Daily Devotions
Hosea
"Aliens have devoured his strength"
Text: Hosea 7:9
STRENGTH SAPPED AWAY
Every nation must have strength in order to survive. The danger is when strength is sapped away and the leaders of the nation are not even aware of this peril.
“Ephraim has mixed himself among the peoples;
Ephraim is a cake unturned.
Aliens have devoured his strength,
But he does not know it;
Yes, gray hairs are here and there on him,
Yet he does not know it.”
Hosea 7:8-9
1. Ephraim
a) It may refer to the tribe.
b) It may be used to represent the nation of Israel.
c) In this context, the latter is in mind.
2. “Ephraim has mixed himself among the peoples”
a) The word “peoples” here is a reference to Gentile nations.
b) Israel felt that this was the way to go, to make the kingdom grow stronger and richer.
3. “Ephraim is a cake unturned”
a) A cake obviously has more than one side.
b) A cake needed to be turned in order for it to be baked properly.
c) An unturned cake will likely be burned in the process of time.
d) Israel had been so focused on mixing with alien nations that it had forgotten that there was another side.
e) The spiritual side of Israel was not looked into at all.
4. “Aliens have devoured his strength, but he does not know it”
a) Israel may have benefitted a little economically from Gentile allies.
b) But Gentiles gained much more than they gave Israel.
c) These Gentile nations devoured the strength of the nation ultimately and Israel remained ignorant.
5. “Yes, gray hairs are here and there on him, yet he does not know it”
a) Israel had grown gray hairs to symbolize the fact that the kingdom was growing old and weak.
b) Israel remained ignorant of its waning strength.
c) Like a person growing older, Israel was also becoming weaker and more fragile.
The sad reality was that the kingdom did not know that it was getting weaker all the time.