SCRIPTURE: HOSEA 9
PUNISHMENT FOR ISRAEL
- They will not remain in the Lord’s land. Ephraim will return to Egypt and eat unclean food in Assyria. (v. 3)
- They will not pour out wine offerings to the Lord nor will their sacrifices please him. (v. 4)
- Egypt will gather them, and Memphis will bury them. (v. 6a)
- Their treasures of silver will be taken over by briers, and thorns will overrun their tents. (v. 6b)
- The days of punishments are coming and the days of reckoning are at hand because of their great hostility and sins. (v. 7)
- The have sunk deep into corruption. (v. 9)
- Ephraim’s glory will fly away like a bird – no birth, no pregnancy, no conception. (v. 11)
- Ephraim will bring out their children to the slayer. (v. 13)
- God will drive them out of His house and no longer love them because of their sinful deeds and rebellious attitude. (v. 15)
- Ephraim is blighted, their root is withered, they yield no fruit. (v. 16a)
- If they bear children, God will slay their cherished offspring. (v. 16b)
THOUGHTS
“Ephraim” means “twice fruitful”. Hosea used it as the basis for his message. Ephraim would no longer be known as the fruitful land because they will have no fruitful harvest as God’s judgment was coming. They had miscarrying wombs. They had no children because their children would only worship idols and they will be murdered by the Assyrian invaders.