4“But I am the LORD your God,
who brought you out of Egypt.
You shall acknowledge no God but me,
no Savior except me.
5I cared for you in the desert,
in the land of burning heat.
6When I fed them, they were satisfied;
when they were satisfied, they became proud;
then they forgot me.
7So I will come upon them like a lion,
like a leopard I will lurk by the path.
8Like a bear robbed of her cubs,
I will attack them and rip them open.
Like a lion I will devour them;
a wild animal will tear them apart.
9“You are destroyed, O Israel,
because you are against me, against your helper.
10Where is your king, that he may save you?
Where are your rulers in all your towns,
of whom you said,
‘Give me a king and princes’?
11So in my anger I gave you a king,
and in my wrath I took him away.
12The guilt of Ephraim is stored up,
his sins are kept on record.
13Pains as of a woman in childbirth come to him,
but he is a child without wisdom;
when the time arrives,
he does not come to the opening of the womb.
14“I will ransom them from the power of the grave;
I will redeem them from death.
Where, O death, are your plagues?
Where, O grave, is your destruction?
“I will have no compassion,
15even though he thrives among his brothers.
An east wind from the Lord will come,
blowing in from the desert;
and his well dry up.
His storehouse will be plundered
of all its treasures.
16The people of Samaria must bear their guilt,
because they have rebelled against their God.
They will fall by the sword;
their little ones will be dashed to the ground,
their pregnant women ripped open.”
Original Meaning
HOSEA MOVES HIS emphasis in this part of the lawsuit from accusations of sin (11:12–13:3) to the destruction of Israel. He begins 13:4–6a by rehearsing what God has graciously done for his people, briefly points to Israel’s sins (13:6b), and then dwells on the future destruction of the nation (13:7–16). God, the Savior of the enslaved nation (13:4), will become a devouring lion (13:7–8). The nation will now be held accountable for its sins, and its punishment is inevitable. There will be no way to escape death and destruction (13:9–16).
This message comes late in the reign of Hoshea, the last king of Israel, but there is no evidence that the final battle has begun. The irresistible and unavoidable end is close at hand, and there is no longer any hope of escaping death. God is against his people and will not have any covenant love for those who reject him. As in 6:4 and 11:8 (near the end of each of the other parts of the lawsuit), at the last moment there is a caveat in 13:14. The people will experience death and destruction because God will not have compassion on them, but these forces will not have the final say. Instead, God’s redemption of his people will (13:14).
God’s Past Caring Will Turn to Tearing (13:4–8)
GOD’S CARE IS defined (13:4–6a) by who he is and by the relationships he has established through his great acts in salvation history. God’s name is Yahweh (“the LORD”), the God of Israel (13:4). He is not Baal, he is not the golden calf, he is not some wooden image made by a skilled craftsman. He is the covenant-making God, who cared enough to deliver his people from Egyptian slavery. He expects exclusive worship from his people (Ex. 20:3). They are not to have a relationship with other gods or acknowledge any other divine beings in worship. Israel has only one Savior, God himself. He has given himself to them, and they are to give themselves to him.
A second demonstration of God’s care was his provision for the nation while they were traveling for forty years in the hot and dry desert of Sinai (Hos. 13:5). God led them with the pillar of fire and the cloud, he daily gave them manna as food to eat and quail for meat, and he miraculously provided water again and again (see Ex. 15–17; Num. 11–16; Deut. 8). Anyone who has spent time in the Sinai desert in the dry summer months (as I have) will testify to the unbearable conditions in that stark and hot land. There is no doubt that God “knew” all about them and cared for their every need. If God had not cared, they would not have survived.
The third stage in God’s relationship with his people was his abundant blessing of them in the Promised Land of milk and honey (Hos. 13:6a). God warned the people while they were in the desert to be careful not to forget what God did for them (Deut. 8:10–20). When they entered the land, he would provide brooks and fountains of abundant water, rich wheat and barley crops, a place where there would be no scarcity of food (8:6–9). But the danger was that in their fullness, they might forget it was God who gave all this to them. They might become proud and think that they accomplished all this by themselves, or figure that they did not need God’s help any more (8:10–14). Hosea indicates that this is exactly what happened: The Israelites became proud and forgot that Yahweh their God had given them everything (Hos. 13:6).
