1Israel was a spreading vine;
he brought forth fruit for himself.
As his fruit increased,
he built more altars;
as his land prospered,
he adorned his sacred stones.
2Their heart is deceitful,
and now they must bear their guilt.
The LORD will demolish their altars
and destroy their sacred stones.
3Then they will say, “We have no king
because we did not revere the LORD.
But even if we had a king,
what could he do for us?”
4They make many promises,
take false oaths
and make agreements;
therefore lawsuits spring up
like poisonous weeds in a plowed field.
5The people who live in Samaria fear
for the calf-idol of Beth Aven.
Its people will mourn over it,
and so will its idolatrous priests,
those who had rejoiced over its splendor,
because it is taken from them into exile.
6It will be carried to Assyria
as tribute for the great king.
Ephraim will be disgraced;
Israel will be ashamed of its wooden idols.
7Samaria and its king will float away
like a twig on the surface of the waters.
8The high places of wickedness will be destroyed—
it is the sin of Israel.
Thorns and thistles will grow up
and cover their altars.
Then they will say to the mountains, “Cover us!”
and to the hills, “Fall on us!”
9“Since the days of Gibeah, you have sinned, O Israel,
and there you have remained.
Did not war overtake
the evildoers in Gibeah?
10When I please, I will punish them;
nations will be gathered against them
to put them in bonds for their double sin.
11Ephraim is a trained heifer
that loves to thresh;
so I will put a yoke
on her fair neck.
I will drive Ephraim,
Judah must plow,
And Jacob must break up the ground.
12Sow for yourselves righteousness,
reap the fruit of unfailing love,
and break up your unplowed ground;
for it is time to seek the LORD,
until he comes
and showers righteousness on you.
13But you have planted wickedness,
you have reaped evil,
you have eaten the fruit of deception.
Because you have depended on your own strength
and on your many warriors,
14the roar of battle will rise against your people,
so that all your fortresses will be devastated—
as Shalman devastated Beth Arbel on the day of battle,
when mothers were dashed to the ground with their children.
15Thus will it happen to you, O Bethel,
because your wickedness is great.
When that day dawns,
the king of Israel will be completely destroyed.”
Original Meaning
THIS SECTION HAS a good deal of continuity with the previous one, since both condemn Israel’s false worship at pagan temples and at the golden calves. The difference is seen in the absence of first-person speeches in chapter 10 (except 10:10–11) and in a greater emphasis on accusations rather than punishment statements. Like 9:10, 10:1 draws the analogy between grape vines and Israel; like 8:7, 10:12–13 uses the sowing and reaping metaphor. Both chapters refer to the sin at Gibeah (9:9; 10:9) and the slaughter of children in war (9:13; 10:14). The tragedy is that God has told his people what they must do, but they refuse to do it. God encourages them to seek him so that they may experience his steadfast covenant love (10:12), but they are wicked and deceptive (10:13).
The few historical references (10:4, 6, 14) probably refer to events at the end of the Syro-Ephraimite war (733 B.C.) or are prophetic statements about the coming fall of the nation in 721 B.C.1 Since the second-person address is not used in 10:1–8, H. W. Wolff hypothesizes that Hosea was giving a “reflective or didactic” message to a closed gathering of his followers who are facing strong opposition,2 but one would expect some words of support to his followers if this were actually the setting. The references to what the wicked people say and do (10:3–5, 8) imply that Hosea may be addressing their problems, not the problems of God’s faithful followers.
The message of this chapter is structured into two large sections. The first (10:1–8) focuses on the detestable altars (10:1, 2, 8) where the Israelites worship, while the second (10:9–15) is centered around the wickedness that will bring war and destruction on the nation. Although the demise of Israel’s king and the victory of a great Assyrian king are briefly mentioned (10:6–7, 15), this message is primarily concerned with the religious unfaithfulness at her temples.
Idols and Altars Will Be Destroyed (10:1–8)
THE IMAGERY OF the vine in 10:1 is complicated by the difficulty of interpreting the adjective modifying it. The word bqq is translated “spreading” in the NIV or “luxuriant” in the NASB, RSV, LXX, because it fits the context of fruitfulness in the rest of the verse, but all the other uses of this word carry the negative idea of something that is “laid waste.”3 Hosea’s positive image of grapevines in 9:10, 13 has already been transformed into a tragic picture of fruitlessness in 9:16.
