Hosea Chapter 9
Exiled and Dried Up
A. Israel exiled in judgment
1. (Hosea 9:1–4) The end of the good life in Israel.
Hosea 9:1–4 (KJV)
“Rejoice not, O Israel, for joy, as other people, for thou hast gone a whoring from thy God, thou hast loved a reward upon every cornfloor.
The floor and the winepress shall not feed them, and the new wine shall fail in her.
They shall not dwell in the LORD’s land, but Ephraim shall return to Egypt, and they shall eat unclean things in Assyria.
They shall not offer wine offerings to the LORD, neither shall they be pleasing unto him, their sacrifices shall be unto them as the bread of mourners, all that eat thereof shall be polluted, for their bread for their soul shall not come into the house of the LORD.”
The LORD opens this section with a command that cuts directly against Israel’s emotional and cultural atmosphere. Rejoice not, O Israel, for joy, as other people. At the time of Hosea’s prophecy, Israel appeared outwardly prosperous. There was food, celebration, and national confidence. Harvest festivals were occasions of joy among surrounding nations, yet Israel was forbidden to rejoice in the same way because judgment was imminent. Their joy was misplaced, disconnected from covenant faithfulness.
The reason is stated plainly. Israel had gone a whoring from her God. Spiritual adultery defined the nation. They loved a reward upon every cornfloor, meaning they practiced idolatry on the threshing floors where grain was processed. These were places associated with provision and blessing, and Israel believed pagan rituals would secure agricultural success. In chasing prosperity apart from God, they prostituted their worship.
Because of this, God would strike at the very thing Israel trusted. The threshing floor and the winepress would no longer feed them. The new wine would fail. What they tried to secure through idolatry would be removed by judgment. Blessing cannot be preserved through rebellion. God alone controls provision.
The judgment deepens further. They shall not dwell in the LORD’s land. The land was not merely territory, but covenant inheritance. To be expelled from it was to experience covenant curse. Ephraim would return to Egypt and eat unclean things in Assyria. Egypt symbolizes bondage and humiliation, Assyria symbolizes conquest and exile. Eating unclean food points to defilement and separation from proper worship under the Law.
In exile, Israel would lose access to legitimate worship. They would not offer wine offerings to the LORD, nor would their sacrifices be pleasing to Him. Their sacrifices would be like the bread of mourners, ceremonially defiling to those who ate. Food would be reduced to survival only. Their bread would be for their own life, not for worship. It would not come into the house of the LORD. Exile strips worship down to bare existence. When covenant fellowship is broken, religious expression collapses into emptiness.
2. (Hosea 9:5–9) The days of Israel’s punishment in Egypt.
Hosea 9:5–9 (KJV)
“What will ye do in the solemn day, and in the day of the feast of the LORD?
For, lo, they are gone because of destruction, Egypt shall gather them up, Memphis shall bury them, the pleasant places for their silver, nettles shall possess them, thorns shall be in their tabernacles.
The days of visitation are come, the days of recompence are come, Israel shall know it, the prophet is a fool, the spiritual man is mad, for the multitude of thine iniquity, and the great hatred.
The watchman of Ephraim was with my God, but the prophet is a snare of a fowler in all his ways, and hatred in the house of his God.
They have deeply corrupted themselves, as in the days of Gibeah, therefore he will remember their iniquity, he will visit their sins.”
The LORD now confronts Israel with a sobering question. What will ye do in the solemn day, and in the day of the feast of the LORD? Feast days were central to Israel’s spiritual life. They marked remembrance, gratitude, and covenant identity. Yet exile would remove the ability to observe them. Israel would be cut off from sacred rhythms because they had rejected the LORD who instituted them.
Destruction would drive them out. Egypt would gather them, and Memphis would bury them. This language emphasizes total defeat and humiliation. Memphis was a prominent Egyptian city associated with death and burial. Israel would not merely be displaced, they would be swallowed by foreign lands. Their valuables would be overtaken by nettles and thorns. Wealth accumulated through idolatry would decay unused. Homes would be overgrown and abandoned.
The LORD declares that the days of visitation and recompense had arrived. Judgment was no longer future warning but present reality. Israel shall know it. They would no longer dismiss prophecy as alarmism. What they once mocked would become undeniable.
Israel’s attitude toward God’s messengers is then exposed. The prophet is a fool, the spiritual man is mad. This is how the people spoke of Hosea and other faithful prophets. When prosperity reigned, warnings sounded insane. Calls to repentance felt irrational in times of abundance. The people assumed that blessing proved approval. They interpreted harvest as validation rather than mercy.
The true cause of this hostility is revealed. It was because of the multitude of Israel’s iniquity and great hatred. Sin does not merely disobey God, it grows hostile toward truth. The watchman of Ephraim, meaning the true prophet aligned with God, was opposed. False prophets became snares, trapping people in deception. Hatred existed in the house of God itself. Religious institutions had become hostile to genuine truth.
The LORD compares Israel’s corruption to the days of Gibeah. Judges 19 (KJV) records horrific sexual violence and moral collapse during the period of the Judges. Hosea declares that Israel had sunk to the same depth. Covenant identity had not prevented depravity. Therefore God would remember their iniquity and visit their sins. Judgment would be precise, deserved, and unavoidable.
B. Israel barren and dried up in judgment
1. (Hosea 9:10–14) God sends barrenness and bereavement.
Hosea 9:10–14 (KJV)
“I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness, I saw your fathers as the firstripe in the fig tree at her first time, but they went to Baalpeor, and separated themselves unto that shame, and their abominations were according as they loved.
