The Mystery of Ephraim

The Prophecy of Hosea is primarily to the house of Ephraim (mentioned 32 times in this book, Hosea, and more than in any other books of the Bible). Often, as Ephraim being the chief tribe of the ten tribes, the name is used in place of Israel (used 41 times) when it is referring to the northern kingdom.

Elsewhere on this site Ephraim has been established as the United States. So although the prophet Hosea may refer to situation in his time, the encoded message of Ephraim and Israel is meant primarily for the United States or the “Anglosphere” or the “Five Eyes” and secondarily its European allies.

In Ezekiel, there are parallel passages expounding on what is written in Hosea:

In Ezekiel 6:2 it say: ‘Ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God. Thus saith the Lord God to the mountains and to the hills, to the rivers and to the valleys: Behold I, even I, will bring a sword upon you, and I will destroy your high places. — this message to the “mountains of Israel” — these mountains refer to the United States, UK and France. . . .

— “and to the hills, to the rivers and to the valleys” ~ the hills: Ireland, Switzerland and the Scandinavian countries: Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, Finland and Iceland; and the valleys, the low countries: Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.

In Ezekiel 7:2 it says, “Also, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord God unto the land of Israel: “An end! The end is come upon the four corners of the land.

— the Targum version for the above is: “the punishment of the end, or the punishment determined to come upon the four winds of the earth.” The Targum recognizes that the Israelites are all over the face of the earth, spread over the four winds!

This would include Australia, New Zealand, Canada (and perhaps South Africa; that is, the Anglosphere) and numerous small islands around the world.

And in this context, “the land of Israel” and “over the face of the earth” would most probably include the modern state of Israel in Palestine.

Hosea 1

¹ The word of the Lord that came unto Hosea, the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel. — the word of the Lord that came unto Hosea; whose name is the same with Joshua and Yeshua/Jesus, and signifies a savior;

— Hosea’s mission was to deliver Israel’s souls from going into the pit, as all true prophets are to be; so rouse and ripple up these drunkards of Ephraim with their crown of pride, Isaiah 28:1.

— in the days of Hezekiah: the throne of Judah had some periods of good princes: but the message was to Israel, which had no good princes at all.

² The beginning of the word of the Lord by Hosea: And the Lord said to Hosea, “Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms; for the land hath committed great whoredom, departing from the Lord.” — for the land hath committed great whoredoms most frequently and most filthily; Ezekiel 23:2-4; Aholah, that is, Israel, played the harlot when she was Mine, Ezekiel 23:5;

— the Targum interprets it, “go, prophesy a prophecy against the inhabitants of the idolatrous city, who add to sin,” for the land hath committed great whoredom, departing from the Lord.

— and just a recollection; the Targum, whose origin in the Aramaic language, could be traced to the work of Ezra, and hence has prominence and insights in giving us further understanding of biblical concepts which, sometimes, are lost in the Masoretic Text.

³ So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim, who conceived and bore him a son.

— the Targum, whose origin in the Aramaic language could be traced to Ezra, has the following: “and he went and prophesied over them, that if they returned, it should be forgiven them: but, if not, as fig tree leaves drop off, so should they; but they added, and did evil works.”

— Rabbi Rashi (1040-1105 France): that was her name by dint of her harlotry, for all would gratify their lust on her (גּוֹמְרִין) and they would tread upon her like a pressed fig (דְּבֵלָה; that is a euphemism for sexual contact). Jonathan, however, paraphrases: גֹּמֶר, that if they would return from their way, their retribution would be finished, and if not, they will be like unripe figs falling from the fig tree.

⁴ And the Lord said unto him, “Call his name Jezreel; for in yet a little while I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu, and will cause to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel.

— and will cause to cease; that is, in the family of Jehu; his reign only for six months; and second, this could also has a reference to the utter cessation of this kingdom of the house of Israel as such in the times of Hoshea by Shalmaneser king of Assyria, II Kings 17:6.

— Rashi: name him Jezreel: Jonathan renders: Call their name the scattered ones; i.e. prophesy over them that they will be exiled, and they will be sown among the peoples.

⁵ And it shall come to pass at that day, that I will break the bow of Israel in the Valley of Jezreel.” — in the valley of Jezreel: next to Samaria, and thus greatly greatly influenced by idoltary; Jezreel was chief city of the ten tribes;

— here Ahab had a palace in his days, near to which was Naboth’s vineyard, and where God revenged his blood:

— the Targum says, “I will break the strength of the warriors of Israel in the valley of Jezreel.”

⁶ And she conceived again, and bore a daughter. And God said unto him, “Call her name Loruhamah [that is, Not having obtained mercy]; for I will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel, but I will utterly take them away.

— and God said unto him, call her name Loruhamah; which signifies, “she hath not obtained mercy;”

— the Targum explains the same sense: “and they added and did evil works; and he said unto him call their name, who obtained not mercy by their works.”

⁷ But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah, and will save them by the Lord their God, and will not save them by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, by horses, nor by horsemen.”

