1 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.

2The floor and the winepress shall not feed them, and the new wine shall fail in her.

3They shall not dwell in the LORD's land; but Ephraim shall return to Egypt, and they shall eat unclean things in Assyria.

4They 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.

5What will ye do in the solemn day, and in the day of the feast of the LORD?

6For, 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.

7The 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.

8The 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.

9They have deeply corrupted themselves, as in the days of Gibeah: therefore he will remember their iniquity, he will visit their sins.

10I 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.

11As for Ephraim, their glory shall fly away like a bird, from the birth, and from the womb, and from the conception.

12Though 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!

13Ephraim, as I saw Tyrus, is planted in a pleasant place: but Ephraim shall bring forth his children to the murderer.

14Give them, O LORD: what wilt thou give? give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts.

15All 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.

16Ephraim 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.

17My God will cast them away, because they did not hearken unto him: and they shall be wanderers among the nations.

COMMENTARY by Dr. Dave Burnette

Written By: God through Inspiration

Penned By: Hosea

Date Penned: BC 715 (Covering Events BC 753-715)

Overview: God's Wayward People (c 4-14)

Theme: Israel's Punishment (c 6-14)

Message: Wandering Aimlessly without God (v 1-17)

Hosea 9 Commentary

(9:1) A threshing floor or corn floor, was a flat area often built on a hilltop, where harvesters beat the wheat and separated it from the chaff. Often men would stay overnight at the threshing floor to protect their grains, so this was a natural gathering place. Because of their elevation, threshing floors began to be used as places to sacrifice to false gods.

(9:2) Israel's leaders vacillated between alliances with Egypt and alliances with Assyria. Hosea was saying that both were wrong. Breaking an alliance with untrustworthy Assyria and fleeing to help the equally untrustworthy Egypt would cause Israel's destruction. Their only hope was to return to God.

(9:7) By the time Israel began to experience the consequences of its sin, it was no longer listening to God's messengers. Refusing to hear the truth from prophets who spoke out so clearly about its sins, the nation did not hear God's warnings about what was soon to happen. We all listen and read selectively, focusing on what seems to support our present lifestyle, ignoring what demands a radical reordering of our properties. In doing this, we are likely to miss the warnings we need most. Listen to people who think your approach is all wrong. Read articles that present viewpoints you would be unlikely to take. Ask yourself, "Is God speaking to me through these speakers and writers? Is there something I need to change?"

(9:9) A couple had stopped to stay overnight in Gibeah when some wicked men gathered around the house and demanded that the man come out so they could have sex with him, Instead, the traverler gave them his concubine. They raped and abused her all night and then left her dead on the doorstep (Judges 19) That horrible act revealed the depths to which the people had sunk. Gibeah was destroyed for its evil (Judges 20) but Hosea said that the whole nation was now as evil as that city. Just as the city didn't escape punishment, neither would the nation.

(9:10) Baal-peor was the god of Peor, a city in Moab. In Numbers 22, Balaam, a freelance prophet, was hired by King Balak of Moab to curse the Israelites as they were coming through his land. The Moabites enticed the young Isrealites into sexual sin and Baal worship. Before long, the Israelites became as corrupt as the gods they worshiped. People can take on the characteristics of those around them. What do you worship? Are you becoming more like God, or are you becoming more like the world?

(9:14) Hosea prayed this prayer when he foresaw the destruction that Israel's sins would bring (2 Kings 17) This vision of Israel's terrible fate moved him to pray that women would not get pregnant and that children would die as infants so they would not have to experience the tremendous suffering and pain that lay ahead.

(9:15) At Gilgal, both the political and the religious failure of the nation began. Here idols and kings were substituted for God. Saul, the united nation's first king, was crowned at Gilgal (1 Samuel 11) but by Hosea's time, Baal worship flourished there.

LIFE APPLICATION by Dr. Dave Burnette

Each day we walk through the Bible chapter by chapter making an application of our text to help us grow in the Lord. Many applications can be made from each day's text. Today we continue in the Book of Hosea with Chapter 9 In our text today we see Israel wandering aimlessly without the Lord as a God-less life is a life without direction, purpose, or victory. In making application we see the same truth today as those who reject the Lord live a God-less life and reap the same lack of direction, lack of purpose, and lack of victory. How about you? Does your life have a purpose? Let us learn from our text today and the example of Israel who rejected the Lord and showed us a God-less life is a life without purpose, direction, or victory.