Hosea 10:9 - Meaning and Application

Here, the prophet reminds Israel of the sins of their fathers and earlier generations, because God would now call them to account for them. They had already been told, in Hosea 9:9, that they had corrupted themselves as in the days of Gibeah. Here the charge is repeated, “O Israel, you have sinned from the days of Gibeah.” That means the nation had not only copied the old evil, but had carried it on from age to age, adding to the long record of guilt.

The sense may also be, “You have sinned more than in the days of Gibeah.” Those earlier crimes were serious, but the present sins were worse. In Gibeah, the offenders stood together in their own defense, and Israel’s tribes were checked and delayed in punishing them. Yet even then, after battle, only part of the guilty were reached, and 600 men escaped. Israel in Hosea’s day should not expect better treatment, since its sin was greater.

God also gives fair warning of the judgment coming on them in Hosea 10:10. He had spared them until now, and his patience had been a test, to see whether they would turn back. But now he says that chastening is his purpose, and he will take pleasure in it. Scripture says the Lord can rejoice to bring judgment on stubborn sinners (Deuteronomy 28:63). This does not mean he delights in ruin itself, but that, since he does not want sinners to die, he does will their discipline.

The punishment would come by means of gathered enemies, just as the other tribes gathered against Benjamin at Gibeah. Some have explained the phrase about “their two furrows” to mean that, since they would not accept correction from God’s prophets, they would be corrected by foreign nations. Others understand it as their two transgressions, or as the two calves at Dan and Bethel, the false shrines Israel trusted in. The point is clear: those who refused God’s freedom would become slaves to their enemies, and they would learn the difference between serving God and serving earthly powers (2 Chronicles 12:8).

Israel’s ease and softness would not excuse them from a hard captivity, as Hosea 10:11 says. Ephraim was like a trained heifer that liked to tread out the grain, because she could eat while she worked and the task was light. But God says he will put a yoke on her fair neck. He will tame Ephraim and make her serve under the harsh rule of the Assyrians, while Judah also will be forced to plow and Jacob to break up the clods. Those who love comfort too much may justly be taught by hardship what hardship means.

Dr. Pocock understood these words differently, as describing the gentle way God had already dealt with this people to bring them into obedience. Like a farmer training cattle, God had guided Israel kindly and wisely. Ephraim had been like a teachable heifer, fit for service, and God had placed his law upon her, as a yoke that trained her for obedience. He had given them fitting duties and had used every proper means to keep them from the customs of the heathen. Yet they still would not stay in obedience, but kept turning aside.

The prophet then invites and urges them to return to God by prayer, repentance, and reform in Hosea 10:12 and Hosea 10:13. Because they are God’s field, the language comes from farming (1 Corinthians 3:9). If they do not want to be forced into slavery by oppressors, they must return to God’s service. They must break up their fallow ground, which means clearing their hearts of sinful desires, humbling themselves for their sins, and preparing themselves to receive God’s word, as plowed soil is ready for seed (Jeremiah 4:3).

They must also sow to themselves in righteousness. That means turning back to good works according to God’s law, doing what is right toward God and toward one another. They are to sow to the Spirit, as Paul says, and not to the flesh (Galatians 6:7, Galatians 6:8). Every action is like seed sown, and what is sown in righteousness will bring blessing to the one who sows it.

Above all, they must seek the Lord, asking for his grace and his blessing on all they do. A farmer plows and sows while depending on God for rain, and in the same way they must look to God for help. It is time to do this, and high time. Seeking the Lord should be our daily work, but there are special seasons, given by God’s providence and grace, when it is especially urgent to seek him. If they do their part, God will do his.

If we sow for ourselves in righteousness, if we are careful and steady in doing our duty and depend on God’s grace, he will pour out his grace on us. He will “rain righteousness” on us, which is exactly what people need most when they are trying to live rightly, because by God’s grace we are what we are. Some take this as a promise about Christ, who would come at the right time, and whose coming they needed to prepare for. He would come as the Lord our righteousness, and he would pour out that lasting righteousness he brought in, giving it to us in abundance. As Psalm 72:6 says, he will come down like rain.

