Book of Hosea Chapter 11 Vs. 8

 The Lord's Love for Israel

How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? how shall I deliver thee, Israel? how shall I make thee as Admah? how shall I set thee as Zeboim? mine heart is turned within me, my repentings are kindled together. Hos. 11:8

How shall I... Questions 7-10. Next, Hos. 12:11.

thee as Admah?... as Zeboim. These two cities were some that had been destroyed with Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen. 14:2, 14:8). Here God’s compassion went out to Ephraim; He did not want to destroy him also. The word Admah means earthy. Zeboim means gazelles.

heart is turned... God’s heart was so moved within Him with repentings (compassions) for Ephraim that He was torn between two decisions: to destroy or not destroy. Ephraim was so sinful there was nothing left to do but destroy; hence the pleadings of God for the nation to seek Him and do that which was right so that He would not need to bring judgment. Jehovah was under obligation to destroy if sin continued, as is always the case regarding any man or nation whether under law or grace.

My repentings are... They were like wild animals, which were difficult to tame. God obviously loved Ephraim and Israel. He was like a loving parent that kept going back and forgiving them. They deserve to be totally destroyed, but God cannot bring Himself to do that. His heart is still upon them. God, even now, repents of the terrible punishment He had planned for them. Instead of total destruction, they are scattered. God never completely gives up on them. In the time of Jesus, He reaches out to them again.

John 11:54 "Jesus therefore walked no more openly among the Jews; but went thence unto a country near to the wilderness, into a city called Ephraim, and there continued with his disciples."

Yet God is God, and though prophecy fail He will attempt His love once more. There follows the greatest passage in Hosea-deepest if not highest of his book-the breaking forth of that exhaustless mercy of the Most High which no sin of man can bar back nor wear out.

How am I to give thee up, O Ephraim?

How am I to let thee go, O Israel?

How am I to give thee up?

Am I to make an Admah of thee a Seboim?

My heart is turned upon Me,

My compassions begin to boil:

I will not perform the fierceness of Mine anger,

I will not turn to destroy Ephraim;

For God am I and not man,

The Holy One in the midst of thee, yet I come not to consume!

Such a love has been the secret of Hosea’s persistence through so many years with so faithless a people, and now, when he has failed, it takes voice to itself and in its irresistible fullness makes this last appeal. Once more before the end let Israel hear God in the utterness of His Love!

The Lord’s Compassion Renewed

As in earlier sections of this prophecy, Hosea’s message of judgment concludes with an abrupt shift to a message of salvation (cf. 1:10-2:1; 2:14-3:5; 5:15-6:3). These verses should not be understood as a decision to withhold the judgment threatened uncompromisingly throughout the book. Instead, the words are a divine response to Israel’s suffering and exile. The Lord would not totally abandon Israel. The effects of His wrath would be tempered by His compassion, and He would ultimately call His people back from exile.

The Lord’s love for Israel

One of the Bible’s strongest expressions of divine emotion is in these verses. As God reflected on the severe judgment that His wrath would bring on Israel, He suddenly burst out with four rhetorical questions. They indicate that He would never completely desert His people. Admah and Zeboiim, which were annihilated along with Sodom and Gomorrah (Deut. 29:23; cf. Gen. 10:19; 14:2, 14:8), were symbols of complete divine destruction.