7:1, 2 God sees and knows everything. We, like Israel, often forget this. Thoughts like “No one will ever know,” or “No one is watching” may tempt us to try to get away with sin. If you are facing difficult temptations, you will be less likely to give in if you remind yourself that God is watching. When faced with the opportunity to sin, remember that God sees everything.
7:7 “Hot as an oven” refers to the lust for power and intrigue that was burning in these leaders’ hearts. Three Israelite kings were assassinated during Hosea’s lifetime—Zachariah, Shallum, and Pekahiah (2 Kings 15:8-26). The kings’ foreign relations and domestic lives were ruined because they ignored God and his word.
7:8 The people of Israel had intermarried with foreign people and had picked up their evil ways. When we spend a lot of time with unbelievers, either professionally or socially, we can easily pick up their attitudes and begin to imitate their actions. Beware of the influence they may have on you. Instead of drifting into bad habits, see if you can have a positive influence and point these people to God.
7:10 Pride keeps a person from turning to God because pride acknowledges no need of help from anyone, human or divine. Pride intensifies all our other sins because we cannot repent of any of them without first giving up our pride.
7:11 Israel’s King Menahem had paid Assyria to support him in power (2 Kings 15:19, 20); King Hoshea turned against Assyria and went to Egypt for help (2 Kings 17:4). Israel’s kings went back and forth, allying themselves with different nations when they should have allied themselves with God.
7:16 A warped (“deceitful”) bow is unreliable. Its arrows miss the target, and its owner would be quite vulnerable in battle. Life without God is as unreliable as a warped bow. Without God’s direction, our thoughts are filled with lust, cheating, selfishness, and deceit. As long as we are warped by sin, we will never reach our true potential.
7:16 People look everywhere except to God for happiness and fulfillment, pursuing possessions, recreation, and relationships. In reality, only God can truly satisfy the deep longings of the soul. Look first to heaven, to the Most High God. He will meet your spiritual needs, not all your materialistic wants.