CHAPTER TWELVE

THE LORD’S REVELATION OF HIMSELF TO ISRAEL

Hosea 12 shows God’s revelation to Israel by the prophetic ministry



“Ephraim feedeth on wind, and followeth after the east wind” (v1). “They have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind” (8:7). Israel made a covenant with Assyria (2 Kings 17:4) but broke it, then tried to bribe Egypt (Isaiah 30:6–7, 57:9), to no avail. Their lies would end in their total desolation (v1). God would punish Jacob [unregenerate Israel] by their own misdeeds: they would reap what they had sown (v2, Galatians 6:7). “He is a merchant” (v7) [ ïò⇐ð⇐ÍX kenaan, same word as the country Canaan], meaning they were not worthy to be called Israel because of their dishonesty in business, their love of oppression (v7), their self-righteousness (v8).

Israel born out of prophecy

   “I have also spoken by the prophets, and I have multiplied visions, and used similitudes, by the ministry of the prophets” (v10). They were oblivious of God, totally lacking in the consciousness of their relationship to Him. But their ancestor Jacob took his brother by the heel in the womb, and by his strength had power with God (v3, see Genesis 25:26; 32:24–30). He found God at Bethel (v4, Genesis 28:10–22, 35:9–15): there his name was changed to Israel [ ìà1øDaggerÚdaggeré¸ ruling with God], which name the nation bore. There at Bethel, now the centre of pagan idolatry, God had spoken with them, He who was revealed to them as as Yahweh [ äåäé ], the Eternal God, the I AM (5, cf Exodus 3:13–15). Israel came into existence by prophecy, and God had never ceased to reveal Himself through the prophetic ministry (2 Kings 17:13).

The promise of Messiah

   “The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto Him ye shall hearken” (Deuteronomy 18:15). “There shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel” (Numbers 24:17). “The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come” (Genesis 49:10). “And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots” (Isaiah 11:1). “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counseller, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6).

The prophet like unto Moses

   “But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall He come forth unto Me that is to be ruler in Israel” (Micah 5:2). “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for He hath visited and redeemed His people, and hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of His servant David” (Luke 1:68–69). Jesus is the prophet like unto Moses, the Saviour and Deliverer of His people, and Mediator of the New Covenant (Hebrews 8:6, 9:15).


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