King James Bible Study – [And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. – Mark 8:34]
Date: Monday, July 20, 2026
Chapters: Hosea 8-14
Lesson: Hosea: Return to The LORD
Hello My Friend,
As I was reading the chapters for today, I kept thinking about the state of so many nations that are suffering right now. Nations that once had the prosperity, protections, and peace of God, but the biggest problem is that they have no idea that the judgments they are facing are from God. They rather blame their forefathers, climate change, weapons, or those with moral values then admit that they are the cause of the calamities. If any of them had any common sense at all, then they would use the example of Israel and seek God before He removes them from His sight just as He did Israel. And as we come to the end of the reading of Hosea, God, goes on to describe how Israel denied the fact that they were the cause of the calamities they were facing.
[Hosea 8:1-6 Set the trumpet to thy mouth. He shall come as an eagle against the house of the LORD, because they have transgressed my covenant, and trespassed against my law. 2 Israel shall cry unto me, My God, we know thee. 3 Israel hath cast off the thing that is good: the enemy shall pursue him. 4 They have set up kings, but not by me: they have made princes, and I knew it not: of their silver and their gold have they made them idols, that they may be cut off. 5 Thy calf, O Samaria, hath cast thee off; mine anger is kindled against them: how long will it be ere they attain to innocency? 6 For from Israel was it also: the workman made it; therefore it is not God: but the calf of Samaria shall be broken in pieces.]
The worst part of all this was that many of them were claiming their innocence, insisting that their man‑made gods were actually God. Far more grievous to God than open idolatry is the person who claims to worship Him but has no clue they are worshiping a god made by man.The world and religion both stand guilty of assuming they know God while having no true understanding of who He is. Those in the world who acknowledge Him often imagine Him as a harsh judge, ready to strike at the slightest misstep. Meanwhile, many within religious circles believe that simply calling on His name makes them His people, regardless of whether their lives reflect His truth. God, confronts this confusion directly. He exposes the root of the problem by addressing those who led His people into idolatry in the first place.
[Hosea 8:9-14 For they are gone up to Assyria, a wild ass alone by himself: Ephraim hath hired lovers. 10 Yea, though they have hired among the nations, now will I gather them, and they shall sorrow a little for the burden of the king of princes. 11 Because Ephraim hath made many altars to sin, altars shall be unto him to sin. 12 I have written to him the great things of my law, but they were counted as a strange thing. 13 They sacrifice flesh for the sacrifices of mine offerings, and eat it; but the LORD accepteth them not; now will he remember their iniquity, and visit their sins: they shall return to Egypt. 14 For Israel hath forgotten his Maker, and buildeth temples; and Judah hath multiplied fenced cities: but I will send a fire upon his cities, and it shall devour the palaces thereof.]
God, is not wrong toward His anger with Ephraim. At one point they had a great name as not only was their father Joseph, who had become a governor to Egypt, they also had Joshua, who took them over into the promise land in the place of Moses. It is really quite astounding how they turned on Him. Hosea, speaks out this time and is actually quite upset with Israel and in particular Ephraim.
[Hosea 9:1-5 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. 2 The floor and the winepress shall not feed them, and the new wine shall fail in her. 3 They shall not dwell in the LORD’S land; but Ephraim shall return to Egypt, and they shall eat unclean things in Assyria. 4 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. 5 What will ye do in the solemn day, and in the day of the feast of the LORD?]
What Hosea was witnessing in Israel, was not a surprise to God. Moses, actually gave them this prophecy, [Deuteronomy 28:67-68 In the morning thou shalt say, Would God it were even! and at even thou shalt say, Would God it were morning! for the fear of thine heart wherewith thou shalt fear, and for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see. 68 And the LORD shall bring thee into Egypt again with ships, by the way whereof I spake unto thee, Thou shalt see it no more again: and there ye shall be sold unto your enemies for bondmen and bondwomen, and no man shall buy you.]
