been swallowed,
now they have become among the nations
like a vessel no one wants.
For they have gone up to Assyria,
a wild ass on its own is Ephraim,
they have made courtship’s plea.
Though they give gifts among the nations,
now will I gather them up,
and they will soon tremble
from the burden of kings and nobles.
For Ephraim made many altars
an offense they were for him,
altars to offend.
I wrote for him My many teachings —
like something strange they were viewed.
The sacrifices I gave they slaughtered,
it was flesh, and they ate.
The LORD did not accept them favorably.
Now will their crime be recalled,
and a reckoning made for their offense.
They shall go back to Egypt.
And Israel forgot his Maker
and he built palaces.
And Judah made many fortified towns,
but I set fire to his towns,
and it consumed his citadels Hosea 8

I think we’ve caught the rhythm of Hosea’s poetry,
– so we’ll move faster through this chapter
• the first metaphor, “like an eagle” appears here in contrast to the silly dove
• Israel attempted to defend themselves, “We know you, O God of Israel”
◦ but God immediate exposes the shallowness of that claim
“Israel rejects what is good”
◦ I think there is an equivalent of this error today, when people who think they’re Christians assume they can dispense with Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount
• another big problem is when nobles were installed without God’s knowledge;
◦ this doesn’t mean knowledge of God, but not adhering to the truth God had revealed
“I wrote for him My many teachings” (v. 12)
◦ they either rejected it or ignored it in making decisions and running the country
– God has an ultimate word regarding their idols:
“a craftsman made it,
and it is not a god”
• in my opinion, this could apply to a lot of religious products and productions

Let’s look at three more metaphors

the metaphor in verse 7:
“They sow to the wind
and harvest a storm”
– Paul filled out this metaphor a little more in Galatians: “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap” (Gal.6:7)
the metaphor in verse 8:
“now they’ve become among the nations
like a vessel no one wants”
– a misshapen pot, perhaps, or a jug that was leaky
– in context, this would be a prostitute with no clients
the metaphor in verse 9:
“a wild ass on its own is Ephraim”
Israel did not fit in anywhere in the world
Robert Alter, “The wild ass figures in biblical poetry as a creature that cannot be
tamed, living solitary in the wilderness.”

For me, the final verses in this chapter describe a sad and tragic situation
– people think that they’re worshiping God by performing religious rituals
• they pour themselves into it with out knowing God is rejecting it
• stoked up emotions in worship cannot replace daily service to God
◦ caring for the widow, the orphan, the poor, and the sojourner
– when all is said and done, Israel “shall go back to Egypt” (v. 13)
• a centuries-long journey only to end up where they began — a tragic waste

Conclusion: I’m going to suggest something – something “creative”

At the risk of sounding really lame, let’s try our hand at poetry
Find a moment to sit in stillness and reflect on your life
This is exactly what Israel failed to do – and it has often been one of our failures
Have you achieved your life’s work and so retire now?
Or does it seem like there’s still much that is missing or unfinished?
Create a metaphor to describes where you find yourself at this moment in life
It doesn’t have to be clever, beautiful, or awesome
It only has to be carefully thought-out, true, and sincere
Then make that metaphor your prayer for this week
And may God use this to take us further on this amazing journey