This brief historical background sets the stage for the verdict of the lawsuit in the rest of this chapter. God will now turn against his people and tear them apart (13:7–8). He will no longer act in tender care but will deliberately act like a vicious lion or leopard, or like a mindless mad mother bear robbed of her cubs. Israel will be savagely ripped apart and torn limb from limb.1 This is a horrifying picture of a merciless death at the hands of raging people who act like beasts.
Since Israel Rejects God’s Leadership, God Rejects Israel’s Leaders (13:9–11)
MANY TODAY WOULD probably object to the violent imagery of Hosea’s announcement of judgment, but the destruction of Israel comes down to the simple fact that the people are against God their Savior (cf. 13:4).2 There is no mystery about God’s plan, no hidden agenda that the people cannot figure out. They know what God desires, but they reject him.
Verses 10–11 seem almost as a taunting explanation of where the nation went wrong. They trusted in human leaders instead of God. God asks, as it were, “Where are your human kings, judges, and princes, who you thought would be your saviors?” God’s surprising ironic response is that he will send the people of Israel what they want, a king. But this does not refer to a benevolent Israelite king who will save them; rather, it refers to an enemy king, whom God will send against them in his wrath.3 If they will not submit and follow their true King and Savior, they will end up serving a human despot—their Assyrian conqueror.
Israel Will Die, But Death Will Not Overpower God’s Plan (13:12–16)
THE FINAL PART of the verdict emphasizes the nation’s death, using the analogy of abnormal childbirth, drought, and violent death in military conflicts. (1) The image of an abnormal childbirth (13:13) pictures Israel as a baby in the midst of the birthing process. The pressure of labor contractions is felt by this baby, but the child unwisely refuses to enter the birth canal. Apparently, Hosea sees Israel’s upcoming suffering as analogous to the suffering of this baby. Like the child, Israel is not wise, but has made sinful choices. Although nothing is said about the fate of the breached baby, the implication is that the child (and Israel) will tragically die rather than live. Israel stubbornly rejects the path of life.4
(2) The metaphor of drought (13:15) pictures Israel as one of the thriving and successful nations in the ancient Near East.5 But things change dramatically when God sends a hot desert wind from the east to dry up all sources of water. Pools of water are emptied by evaporation and overuse by people, and even the springs fail to produce fresh water. As a result, the nation will be stripped of its treasures and will die. This may be interpreted as the loss of agricultural wealth in its storehouses (they will have to eat it all during the drought) or to the Assyrians’ raping of the land when the nation is conquered.6
(3) The third explanation of death is drawn from a military conflict (13:16b; 14:1 in the Hebrew text). Surprisingly, Hosea says nothing about the actual battles between the two armies; he simply reports the results of those battles. Three brief statements seal the fate of Israel. The people will die by the sword (probably referring to soldiers), children will be brutally killed, and the defenseless pregnant women will be savagely ripped open to kill their unborn children. It will be a horribly revolting slaughter that will show no mercy.
Why will this happen? Twice Hosea briefly reminds his audience that they must bear the guilt for their sins (13:12, 16a). Their evil deeds (11:12–13:6) are not forgotten but have been recorded for their day of punishment. They have rebelled against God, so now they are being held accountable for their action.
