Hosea 7: 1 – 16
Messed up pancakes
1 “When I would have healed Israel, then the iniquity of Ephraim was uncovered, and the wickedness of Samaria. For they have committed fraud; A thief comes in; A band of robbers takes spoil outside. 2 They do not consider in their hearts that I remember all their wickedness; Now their own deeds have surrounded them; They are before My face. 3 They make a king glad with their wickedness, and princes with their lies. 4 “They are all adulterers. Like an oven heated by a baker—he ceases stirring the fire after kneading the dough, until it is leavened. 5 In the day of our king Princes have made him sick, inflamed with wine; He stretched out his hand with scoffers. 6 They prepare their heart like an oven, while they lie in wait; Their baker sleeps all night; In the morning it burns like a flaming fire. 7 They are all hot, like an oven, and have devoured their judges; All their kings have fallen. None among them calls upon Me. 8 “Ephraim has mixed himself among the peoples; Ephraim is a cake unturned. 9 Aliens have devoured his strength, but he does not know it; Yes, gray hairs are here and there on him, yet he does not know it. 10 And the pride of Israel testifies to his face, but they do not return to the LORD their God, nor seek Him for all this. 11 “Ephraim also is like a silly dove, without sense—they call to Egypt, they go to Assyria. 12 Wherever they go, I will spread My net on them; I will bring them down like birds of the air; I will chastise them according to what their congregation has heard. 13 “Woe to them, for they have fled from Me! Destruction to them, because they have transgressed against Me! Though I redeemed them, yet they have spoken lies against Me. 14 They did not cry out to Me with their heart when they wailed upon their beds. “They assemble together for grain and new wine, they rebel against Me; 15 Though I disciplined and strengthened their arms, yet they devise evil against Me; 16 They return, but not to the Most High; They are like a treacherous bow. Their princes shall fall by the sword for the cursings of their tongue. This shall be their derision in the land of Egypt.
I always have enjoyed eating and watching people prepare and cook or bake some food. There is a gifted man here who was the chief chef at an 5 star restaurant. He got bored, frustrated, and tired running the restaurant, so he purchased a little house in town and converted it to teach and cook for only a small group of people.
He had all the modern appliances in place and he arranged a seating arrangement around his preparation table. My wife and daughter and I were invited by my neighbor to attend a night at this facility in honor of his wife’s birthday.
The way it worked was that the chef had pre-cooked and pre-pared all the food for his patrons. He would describe each meal preparation from scratch from appetizer to desert and then have a couple of his employees then serve us the pre-prepared and food.
Being encourage from my experience of watching the chef put together such an awesome meal I purchased a shake and pour pancakes and waffles mixes. I didn’t do very well in my entrance at food preparation. I either burnt or failed to fully cook the pancakes. To accomplish my objective, I went and bought pre-cooked pancakes in the frozen food aisle at my grocery store and heated them up in a microwave.
Today’s chapter in the book of Hosea a verse stood out and got me thinking of my cooking failures. I was intrigued by Hosea 7:8: "Ephraim has mixed himself among the peoples; Ephraim is a cake unturned." How did all this have to do with pancakes?
Our Holy Father God had commanded his people not to adopt the abominable and idolatrous practices of the nations around them. They were not to intermarry with people who did not fear the LORD or keep His Word. Because Israel had been disobedient to this command and had been integrated among the heathen nations, God compared them to a "cake unturned." What they called cakes we would likely call flatbread. This might seem like a silly or even ridiculous analogy. But when I took a moment to meditate upon the passage, how true it is!
Unlike today where most baking is done in electric or gas ovens, in Bible times people commonly cooked over a fire. Those who bake know temperature control in an oven is very important. Too low a temperature leads to rubbery cakes that do not rise properly, and too hot scorches the top which conceals a raw center. Can you imagine trying to cook a cake over a fire without turning it over? The bottom would burn black and stick to the pan, while the top would be raw and runny. If you chipped out this cake and threw it to the dogs they would likely just sniff at it and walk away! A cake unturned is a useless waste of good ingredients. All the potential for a wholesome, delicious cake was there. Neglect in baking properly led to a total culinary disaster.