— but I will have mercy on the house of Judah; the three tribes of Judah, Levi and Benjamin, which retained the true worship of God among them; see Hosea 11:12;

— and though they often sinned against the Lord, God showed them mercy, and spared them longer than the ten tribes; and though they suffered being carried captives into Babylon, they returned after seventy years. This could be an aggravation of the perverseness and ingratitude of Israel that Judah was spared, when Israel were not.

⁸ Now when she had weaned Loruhamah, she conceived and bore a son. — in the times of Pekah, king of Israel, who reigned twenty years; he was too powerful for Judah, and slew multitudes of them, and even assisted Rezin king of Syria against Ahaz king of Judah;

— the Targum says, “and the generation of them who are carried captive among the nations are found not to have obtained mercy by their works, but they added and did evil works.”

⁹ Then said God, “Call his name Loammi [that is, Not My people], for ye are not My people, and I will not be your God. — for ye are not my people; though he had chosen them to be his people; but they offered back the calves at Dan and Bethel; and therefore did not deserve the designation of God’s people.

— the Targum says, “for ye are not my people; because ye do not confirm the words of my law, my word shall not be your help,”

— this time lap to the next verse is so huge that some Orthodox Bibles (including the Chabad Bible) end Chapter 1 here and pushes the next few verses into chapter 2.

¹⁰ Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass that in the place where it was said unto them, ‘Ye are not My people,’ there it shall be said unto them, ‘Ye are the sons of the living God.’

— according to the promise made to Abraham, shall be as the sand of the sea, and the stars of heaven; which, as the one cannot be measured in the place where they have been carried captive;

— there seems a great time gap of over two thousand years, from “Ye are not My people,” to “Ye are the sons of the living God,” and like every Bollywood movies, they end with lots of high notes – HOOPLALA!

¹¹ Then shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel be gathered together, and appoint themselves one head; and they shall come up out of the land, for great shall be the day of Jezreel.

— this is time flashing forward to the appearance of “My servant David,” in the “valley full of dry bones” scenario (Ezekiel 37) where the full house of Israel would dwell securely rather than in captivity.

— the Targum paraphrases it as: “one head of the house of David.”

— “the day of Jezreel;” it has been a great and long day of trouble and affliction to them, signified by Jezreel; but now by the arm of God, by his power and mercy, and that in large numbers, of great comfort, joy, and happiness; so great will be on that day; so the Targum paraphrases it: “for great will be the day of their [re]gathering.”

Hosea 2

¹ “Say ye unto your brethren, ‘Ammi’ [that is, My people], and to your sisters, ‘Ruhamah’ [that is, Having obtained mercy].

— these words are to be considered either in connection with the latter part of the preceding chapter, and as directed to the sons of the living God, who had not been, but now were, “Ammi”, the Lord’s people; and who had not, but now have, “Ruhamah,” obtained mercy.

² “Plead with your mother, plead; for she is not My wife, neither am I her Husband. Let her therefore put away her whoredoms out of her sight, and her adulteries from between her breasts,

— let her therefore put away her whoredoms out of her sight, namely, the shameless idolatry which was practiced throughout Israel at the time, and her adulteries from between her breasts, for Israel, in her shamelessness, was like a public harlot, who displays her profession in her bared breasts.

³ lest I strip her naked and set her as in the day that she was born, and make her as a wilderness, and set her like a dry land, and slay her with thirst. — lest God would strip her naked as a punishment for her shameless exposure of herself in the practice of her spiritual wantonness, and set her as in the day that she was born.

⁴ And I will not have mercy upon her children, for they are the children of whoredoms.

— the above verse (and probably until verse 13) is best read:

(a) as a flashback before their repentance; or

(b) in context of the first word of the previous verse, “lest,” — lest I will not have any mercy upon her children, for they are children of whoredoms, all of them being guilty of the same shameless idolatry.

⁵ For their mother hath played the harlot; she that conceived them hath done shamefully. For she said, ‘I will go after my lovers that give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, mine oil and my drink.’

⁶ “Therefore, behold, I will hedge up thy way with thorns and make a wall, that she shall not find her paths.

⁷ And she shall follow after her lovers, but she shall not overtake them; and she shall seek them, but shall not find them. Then shall she say, ‘I will go and return to my first husband, for then was it better with me than now.’

— I will go and return to my first husband; either the God of Israel, whom the ten tribes departed from by worshipping the calves Jeroboam set up;

— but in the latter day will seek the Lord their God again, who was a husband to them, and shall cleave to him again, and all Israel shall be saved:

— so the Targum says, “I will go and return to the service of my first master, for it was well with me when I served him; henceforth I will not serve idols.”

⁸ For she did not know that I gave her corn and wine and oil, and multiplied her silver and gold, which they prepared for Baal.

⁹ Therefore will I return and take away My corn at the harvest thereof, and My wine in the season thereof, and will recover My wool and My flax given to cover her nakedness.

¹⁰ And now will I uncover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and none shall deliver her out of Mine hand.

