Hosea 9:7

The Message

Time’s up. Doom’s at the doorstep. It’s payday! Did Israel bluster, “The prophet is crazy! The ‘man of the Spirit’ is nuts!”? Think again. Because of your great guilt, you’re in big trouble. The prophet is looking out for Ephraim, working under God’s orders. But everyone is trying to trip him up. He’s hated right in God’s house, of all places. The people are going from bad to worse, rivaling that ancient and unspeakable crime at Gibeah. God’s keeping track of their guilt. He’ll make them pay for their sins.

Cross References

2 Kings 9:11

Jehu went back out to his master’s officers. They asked, “Is everything all right? What did that crazy fool want with you?” He said, “You know that kind of man—all talk.”

Isaiah 26:11

You hold your hand up high, God, but they don’t see it. Open their eyes to what you do, to see your zealous love for your people. Shame them. Light a fire under them. Get the attention of these enemies of yours. God, order a peaceful and whole life for us because everything we’ve done, you’ve done for us. O God, our God, we’ve had other masters rule us, but you’re the only Master we’ve ever known. The dead don’t talk, ghosts don’t walk, Because you’ve said, “Enough—that’s all for you,” and wiped them off the books. But the living you make larger than life. The more life you give, the more glory you display, and stretch the borders to accommodate more living!

Isaiah 34:8

It’s God’s scheduled time for vengeance, the year all Zion’s accounts are settled. Edom’s streams will flow sluggish, thick with pollution, the soil sterile, poisoned with waste, The whole country a smoking, stinking garbage dump— The fires burning day and night, the skies black with endless smoke. Generation after generation of wasteland— no more travelers through this country! Vultures and skunks will police the streets; owls and crows will feel at home there. God will reverse creation. Chaos! He will cancel fertility. Emptiness! Leaders will have no one to lead. They’ll name it No Kingdom There, A country where all kings and princes are unemployed. Thistles will take over, covering the castles, fortresses conquered by weeds and thornbushes. Wild dogs will prowl the ruins, ostriches have the run of the place. Wildcats and hyenas will hunt together, demons and devils dance through the night. The night-demon Lilith, evil and rapacious, will establish permanent quarters. Scavenging carrion birds will breed and brood, infestations of ominous evil.

Isaiah 44:25

He makes the magicians look ridiculous and turns fortunetellers into jokes. He makes the experts look trivial and their latest knowledge look silly. But he backs the word of his servant and confirms the counsel of his messengers. He says to Jerusalem, “Be inhabited,” and to the cities of Judah, “Be rebuilt,” and to the ruins, “I raise you up.” He says to Ocean, “Dry up. I’m drying up your rivers.” He says to Cyrus, “My shepherd— everything I want, you’ll do it.” He says to Jerusalem, “Be built,” and to the Temple, “Be established.”

Jeremiah 16:18

“They won’t get by with a thing. They’ll pay double for everything they did wrong. They’ve made a complete mess of things, littering their lives with their obscene no-gods, leaving piles of stinking god-junk all over the place.”

Jeremiah 23:13

“Over in Samaria I saw prophets acting like silly fools—shocking! They preached using that no-god Baal for a text, messing with the minds of my people. And the Jerusalem prophets are even worse—horrible!— sex-driven, living a lie, Subsidizing a culture of wickedness, and never giving it a second thought. They’re as bad as those wretches in old Sodom, the degenerates of old Gomorrah.”

Lamentations 2:14

Your prophets courted you with sweet talk. They didn’t face you with your sin so that you could repent. Their sermons were all wishful thinking, deceptive illusions.

Ezekiel 13:10

“The fact is that they’ve lied to my people. They’ve said, ‘No problem; everything’s just fine,’ when things are not at all fine. When people build a wall, they’re right behind them slapping on whitewash. Tell those who are slapping on the whitewash, ‘When a torrent of rain comes and the hailstones crash down and the hurricane sweeps in and the wall collapses, what’s the good of the whitewash that you slapped on so liberally, making it look so good?’

Ezekiel 38:23

“‘I’ll show you how great I am, how holy I am. I’ll make myself known all over the world. Then you’ll realize that I am God.’”

Hosea 14:1

O Israel, come back! Return to your God! You’re down but you’re not out. Prepare your confession and come back to God. Pray to him, “Take away our sin, accept our confession. Receive as restitution our repentant prayers. Assyria won’t save us; horses won’t get us where we want to go. We’ll never again say ‘our god’ to something we’ve made or made up. You’re our last hope. Is it not true that in you the orphan finds mercy?” * * *

Amos 8:2

He said, “What do you see, Amos?” I said, “A bowl of fresh, ripe fruit.” God said, “Right. So, I’m calling it quits with my people Israel. I’m no longer acting as if everything is just fine.”