The tribe of Ephraim were part of God's chosen people, the children of Israel. Ephraim and Manasseh were a unique couple of "half-tribes," because they were descendants of Joseph, son of Israel. After Joseph was raised as a ruler in Egypt, he had Ephraim and Manasseh. Before his death, Israel (originally known as Jacob) adopted Joseph's two sons as his own and gave them an inheritance in place of Joseph among his other eleven sons. In a similar way, Gentiles (non-Jews) have been grafted into the family of God through the New Covenant in Christ's blood. If we confess our sins, repent, and trust in Jesus Christ as LORD and Saviors who was sent by God to seek and save the lost, we are accepted into the beloved as pointed out to us in the book of Ephesians 1:6. By grace through faith, we are regenerated by the Holy Spirit (born again), and He takes up residence within us. The power which raised Christ from the dead now lives in every believer, guiding, empowering, and teaching us in all things according to God's will.
By grace, God has given every Christian all that pertains to life and godliness. Instead of the filth of sin, we have been cleansed and filled with the goodness and glory of God. Every Christian has the potential to be fruitful and profitable for God's glory. We are like a cake mixed of the finest ingredients by a Master Chef, and God has appointed us to be responsible for how we are baked. If we choose to adopt the wisdom of the world, become unequally yoked with unbelievers, love the world, and make fleshly lusts our pursuit, we are like a cake unturned. Our usefulness becomes stunted. Instead of a sweet, spongy cake with a delicate scent, a cake unturned begins to smoke and causes God to wrinkle His nose in disgust. Our lives can be an invitation to know Jesus Christ which is attractive. But no one wants an unturned cake burned over a fire.
I am not my own because I have been bought with the blood of Jesus Christ. In my flesh dwells no good thing, but all the good "ingredients" of my life I have been freely given by God for God's glory. Let us be careful that we do not adopt the practices and philosophy of the world. We must be careful that we do not integrate sinful practices into our households and lives. We are not just to avoid evil, but to live righteously. Titus 2:11-14 reminds us: "For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, 12 teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, 13 looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works." Instead of mixing with the world, let us remain pure and set apart for God!
Let us now take a closer look at today’s Scripture.
1 “When I would have healed Israel, then the iniquity of Ephraim was uncovered, and the wickedness of Samaria. For they have committed fraud; A thief comes in; A band of robbers takes spoil outside.
Having given his warning message to Judah Hosea immediately turns back to Israel, citing the words of YHWH. He does not want to divert attention from what He is saying to Israel/Ephraim. The word rendered ‘captivity’ indicates that YHWH was describing the distressed state into which Israel had fallen from which He wished to restore them. Hosea’s attempt fails because in seeking to attempt it He somehow ‘uncovers the iniquity of Ephraim’, and ‘the wickedness of Samaria’. His attempts may have taken place through men who were taking part in negotiations with Assyria, during which the disloyalty of Israel was revealed. In mind may be attempts to deal with Assyria and leave the parts of Israel which had been captured in their hands as part of the price of relative freedom. In YHWH’s eyes this would have been treasonous indeed (6.7).
His investigation’ has turned up that the leaders were committing falsehood, there were a multiplicity of thieves breaking into other people’s properties, and the roads were unfit to travel because of lurking bandits. Israel and Samaria are now therefore revealed as a hotbed of lawlessness. Justice is almost non-existent. This was the consequence of having lawless kings who were simply adventurers.
2 They do not consider in their hearts that I remember all their wickedness; Now their own deeds have surrounded them; They are before My face.
Worst of all was the fact that the people were blind to their sins. They did not even consider in their hearts the possibility that YHWH knew about and remembered their wickedness. Rather they went on doing evil things and breaking the covenant to such an extent that their own doings crowded round them and beset them, and all this openly in the face of YHWH.
As we have already talked about Hosea now likens the people of Israel in their sins to a burning baker’s oven which is overheated. They are hot after adultery, they are hot after injustice. And their kings and princes go along with them. Finally they are hot after their kings. But none of them call on YHWH.
3 They make a king glad with their wickedness, and princes with their lies.
We might cite here ‘like people, like king’. For as the people carry on in the ways of sinfulness and apostasy, and especially in whoredom after the Baalim, their kings are delighted with them, and their princes delight in their false behavior. They are all one together in their rejection of the true covenant of YHWH. The princes may include the leaders of the ‘ten tribes’ (Numbers 1.16) and the king’s advisers and generals.
4 “They are all adulterers. Like an oven heated by a baker—he ceases stirring the fire after kneading the dough, until it is leavened.