The negative view of the vine in 10:1 is based on a misuse of its abundance. Israel is like a destroyed vine because she has selfishly used its fruit for herself. This misuse took place at their many altars and before the pagan sacred pillars, which represented different gods.4 They presumptuously use what God has given them and offer it to pagan fertility gods, hoping that these gods will bless them with even greater prosperity. Thus, God’s blessings are causing them to sink further and further into sin at these pagan altars. In order to reveal the falseness and deceptiveness of their thinking, God will hold the people accountable, take away their abundance, and demolish the altars and sacred pillars (10:2). One should not confuse God with an idol or give an idol credit for God’s rich blessings.
One way of understanding the quotation in 10:3 is to take it as a prediction of what the people of Israel will say after the fall of the nation in 721 B.C. The problem with this interpretation, however, is that we have no knowledge that these sinful people ever confessed a failure to fear God.5 It is probably better to see “we [do] not revere the LORD” as parallel to “we have no king” and “even if we had a king, what could he do for us?” That is, the people reject God as their divine king and sovereign ruler. They do not fear or call on him for help because they do not think he can do anything to change their situation.6 Instead of humbly confessing their failure to fear God, the people have made false promises and oaths to God and are unfaithful to their covenant with him (10:4).7 Consequently, “justice” (not NIV’s “lawsuits”) is springing up like a poisonous weed instead of a beautiful grapevine (see Deut. 32:32–33; Amos 5:7; 6:12). Deception and lies poison their just relationship with God.
One of the main deceptions of their faith is the worship of the golden calf at Bethel (given the scornful nickname Beth Aven, “house of wickedness”). Verse 5 describes the people’s deep commitment to this idol. They worship in fear and trembling before this and other false gods. They and the false priests will mourn before the splendor of the golden image of Baal in some sort of cultic ceremony. This may be their final act of worship as the gold of the idol is removed so that it can be used to pay the tribute required by Tiglath-Pileser III, “the great king” (10:6). This removal of the glory of the calf god will demonstrate to all that it has no power and cannot defend itself. The people will be ashamed and disgraced because the true colors of their ugly wooden idol will finally be known. They have been fools to trust it.
Not only will God emasculate the nation’s gods, but he will destroy8 its king and the people who live in Samaria (10:7). These captives will be like twigs floating down the river with no control over their fate, helpless to resist the force of the water that carries them along. Perhaps Hosea is reminded of a meandering river as he sees the flood of captives being swept down the road into exile by the momentum of the column of people. This loss of people and rulers has eliminated the nation’s ability to defend itself and protect its “high places of wickedness” (10:8), a derogatory reference to the temple at Bethel (cf. “Beth Aven” in 10:5; see comments). This ungodly temple will be abandoned to weeds when Israel’s enemies destroy it.
For good reasons Hosea calls the sins at this temple “the sin of Israel,” for these sins have destroyed their understanding and steadfast covenant love for God. When Jeroboam I set up the golden calves after the death of Solomon (1 Kings 12:28–33), they were supposed to represent Israel’s God Yahweh, who brought them up from Egypt (modeled on Aaron’s calf in Ex. 32). But since Baalism pictured Baal as a bull calf, the common people thought Israel’s calf and Baal’s calf were the same god. This led to their acceptance of Canaanite religious and moral guidelines and a rejection of the holy God of the Bible. When the captive people finally see the impotence of Baal and the uselessness of faith in this idol, they will want to die (Hos. 10:8b). It will seem better to be crushed by falling rocks dislodged from the side of a mountain by an earthquake than to suffer in captivity and be haunted with the stupidity of their belief in this false god.
A Devastating War Because of Wickedness (10:9–15)
HOSEA GOES BACK to the events at Gibeah (10:9) to remind his listeners of the civil war that took place in Judges 19–20 (see Hos. 9:9). Those events have blossomed into the sinful deeds surrounding the Syro-Ephraimite war, which also involved Gibeah (see 5:8). Hosea sees the spirit of violence and immorality that existed in Gibeah as continuing to haunt Israel in his time.