As for Ephraim, their glory shall fly away like a bird, from the birth, and from the womb, and from the conception.
Though they bring up their children, yet will I bereave them, that there shall not be a man left, yea, woe also to them when I depart from them.
Ephraim, as I saw Tyrus, is planted in a pleasant place, but Ephraim shall bring forth his children to the murderer.
Give them, O LORD, what wilt thou give? give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts.”
The LORD begins by recalling Israel’s early relationship with Him in affectionate terms. He found Israel like grapes in the wilderness and like the first ripe fig on the tree. Both images describe something rare, delightful, and refreshing. Grapes in the wilderness were unexpected nourishment to a weary traveler, and early figs were prized for their sweetness. God remembers a time when Israel was precious to Him, fruitful in faith, responsive in obedience, and set apart from the surrounding nations. Their early devotion stood out in a barren spiritual landscape.
This tenderness is abruptly contrasted with Israel’s corruption. They went to Baal Peor and separated themselves unto that shame. This refers back to Numbers 25 (KJV), where Israel joined itself to Baal worship through sexual immorality and idolatry at Peor. That earlier generation’s sin became a pattern repeated in Hosea’s day. Israel willingly consecrated itself not to the LORD but to disgrace. As a result, they became an abomination like the thing they loved. This reveals a profound spiritual principle. We are shaped by what we worship. Those who love holiness are conformed to holiness, and those who love abomination become abominable themselves.
Because of this, God announces judgment on Israel’s future fruitfulness. Ephraim’s glory would fly away like a bird. The glory likely refers to population strength, national vitality, and covenant blessing. God declares no birth, no pregnancy, and no conception. The language emphasizes total barrenness. Even if children were born, God says He would bereave them to the last man. The judgment is intensified by the statement, woe also to them when I depart from them. The most devastating judgment is not famine, invasion, or loss of children, but the withdrawal of God’s presence and favor.
God then compares Ephraim to Tyre, planted in a pleasant place. Tyre was wealthy, prosperous, and strategically positioned. Israel too had been planted by God in a fertile land with abundant provision. Yet instead of producing covenant faithfulness, Ephraim would bring forth children to the murderer. This speaks to death through war, invasion, and national collapse. What should have been a blessing becomes a tragedy.
Hosea then interjects with a prayer that reveals the prophet’s internal struggle. Give them, O LORD, what wilt thou give? The prayer begins with urgency and emotion, then halts in reflection. Hosea checks his own heart. Realizing the severity of coming judgment, he asks instead for a miscarrying womb and dry breasts. This is not cruelty but compassion. Hosea understands that fewer children would mean fewer victims of invasion, slaughter, and exile. In light of inevitable judgment, he prays for limited suffering. It is a hard prayer, but it is a merciful one, shaped by awareness of God’s justice and sorrow over human sin.
This moment offers a sober lesson. Those who are spiritually sensitive can grow frustrated with persistent rebellion among God’s people. That frustration can become anger or bitterness if unchecked. Hosea’s pause reminds us that zeal for holiness must be joined with humility, compassion, and submission to God’s purposes.
2. (Hosea 9:15–17) God sends dryness and wandering upon Israel.
Hosea 9:15–17 (KJV)
“All their wickedness is in Gilgal, for there I hated them, for the wickedness of their doings I will drive them out of mine house, I will love them no more, all their princes are revolters.
Ephraim is smitten, their root is dried up, they shall bear no fruit, yea, though they bring forth, yet will I slay even the beloved fruit of their womb.
My God will cast them away, because they did not hearken unto him, and they shall be wanderers among the nations.”
The LORD identifies Gilgal as a focal point of Israel’s wickedness. Gilgal had once been a sacred place associated with covenant renewal and prophetic ministry. 2 Kings 2:1 (KJV) and 2 Kings 4:38 (KJV) record its earlier significance under Elijah and Elisha. Yet in Hosea’s day, Gilgal had become a center of idolatry and false worship. What was once holy had become corrupted. God declares that He hated them there, not in arbitrary anger, but in righteous opposition to entrenched rebellion.
Because of this, God announces eviction. I will drive them out of mine house. The land of Israel was God’s house, entrusted to His people as stewards. Exile was therefore a fitting judgment. Those who dishonor the house of God are removed from it. God then declares, I will love them no more. This does not mean God ceased to be loving in His nature, but that covenant favor and protection were withdrawn. All their princes are revolters, confirming that leadership corruption was total.
The imagery of judgment intensifies. Ephraim is smitten, their root is dried up. A dried root cannot sustain life. The nation’s spiritual vitality was gone. They would bear no fruit. Even if children were born, God declares He would slay the beloved fruit of their womb. This underscores again that the LORD alone governs life, fertility, and survival. The idols Israel trusted could not protect them.
The section concludes with a decisive summary. My God will cast them away, because they did not hearken unto him. Disobedience lies at the heart of judgment. Israel did not listen, submit, or obey. Therefore they would become wanderers among the nations. The people once planted securely in the land would become restless exiles, scattered without home or stability.
This outcome fulfills the covenant warnings given under the Old Covenant. Deuteronomy 30:14–18 (KJV) warns that rejection of God’s word would lead to destruction and exile. Yet even here, Scripture points forward to hope beyond judgment. Under the New Covenant, God promises forgiveness and restoration through faith, not law. Hebrews 8:12 (KJV) declares, “For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.” Again, Hebrews 10:16–17 (KJV) affirms that God writes His law on hearts and remembers sins no more. Israel’s failure magnifies the necessity of a better covenant grounded in grace.
