Book of Hosea Chapter 7 Vs. 16

 THE CONFUSION OF THE NATION

They return, but not to the most High: they are like a deceitful bow: their princes shall fall by the sword for the rage of their tongue: this shall be their derision in the land of Egypt. Hos. 7:16

They return, but... They return to their own idols and false gods and not to the living God.

like a deceitful bow... They are like a deceitful bow that disappoints the user, and cannot be depended upon. A deceitful bow has every appearance of being good, but the arrows that it propels miss the intended target. God has wonderful things for Israel, but they have continuously mistaken His favor for favoritism and have misused His blessings for their own ends.

For the rage... Hebrew: za‛am, used often of the wrath of God, but in this passage it is used of the rage and foaming anger of man against God. According to Jeremiah, the nearer their destruction came the more madly the leaders and false prophets of Judah whipped up contradictions against what God had said, securing the people under their lies until their utter destruction. The princes of Judah were singled out for the wrath of Nebuchadnezzar because of this stubborn resistance (Jer. 52:10). This same thing took place in Ephraim perhaps, for here it is revealed that they also had been singled out for destruction. A similar situation prevailed at the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 when the leaders and defenders of the city, maddened by their own curse, poured out the rage of their tongue against the Redeemer whose blood they chose to be upon them and their children (Mat. 27:25).

this shall be... Their boasting of help from Egypt and their failure to get such help in the time of need against the Assyrians became their derision, mockery, laughter, or cause of ridicule. In Egypt they trusted, and by Egypt they were ridiculed because of their fall. It was like the man who lives in a society which mocks at those who once trusted in it, courted its favors, and served and preferred it to God. Such are the wages of sin, as so ably expressed by Isaiah when he spoke of the strength of Pharaoh being the shame of Judah, and the trust in Egypt being their confusion (Isa. 33:3-5).

The military language here probably alludes to the victories the Lord had given His people in battle (2Kgs. 14:25-28).

Their denying God got them into the difficulty they were in. A deceitful bow is one that sends an arrow in another direction other than to the target. You may aim at one thing, and hit another with a deceitful bow. You cannot trust that bow. They have missed the target. They are not even smart enough to come back to God for help. They have returned to their idol worship. Derision means speak unintelligibly.

So fickle and sensitive to fear, they turn indeed but not upwards; no God-ward conversion theirs. In their repentance they are like a bow which swerves off upon some impulse of their ill-balanced natures. Their princes must fall by the sword because of the bitterness-we should have expected falseness-of their tongue: this is their scorn in the land of Egypt!

Israel’s hostility toward the Lord was an expression of her unfaithfulness. Israel was like a faulty bow. Such a weapon is unreliable because it fails to respond properly to the archer. In the same way Israel’s hostile response to God’s grace demonstrated her unreliable, disloyal character (cf. Psm. 78:57).

The nation’s leaders, who had rejected their true source of strength (cf. Hos. 7:15), would be destroyed in battle because of their pride. Insolent words refers to a formal denunciation or curse. Israel’s rejection of divine aid (cf. Hos. 7:13) in favor of foreign alliances is compared to a verbal reproach against God. Ironically Israel would become an object of derision among the Egyptians, whose aid they had foolishly sought (cf. Hos. 7:11).