Hosea Chapter 7
The Oven, the Bread, and the Dove
A. A heart like an oven
1. (Hosea 7:1–3) The sinful ignorance and willful blindness of Israel.
Hosea 7:1–3 (KJV)
“When I would have healed Israel, then the iniquity of Ephraim was discovered, and the wickedness of Samaria, for they commit falsehood, and the thief cometh in, and the troop of robbers spoileth without.
And they consider not in their hearts that I remember all their wickedness, now their own doings have beset them about, they are before my face.
They make the king glad with their wickedness, and the princes with their lies.”
The LORD begins by revealing His gracious intention. When I would have healed Israel shows that restoration was genuinely offered. God was not reluctant to forgive, nor hesitant to heal the nation spiritually and nationally. Yet at the very moment healing was extended, Israel’s sin was uncovered. Ephraim’s iniquity and Samaria’s wickedness rose to the surface. This exposure was not new information to God but a manifestation of entrenched corruption that refused to repent. Fraud, theft, and organized robbery were commonplace. Sin had become both personal and systemic, embedded in daily life and public culture.
The core problem is then identified. They consider not in their hearts that I remember all their wickedness. Israel deliberately suppressed the awareness of God’s omniscience. This was not ignorance but willful blindness. The people and their leaders chose to live as though God neither saw nor remembered their sin. Yet the LORD declares that their deeds surround them and stand openly before His face. Nothing was hidden. Secret sin before men was public sin before God.
This same self deception persists in every age. People convince themselves that God does not see private immorality, habitual sin, or secret rebellion. They compartmentalize their lives, practicing sin during the week and religious formality on holy days, imagining that God is deceived by outward profession. Scripture consistently condemns this delusion. Proverbs 15:3 (KJV) declares, “The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.”
There is, however, a glorious contrast under the New Covenant. Jeremiah 31:34 (KJV) promises, “For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” God does not forget sin through time, denial, or ritual, but only through atonement. Only the substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus Christ causes God to remember sin no more. Apart from repentance and atonement, sin remains fully remembered and fully exposed.
The section closes by showing how corruption had infected leadership. They make the king glad with their wickedness and princes with their lies. Political leaders benefited from deception, violence, and immorality. The throne was stabilized by sin rather than righteousness. This likely refers to the period of repeated coups and assassinations during Hosea’s ministry, when kings were removed violently and replaced through intrigue and treachery. National leadership mirrored national sin.
2. (Hosea 7:4–7) Israel’s heart is inflamed after idols.
Hosea 7:4–7 (KJV)
“They are all adulterers, as an oven heated by the baker, who ceaseth from raising after he hath kneaded the dough, until it be leavened.
In the day of our king the princes have made him sick with bottles of wine, he stretched out his hand with scorners.
For they have made ready their heart like an oven, whilst they lie in wait, their baker sleepeth all the night, in the morning it burneth as a flaming fire.
They are all hot as an oven, and have devoured their judges, all their kings are fallen, there is none among them that calleth unto me.”
The LORD now describes Israel’s inner condition. They are all adulterers, not merely in physical immorality but in spiritual unfaithfulness. Idolatry had inflamed their desires. Their hearts are compared to an oven heated by a baker. Once the fire is stoked and the dough prepared, the heat continues to rise even without attention. This imagery portrays unchecked passion, lust, ambition, and rebellion smoldering beneath the surface until it erupts into destructive action.
The reference to the day of our king likely points to a royal celebration or coronation feast. Princes intoxicated the king with wine, encouraging reckless behavior and moral compromise. Leadership indulged in excess and mockery, stretching out hands with scoffers rather than with the righteous. This describes a ruling class governed by appetite rather than wisdom.
The imagery intensifies as God explains that Israel deliberately prepared their hearts like an oven. Their sinful schemes were planned, nurtured, and allowed to grow unchecked. While they lie in wait, the baker sleeps, indicating patience and timing in wickedness. When morning comes, the fire erupts fully. This led to violence, judicial murder, and political collapse. Judges were devoured, kings fell, assassinated or overthrown. Yet in all this chaos, none among them calleth unto me. Despite national instability and moral collapse, Israel refused to pray, repent, or seek the LORD.
This reveals a profound incompatibility. Israel could not burn with passion for idols and at the same time genuinely call upon the LORD. Though sacrifices continued, they were empty ceremonies, devoid of repentance or covenant loyalty. Religious activity without devotion is not prayer but pretense.
3. (Hosea 7:8–10) The pride and stubbornness of Israel.
Hosea 7:8–10 (KJV)
“Ephraim, he hath mixed himself among the people, Ephraim is a cake not turned.
Strangers have devoured his strength, and he knoweth it not, yea, gray hairs are here and there upon him, yet he knoweth not.
And the pride of Israel testifieth to his face, and they do not return to the LORD their God, nor seek him for all this.”
Ephraim’s sin now takes on a political and cultural dimension. Ephraim has mixed himself among the peoples, meaning Israel compromised its identity by imitating pagan nations, adopting their alliances, customs, and gods. The result is Ephraim is a cake not turned. Bread in that culture was cooked on both sides. A cake left unturned would be burned on one side and raw on the other. Israel was spiritually half baked, corrupted on one side by idolatry and undeveloped on the other by true devotion. They attempted to serve both God and idols and succeeded at neither.
