Hosea 6-11

1. Hosea called Israel to repentance, and the LORD lamented their lack of it (6.1-7.2). The prophet urged God’s people to return to their God; “Let us strive to know the LORD” (6.3a), he said. Yet—while His love was likened to rain and spring showers (6.3b)—the loyalty of Israel and Judah vanished like a mist or early morning dew (6.4). Because of the continual promiscuity of His people, God could not escape their sins, “they are right in front of My face” (7.2), He said
2. Hosea condemned Israel for their lack of reliance on the LORD (7.3-8.14). Israel’s corruption was that they followed their evil leaders rather than the instruction of the law (7.3-7). The unfaithfulness of Israel’s leaders was not limited to what one may consider areas of morality; they made alliances with foreign nations like Egypt and Assyria with the result that they resembled, “a silly, senseless dove” (7.11). In pursuing these alliances, Israel and Judah were culpable of fleeing from the true source of help—the One who wished to redeem them (7.13); the LORD lamented: “They do not cry to Me from their hearts…they turn away from Me” (7.14). Because His people had rejected what was good, He summoned other nations to come against them (8.3). In the mind of the prophet, when God’s people went to Assyria for help, it was as if they had already been scattered from the Promised Land (8.8-9)! Indeed, even though they offered sacrificial gifts, the LORD judged that His law was something alien to them (8.12-13)
3. Hosea predicted Israel’s demise (9.1-10.15). Since Israel had “loved the wages of a prostitute” (9.1), Hosea predicted that Israel would not remain in the Promised Land; “Instead, Ephraim will return to Egypt, and they will eat unclean food in Assyria” (9.3). Perhaps Hosea’s words: “The days of punishment have come; the days of retribution have come. Let Israel recognize it!” (9.7) were formative for Jeremiah’s later prophesies against Judah (cf. Jer 10.15; 16.18). Since Israel had so polluted herself, the prophet wished the LORD to give them “a womb that miscarries and breasts that are dry!” (9.14). Most likely the people reacted to Hosea’s prophecy with a fair bit of hostility—after all, they were yet self-sufficient in the land. Hosea recognized that “Israel is a lush vine; it yields fruit for itself” (10.1); this was the problem. Israel’s perceived independence, even from the LORD their God, led them to harlotry with the calf-idols of the nations—idols which would soon be destroyed (cf. 10.2, 5, and 8). Hosea likened Israel itself to a calf that would be led into exile because of their “extreme evil” (10.11-15). On the whole, the prophet’s indictment of God’s people was that they “plowed wickedness and reaped injustice; you have eaten the fruit of lies. Because you have trusted in your own way and in your large number of soldiers” (10.13), as opposed to sowing righteousness and reaping faithful love (10.12)
4. Hosea called Israel to know the love of the LORD (11.1-12). Amazingly—even though Israel deserved none of God’s covenant mercy—the prophet did not leave the people without hope; Hosea exhorted his audience: “It is time to seek the LORD until He comes and sends righteousness on you like the rain” (10.12). This was because the LORD had brought Israel, as a child, out of Egypt, and called the descendants of Jacob, “My son” (v. 1; cf. Mt 2.15). Indeed—despite the fact that Israel “kept sacrificing to the Baals and burning offerings to idols” (v. 2b)—Hosea announced the word of the LORD: “I have had a change of heart; My compassion is stirred! I will not vent the full fury of My anger; I will not turn back to destroy Ephraim. For I am God and not a man, the Holy One among you; I will not come in rage” (vv. 8b-9). 

1. To justify His presence at a meal with sinners. After Jesus called Matthew to follow Him, the new disciple invited Jesus to a meal where many of his former associates had gathered. “When the Pharisees saw this,” Matthew recorded, “they asked His disciples, ‘Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?’” (9.11). Jesus replied, “Those who are well don’t need a doctor, but the sick do. Go and learn what this means; ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I didn’t come to call the righteous, but sinners” (9.12-13)
2. To justify His allowance for the disciples to pick grain and eat on the Sabbath. The Pharisees accused Jesus of profaning the Sabbath by allowing His disciples to pick heads of grain and eat on the sacred Seventh Day. He was more concerned for the strength of His disciples than the Pharisees’ interpretation of Sabbath-rest; He saw His disciples as worthy of the freedom the priests enjoyed in the temple—who eat on the Sabbath without condemnation. Jesus thus told the Pharisees: “I tell you something greater than the temple is here! If you had known what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent” (Mt 12.6-7). Only Jesus could employ the words of the prophet to justify His actions; “For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath” (12.8), He said

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