Hosea 12 begins: [1] Ephraim feedeth on wind, and followeth after the east wind: he daily increaseth lies and desolation; and they do make a covenant with the Assyrians, and oil is carried into Egypt.
[2] The LORD hath also a controversy with Judah, and will punish Jacob according to his ways; according to his doings will he recompense him."Followeth after the east wind. That's a great diet, isn't it? You're feeding on the wind . . . The Psalmist said, 'I fed on ashes.' When you're feeding on the wind, there's no substance; the east wind is hot air and destruction," explains Richard Jordan.
"Now, verse 2 gets all the commentators and translators' noses in a twit because the last verse in chapter 11 seems to say something different than what verse 2 in Hosea 12 says.
Hosea 11:12: [12] Ephraim compasseth me about with lies, and the house of Israel with deceit: but Judah yet ruleth with God, and is faithful with the saints.
"Ephraim is full of lies and deceit, but Judah was still faithful; they still had a believing remnant in it. The northern kingdom's going to be wiped out; judgment's coming. But Judah's still got some hope.
"What they tell you in the commentaries is that the chapter division shouldn't be where it is--that verse 12 shouldn't be left in chapter 11 and ought to be a part of chapter 12. The reason is in chapter 12:2 he says 'the Lord hath also a controversy with Judah . . . '
"They say, 'Well, how in the world can that be true if Hosea 11:12 is true? One says He's got a faithful remnant and the other one says, 'I'm going to chastise him because he's just like his sister up north.'
"One of the things you do when you read a book like Hosea is you have to remember there's a context involved in every passage.
"The Book of Hosea covers about a 50-year time period. It wasn't written in just a snap moment.
Hosea 1:1: [1] The word of the LORD that came unto Hosea, the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel.
"There's a period of time in the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah. A lot of things can change during a 50-year time period. The issue in 11:12 is that Judah, the southern kingdom, still had some faithful saints in it and you see how it says that when it says 'but Judah YET . . .'
"It isn't always going to be faithful; it's on the slide, too. Hosea is prophesying mainly to the northern kingdom but occasionally he'll mention the southern kingdom and he'll tell them, 'Judah's gonna get it too.'
"When you come to chapter 12 what you discover is the decline in the southern kingdom had become precipitous also, and while the judgment comes in the northern kingdom first . . .
"In Jeremiah 3, he tells the southern kingdom, 'You see what God did to your sister up north? You think you can get away with doing what she did and not get the same treatment? It's coming on you!'
Jeremiah 3: [6] The LORD said also unto me in the days of Josiah the king, Hast thou seen that which backsliding Israel hath done? she is gone up upon every high mountain and under every green tree, and there hath played the harlot.
[7] And I said after she had done all these things, Turn thou unto me. But she returned not. And her treacherous sister Judah saw it.[8] And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also.
"The fifth course of judgment comes on the northern kingdom first because they were completely saturated with Baal worship; it was the official religion of the state government of the northern kingdom, so He wiped them out first as a lesson to the southern kingdom."
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