God, actually gives these prophecies for two reasons, one; to get His people to repent and two; to give all the opportunity to come to Him. Believe it or not, God does not want to destroy the earth or anyone for that matter, and if the world would repent and turn to Him I believe that he would repent of His judgment, but since that is never going to happen He gives us ample time to repent. While Hoses does goes on to warn them of the coming judgment, God has something to say to Ephraim.
[Hosea 9:7-9,11-12 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. 8 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. 9 They have deeply corrupted themselves, as in the days of Gibeah: therefore he will remember their iniquity, he will visit their sins. 11 As for Ephraim, their glory shall fly away like a bird, from the birth, and from the womb, and from the conception. 12 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!]
When they revolt against Him and withdraw their allegiance, how can they expect anything other than His withdrawal of protection and goodness? If they abandon the covenant, they cannot presume upon its blessings. And with such rebellion, His warnings are not only justified but made all the more solemn and terrible.
[Hosea 9:15-17 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. 16 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. 17 My God will cast them away, because they did not hearken unto him: and they shall be wanderers among the nations.]
Now a whole series of charges is laid out against Israel, idolatry, devotion to false gods, the sacrifice of their own children, and deeply immoral living. These were not ordinary nations; these were God’s covenant people, the very ones meant to be a light and an example to the rest of the world. Yet their hearts were divided, torn between the Lord and the idols they preferred. Hosea, describes Israel as an empty vine, a people who should have bore fruit for Him but instead produced nothing of value because their worship and loyalty were corrupted.
[Hosea 10:1-3,5,8 Israel is an empty vine, he bringeth forth fruit unto himself: according to the multitude of his fruit he hath increased the altars; according to the goodness of his land they have made goodly images. 2 Their heart is divided; now shall they be found faulty: he shall break down their altars, he shall spoil their images. 3 For now they shall say, We have no king, because we feared not the LORD; what then should a king do to us? 5 The inhabitants of Samaria shall fear because of the calves of Beth-aven: for the people thereof shall mourn over it, and the priests thereof that rejoiced on it, for the glory thereof, because it is departed from it. 8 The high places also of Aven, the sin of Israel, shall be destroyed: the thorn and the thistle shall come up on their altars; and they shall say to the mountains, Cover us; and to the hills, Fall on us.]
When people begin to mourn over the downfall of the wicked, it reveals a nation in far greater danger than any enemy attack. When the wicked are honored and the righteous are despised, the removal of God’s covering becomes inevitable. Mark God’s words: if He cast Israel out of their own land because they turned their backs on Him, He will do the same to any nation that follows the same path. God, does not desire to resort to such severe measures to reach His people, but because they are stubborn and prone to return to the very sins He freed them from, He is left with no choice but to send judgments. His desire is not to destroy them, but to chasten them so they might return, be restored, and walk again in the covenant they abandoned.
[Hosea 10:10-13 It is in my desire that I should chastise them; and the people shall be gathered against them, when they shall bind themselves in their two furrows. 11 And Ephraim is as an heifer that is taught, and loveth to tread out the corn; but I passed over upon her fair neck: I will make Ephraim to ride; Judah shall plow, and Jacob shall break his clods. 12 Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you. 13 Ye have plowed wickedness, ye have reaped iniquity; ye have eaten the fruit of lies: because thou didst trust in thy way, in the multitude of thy mighty men.]
Yes, God chastens His people so they can experience His mercy and the hardness of their hearts can be broken up. Yet even in the midst of Israel’s national troubles, they never considered seeking help from God. They placed their trust in men and their false gods. And still, God, never gave up on them. Even as He continues to express His anger toward Israel, He reminds them that He loved them as a child. Because of that love, He declares that He will not utterly destroy them.