The tragedy deepens as God declares that strangers have devoured his strength, yet he knoweth it not. Foreign powers drained Israel economically, militarily, and morally, but the nation remained unaware. The image of gray hairs appearing unnoticed emphasizes decline and aging. Israel was weakening, decaying, and approaching judgment, yet acting as though nothing was wrong.
Pride seals their blindness. The pride of Israel testifies to his face. Their arrogance was visible, undeniable, and self incriminating. Yet even with evidence of decline all around them, they refused to return to the LORD their God. They did not seek Him despite warning signs, suffering, and loss.
This kind of self deception is tragically common. Jeremiah 17:9 (KJV) declares, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked, who can know it?” Sin blinds judgment, dulls conscience, and convinces the sinner that all is well when ruin is near.
This condition mirrors the tragedy of Samson. After Delilah cut his hair, Judges 16:20 (KJV) states, “But he wist not that the LORD was departed from him.” Israel stood in the same place. God’s presence had withdrawn, judgment was advancing, strength was gone, yet they did not know it.
Israel was like an aging man who still thought himself strong, vigorous, and secure. Decline had begun, decay was evident, but pride prevented repentance.
B. Silly like a dove
1. (Hosea 7:11–12) Like a dove, Israel flies about to the nations.
Hosea 7:11–12 (KJV)
“Ephraim also is like a silly dove without heart, they call to Egypt, they go to Assyria.
When they shall go, I will spread my net upon them, I will bring them down as the fowls of the heaven, I will chastise them, as their congregation hath heard.”
The LORD now adds another vivid image to describe Israel’s spiritual condition. Ephraim is compared to a silly dove, without heart, meaning without understanding, discernment, or direction. A dove startled into flight flutters aimlessly, easily frightened, easily trapped. Israel responded to pressure and danger not with repentance or prayer, but with frantic political maneuvering. Instead of seeking the LORD, they called to Egypt and went to Assyria, shifting alliances back and forth in the hope that human power would secure safety.
This behavior reveals spiritual confusion and faithlessness. Egypt represented a return to former bondage, while Assyria represented the rising imperial threat that would ultimately destroy Israel. By running to both, Israel demonstrated that she had no settled confidence in God. She flapped anxiously between powers, trusting none fully, yet trusting God least of all.
The LORD responds with sovereign certainty. Wherever they go, He declares that He will spread His net upon them. Like birds caught mid flight, Israel would not escape judgment by foreign alliances. God Himself would bring them down. The imagery emphasizes divine control. Israel may flutter freely in her own mind, but she remains fully subject to God’s authority. Their chastisement would come according to what their congregation had heard. God had warned them repeatedly through the Law and the prophets. Judgment would not be arbitrary or unjust. It would be measured according to revealed truth already known.
Israel’s guilt was therefore aggravated by knowledge. They were not ignorant pagans, but a covenant people who had heard God’s word read, taught, and proclaimed publicly. Greater revelation brought greater accountability.
2. (Hosea 7:13–16) In running to the nations, Israel has run away from God.
Hosea 7:13–16 (KJV)
“Woe unto them, for they have fled from me, destruction unto them, because they have transgressed against me, though I have redeemed them, yet they have spoken lies against me.
And they have not cried unto me with their heart, when they howled upon their beds, they assemble themselves for corn and wine, and they rebel against me.
Though I have bound and strengthened their arms, yet do they imagine mischief against me.
They return, but not to the most High, they are like a deceitful bow, their princes shall fall by the sword for the rage of their tongue, this shall be their derision in the land of Egypt.”
The LORD pronounces a woe upon Israel because their flight was not merely political but spiritual. They had fled from God Himself. Destruction follows because their actions were transgression against the LORD, not mere poor judgment. The tragedy is heightened by grace remembered. God reminds them that He redeemed them. He had delivered them from bondage, preserved them as a nation, and sustained them through history. Yet despite redemption, they spoke lies against Him, denying His faithfulness and attributing their blessings and protection to idols and foreign powers.
Israel’s prayers were empty of repentance. They wailed upon their beds, expressing pain, fear, and frustration, but not crying unto God with their heart. Their sorrow was circumstantial, not spiritual. They mourned consequences, not sin. They gathered together for corn and wine, seeking material provision and relief, yet remained in rebellion against the LORD. Their gatherings were driven by appetite and necessity rather than worship and repentance.
God reminds them again of His kindness. He had disciplined and strengthened their arms, granting military success, national stability, and provision. Yet instead of gratitude and obedience, they imagined mischief against Him. They used God’s gifts to resist God’s authority.
The LORD then exposes the false direction of their repentance. They return, but not to the Most High. Israel recognized that something was wrong and attempted change, but they never returned to God Himself. They adjusted policies, sought alliances, performed rituals, and expressed sorrow, yet avoided true submission to the LORD.
Another image seals the indictment. Israel is like a deceitful bow. A faulty bow appears functional but cannot shoot straight. It is unreliable and dangerous. Israel’s actions consistently missed the mark. Their plans failed, their leaders fell, their words provoked judgment. Their princes would fall by the sword because of the rage of their tongue, meaning arrogant speech, blasphemy, lies, and boastful defiance of God. Instead of securing honor through alliances with Egypt, Israel would become a derision in the land of Egypt, mocked and humiliated before those they once trusted.
