Trying to understand Hosea 10:12

Sunday Chad shared Hosea 10:12 as a verse to pray and live by as a community. I like the verse, but something was unsettled in my heart. I didn’t get what was going on. The verse sounds nice, but I can’t get behind it fully until I understand what is going on. I think it has to do with the belief and intellection strength from Stengthsfinder 2.0.

I couldn’t wait anymore. I had to figure out what was going on. This is sort of a nerdy post, but I thought it might benefit people. Feel free to add what you have learned yourself.

One of the first things I do is check multiple versions. There are four versions I use frequently to cross reference how people have chosen translate the verse: NASB (which my Greek professor said was best for NT), NKJV (which my Hebrew professor said was best of OT), ESV (which I have found to be quite accurate, yet more readable than NASB and NKJV), and ISV (which is a new translation still being worked on. It has a board of translators and scholars, while employing an open source style of input allowing ancient text experts and hobbyists to send in suggestions for consideration).

When reading this passage I thought it would be wise to look at it in context. The first thing I noticed is that verse 13 is paired with verse 12. Verse 13 is what they have done, and 12 is what they should be doing. Breaking down both verses we can see that there are 3 sections. Maybe you see it differently, but I see three. There is a planting section, a harvest/eating section, and a reason section.

First we should look at 13. They plowed evil. That’s pretty straight forward. If we link it with 12 then we would assume the imagery also includes planting. One thing I try to remember is that prophecy is usually poetry and not prose, therefore I understand that every single detail may not be included for the sake of keeping poetic form.

Next we see they reaped injustice and ate the fruit of lies. They received that which was not right. Additionally, they ate the fruit of lies. A lie is something posing with the intent to deceive. If I ate an orange that was lying to me. I would think I’m getting a sweet orange, but when I opened it, it could would be anything but an orange. Israel thought they would get certain results by following the ways of the surrounding nations, but those promises fell flat.

The last section tells why these things happened to Israel. It is because they trusted in their own ways and strength.

Contrast this with verse 12. Verse 12 says to break up our fallow ground and sow righteousness, not evil. Then they are to reap. Interestingly this is the most diversely translated section, but it is understood they are to reap something good.

The last part of verse 12 is really interesting. God tells them to seek the Lord so that He may rain righteousness.

So what are the take aways? There are a couple things that stand out to me. First, I saw that the result talked about in verse 13 was because they relied on there own power. They did not wait on the Lord as they are told to do in verse 12. Second, I noticed that verse 12 says that they are to break up their fallow ground. What is our ground? My first thought is that we are to work on the ground of our hearts. Are we digging for the deep reaches of our heart? Are we going places that we have yet to apply God’s truth?

We know that seeds can refer to the word of God as Jesus taught. So, are we taking in God’s Word, His righteous ways? Are seeds of righteous truth coming to us?

The question I have is how do we plow up the hard parts of our heart. First I’d say pray for God to reveal these places. And second I think we must choose to be humble. God often tells us to humble ourselves. When we are humble our hearts are not hard toward God. It is a choice we must make to walk in humility. We can pray that God humble us, but I’d rather choose the path of humility than have God crush me, but if that is what it takes I’ll go there.

Action steps for individuals:

  • Pray for God to reveal places that are hard in our hearts.

  • Humble ourselves in these areas once they are revealed.

    • If we need to pray for God to humble us in these areas, we should even though it will most likely hurt more than if we purpose on our own

  • Take in the word of God. The Law, Jesus’ teachings, God’s righteous precepts.

  • Pray for God to rain on us to produce the growth.

As this applies to our church:

  • Pray for God to reveal places that He has called us to

  • we must take ownership of these areas

  • Pray that God would break up the fallow ground

  • it may look like God causing situations to humble people

  • it may look like us taking action to challenge people’s thoughts

  • Sow seeds of righteousness by speaking the word of God over the area and to the people who live there

  • Pray that God would bring His rain so that righteousness would grow in those places

    Posted at 9:09 PM (2 years ago) | Permalink