So far everything sounds like standard theology in Hosea, but in the middle of this announcement of judgment comes a caveat similar to 6:4 and 11:8–9. Although everyone translates 13:14b as questions (“Where, O death, are your plagues? Where, O grave, is your destruction?”), it is possible to view 13:14a as either questions or statements. Two very different interpretations derive from this decision. If these are statements (as in NIV, NASB), then God is promising to ransom his people from death. But if these are questions (as in RSV), then God is removing any hope of ransoming them from death.7
The argumentation in 13:4–16 is that Israel will die. Thus, if Hosea is consistent, one would think this verse is not offering hope. However, at the end of each of the other verdicts in this lawsuit (6:4; 11:8–9), God is overcome with love and refuses to totally destroy his people. This is the same passion that refused to give up on Israel and destroy them like Admah and Zeboiim (11:8). Hosea 13:14 seems to be a similar bold refusal on God’s part to completely reject his people. This taunt of death is based on his redemptive power to overcome the curse of death (13:14a). Death will not defeat God’s plans for his people.8 One should not, of course, read into this passage personal or national resurrection as Ezekiel saw (Ezek. 37:1–14), although much later the apostle Paul saw the seeds of this idea in Hosea’s words (1 Cor. 15:55).
The final clause in Hos. 13:14, “I will have no compassion,” abruptly returns to the theme of judgment on Israel. How can such contradictory statements be set side by side? Can they both be true? How can God say they will die (13:12–13), then they will not die (13:14a-b), and then he will have no compassion on them and they will die (13:14c–16)? Hosea is not deceiving the people in verse 14 by telling them that God will not judge them. No, God will bring death on the nation soon, but death will not have final victory over God or his plans. In the midst of or after this judgment, he will ransom some from the power of death. In light of similar statements in Hosea 1:10–2:1 and 3:4–5, it appears that these people will make up part of that eschatological group that will again be called “my people,” that is, the people of God.
Bridging Contexts
GOD’S CARE BALANCED with justice. This verdict of judgment emphasizes God’s care and judgment. God’s past care was epitomized in his revelation of himself as God to his people, the Exodus experience where he delivered the nation from Egyptian bondage, his care for them during their long and hot desert journey, and his rich provision for all their needs in the Promised Land (13:4–6). God’s present care is evident in sending the prophet Hosea to warn the people of God’s impending judgment and to call the nation to repentance. God’s future care will be known after the judgment, for God will ransom some of them from death.
God’s care is a minor but important theme of hope in the midst of warnings of darkness and death. He does not just give up when the devastating power of sin ruins his plans. If God’s acts of punishment are not understood in the light of his continual caring for his people, people may wrongly misinterpret his action. Judgment does not come because he is too weak to protect his people, because he does not really exist, or because he is a wrathful judge out for revenge. Punishment and death come because of a prideful, self-centered worldview (Hos. 13:6b), because of trusting in a human king and forgetting about God’s help (13:10), and because of accountability for sin that cannot be put off forever (13:12). That God still loves his people and will continue to care for them in the future (13:14) undermines any false claims about his love. That God has the ultimate power over life and death is a great assurance to believers in every age (see 1 Cor. 15).
God’s care is balanced with his justice. God is not one or the other, but both. Since guilt for sin must be adjudicated before the bar of divine justice, a verdict of guilty is necessary when sinful rebellion against God exists (Hos. 13:16). The results of sin are astonishing and life-threatening; they produce the stench of death. Instead of care and help in times of need, God will take away the rain that brings life to crops and people. Instead of being a Savior from their enemies, God will bring new enemies to kill them with the sword. Sinners will be like defenseless animals ripped apart by a mad mother bear, people who suffer under a foreign king, babies dashed against the ground, and disemboweled pregnant women. People are helpless and hopeless in the grips of death. Only a caring God can ransom people from the deadly results of sin.
Contemporary Significance
THIS PASSAGE IS about God’s past grace to Israel and the death of the nation Israel, not any nation today. It is inappropriate to apply these predictions of national disaster and war to any group of people today. The value in such a passage is that it provides key insights into the way God works with people. He sees sin as a rejection of and ungratefulness for all of his gracious care in the past (13:4–6a). Any feeling of human self-sufficiency that does not give God credit for the marvelous things he has done is pride, which God hates (13:6b).
God keeps a record of sins, and people will eventually be held accountable for their guilt (13:12, 16a). No human rulers or leaders can protect people from the incredible power of God’s wrath when the Judgment Day arrives (13:7–11, 15–16). Yet in spite of his wrath, death and destruction will not totally destroy all of God’s plans. He will have the final victory (13:14).