[Hosea 11:1-3,5,7-8 When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt. 2 As they called them, so they went from them: they sacrificed unto Baalim, and burned incense to graven images. 3 I taught Ephraim also to go, taking them by their arms; but they knew not that I healed them. 5 He shall not return into the land of Egypt, but the Assyrian shall be his king, because they refused to return. 7 And my people are bent to backsliding from me: though they called them to the most High, none at all would exalt him. 8 How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? how shall I deliver thee, Israel? how shall I make thee as Admah? how shall I set thee as Zeboim? mine heart is turned within me, my repentings are kindled together.]
When Israel was weak and helpless like a child, God loved them. He cared for them, healed their pains, and nurtured them with the tenderness of both a father and a mother. In the wilderness, God showed them the path they were to walk. He taught them His commandments through the ceremonial law given to Moses. Then He took them by the arms, guiding them so they would not stray, and holding them up so they would not stumble and fall. God’s spiritual Israel is nurtured in the very same way.
[Hosea 11:9-12 I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger, I will not return to destroy Ephraim: for I am God, and not man; the Holy One in the midst of thee: and I will not enter into the city. 10 They shall walk after the LORD: he shall roar like a lion: when he shall roar, then the children shall tremble from the west. 11 They shall tremble as a bird out of Egypt, and as a dove out of the land of Assyria: and I will place them in their houses, saith the LORD. 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.]
God, does not desire to see any nations destroyed or His people ruined. He exhausts every possible means to turn them back to Himself. Yet most of Israel, whom God often refers to collectively as Ephraim, embodied the very definition of hypocrisy. They appeared to worship Him in the beginning, but their hearts were far from Him. Judah, had its own seasons of sin and idolatry, but ultimately they remained the truer worshipers of God, responding to His prophets, priests, and faithful servants. God also recalls the moment He met Jacob, wrestled with him, and blessed him at Bethel, ironically the very place where one of Israel’s false gods now stood.
[Hosea 12:2-6,8 The LORD hath also a controversy with Judah, and will punish Jacob according to his ways; according to his doings will he recompense him. 3 He took his brother by the heel in the womb, and by his strength he had power with God: 4 Yea, he had power over the angel, and prevailed: he wept, and made supplication unto him: he found him in Beth-el, and there he spake with us; 5 Even the LORD God of hosts; the LORD is his memorial. 6 Therefore turn thou to thy God: keep mercy and judgment, and wait on thy God continually. 8 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.]
This contrast shows just how far Israel had drifted from the God. Everyone sins, everyone stumbles, and everyone backslides. Yet Jesus will not allow one of His own to fall away completely if they truly believe in Him with all their heart. This is precisely what God’s grace is for, grace that lifts the fallen, restores the repentant, and keeps His children from being utterly cast down. Grace does not condone sin, but it does preserve the sincere believer, [I John 2:1-3 My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: 2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for our’s only, but also for the sins of the whole world. 3 And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.]
The problem was not that these people were unaware that their actions were sinful; the deeper issue was that many of them had never truly belonged to God in the first place. When affliction came, they fled from Him rather than run toward Him. God, is not only angered by systems of false worship, He is also grieved when those who claim to be His people treat their salvation lightly, as though it were something casual or insignificant.
[Hosea 12:10-14 I have also spoken by the prophets, and I have multiplied visions, and used similitudes, by the ministry of the prophets. 11 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. 12 And Jacob fled into the country of Syria, and Israel served for a wife, and for a wife he kept sheep. 13 And by a prophet the LORD brought Israel out of Egypt, and by a prophet was he preserved. 14 Ephraim provoked him to anger most bitterly: therefore shall he leave his blood upon him, and his reproach shall his Lord return unto him.]
Jacob actually worked for fourteen years so that he could marry his beloved Rachael, which was a chastening from God for tricking his brother and father, [Genesis 25:29-34]. He was by far, perfect, yet God used him in a mighty way. Jeroboam, on the other hand did more to provoke God than anyone because when God appointed him as king of the ten tribes in the Northern Kingdom he made up his own gods and the ten tribes followed him.