If we sow in righteousness, we will reap in mercy, which matches the promise that if we sow to the Spirit, we will reap everlasting life from the Spirit. The word means we will reap in proportion to mercy. It will be a great reward, fitting the riches of God’s mercy, not something that suits us as weak creatures, but something that suits a God of endless mercy to give. It is a reward of grace, not a debt we have earned. We do not reap by merit, but by mercy. What is sown is what God gives its proper form, as he chooses.

We have plowed wickedness and reaped sin, and the time already spent in our lives should be enough for that, as Hosea 10:13 says. You have worked hard in the service of sin, toiling at it with great effort, and will you then complain about the cost of serving God and doing what will help you? You have done much to ruin your souls, so why not undo that and do something to save them? We never gain anything real from sin. They have plowed wickedness, meaning they have done sin’s hard labor, and they have reaped sin, meaning they have gotten all sin has to give. They carried it all the way to harvest, and what did it profit them? It is all a lie. They have eaten the fruit of lies, fruit that only seems good but is rotten inside. The works of darkness produce nothing lasting (Ephesians 5:11; Romans 6:21). Even sin’s gains leave the sinner unsatisfied.

As our comforts fail in sin, so do our trusts. “You trusted in your own ways, in the number of your mighty men, and leaned on creatures, your own strength and clever plans. That is why you ventured into wickedness, and your hopes fooled you. So come and seek the Lord, and your hope in him will not deceive you.” They are then warned of total ruin, both for their sinful behavior and for their sinful confidence, in Hosea 10:14-15. Because they sowed wickedness and trusted their own way, a uproar will rise among the people, through unrest at home or attack from outside. Either one would throw a kingdom into confusion, and both together would do even more.

Their cities and strong places will become prey for the enemy. The fortresses they trusted in, where they had stored their goods, will be seized and stripped bare, just as Shalman devastated Beth Arbel in battle. This points to some recent event not recorded elsewhere, and Shalman is likely Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, who had lately destroyed some town, castle, or house, Beth Arbel meaning the house of Arbel. He may have done this harshly at the start of his conquests to frighten other defenders into quick surrender. God says Samaria will be stripped in the same way.

The people will also be killed with the sword, just as at Beth Arbel. When that place was taken, the mother was dashed to pieces with her children, meaning they were both slaughtered together in the soldiers’ rage. This shows the terrible cruelty war brings. Evil has free rein. It is shocking that human beings can be so cruel, but this is what sin does. One person becomes a wolf to another, and then, by God’s grace, one person can become a lamb to another.

Even royal blood will be mixed with common blood. “In a morning shall the king of Israel utterly be cut off” (Hosea 10:15). Hoshea, the last king of Israel, marked the end of the whole kingdom, though the words may also refer to earlier kings killed by treachery. It will happen in a morning, in a very short time, as suddenly as dawn comes, or at the set time, since morning comes exactly when appointed. Or it may mean they will think the night of trouble is over and expect a new day, and then their hope will be shattered when their king is suddenly cut off, as in Hosea 10:7. Kings may seem like gods to us, but they are only men before God, and they die like men.

What caused all this ruin? What brought on the bloodshed? The answer is, “So shall Bethel do unto you” (Hosea 10:15). Bethel was the place where one of the calves stood, and Gilgal, where much of their wickedness is said to have been, was nearby. There was their great evil, the very heart and sum of their sin, and that is what brought all this on them, because it provoked God to punish them. He does not say, “So shall the king of Assyria do to you,” but, “So shall Bethel do to you.” Whatever harm comes to us, it is sin that does it. Are the fortresses ruined? Are the women and children murdered? Is the king cut off? Sin does it all. Sin destroys soul, body, property, everything. So shall Bethel do unto you. Your own wickedness corrects you, and your backsliding rebukes you.