They are in fact all spiritual adulterers, hot after false gods. And they are so hot and overheated after sin that the baker can, as it were, cease to stir the flames from the time when the dough is kneaded to when it becomes leavened. The baker here is probably the chief priest, who, having stirred up the people in idolatry can safely leave them to pursue it without any further intervention by him.
5 In the day of our king Princes have made him sick, inflamed with wine; He stretched out his hand with scoffers.
The people have the leadership that they deserve. On the ‘day of the king’ (either his birthday or the anniversary of his coronation) they all make themselves sick with wine, while the king stretches out his hands, welcoming those who mock at YHWH. The picture is one of drink and debauchery, and of the debauched behavior that inevitably follows, including outright blasphemy. The people are ruled by inebriates.
6 They prepare their heart like an oven, while they lie in wait; Their baker sleeps all night; In the morning it burns like a flaming fire.
Meanwhile the people, sickened at the behavior of their leaders, plot a coup in order to remove them. Those who are unfaithful to YHWH and hot after adultery, will equally be unfaithful to their kings, and be hot after replacing them by assassination. Thus, their hearts are hot like an oven as they lie in ambush, and once their baker (the king) has slept all night unconscious of what is happening, he awakes to find his treacherous people aflame with rebellion.
7 They are all hot, like an oven, and have devoured their judges; All their kings have fallen. None among them calls upon Me.
So the people, hot like a stoked oven, stoked by the leaders of the conspiracy, devour their judges and destroy their kings. Both princes and kings fall together to be replaced by a new regime, who will later follow the same path. Such is the disloyalty of a people who have forsaken YHWH. For not one of them calls on YHWH. The true Yahwists would not be involved.
And that is the point. Having rejected YHWH Who had always been their Deliverer in the past, they have had no one to turn to. So, in desperation they have tried one king after another, only to discover that each one failed in his turn, quickly to be replaced by another. It is the picture of a nation that has lost its way. And yet still they refuse to turn back to YHWH. It was a picture of obstinacy gone mad, and is typical of those who, having rejected God, spend all their lives looking desperately for another solution when there is none.
Hosea now parodies the people’s attempts to find help from foreign nations. This initially had included Aram (Syria), but then moved on to the Philistine nations and Egypt, and at other times to Assyria itself. To them anything was preferable to returning to YHWH. He pictures Ephraim, because of having mixed with the nations, as ‘a cake not turned’, that is as not having turned to YHWH, or alternately as being like half-baked bread and therefore inedible, or as being weak because not properly prepared. And he sees them as having handed over its wealth to different foreigners, and as going moldy without realizing it.
8 “Ephraim has mixed himself among the peoples; Ephraim is a cake unturned.
The use of ‘Ephraim’ may indicate a time when what was mainly left of Israel was that part which was on the mountain of Ephraim and its surrounds, around Samaria. The complaint here is that they have turned to the nations instead of to YHWH. They have mingled among the peoples, becoming as one of them. The result is that they are like a cake not turned over. This might mean ‘half-baked’ like a piece of dough being heated on a hot stone and only baked on one side, because they are incomplete, having missed out on what is important. Or it may mean left lying flat instead of being turned over in readiness for consumption, and thus unready and unprepared. It may include the thought that they have not made themselves into a fit state to be available to YHWH.
9 Aliens have devoured his strength, but he does not know it; Yes, gray hairs are here and there on him, yet he does not know it.
Ephraim’s vulnerable situation is underlined by the fact that it has lost its wealth to the nations, either by tribute, bribes or treaty presents. Contact with foreigners has not been good for their wealth. And yet the sad thing is that they are in such a sad state that they do not realize it. (Not many would have had access to the now empty treasury to discover the true state of things). They are still hopeful that things will turn out all right.
The verb in the first line usually means ‘sprinkled’ thus possibly indicating that they now have a sprinkling of grey hair. But based on an Arabic word the verb may also mean ‘steal up on’, which would indicate that they had grown grey without realizing it. The suggestion then would be that they had become old and decrepit.
10 And the pride of Israel testifies to his face, but they do not return to the LORD their God, nor seek Him for all this.
Israel are so full of false pride and arrogance that they give evidence before Him (or before themselves) of what they have done, seemingly without conscience. They are openly brazened about their godless ritual, even flaunting it in front of Him. Yet despite all that has happened they have not returned to YHWH ‘their God’, nor have they sought His face.
