Hosea 7

God will give every opportunity for His children to return to Him but only we can make that decision. All was created by Him for our good and through His love. If we don't acknowledge the good that He has given there will come a time when we no longer will be under His loving protection. Faith alone pleases God. The Lord requires us to be fair, to be merciful and walk humbly with Him!

7 "When I would have healed Israel,

Then the iniquity of Ephraim was uncovered,

And the wickedness of Samaria.

For they have committed fraud;

A thief comes in;

A band of robbers takes spoil outside.

2 They do not consider in their hearts

That I remember all their wickedness;

Now their own deeds have surrounded them;

They are before My face.

3 They make a king glad with their wickedness,

And princes with their lies.

4 "They are all adulterers.

Like an oven heated by a baker—

He ceases stirring the fire after kneading the dough,

Until it is leavened.

5 In the day of our king

Princes have made him sick, inflamed with wine;

He stretched out his hand with scoffers.

6 They prepare their heart like an oven,

While they lie in wait;

4Their baker sleeps all night;

In the morning it burns like a flaming fire.

7 They are all hot, like an oven,

And have devoured their judges;

All their kings have fallen.

None among them calls upon Me.

8 "Ephraim has mixed himself among the peoples;

Ephraim is a cake unturned.

9 Aliens have devoured his strength,

But he does not know it;

Yes, gray hairs are here and there on him,

Yet he does not know it.

10 And the pride of Israel testifies to his face,

But they do not return to the Lord their God,

Nor seek Him for all this.

11 "Ephraim also is like a silly dove, without sense—

They call to Egypt,

They go to Assyria.

12 Wherever they go, I will spread My net on them;

I will bring them down like birds of the air;

I will chastise them

According to what their congregation has heard.

13 "Woe to them, for they have fled from Me!

Destruction to them,

Because they have transgressed against Me!

Though I redeemed them,

Yet they have spoken lies against Me.

14 They did not cry out to Me with their heart

When they wailed upon their beds.

"They assemble together for grain and new wine,

They rebel against Me;

15 Though I disciplined and strengthened their arms,

Yet they devise evil against Me;

16 They return, but not to the Most High;

They are like a treacherous bow.

Their princes shall fall by the sword

For the cursings of their tongue.

This shall be their derision in the land of Egypt.

The NKJV Study Bible says this: Hardened sinners typically do not consider that God will hold them accountable for their deeds. While kings should promote justice and be appalled by wickedness, Israel's rulers approved of the people's sin. The background for these verses is the political turmoil of the northern kingdom. During a 20-year period (752–732 b.c.), four Israelite kings were assassinated. Instead of depending on the Lord for political stability, Israel formed alliances with surrounding nations. The destructive outcome of this policy is compared to a cake that has been placed over a fire and left unturned. Israel did not recognize that its power was declining and its freedom was slipping away, like an aging man who is gradually overtaken by the signs of old age. Israel was caught between the two superpowers, Egypt and Assyria. Israel tried to maintain its independence by playing one power against the other, but this vacillating policy was without sense. Israel was like a silly dove, flitting about from place to place. The Lord would trap them and chastise them for their spiritual unsteadiness. Israel fled from the Lord and His standards, despite His willingness to help the people. God sent a drought that took away Israel's grain and new wine. Yet instead of turning to Him in repentance, the idolatrous Israelites demonstrated their devotion to Baal. Though the Lord had been faithful to Israel, Israel had not been loyal to Him. Just as an eagle swiftly swoops down and snatches its prey, so Assyria would invade Israel and take its people into captivity. The house of the Lord refers to the entire land of Israel. Though Israel claimed to acknowledge the Lord's authority, it had violated His covenant and rejected the qualities the Lord regarded as good, such as justice, loyalty, and humility