Hosea Chapter 12
Ancient Jacob and Modern Israel
A. The deeply rooted deceit of Israel.
1. Hosea 12:1
“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.”
a. Ephraim feedeth on wind.
The Lord exposes the emptiness of Israel’s political and spiritual strategy. To feed on the wind is to seek sustenance where none exists. Israel pursued idols, foreign alliances, and human schemes expecting security, prosperity, and stability, yet all such pursuits were hollow. Wind cannot nourish, sustain, or strengthen. What Israel trusted in could not support them in crisis, discipline, or judgment.
b. And followeth after the east wind.
The east wind in the ancient Near East was especially destructive, bringing heat, drought, and devastation. Israel’s pursuits were not merely empty, they were actively harmful. What they chased did not merely fail to help them, it accelerated their ruin. Instead of repentance and reliance upon the Lord, they pursued policies and alliances that increased judgment rather than prevented it.
c. He daily increaseth lies and desolation.
This describes a steady, habitual pattern. Israel’s national life was built on deception, false worship, and political maneuvering. Lies multiplied, and desolation followed as a natural consequence. Spiritual dishonesty produces moral decay, and moral decay leads inevitably to national collapse.
d. They do make a covenant with the Assyrians, and oil is carried into Egypt.
Israel attempted to survive by playing rival superpowers against one another. Assyria represented military dominance, while Egypt symbolized economic leverage. Oil was a valuable trade commodity, used as tribute or bribe. Instead of trusting the covenant keeping God, Israel trusted treaties, payments, and diplomacy. This was spiritual adultery, replacing faith in the Lord with dependence upon human power.
2. Hosea 12:2–6
“The LORD hath also a controversy with Judah, and will punish Jacob according to his ways, according to his doings will he recompense him.
He took his brother by the heel in the womb, and by his strength he had power with God,
Yea, he had power over the angel, and prevailed, he wept, and made supplication unto him, he found him in Bethel, and there he spake with us,
Even the LORD God of hosts, the LORD is his memorial.
Therefore turn thou to thy God, keep mercy and judgment, and wait on thy God continually.”
a. The LORD hath also a controversy with Judah.
Though Hosea’s primary focus is Israel, Judah is not exempt from accountability. God’s covenant standards apply to all His people. He brings a charge against the entire nation descended from Jacob, judging each according to their deeds. Heritage offers no immunity from divine discipline.
b. He took his brother by the heel in the womb.
God reaches back to the origin of the nation, to Jacob himself. Jacob’s name and character were formed at birth. Grasping Esau’s heel symbolized deceit, manipulation, and striving to gain advantage by human effort. In Israel’s culture, a heel catcher was one who advanced himself through trickery. God’s point is clear. The nation had inherited not only Jacob’s blessings but also his tendencies. What marked Jacob early marked Israel still.
c. By his strength he had power with God.
This refers to Jacob’s encounter with the Man at Peniel.
Genesis 32:24–26
“And Jacob was left alone, and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.
And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh, and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him.
And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.”
Jacob resisted submission until God physically broke him. His strength failed, yet in that brokenness he encountered grace.
d. He had power over the angel and prevailed, he wept, and made supplication unto him.
Hosea adds inspired detail not emphasized in Genesis. Jacob wept. His victory was not achieved by strength but by surrender. He prevailed because he clung to God in desperation, knowing he could not win, survive, or continue without divine blessing. This is the paradox of spiritual victory. We prevail when we stop resisting and submit fully.
e. He found him in Bethel.
Bethel was the place of divine revelation and covenant promise.
Genesis 28:13–15
“And, behold, the LORD stood above it, and said, I am the LORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac, the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed.
And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south, and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.
And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land, for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.”
The same God who confronted Jacob in deception also spoke promises of grace and faithfulness.
f. Therefore turn thou to thy God.
The application is direct and unavoidable. Israel must return to God in the same way Jacob ultimately did, broken, dependent, and clinging to divine mercy. Repentance is not merely regret, it is a return marked by changed conduct.
g. Keep mercy and judgment, and wait on thy God continually.
True repentance produces visible fruit. Mercy reflects covenant love toward others, judgment reflects righteousness and obedience, and waiting on God reflects faith and dependence. Israel’s problem was not ignorance but refusal. God calls them back to covenant living rooted in humility and trust.
B. Judgment promised against a confident Israel.
1. Hosea 12:7–11
“He is a merchant, the balances of deceit are in his hand, he loveth to oppress.
