Book of Hosea Chapter 10 Vs. 1

 

ONCE MORE: PUPPET-KINGS AND PUPPET-GODS

Israel is an empty vine, he bringeth forth fruit unto himself: according to the multitude of his fruit he hath increased the altars; according to the goodness of his land they have made goodly images. Hos 10:1

Israel is an... The 12th prophecy in Hosea (Hos. 10:1-15, fulfilled). Next, Hos. 11:1.

Twenty Predictions—Fulfilled:

1. He will break down their altars (Hos. 10:2).

2. He will spoil their images.

3. They will say, We have no king, because we feared not the Lord (Hos. 10:3).

4. Judgment will spring up as hemlock in the furrows of the field (Hos. 10:4).

5. The inhabitants of Samaria will fear because of the calves of Beth-aven (Hos. 10:5).

6. It will be removed from them.

7. It will be carried into Assyria for a present to King Jareb (Hos. 10:6).

8. Ephraim will receive shame.

9. Israel will be ashamed of his own counsel.

10. The king of Samaria will be cut off as the foam upon the water (Hos. 10:7).

11.The high places of sin in Israel will be destroyed (Hos. 10:8).

12. Thorns and thistles will come up on their altars.

13. They will say to the mountains, Cover us; and to the hills, Fall on us.

14. I will make Ephraim to ride (Hos. 10:11).

15. Judah will plow.

16.Jacob will break clods.

17. A tumult will arise among the people.

18. All the fortresses shall be spoiled, as Shalman spoiled Beth-arbel in the day of battle (Hos. 10:14).

19. So will Bethel do unto you, because of your great wickedness (Hos. 10:15).

20. In the morning the king will be utterly cut off. This was literally fulfilled when the ten tribes were taken into Assyrian captivity (2Kgs. 17:1-41).

empty vine, he... Ephraim was compared to an empty vine because of bringing forth fruit only for himself, and his fruit being sinful.

bringeth forth fruit... Ten Reasons for the Destruction of Ephraim

1. Bringing forth fruit to himself (Hos. 10:1)

2. Making many altars

3. Making many images

4. A divided heart (Hos. 10:2)

5. No fear of God (Hos. 10:3)

6.Swearing falsely (Hos. 10:4)

7. Sodomy (Hos. 10:9)

8. Idolatry his worship (Hos. 10:10)

9. Wickedness (Hos. 10:13, 10:15)

10. Trusting in his own way and in the multitude of mighty men (Hos. 10:13)

“Agricultural prosperity had resulted in spiritual corruption" (Eze. 16:10-19).

Israel is the vine spoken of here. Israel is like a vine that empties out all of its good fruit. We saw in the previous lesson, where God had cursed the womb, and they produced no children. We see the very thing here, when God removes His blessing from a people, their crops and fruit do not produce. These goodly images were probably, to Baal. They have left the worship of the One True God for false gods.

For another section, the tenth chapter, the prophet returns to the twin targets of his scorn: the idols and the puppet-kings. But few notes are needed. Observe the reiterated connection between the fertility of the land and the idolatry of the people.

A wanton vine is Israel; he lavishes his fruit; the more his fruit, the more he made his altars; the goodlier his land, the more goodly he made his macceboth, or sacred pillars.

Israel’s double sin punished

As in Hos. 9:10 this prophecy employs a botanical metaphor in referring to Israel’s earlier history. The Lord planted Israel like a vine in the land of Canaan and blessed her with fruit (i.e., prosperity; cf. Psm. 80:8-11; Jer. 2:21; Eze. 19:10-11). However, as the nation prospered she erroneously attributed her success to false gods rather than the Lord (cf. Hos. 2:8; Deut. 8:8-20). At the same time the people attempted to maintain a semblance of devotion to the God of Israel. The altars mentioned here probably refer to this hypocritical formalism (cf. Hos. 6:6; 8:11-13), while sacred stones allude to idolatry (cf. Hos. 3:4; 10:2).