¹¹ I will also cause all her mirth to cease, her feast days, her new moons, and her Sabbaths, and all her solemn feasts. — her feast days; which “Christians” understand and practice are:

(a) Christmas, which honor the Mithraism – a form of nature worship based on the Sun-Goddess Mithra who on the darkest night of the year (December 20/21), gives birth to “Light” causing each day thereafter to grow longer until the Summer solstice; and

(b) Easters, a celebration of Ishtar, the Assyrian and Babylonian goddess of fertility and sex. Her symbols (like the egg and bunny) were and still are fertility and sex symbols; and to those who actually think eggs and bunnies have something to do with the resurrection; and

(c) her sabbaths which is Sundays, where the original keepers were the Samaritans, brought from Assyria: And the king of Assyria brought men from Babylon, and from Cuthah, and from Ava, and from Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel; and they possessed Samaria and dwelt in the cities thereof, II Kings 17:24.

¹² And I will destroy her vines and her fig trees, whereof she hath said, ‘These are my rewards that my lovers have given me’; and I will make them a forest, and the beasts of the field shall eat them.

— a parallel Scripture in Jeremiah: “The anger of the Lord shall not return, until He has executed and till He has performed the thoughts of His heart; in the latter days ye shall consider it perfectly” Jeremiah 23:20

¹³ And I will visit upon her the days of the Baalim, wherein she burned incense to them, and she decked herself with her earrings and her jewels, and she went after her lovers, and forgot Me,” saith the Lord.

¹⁴ “Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortingly unto her.

Parallel verses are:

“And many among them shall stumble and fall and be broken, and be snared and be taken” Isaiah 8:15.

“And I will spread My net upon him, and he shall be taken in My snare, and I will bring him to Babylon and will plead with him there for his trespass that he hath trespassed against Me” Ezekiel 17:20.

¹⁵ And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the Valley of Achor for a door of hope; and she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt.

¹⁶ “And it shall be at that day,” saith the Lord, “that thou shalt call Me ‘Ishi’ [that is, My husband], and shalt call Me no more ‘Baali’ [that is, My Lord].

¹⁷ For I will take away the names of the Baalim out of her mouth, and they shall no more be remembered by their name. — the sense is, that idolatry shall be utterly abolished, even of every kind; not the worship of Baalim only, but of all other idols, Exodus 23:13,

— and so the Targum says, “and I will take away the name of the idols of the people out of their mouth.”

¹⁸ And in that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of the heavens, and with the creeping things of the ground; and I will break the bow and the sword and warfare out of the earth, and will make them to lie down safely.

— and I will break their bow and the sword and the battle out of the earth; all the instruments of war shall be no more, these mentioned being put for all the rest; the Pentagon and West Point will be demolished, swords shall be beat into ploughshares, and spears into pruning hooks; people will enjoy being farmers, and lots of them; some go on learning folk songs, dancing away, like Tibetan and Mongolian folk songs and dances, practicing their vocal cords praising God;

¹⁹ And I will betroth thee unto Me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto Me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies.

²⁰ I will even betroth thee unto Me in faithfulness, and thou shalt know the Lord.

²¹ “And it shall come to pass in that day I will hear,” saith the Lord, “I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth.

²² And the earth shall hear the corn and the wine and the oil, and they shall hear Jezreel. — see, people will enjoy being farmers, and even herders, lots of them; and with plenty of good wine and time, many will go on learning folk songs, dancing away into the clouds.

²³ And I will sow her unto Me in the earth; and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to those who were not My people, ‘Thou art My people’; and they shall say, ‘Thou art my God.’”

~~

— as said above, people will enjoy being farmers and herders, lots of them; and with plenty of time on hand and during in-between breaks along their open fields, they will go on learning and perfecting their folk songs, of their ethnic groups that had been accumulated over hundreds and even thousands of years, now singing and dancing away, like Mongolian, Pashtuni, Kashmiri among numerous other ethnic groups hills and valleys;

— and especially the Tibetan, among their shangri la idyllic hideaway mountains, and with good wine, their vocal cords moist and loosen further, singing and praising God with sweeter songs: “Thou art our God, too,” beaming with an even higher pitch from the roof of the world, like this Tibetan;

— and during the annual Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem, these ethnic groups singing and dancing with their finest ethnic colorful silk costumes from the enlarged outer court of a new Temple could pose a challenge to those Levites singing from inside the confine of the inner court; “Don’t be so loud,” some annoyed-looking officials appears from the inner court admonishing those singing too loud outside;

— but the loudest and most uncontrollable cheers comes upon the appearance of the dancing and singing Gypsies: “Beyond Our Wildest Dream” whose fortunes had greatly fallen since the great days of the great Pharaohs of Egypt; now their honor restored, displaying much renew joy and restraint cool pride than others, which greatly enlighten the whole world following some surrealistic chills running down their spines flooding their face with socking tears and more applause in response;

— and of course, the Shekinah has returned, filling the much bigger Ezekiel Temple and its precinct with nice smell incense (five hundred cubits in length with five hundred in breadth: Ezekiel 45:2 – “875 by 875 feet”); the whole idyllic atmosphere permeanting all our five senses with surreal clouds rolling overhead and moving continuously along with the Glory of God.

~ by Joel Huan on December 1, 2022.

Posted in Minor Prophets