The Book of Hosea: Chapter 7

Further descriptions of Israel's (Ephraim's) wickednes...

Verse 2

I like how it says "their own doings have beset them about". For Ephraim and for us, many times we place our own sins as stumbling blocks in front of us.

Verse 7

This verse says "there is none among them that calleth unto me". It appears here that the entire Northern Kingdom of Ephraim (Israel) had turned against the Lord.

Verse 8

The Lord described Israel as a "cake not turned". Because Ephraim was so idolatrous due to mixing in with other heathen nations, they had not completely fulfilled the requisites for the conquest of Canaan. This would basically describe them as half-baked. We can all apply this to our own assignments and callings. We can't simply start out great and let the excitement fizzle. We have to be "finishers" as President Monson says. In Hosea's day, cakes were baked upon red-hot stones. The cakes would bake on one side and then they needed to be turned over to bake on the other side. If the baker forgot to turn the cake, one side would not be cooked and one side would be burnt. The Lord was telling Israel (Ephraim) that their lifestyles, due to the heathen rituals and idolatry, was causing their progression to be stopped and damage was being done to them. They did not obey the Lord's full commandment of ridding themselves of all heathen nations, therefore the idolatry found it's way into their midst and they would suffer spiritually because of it.

Verse 9-11

When the Lord says "they call to Egypt, they go to Assyria" he means that Ephraim was looking to worldly powers and worldly strength to deliver them. The would trust in worldly armies before they would trust in God. Hosea believed, and tried to convince others, that God would protect them if they trusted and loved him. Specifically, Ephraim had paid tribute to Egypt and Assyria, weakening their own economy.

Verse 14

The LDS Old Testament manual says that the people crying for corn and wine means that they would use these things to cope, or take away the hurt. They would not pray to God for help, but instead would use worldly means to try and cope.

Verse 16

The Lord describes Ephraim as a "deceitful bow". Stringing a bow can be dangerous and a deceitful bow is one that flies back or breaks during stringing, and hits the archer. This coincides with the "backsliding heifer" analogy. The archer is trying to do something constructive with the bow, but the bow reacts negatively and resists.

The rest of the chapter describes how Ephraim had turned from the Lord and nothing seemed to soften their hearts. Because of this the Lord said their princes would fall by the sword. Ephraim's hearts were set upon idolatry and worldliness therefore they would have no protection from the Lord.