Appreciate God’s care; don’t be proud. Hosea has already addressed the theme of not remembering God’s grace in the past (11:1–4; 12:9–10), which can lead to pride and disobedience. The application in those passages is similar to this context because in all the examples given by Hosea, people got involved with sinful acts because they did not appreciate God’s gracious care for them. This danger exists for people today as much as it did for the Israelites in the past, in that they may easily forget God’s loving care.
How often do we think about God’s care in the creation of this earth, his provision of just the right amount of oxygen in the air, or his power to keep the earth spinning around the sun at a consistent distance so that life can be preserved here? Usually only in a time of severe drought do people remember to thank God for past rains, or in a time of danger do they thankfully remember his protection in the past. We tend to take for granted God’s care in providing relatively free democracies where we can make our own personal choices on where to live and what we will do to make a living. Because we have enjoyed religious freedom for so long, we often do not appreciate how God has sovereignly worked to cause many nations to give their citizens a considerable amount of freedom to worship God openly and without interference.
It is even possible to spend hours or days without consciously thinking about the wonderful gift of salvation God has provided through the death of his Son on the cross. Hosea’s list of the gracious things God has done should remind us of the many wonderful things he has done for us. A periodic listing of the ways God has cared for us in the last week or month is one way to jog the memory and appreciate his grace.
When prosperity is abundant and the economy is going well, we tend to be self-sufficient and think we can handle things ourselves. We start to think that prosperity is a product of our own hard work and conclude that we are smart. People of some means look at themselves as better than others and become proud of what they have accomplished. God views these attitudes as filled with pride and despicable because he knows that people would have nothing if it were not given to them by him.
When the Israelites entered the Promised Land, they found wells dug and fields already planted, but the danger was that they would soon forget this was all a gift from God and not something they did or deserved (Deut. 8). In many parts of the world people today enjoy modern inventions like the airplane and air conditioning, drugs that kill bacteria and improve physical health, plus the ability to safely preserve food so that it can be eaten months later. These luxuries were unknown for thousands of years and are still beyond the reach of some people, but we in developed countries now tend to take these things for granted. Yet instead of being thankful for all God has given us, we complain about what we do not have. Instead of living today in full recognition of the multiple ways God graciously provides, we tend to proudly tell others about our accomplishments. God calls pride sin, and he will hold every person accountable for acts and attitudes of pride.
The unusual declaration of God’s power over death in Hos. 13:14 will be one of God’s final acts of grace. This promise is applicable to all believing Israelites and present-day followers of Christ. Paul used this promise in 1 Corinthians 15:55 to remind his audience that there is hope after death. Sin will not have the final victory over God’s plan to redeem the world. Through his provision of salvation and forgiveness of sins, the sting of death is removed and eternal life with God is possible. This is just one more fantastic example of God’s care for his people. The question that God’s gracious care raises is: In light of God’s past, present, and future care for us, how should we act today? Can we forget what God has done and proudly act as if we can take care of things ourselves?
Nothing can protect sinners from the wrath of God. Since God holds people accountable for their sins, all who have not received his forgiveness will experience his wrath (Hos. 13:11). We may not like to think of God as wrathful and destructive, but the people of Israel, defeated by the Assyrians, came to understand that sin brought the consequence of God’s wrath. The results of sin bring death because God is just and holy. Therefore, the images of God ripping and tearing people apart like a lion or a bear must be acknowledged as appropriate pictures of God’s treatment of us if we do not reject sin.
The wrath of God will bring death, the destruction of everything we hold dear, and the removal of God’s compassion (13:8, 15–16). Our political leaders (13:10), our resources, and our treasures will not protect us from that wrath (13:15). Those who reject God will suffer great indignities and violence.
These kinds of passages should persuade people in the church to take stock of their lives and evaluate what their future holds. Have we enjoyed the care of God? Have we rejected God in any way? Do we want to experience his wrath? Do we want God to remove the sting of death from our future? The answers to these questions help us know what our future will be—death and divine rejection, or victory over death.