Verse 9b is difficult to understand because the negative “not” suggests that war will “not” overtake Gibeah. Historically, we know that war did come to Gibeah (5:8), so NIV makes this a rhetorical question about the past: “Did not war overtake . . . Gibeah?” H. W. Wolff solves this problem by taking the negative as an assertive (“surely”) about the future: “Surely in Gibeah war shall overtake them.”9 These are possible interpretations, but simply reading the imperfect verb as a rhetorical question about the future gives a translation, “Will not war against the evildoers overtake those in Gibeah?”
In other words, Hosea is removing any false hopes his audience may have. They will be chastened through military defeat by a much stronger army (the Assyrians) and put in bonds to go into captivity for two sins (10:10).10 The “double sin” is not defined. Perhaps Hosea is referring to the two calves at Dan and Bethel, to the two times the people sinned at Gibeah, or to idol worship and trust in their army; these, however, are only educated guesses from the context.
Hosea quickly changes metaphors in 10:11 to draw on his audience’s understanding of agriculture. He compares Israel to a good heifer, who was well trained and a hard worker at threshing time. God was impressed with this animal and wanted to make it his own (symbolic of his having a covenant relationship with the people). So he put his willing heifer to work plowing for him—an analogy that suggests God’s election of his people to do his service. At that time God exhorted his people (the heifer) to sow righteousness so that they could reap the blessings (the “fruit”) of God’s steadfast covenant love (10:12). They needed to understand God’s ways in the Torah, follow a path of justice, have unfailing love for him, and seek the Lord continually. God would then shower them with his righteousness. From the beginning he explained in the blessings and curses of the covenant that he would deal with them fairly and justly by giving them salvation if they would turn to him and seek to live according to the covenant relationship.
Unfortunately, Israel instead planted unrighteous seeds, and they will now reap a harvest of evil (10:13), just what they deserve. They have done exactly the opposite of what God has wanted, and the results are the opposite of what they want. Consequently, instead of eating the wonderful fruit of a righteous life, the people will have to swallow the poisonous fruit of their own deception. The lies and false beliefs they accept explain why the Israelites are being punished so severely by God. They have the opportunity to please God, they have the knowledge of what God expects of his covenant people, and they are aware of the consequences of their actions. God has chosen them, and all they need to do is to seek him and serve him with righteous living, but they reject God’s way.
The first half of Hosea 10 indicates that the worship of the Israelites at their many altars and before the golden calves is one of their main failures and deceptions; 10:13b–14 presents another major deceptive sin of the nation. They find it much easier to trust and depend on their own ways of doing things (not “strength,” as in NIV) instead of God’s way, and on their own military power instead of God’s power. What makes sense to them is not what God wants because the way that seems right to a person often leads to death and disappointment (Prov. 14:12). Self-dependence on what one can see seems to make more sense than trusting in the unseen power of God.
Because of Israel’s trust in their army, God will destroy their military establishment and the fortifications that are designed to protect the army from attackers (Hos. 10:14). The historical battle when Shalman devastated Beth Arbel is unrecorded elsewhere in history, though some suggest the Shalman is Shalmaneser V, the Assyrian king who ruled from 727–722 B.C., or Salamanu, a Moabite king.11 This incident was a cruel and disastrous battle because some mothers and their children were thrown off a cliff onto rocks below. The heartless brutality and gross inhumanity of this battle will be replayed when God brings an enemy on the most evil city of Bethel, where its pagan temple with the golden calf dwells (10:15). Their enemies will have no mercy on the Israelites or their king. Nothing will protect them—neither their powerless gods nor their weak king. God will use this enemy to completely destroy them.
Bridging Contexts
THIS CHAPTER DEALS with the issue of the proper worship of God (10:1–8). It gives examples of unacceptable worship and the consequences of failing to worship God in a proper manner. Although the specific factors that were a stumbling block to the Israelites may not be major factors today, they do exist in some parts of the world. To bridge these issues into the life of the church one must look at comparable problems and situations. For example, the sacred altars of that day were at temples, where people worshiped their gods; there are still sacred places, such as churches, where people come to have close communion with God.