[Hosea 13:1-4 When Ephraim spake trembling, he exalted himself in Israel; but when he offended in Baal, he died. 2 And now they sin more and more, and have made them molten images of their silver, and idols according to their own understanding, all of it the work of the craftsmen: they say of them, Let the men that sacrifice kiss the calves. 3 Therefore they shall be as the morning cloud, and as the early dew that passeth away, as the chaff that is driven with the whirlwind out of the floor, and as the smoke out of the chimney. 4 Yet I am the LORD thy God from the land of Egypt, and thou shalt know no god but me: for there is no saviour beside me.]
Our greatest reason to remember our faith in Christ and remain faithful to Him is that He is full of mercy, yet also faithful in judgment toward those who wait on Him until the end. What seems to grieve God most is not the outright rejection from those who never knew Him, but the double‑mindedness of those who claim to know Him. They lift their hands to Him, yet bow their hearts to the world’s gods. Because of this, He allows them to reap the consequences of their choices, sometimes even to the point of their destroying themselves. This is exactly what He was going to do with those in Israel who will not turn to Him.
[Hosea 13:9-14 O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself; but in me is thine help. 10 I will be thy king: where is any other that may save thee in all thy cities? and thy judges of whom thou saidst, Give me a king and princes? 11 I gave thee a king in mine anger, and took him away in my wrath. 12 The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up; his sin is hid. 13 The sorrows of a travailing woman shall come upon him: he is an unwise son; for he should not stay long in the place of the breaking forth of children. 14 I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction: repentance shall be hid from mine eyes.]
Wow! Those are some scary words right there. Can you imagine what they had to have done to provoke God that bad? Our mental state plays a significant role in how God speaks to us. There are seasons when He nurtures us gently, comforting us and guiding us with tenderness. But there are also moments when He speaks plainly and directly—especially when our hearts begin to drift or we start slipping backward in our walk with Him. God adjusts His tone because He knows exactly what each heart needs: encouragement when we are weak, correction when we are wandering, and firm truth when we are in danger of turning away.
[Hosea 14:1-4,8-9 O Israel, return unto the LORD thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity. 2 Take with you words, and turn to the LORD: say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously: so will we render the calves of our lips. 3 Asshur shall not save us; we will not ride upon horses: neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, Ye are our gods: for in thee the fatherless findeth mercy. 4 I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him. 8 Ephraim shall say, What have I to do any more with idols? I have heard him, and observed him: I am like a green fir tree. From me is thy fruit found. 9 Who is wise, and he shall understand these things? prudent, and he shall know them? for the ways of the LORD are right, and the just shall walk in them: but the transgressors shall fall therein.]
True believers in Christ may get tangled in sin and dangle over the edge for a time, but their faith in Christ will pull them back. Even sincere Christians often cling to things that give them a sense of peace and security, habits, relationships, routines, or comforts they rely on more than God. Yet the Lord will prove to every one of us, sooner or later, that He alone is our true peace and security. Right now the door of salvation is open, and anyone may come to Him and be saved. But we only have today. If a person has not received Christ as their Savior and they take their final breath, the door will be shut, and there will be no entering afterward.
[Luke 13:25-27 When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are: 26 Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets. 27 But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity.]
Today’s Prayer: God, Thank You for loving me and not giving up on me, and for the day Your message of the Gospel pricked in my heart so much that I knew Your Son was the only one who could save me. Lord, There is no better feeling than accomplishing something great for You, and the thing that is great to You is merely living a Godly life with You leading us. While we strive to be the best we can be, let us not forget that our best only comes as we feed off Your Spirit. Open our hearts, help us understand, and grow us into faithful Christians living under Your grace. Give us compassion on the lost, help us learn how to talk to them, and show them that You have not only pricked their heart, but opened it to Christ as well. Let everything we do bring glory to You and reveal Your Son. I ask these things is Your name, Jesus. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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