Ephraim are now depicted as being willing to do anything rather than rely on YHWH. They are so lacking in understanding that they are like a fluttering and helpless bird, one moment calling on Egypt, and the next going to Assyria. Meanwhile YHWH hovers over them with His net with the intention of bringing them down and chastising them.
In the process of history Menahem submitted to Assyria, only to be replaced by Pekah who, in alliance with Aram (Syria), promptly rejected Assyria as Israel’s overlord, and in the course of it probably made overtures to Egypt (with rebellion in view soundings would almost certainly have been made for at least general support). Hoshea then in turn assassinated Pekah and submitted to Assyria, before himself later turning to Egypt in a bid for freedom from Assyria. While historically we can understand some of these moves as a requirement of history due to the rampaging of a powerful Assyria, and the inevitable continual opposition within Israel to their forced subjection (very few really liked being subject to Assyria), Hosea’s point is precisely that, that really they were simply pawns, moved about by the two great nations, something which would have been unnecessary had they trusted in YHWH.
And all this occurred because they had rejected YHWH, and instead of looking to Him, had chosen to trust in the Baalim. There could only be one final consequence. Their princes would fall by the sword and they themselves would become the laughingstock of Egypt.
11 “Ephraim also is like a silly dove, without sense—they call to Egypt, they go to Assyria.
Ephraim is depicted as a hapless, fluttering bird, which, ignorant of what was best for it (genuinely and submissively calling on YHWH, and on Him alone), at one moment ‘called’ to Egypt (instead of to YHWH), and at the next went to Assyria. Thus, they are simply a ‘silly dove’ compared with the great eagles, Egypt and Assyria. This was a true picture of the situation. They ‘called on Egypt but went to Assyria’. For when Assyria was strong and had no distractions elsewhere they had no real option but to ‘go to Assyria’. But inevitably they were never happy with their enforced subjection so that they would almost certainly keep in touch with Egypt (who were wary of Assyria’s might), with the result that at times the promised support of Egypt (which never directly materialized - Isaiah 30.7) encouraged them to refuse tribute to Assyria. And the point behind YHWH’s words is that all this happened because they had not trusted in YHWH, and indeed that their very submission to the requirements of history was evidence of their rebellion against Him. Why else did they think that it had happened?
We can see all this from the very abbreviated history in Kings. It began when Menahem submitted to Tiglath Pileser III and paid tribute, which he obtained by taxing the rich men in the realm (2 Kings 15.19-20). But when Menahem died and his son Pekahiah began to reign, Pekahiah was almost immediately assassinated by Pekah, who was probably already a petty king in Gilead and wanted to break free from the Assyrians, and now aimed for the full kingship of Israel. In consequence of supposed Assyrian weakness (they were being distracted by events elsewhere), Pekah ceased paying tribute to Assyria and united with Aram (Syria), and probably other nations, in an alliance aimed at resisting any Assyrian reprisals (Isaiah 7.1-2; 2 Chronicles 28.5-21). There was probably an understanding with certain elements in Philistia, (suggested by what happened when Assyria did finally retaliate, and by 2 Chronicles 28.18) which would almost certainly have included contact with Egypt (who would promise anything to cause trouble for Assyria).
Eventually, however, Shalmaneser V (Tiglath Pileser’s successor) was free to retaliate, and having defeated the Philistines, took over the northern part of northern Israel, turning it into an Assyrian province and exiling many of its inhabitants (2 Kings 15.29). It was at this point that Hoshea seized his opportunity, and, probably with assurances from Assyria, assassinated Pekah and sued for peace. This resulted in his becoming a subject king paying tribute to Assyria, something which saved the southern part of northern Israel (Ephraim) from the fate suffered by their northern counterparts. But eventually Hoshea (no doubt pressed by his advisers and princes) tired of Assyrian rule (it was very expensive) and entered secret negotiations with Egypt (2 Kings 17.4). This resulted in his withholding tribute from Assyria, and in consequence in the final destruction of Samaria, with the cream of Israel taken into exile.
The corollary of all this was, of course, that if only they had been full-heartedly trusting in YHWH, and in YHWH alone, none of this would have happened, because YHWH would have delivered them from the might of the Assyrians.
12 Wherever they go, I will spread My net on them; I will bring them down like birds of the air; I will chastise them according to what their congregation has heard.
