Unfaithful Israel (Hosea 10:1-15)
This is the climax of Hosea’s series of oracles identifying the reason for Israel’s exile before offering hope in the next chapter. Again and again Hosea attempts to shock, persuade, and confront Israel with its unfaithfulness in hopes of their repentance and renewal. But Israel’s leaders—whether prophets, priests, or kings—were not listening.
They are living on past glory, but they don’t realize their glory was their shame. Sometimes what a nation glorifies is actually their shame. They became prosperous, but they turned their wealth toward idolatrous rituals, political power, military strength, and oppressive practices. Israel, the northern kingdom, is headed into exile because they did not use their prosperity to serve God but served themselves and credited other gods. They trusted in their military power and alliances rather than seeking the Lord.
Yahweh set them in the land to farrow it, plant, and reap. They had a choice to sow righteousness, reap steadfast love, and enjoy communion with God. But Israel chose to sow wickedness, reap injustice, and eat lies. Consequently, they suffered the consequences of their own choices, and their king was cut off and their calf lost its glory as it was carried to Assyria.
Prosperous but Idolatrous Israel (10:1-4)
Hosea remembers when Israel was a flourishing nation, which is particularly true under the reign of Jeroboam II. Together Israel and Judah reached the dimensions and prosperity of the reign of Solomon. It was the economic golden age for Israel during its independence from Judah.
While some translations use the present tense in Hosea 10:1 (NRSV), it is better to see this as past (NIV). There is no verb; its meaning and tense are supplied. “Israel was a spreading vine” identifies Israel’s growth period when Israel bore “fruit,” but it was a fruit “for” Israel. It was about them, their self-centeredness.
They used their prosperity to build more altars and pillars (or sacred stones). In other words, their cultic worship ritual was expanded, and we may presume that this was idolatrous in character (though the use of such shrines and pillars are known in the faithful history of Israel; cf. Exodus 20:24-26; Exodus 24:4; 1 Kings 6:20, 22). In fact, Deuteronomy 16:22 forbids the use of these tools in the service of foreign gods.
At the core is Israel’s heart. Hosea declares their heart “false” or “deceitful;” the Hebrew word literally means slippery or smooth. Their worship, even if offered to Yahweh, was not from a faithful heart. Consequently, Israel will suffer the consequences in the wake of their guilt, and God will destroy their shrines.
Instead of prosperity, Israel “now” lives with the unsettled political situation prior to the final fall of Samaria to Assyria. The political chaos of the successive assassinations of four kings renders Israel without a king—and ultimately there is no king in Israel when Assyria takes control.
Israel locates the reason for their situation—they did not fear the Lord. Consequently, their worship and civil practices (words and oaths) are meaningless. Injustice abounds and the political institutions have failed. The economic situation of the land is also chaotic through injustice, and what is growing in the land is poisonous. The fields are barren. Israel has no recourse. It will suffer its fate.
Samaria’s Idolatry (10:5-8)
Beth-Aven (10:5; cf. 4:15; 5:8) means the “House of Iniquity” or “House of Idolatry” which is a sarcastic assessment of Israel’s “house of God.” Samaria—representing Israel—had a calf (or calves in Dan and Bethel) that represented its unfaithfulness. Yet the people loved their calves and will mourn for their loss—a loss of glory, but not the glory of Yahweh; it is the glory of the false god represented by the calf. The calf (and its glory) will be carried to Assyria (Hosea 10:6) to honor the Assyrian Emperor, and by this Ephraim will be shamed by the loss of this idol. This glory contrasts with the glory of the Lord that one finds in the temple in Jerusalem. Not only has Israel lost the glory of its own idol, but more importantly it has not access to the glory of the Lord that led them out of Egypt so many years ago.
Along with the calf, Israel’s king will disappear as well. The high place where the calf sat at “Aven” will be destroy. Hosea calls it the “sin of Israel.” This also evokes the image of the calf at Mount Sinai (as in Hosea 8:6).
The contrast between the prosperity in Hosea 10:1 and the economic disaster in Hosea 10:8 is important to note. Once a flourishing vine, now the land is a place of “thorns and thistles.” The altar that was once loved is now mourned. What was once was a thing of beauty is now covered with weeds. It no longer functions. Its meaning is totally lost.
The result is that the people will say to creation itself—release us from our misery and eliminate us. They will invite the mountains to crash on top of them as in an earthquake. They will seek escape in the face of the onslaught of the Assyrian empire’s ruthless warriors.
Samaria’s Unfaithful Monarchy and Fruitless Land (10:9-15)
The reference to Gibeah in Benjamin, which was king Saul’s hometown (1 Samuel 10:26; 15:34), alludes to a time of general corruption. The “days of Gibeah” remind us of the time of the Judges when sexual violence is committed against women in Judges 19-20, and then summarized as the time when everyone did what was right in their own eyes (Judges 17:6; 21:25). Given the stories of Gibeah at the origins of Israel’s presence in the land, Israel has a track record of corruption, violence, and iniquity. This is their undoing, and God punishes them for the continuation of the evil of Gibeah in their own day.
Once Israel was a trained heifer but now their land is fruitless. Once Israel flourished, God loved Israel and cared for her as one would care for a heifer. Her neck was beautiful and appreciated; God delighted in her. Yahweh wanted Israel and Judah to plow good ground and reap righteousness and hesed (steadfast love). There was always opportunity for Israel to seek the Lord and reap God’s blessings. Judah is also included in this prospect. Hosea brings the full horizon of God’s intent to guide Jacob (all 12 tribes) into righteousness as they dwelt in the land God gave them.
But the situation has changed. Israel sowed evil and reaped injustice rather than righteousness. Consequently, “the tumult of war” came to the people of Israel. Their leaders failed them. This is happening “because” Israel trusted in their “power,” particularly the size of their military.
We don’t know the historical context of the reference to Shalman (perhaps a shortened form of the Emperor Shalmaneser V or III, or a Moabite king named Salamanu but it is uncertain) destroying Beth-Arbel, which was probably located in east side of the Jordan or may have been near the lake of Galilee. Whatever it was, its horror was astonishing since it involved the death of mothers and their children. The incident evokes terror in the memory of Israel. This is probably a literal reference unlike what we saw earlier in Hosea. Their deaths are the evidence of war’s insanity and a prospect for the future. What was experienced at Beth-Arbel is coming to Israel by the hand of Assyria. What happened at Beth-Arbel will happen to Bethel, where one of the calves was located.
Therefore, there will be no more king in Israel. The land will be lost, and the people will be exiled. The nation will no longer exist.
But does this mean God is finished with Israel forever? Has God forgotten them? Hosea 11 answers that question.