And Ephraim said, Yet I am become rich, I have found me out substance, in all my labours they shall find none iniquity in me that were sin.
And I that am the LORD thy God from the land of Egypt will yet make thee to dwell in tabernacles, as in the days of the solemn feast.
I have also spoken by the prophets, and I have multiplied visions, and used similitudes, by the ministry of the prophets.
Is there iniquity in Gilead? surely they are vanity, they sacrifice bullocks in Gilgal, yea, their altars are as heaps in the furrows of the fields.”
a. He is a merchant, the balances of deceit are in his hand.
The word translated merchant carries the idea of a Canaanite trader, a term that had become synonymous with dishonest commerce. God accuses Israel of behaving like pagan traffickers, using deceitful scales and unjust business practices. Their economic success was built on exploitation and oppression rather than righteousness. Wealth gained without justice is exposed by God as moral corruption, not blessing.
b. Yet I am become rich, I have found me out substance.
Israel’s confidence rested in material prosperity. Economic success blinded them to spiritual decay. They interpreted wealth as proof of innocence and divine approval. Their statement reveals self justification. They claimed moral purity on the basis of financial achievement, insisting that no sin could be found in them. This is a classic deception, equating prosperity with righteousness and mistaking comfort for covenant faithfulness.
c. In all my labours they shall find none iniquity in me that were sin.
Israel redefined sin to excuse itself. What God called oppression, deceit, and idolatry, they dismissed as acceptable practice. This verse exposes the danger of a seared conscience. When a society prospers materially, it often convinces itself that it cannot be under judgment. Hosea declares that such confidence is false and fleeting.
d. I am the LORD thy God from the land of Egypt.
God reasserts His covenant authority. He reminds Israel that their identity and survival were founded on divine redemption, not commerce or alliances. The God who brought them out of Egypt has not changed, and He retains the right to discipline His people when they abandon Him.
e. I will yet make thee to dwell in tabernacles.
Israel enjoyed permanent homes, wealth, and stability, but God promised to strip them of these comforts. Dwelling in tents recalls both the wilderness wanderings and the Feast of Tabernacles, a time meant to remind Israel of dependence upon God. Judgment would force them back into a condition of humility and dependence, reversing their prosperity.
f. I have also spoken by the prophets.
God emphasizes that judgment is not sudden or unjust. He repeatedly warned Israel through prophets, visions, and symbolic actions. Divine revelation was abundant, clear, and persistent. Israel’s guilt is magnified because they rejected sustained prophetic warning.
g. Their altars are as heaps in the furrows of the field.
Gilead and Gilgal were centers of idolatrous worship. Though Israel erected many altars, God declared them worthless. Their supposed sacred sites would be reduced to rubble, indistinguishable from common field stones. Pagan altars built to exalt false gods would be leveled in judgment. What men exalt against God will be brought low.
2. Hosea 12:12–14
“And Jacob fled into the country of Syria, and Israel served for a wife, and for a wife he kept sheep.
And by a prophet the LORD brought Israel out of Egypt, and by a prophet was he preserved.
Ephraim provoked him to anger most bitterly, therefore shall he leave his blood upon him, and his reproach shall his Lord return unto him.”
a. Jacob fled into the country of Syria.
Hosea again draws from Israel’s patriarchal history. Jacob’s flight to Syria was a time of humiliation, labor, and dependence. He worked as a servant to obtain a wife, tending sheep in obscurity. This history foreshadows Israel’s coming exile. Just as Jacob was forced away from the land through his own deception, Israel would be driven into exile because of persistent rebellion.
b. By a prophet the LORD brought Israel out of Egypt.
God contrasts Jacob’s lowliness with Israel’s redemption. Israel did not rise by its own strength. God delivered and preserved the nation through prophetic leadership, particularly through Moses.
Exodus 3:10
“Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt.”
Israel owed its existence to divine intervention, not human ingenuity.
c. Ephraim provoked Him to anger most bitterly.
Despite God’s faithfulness, Israel responded with defiance, idolatry, and violence. Their provocation was deliberate and repeated. They resisted correction and despised prophetic warning.
d. Therefore shall He leave his blood upon him, and his reproach shall his Lord return unto him.
Judgment would be personal and unavoidable. God would no longer remove their guilt or shield them from consequences. The reproach of slavery, shame, and subjugation would return upon them. What Israel had forgotten in prosperity would be relearned through discipline. God’s patience does not cancel accountability. When repentance is refused, judgment remains.
