Hosea 14:8: “Ephraim shall say, What have I to do anymore with idols, I have heard him and observed him, I am like a green fir tree, from me is thy fruit found.

Little is known about Hosea. What we do know is that he was prophet during the time when the Northern kingdom of Israel was in its deepest state of idolatry.  He was most likely a priest and lived in about the 8^th century B.C. during the reign of King Uzziah.  The Talmud teaches that Hosea was the greatest prophet of his generation and that generation included Isaiah (Pesachim 87a).

The religion at this time focused on the worship of the Canaanite god, Baal and its female counterpart, Astarte which can be traced to the Ugaritic goddess Anat.  When studying the Ugaritic language I recall translating a Ugaritic Poem about the goddess Anat who had this unusual attraction to mortal men and would seek to lead them into adulterous relationships. The goddess Astarte is most likely the goddess referred to as the queen of heaven that Israel worshipped in hope of having a prosperous harvest. At one point human sacrifice was even made to this goddess to encourage her to produce a good harvest. You have the account in Isaiah where the people of Israel even said that when they worshipped the queen of heaven they were fed but with God Jehovah they were in want.

In was probably in this light that Hosea was commanded by God to marry a woman in whoredom Hosea 1:3. The word used here for whoredom is zanah. In secular literature we find a zanah is used to refer to a woman who is unfaithful, not necessarily a woman in the oldest profession. She was not a prostitute, as we think of a prostitute, but a woman with an adulterous heart. It is possible that Hosea was not even aware of her unfaithfulness until their son Lo-ammi was born. Lo-ammi means not mine. In Chapter 2 of Hosea his wife has left him for another man, but then in Chapter 3 we find that he has the opportunity to purchase her back from either slavery as a result of a debt or it was the price that her lover charged to sell her back to Hosea. Needless to say we do not know how the story between Hosea and his wife ends, but we do know the picture of Israel and God as illustrated from this relationship has a happy ending as we see in Hosea 14:8:

The syntax in Hosea 14:8 is not at all clear.  It is a toss-up if God is saying “Ephraim , what more have you to do with idols” or it is Ephraim declaring they have nothing more to do with idols.  Rabbinical literature tends to indicate that the use of the term Ephraim is metaphoric.  The name means double fruitfulness and implies a state of Israel when it has God’s favor.  Thus, I would say the KJV uses the right syntax here and it is Ephraim or Israel saying: “What have I to do anymore with idols.” We have a picture of Israel’s return to God in repentance and its promise to complete faithfulness.

I know why the NIV used a different syntax here and it is most likely why the other modern translations use a similar syntax.  The NIV has God speaking and not Ephraim because the follow statements could not apply to Ephraim. I mean is Ephraim going to be a green fir tree for God?  A green fir tree is a lush tree providing shade and is a place one would rest under.  Is Ephraim going to be a tree for God to rest under?  Is Ephraim going to provide fruit for God?  Translators of the NIV say “no” God does not need man to rest under or to provide fruit.

Yet, I am on this journey to God’s heart so I can know His heart and by knowing His heart I can be a husband to God and know how to protect His heart. I see another aspect to the Book of Hosea other than God loving us enough to forgive us of our infidelities. I also see a broken hearted God and I am the one who caused that broken heart by seeking the gods of this world to satisfy my needs (health, financial, security). Just as Hosea’s wife left him searching for other men. By turning to these gods to meet that need I have broken His heart. Returning to Him I want to be a husband to Him, to protect His heart from being broken again. I want to be that tree that He can trust and rest under knowing I will not move away from providing his shade.  I want to bear fruit for Him and not for myself.

Like Gomer, I was married to God, I bore fruit for him, but I also kept one eye on the world and now when the world seemingly offered me more than God, when the provisions of the world seemed to be more faithful than the provision that God seems to be providing at this time I find I am tempted to pursue that god that will give me what I want and am searching for.  For it certainly seems that God has fallen down on his job to provide for me lately.  Tonight I will have a season of prayer to return to be that tree  that is firmly planted to reaffirm that I will be there always for God to rest under, because I know I broke his heart once and I do not want to do it again. Even if God seemingly is not providing for me right now. Like Ephraim I will declare: “What have I to do with anymore idols.”

Oh, by the way, the word idol is a strange word to be rendered as idol. It is the word ’astav.   ‘Astav is rarely used in Jewish literature as idol, it is usually rendered as bringing “grief, suffering or pain.” You see the word what is mah which can also be rendered as why. I believe Ephraim was saying here: “Why should I bring pain and grief (to God).  I’ve heard Him (his cry) I have observed Him (his grief) and I want now be a tree of rest for him from this heartbreak.  He has earned my love, to love Him in sickness and in health, for richer or for poorer, for better or for worse. For me things are getting worse not better, I am growing poorer and not richer but my love for Him has not changed and I will not seek another god that offers riches or promises to make things better.  I am refusing to be a fair weathered friend to God. I’ve learned a few things about friendship recently and I know a true friend will not ‘asav, bring grief, suffering or pain.  I plan to be a true friend to God even if He doesn’t provide in the way I want.