Hosea 9
The distress to come upon Israel. (1-9)
God will punish Israel by sending her people away from the land, to a place where they will not be able to make sacrifices to the Lord.
Vs. 1,2…love for hire … Israel considered their crops to be the payoff of their worship of idols rather than a gift from God.
…new wine shall fail in her… The crop shall fail.
V. 3…Egypt…and…Assyria… On top of the failure the crop, God warns them of Expulsion into Egypt and Assyria. They will not simply with one enemy, but with successive kingdoms, they will be tossed from here and there.
V. 4…bread of mourners … According to Numbers 19:14&15, the bread in the house in which people mourn is defiled and it shall not be offered as sacrifice unto the LORD.
V. 6…they are going because of destruction … At present (750 B.C.) everything is fine. But in about 28 years (722 BC), Israel is going into exile in the hands of Assyria. …Memphis.. Memphis is a city located south of Cairo along Nile River, and it is noted for large burial grounds. Even fatality will be inevitable.
V.7…days of punishment have come… When the punishment occurs, Israel will come to know that the prediction of victory and prosperity of false prophets were wrong.
V.8…Enmity in the house of his God… True prophets like Hosea is considered by the people and the priests to be a hostile element in their midst.
V.9…corrupted, As in the days of Gibeah… Judges 19 states that God brought judgement against Gibeah and the Tribe of Benjamin for Gibeah’s cruel violence, (Judges 20:35).
Grapes in the wilderness. (10-17)
‘Grape’ is one of the 4 similes used by Hosea for the unfaithful Israel.
1. Grapes in the wilderness, 2. A vine (10:1-10), 3. A trained calf (10:11-15), and 1. a toddler (11:1-11).
All these similes are to stress more of God’s past care for the people of Israel, their recklessness and ingratitude, and the Unavoidable action from God’s side.
V.10…grapes in the wilderness… An unexpected discovery of grapes in the wilderness and first figs of the season are so delightful. …your fathers… Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are the first fathers of Israel that God found. …went to Baal Peor,… (Numbers 25:3,5, 18, Psalms 106:28) but the fathers of later generation abandoned God to worship Baal.
Vs. 11 & 12…glory shall fly away…woe to them when I departfrom them!… Ephraim means ‘Fruitful Vine.’ But soon his fruits will end as sign of the end of God’s blessing to them. …No birth, no pregnancy, and no conception… Israel will soon go in the path of extinction, if they don’t repent.
V.14…miscarrying womb… Miscarrying womb is sign of unfruitfulness.
V.15…Gilgal… Even though Gilgal is a place where Israelites camped before entering Jericho, now this place has become a center of idol worship.
V.16…their root is dried up… A repetition of Verse 14. …wanderers among the nations.. They will be landless and nationless and be exiles.