The idea of the ‘silly dove’ continues. When they rise up and start to fly YHWH will spread His net over them and bring them down like the birds of heaven. No longer will they enjoy freedom but will be caught up in a net of YHWH’s devising. The picture is a vivid one and would have been familiar to many in Israel. For there were many doves and pigeons which could be found in craggy places, very suitable for food, and the bird-hunters of Israel would take their nets, and as the birds fluttered about in fright, and rose at their approach, would envelop them in the nets.
They were to recognize that what was to happen to them would not really be the work of the Assyrians, but would be the activity of YHWH. As they flapped around, calling to Egypt and going to Assyria, it was YHWH Who was taking them in His net. He would thereby be chastising them, just as their assembly announced would happen when Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28, and the remainder of the Law, were read out in public. Having breached the covenant, they would now be enduring the covenant curses of Leviticus 26; Deuteronomy 28.
The idea of ‘announcements at the assembly’ may also have included the announcements made by the true prophets at times when Israel assembled at their feasts.
13 “Woe to them, for they have fled from Me! Destruction to them, because they have transgressed against Me! Though I redeemed them, yet they have spoken lies against Me.
YHWH now pronounces a lament over them. Woe is to come on them because they have fled from Him. Destruction is to come on them because they have rebelled against Him by trespassing against the covenant. Though He would willingly have redeemed them or bought them back as His firstborn, He had not been able to do so because of their lies against Him. These lies included the false representations made about Him by making Him a part of the Bethel cult with its admixture of Baalism. They had lied about Him by representing Him as the equivalent of a nature God. They had also lied against Him when they made their (false) promises to Him at their feasts, and as a consequence of their false pretenses in pretending to worship Him when what they were worshipping was an image of a bull, and when by their words and actions they had depicted Him as not being faithful, and when in their ritual they had professed faithfulness to Him. Much of their syncretistic worship had been a lie from start to finish
14 They did not cry out to Me with their heart when they wailed upon their beds. “They assemble together for grain and new wine, they rebel against Me;
For rather than calling on YHWH from their hearts, they have howled to Baal from their cushion beds which they had placed around his altar as they assembled in order to seek to obtain grain and wine. One of the rituals in the worship of Baal was the mournful howling that accompanied the idea of his ‘death’ when everything died in the dry season (only to be followed by rejoicing when he came back to life, when the seed and bushes sprang to life, indicating the beginning of a new harvest) These beds would also be the very ones on which they performed adultery with the cult prostitutes, which they claimed was a means of bringing about a ‘sympathetic’ birth of nature, following Baal’s death. And it was all a sign of rebellion against YHWH.
15 Though I disciplined and strengthened their arms, yet they devise evil against Me;
And yet it was YHWH and not Baal Who had taught them and made their arms strong. This may refer to the fact that He had brought them to young adulthood, rearing them as His children. Or it may refer to Him as having made them strong for battle (Psalm 18.32-36). Either way the idea is that they owed everything that they were (as possessors of the land and landowners in Israel) to Him, and yet all they had done was devise mischief against Him.
16 They return, but not to the Most High; They are like a treacherous bow. Their princes shall fall by the sword for the cursings of their tongue. This shall be their derision in the land of Egypt.
It was to Egypt that they returned and not to ‘on High’. They looked back to Egypt and not upwards towards YHWH. In other words, they had ignored the One Who now with His net hovered over them on High to make them captive (verse 12). They were like someone who constantly missed the mark because they had an unreliable bow. (Unlike Him (verse 12) they would not be successful in their hunting). And the consequence was that their princes would die by the sword (a regular feature of the curses in Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28) because of their angry words, something which would bring derision on them in the land of Egypt. The angry words may indicate the angry words spoken by them in their thoughts and discussions about rebellion. Or the defiant words hurled at the Assyrians over the walls of Samaria before it fell, or afterwards when they had been made captive. How different it would have been had they instead come to YHWH with honest words demonstrating their faithfulness. The derision may be seen as arising because in the end they would have to submit to Assyria, and would thus be failed and disgraced rebels, or because they had trusted in Aram (Syria) to help them and were seen as fools for having done so, or because they had so often wavered between Egypt and Assyria, and were now suffering for it (thus giving the Egyptian viewpoint), or because it was indicative of Egypt’s real attitude to its ‘allies’, one of total self-interest, a treaty loyalty which quickly turned into derision when it resulted in failure (something which would never have been true of YHWH).
