HOSEA 13–14
Ephraim had been a great tribe in Israel (Gen. 48:10–20) now it would become like the clouds, the dew, the chaff, and the smoke—nothing (
God had saved them from Egypt and in the wilderness, and He could have saved them from Assyria; but they trusted their wealth, their kings, and their foreign policy. Now the east wind would dry them up (13:15), and the “twice fruitful” Ephraim would be fruitful no more.
But we can always heed God’s loving call to repentance. If we return to Him, He will receive us (14:2–3), restore us (
God does not want our material sacrifices so much as the “sacrifices of our lips” (14:2;