Moreover, the key issues are related to what people do or do not do at these places of worship, not where they worship. This message explains that worship is based on a proper understanding of who God is and what he has done, and it inevitably involves what he will do for or against the worshiper.
What does God want from his worshipers? Hosea mentions several things that God expects of his worshipers and several things that are not permitted. First and foremost, God does not want people to worship anything or anyone other than himself. There is no room for other gods or other priorities. He will not permit false representations of God (the golden calf) or misconceptions of his true nature because they eventually lead to the worship of something other than God. He will not accept worship from people who have deceitful hearts (10:2), who do not keep their covenant promises but make false oaths of allegiance (10:4). He despises places where false religious ideas are taught, religious or political leaders who do not depend on God, and attitudes that question God’s sovereign power (10:3, 13).
If people do not recognize the fundamental truth of God’s kingship over this world, they will not understand God’s sovereignty over their lives, will not fear him, and will not look to him for help (10:3). God wants his chosen people to serve him (his chosen heifer was to plow his fields in 10:11), to exhibit righteousness in all they do, and to seek the Lord with all their heart (10:11). They cannot do their own thing in their own way but must listen and follow God’s way. This involves trust and dependence on God in times of difficulty rather than trust in human manipulation or military strength (10:13). Worship involves both the way people praise in his house and the way they live their daily lives.
Clearly, it is not enough to be sincere or to be involved with just any religious quest for spiritual meaning. God will not honor everyone who seeks a deeper religious experience because some will be responding to a sham that is nothing but a slick deception. Some gods are false, some methods of worship are inappropriate, some theological ideas are wrong, and some responses of worship are unacceptable. These principles are taught throughout the Old Testament. At Sinai God rejected the idea of Israel having a relationship with any other gods or idols (Ex. 20:3–6) and was angry when the people built a golden calf to represent him (Ex. 32). The essence of God’s glory cannot be portrayed in a piece of wood or stone, and his almighty power cannot be captured by a lifeless object.
The revelation of God’s will cannot proceed from something that cannot talk, and the presence of his nature everywhere on earth cannot be represented by a solid object located in just one place. Again and again the prophet Isaiah argued that the pagan gods are nothing but pieces of wood and stone that have no power (Isa. 41:21–24; 44:6–20; 46:1–13). The apostle Paul tried to convince the people in Athens that their “unknown god” was the only true God among all their idols (Acts 17:16–34). God is presented as the King of kings and Lord of lords, who created, controls, and will judge everyone on the earth (1 Tim. 6:15; Rev. 17:14). To misconceive the nature and character of God will result in the worship of a humanly created theological concept that bears no relationship to the glorious God of the Scriptures.
A central part of worship involves the worshiper’s attitudes and actions before God. Moses emphasized the fundamental need to fear or revere God (Deut. 6:2, 13, 24; 10:12), and wisdom literature sees fearing God as the first step in gaining true wisdom (Job 28:28; Prov. 1:7; 9:10; Eccl. 5:7; 8:12). Both Hosea 10:3 and Malachi 1:6 condemn God’s people because they do not reverence him and treat him as holy. Hosea also mentions the demands of righteous living and seeking the Lord (Hos. 10:12).
Deuteronomy 12:5 exhorts the people to seek the Lord at the place God will later choose to have his temple built (Jerusalem) and implicitly warns about other high places where other gods might be worshiped. The psalm in 1 Chronicles 16:10–11 challenges people to “glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice. Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always.” God promises that if people seek him, humble themselves, and confess their sins, he will hear their prayers, forgive their sins, and heal their land (2 Chron. 7:14).
In the New Testament Jesus challenges his followers to seek first God’s kingdom and his righteousness (Matt. 6:33). The righteousness of a true disciple must exceed the false piety of the Pharisees if a person wants to see the kingdom of God (5:20). Righteous living is not an option people can choose if they feel like it. Rather, it is outward proof that God’s righteousness has transformed their deceptive and unrighteous hearts.
Another external evidence of people’s internal relationship to God is their dependence on God’s power and his revelation (Hos. 10:13). Rather than doing things the way everyone else does and rather than depending on money, status, military power, education, or any other human attribute, a worshiper of God must trust in God to provide wisdom and strength for everyday needs as well as for crisis situations.
