Scripture Reference: Hosea 11-14
2. God’s Disciplines in the Present – Continued
Please read Hosea 12:1-13.16 for the background to this section.
The example of discipline (Hosea 12:2–6, 12) – continued. In obedience to God’s command, Jacob left Shechem and went to Bethel (Genesis 35), for it was at Bethel that he had first met the Lord years before (Genesis 28:10–22). There God had revealed Himself and given Jacob promises for himself and his descendants, and there Jacob had made solemn vows to the Lord. Actually, the return to Bethel was a new spiritual beginning for his whole family; for Jacob commanded them to abandon their foreign gods and worship Jehovah alone. It does a family good to experience this kind of dedication. Alexander Whyte said that the victorious Christian life is a series of new beginnings, and he was right.
But the Bethel experience also included some pain, for it was on that journey that Jacob’s beloved wife Rachel died in giving birth to Benjamin (Genesis 35:16–22). She called the boy Ben-Oni, which means “son of my sorrow”; but by faith, Jacob renamed him Benjamin, “son of my right hand.” (These two names suggest the two aspects of our Lord’s life and ministry, a Man of Sorrows and the resurrected Son exalted to the Father’s right hand.)
The divine title “Lord God of hosts [armies]” in verse 5 reminds us of Jacob’s experience at Mahanaim when he was about to meet his brother Esau (Genesis 32). Mahanaim means “the two camps,” for Jacob saw an army of angels watching over his camp. He was afraid of Esau and tried to appease him with gifts instead of trusting the Lord to deliver him. After all, didn’t God promise to care for Jacob and bring him safely back to Bethel? It was there that the angel of God wrestled with Jacob and “broke” him.
Jacob’s experiences getting a wife and raising a family are examples of God’s loving discipline (Genesis 29–30). In order to get the family blessing, Jacob had schemed and lied to his father Isaac, but now Laban would scheme and lie to Jacob in order to marry off two daughters in one week! Trying to please two wives, only one of whom he really loved, and trying to raise a large family, brought many burdens to Jacob, but he persisted, and God blessed him and made him a wealthy man. However, during those difficult years, Jacob suffered much (Genesis 31:36–42), yet the Lord was working out His purposes.
The reasons for discipline (Hosea 12:7–13:6). Now Hosea names some of the sins that His people had committed. Some of these he has dealt with before, so there’s no need to discuss them in detail.
He begins with dishonesty in business, defrauding people so as to make more money. Their prosperity led to pride, the kind of self-sufficiency that says, “We don’t need God” (see Revelation 3:17). But the Lord warned that He would humble them. Instead of enjoying their houses, they would live in tents as they did during their wilderness journey. When the Assyrians were through with Israel, the Jews would be grateful even for the booths they lived in for a week during the Feast of Tabernacles.
The prophets God sent had warned the people, but the people wouldn’t listen. They turned from the Word of the living God and practiced idolatry. This provoked God to anger, and the way they shed innocent blood provoked Him even more. (On Gilead’s wickedness, see Hosea 6:8–9).
Hosea singled out the arrogant attitude of the tribe of Ephraim. The name “Ephraim” is found thirty-seven times in Hosea’s prophecy. Sometimes “Ephraim” is a synonym for the whole Northern Kingdom, but here the prophet was addressing the tribe of Ephraim in particular. Ephraim and Manasseh were the sons of Joseph whom Jacob “adopted” and whose birth order he reversed (Genesis 48). Manasseh was the firstborn, but Jacob gave that honor to Ephraim.
The people of Ephraim felt they were an important tribe that deserved to be listened to and obeyed. After all, Joshua came from Ephraim (Numbers 13:8) and so did the first king of the Northern Kingdom, Jeroboam I (1 Kings 11:26). The tabernacle of testimony was pitched in Shiloh which was in Ephraim (Joshua 18:1). In their arrogance, the tribe of Ephraim created problems for both Gideon (Judges 7:24–25; 8:1–3) and Jephthah (Judges 12:1–6).
To Be Continued
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD 
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