Book of Hosea Chapter 12 Vs. 1

 

Ephraim feedeth on wind, and followeth after the east wind: he daily increaseth lies and desolation; and they do make a covenant with the Assyrians, and oil is carried into Egypt. Hos. 12:1

feedeth on wind... The alliances of Ephraim with other nations were as wind that is soon passed and gone. The nation’s sins increased daily, including lies and deceit (Hos. 11:12). The picture is graphic, for Israel has given itself to feeding on what will not nourish it (idolatry), and the result is an increase in lies and desolation.

the east wind... The east wind was symbolic of the eastern alliances—agreements with the Assyrians. The east wind, refers to the sirocco, a hot, dry wind coming from the eastern desert and causing great devastation in the land. Israel’s attempted alliances with heathen neighbors were of no worth. This prophecy was delivered at about the time of Israel’s seeking the aid of the Egyptian king.

oil is carried... Oil was carried into Egypt to seek their favor and help against the Assyrians.

In this chapter, we see again that God is reminding Ephraim of their faults. The worst thing they did, besides worshipping false gods, was the fact they made a treaty with a worldly country.

THE FINAL ARGUMENT

The impassioned call with which the last chapter closed was by no means an assurance of salvation: How am I to give thee, up, Ephraim? how am I to let thee go, Israel? On the contrary, it was the anguish of Love, when it hovers over its own on the brink of the destruction to which their willfulness has led them, and before relinquishing them would seek, if possible, some last way to redeem. Surely that fatal morrow and the people’s mad leap into it are not inevitable! At least, before they take the leap, let the prophet go back once more upon the moral situation of today, go back once more upon the past of the people, and see if he can find anything else to explain that bias to apostasy (Hos. 11:7) which has brought them to this fatal brink-anything else which may move them to repentance even there. So in chapters 12 and 13 Hosea turns upon the now familiar trail of his argument, full of the Divine jealousy, determined to give the people one other chance to turn; but if they will not, he at least will justify God’s relinquishment of them. The chapters throw even a brighter light upon the temper and habits of that generation. They again explore Israel’s ancient history for causes of the present decline; and, in especial, they cite the spiritual experience of the Father of the Nation, as if to show that what of repentance was possible for him is possible for his posterity also. But once more all hope is seen to be in vain; and Hosea’s last travail with his obstinate people closes in a doom even more awful than its predecessors.

The division into chapters is probably correct; but while chapter 13 is well ordered and clear, the arrangement, and, in parts, the meaning of chapter 12 are very obscure.

THE PEOPLE AND THEIR FATHER JACOB

In no part even of the difficult Book of Hosea does the sacred text bristle with more problems. It may well be doubted whether the verses lie in their proper order, or, if they do, whether we have them entire as they came from the prophet, for the connection is not always perceptible.

Israel’s unfaithfulness found expression in social injustice (she multiplies lies and violence; cf. Hos. 4:2; 7:1) and in foreign alliances with Assyria and Egypt (cf. Hos. 5:13; 7:8, 7:11; 8:8-9; 2Kgs. 17:3-4). Olive oil was either used in the covenant-making ceremony or given as a token of allegiance. All this activity was futile and self-destructive, as the references to feeding on and pursuing the wind suggest (cf. Hos. 8:7; 13:15).