What will happen to those who do not worship God? Failure to worship God in spirit and in truth (cf. John 4:24) has serious consequences in Hosea’s theology and in the rest of Scripture. Hosea sees that this will lead to a perversion of one’s theology (Hos. 10:1), deception (10:2), false worship (10:5), shame and disgrace (10:6), destruction of temples, exile of the people, and the death of their king (10:14). War will bring terror and such desperation that some will wish that they were dead (10:8, 14–15). This will not just be something that accidentally happens to them; it will be the purposeful execution of God’s just plan. False worship, deceptive beliefs about God, a lack of trust in God, and not fearing him are serious failures for which people will be held accountable (10:2).
When people break their promises to God and put other things in his place, these poor substitutes will eventually disappoint and fail those who trust in them. Although no one can make specific predictions about how God will punish people today or in the future, his past dealing with these kinds of people sets a pattern that will probably be repeated in the future. God will show the uselessness of every false basis for trust and take away any supposed value gained through this misplaced trust.
People cannot get away from the old principle that they reap what they sow (10:12–13). If people trust in military power, God will destroy a nation’s military strength. If they trust in money, financial resources will be removed. If they trust in a construal of God that is imaginary, those false aspects will eventually be shown to be delusions that have no substance in reality.
The cost of not worshiping God is enormous: shame, disappointment, suicidal tendencies, and the loss of contact with God. These people will lose everything—their families, abundance, freedom, nation, and even their lives. The cost is too great to make any mistakes about how we worship God.
Contemporary Significance
WHAT ARE OUR deceptive beliefs and worship practices? What kind of deceptions or misunderstandings are present in churches today? Where have religious people twisted the truth and created theological beliefs and practices that pervert what God said? What worship activities are an abomination in his sight? In what ways do people put other things in place of God? One might think of some cult and a pagan theological perversion of what God’s revelation says, but if we apply this passage in that way, it will not relate to our lives and what is going on in our churches. Such illustrations may be helpful to show that religious people can be seriously deceived or to make the point that God will hold them accountable for their beliefs and actions. But this would be like Hosea talking about the false beliefs of the Assyrians.
Instead, Hosea is critiquing the failures of his own people. Thus, one must apply this passage to what is happening among the “people of God” in the church. How will God evaluate our theological beliefs, our efforts to keep our promises, our reverence for God, and our trust in military power instead of him? Have deceptive ideas crept into the worship of the church? Will being baptized in a church automatically guarantee a place in heaven? Will attending church services and putting some money in the collection plate assure God’s blessing? Will taking Communion magically produce forgiveness regardless of a person’s true attitude? Will confirmation or church membership necessarily bring God’s favor for the rest of a person’s life? Are these wise maxims or deceptive myths? Unfortunately some people still attempt to comfort themselves by rationalizing deceptive ideas that contain a portion of the truth but miss the overall thrust of what is needed to please and glorify God.
Sociologists call this kind of self-deception a reification.12 This happens when people think that some custom or belief is the only correct way of doing things. Thus, it takes on an ontological status that renders it fixed and unchangeable in different contexts. For example, a person may believe that a human social institution like the church must operate like the divinely designed pattern used by the early disciples in Acts 4:32–35. If one reifies this pattern as an absolute pattern, then no one can change any part of this formula.
If, however, the early church is seen as a human social institution guided by God to meet the needs of Jewish Christians during the famines in Jerusalem while the church was in its infancy, then the concept should not be reified, and it is open to change. People today are then free to ask how to conceptualize and organize the church to meet the needs of people today. The Amish have reified certain man-made cultural patterns of behavior and dress and have given them an absolute status. Other Christians look at the principles of modesty, humility, and simplicity and conclude that these ideas can be implemented without maintaining such a reified lifestyle.
The most serious reified self-deceptions are theological.13 This happens when people give absolute divine authority and status to humanly created perceptions that do not fully represent what God has said or what he desires. The Scriptures teach about worshiping and glorifying God by singing his praise and giving testimony to his marvelous deeds (Ps. 95–99; 104–105). Unfortunately, some believe that this eliminates certain kinds of music (modern rhythmic choruses), certain musical instruments (drums), and certain kinds of behavior (lifting one’s hands). This ignores the fact that every culture has its own indigenous and meaningful way of expressing worship.
To reify one cultural means of expressing praise to God into a universal, unchangeable norm is an erroneous approach to understanding the spirit of true worship. If a worship experience is not a meaningful way for me to express my love for God, then it is not my worship. At one time Gregorian chants were a meaningful means of praising God, but they are not meaningful to many today because they are not a part of the culture of most people.
Hosea is not just concerned with the outward presentation of worship; he is most concerned about the internal aspects of worship. Ultimately, these relate to people’s view of God. Is God seen as the King of kings, who has all power, or have they reinvented him into someone less offensive, who gives them more rights and freedoms? If God is the sovereign ruler of this world and my life, I must revere him and worship in submission to him; but if God is perceived to be my daddy or my buddy, I will probably not revere him or his will as highly (Hos. 10:3). The secularization of culture and the removal of God from everyday life has essentially left many professing church members saying the same thing as Hosea’s audience: “What could he do for us?” (10:3). When God’s power is diminished and his glory is no longer our chief end, God somehow seems less relevant. There is a need to ask: Do we actually worship God or some image we have created from our imagination?
An analogy can be drawn with human relationships. A son cannot go to just any father and expect him to pay for his food, provide spending money, give him a free ride through college, and let him use the family car. He must go to his own father, make an appropriate request, and respond to his father’s gracious gifts with thanks. A son who does not respect his own father’s authority, who does not think that his father can help him, and who does not seek to follow his father’s will, will not receive the father’s blessing. If a son misuses the father’s abundant blessing (10:1), is deceptive in his dealings (10:2), does not keep his promises (10:4), and does not respect his father, the relationship will fall apart. If a son thinks his father loves and cares, that will encourage a growing relationship; but if a son thinks that his father does not care at all, the father will not play a significant role in his life.
The perception of the nature and character of God inevitably has an effect on the behavior of the average church member. Using Hosea’s metaphor, God expects people to sow righteousness so that he can bless them with the matchless blessing of his unfailing love (10:12). He wants people to seek him and trust in him rather than in their own human abilities (10:12–13). These two objective and measurable criteria can be used as barometers that evaluate the spiritual temperature of the church. What examples of righteousness were exhibited in the past week? On what occasions did people seek to know and have a deeper relationship with God? When was God trusted?
Does proper worship matter? Probably everyone has heard it said that all religions are really the same and lead to the same results; they are just slightly different paths to help people get in touch with their spirituality. Behind these appeals for tolerance and acceptance is the postmodern conviction that my way is as good as yours, that there are no absolute right and wrong ways to get in touch with the divine. Too many today believe that God has not revealed only one way of doing things that everyone must follow. Like the Israelites, they syncretize what little they know about the Bible with various cultural trends and recreate a set of beliefs that comfortably fit their lifestyle. Little time is spent trying to figure out if this is really what the truth is or if this is actually what pleases God. It is not that important, they claim.
Hosea demolishes this baseless fantasy. The Israelites, the chosen people of God, can so pervert the truth of God’s revelation that they totally miss God. Their worship at the Baal altars and before the golden calf at Bethel is unacceptable even though they are offering sacrifices and praying to a god. Even “good” forms of worship can be perverted when they are given to buy off God’s favor or are offered to the wrong god.
If participation in a worship service does not honor God as sovereign King, what worship has taken place? If one does not believe God is all-powerful and can really help, then dependence, trust, and faith in him will be missing key ingredients. If the fruit of worship does not result in righteousness, then the source of people’s actions comes from something other than true worship of God. God is just as fussy today about whom people honor and glorify when they worship in the church as he was in Israel’s day.
The results are undeniable. A failure to worship God will result in our shame and death. God maintains that people “must bear their guilt” (Hos. 10:2) when they accept false beliefs. God also removes his protecting hand and the abundance of his blessings. Eventually he will show the bankruptcy of these false religious systems, and people will receive their punishment. Israel lost her king, her land, her military strength, her people, her freedom, and her God. Will God deal with people today any differently?