Ephraim was the first born among the nations of Israel. God had promised to bless the nation of Israel through his descendants but there was a problem. God was going to bless the nation, but discovered iniquity with the tribe of Ephraim and could not bless until they repented. God cannot bless you if you have unconfessed sin. Ephraim was mixing itself among the people when it should be separated from the sins of other nations.

There are many individuals in delusion today, feeling that God will not remember their sin, and so they go on in it without any restraint at all until it becomes an overbearing bondage with which they cannot cope. This is the setting for the metaphors to which we wish to call your attention which represent the sad plight in which the nation of Israel had found herself.

1. A cake half-turned

Ephraim was like a cake that has come out of the oven not turned. They were only half-cooked. They were half and half. Something which is half-baked is not fit to be eaten. If you are half-hearted you are not ready to be used by God. Too many people in the church are half-hearted or half-cooked. Elijah challenged the people on Mount Carmel. See 1 Kings 18:21. Jesus also is concerned about those who are neither hot nor cold. See Revelation 3:16. God wants us to be “well cooked”! Are you a committed Christian? We are to live our lives and have a relationship with the Lord. We are to be careful with our close friends. We have many acquaintances but our friends are few. Friends have to do with our spirituality.

2. They have grey hairs

God uses it as an illustration, He indicates that when the first gray hair appears, it is an indication that strength is waning. It is an indication that you are not as young or strong as once you were! It is tragic when a man or woman thinks they are still young when they clearly are not. But the tragedy, spiritually speaking, is even worse, for there are Christians today who have a sprinkling of gray and do not know that they do. There are Christians today who, like Samson of old, think they will be able to meet the enemy when the time comes and they are unable to do anything. See Judges 16:20.

Ephraim needs to look in the mirror and then they will see the grey hairs. The Bible talks about us examining ourselves. In the temple there was the laver. The Bible is the mirror of God. See James 1:23-25. Have you looked in the mirror recently? If you don’t look in the mirror then this is presumption. You may not notice that you are unclean. The world will notice!

3. A silly dove

Instead of like the lion of Judah the nation was like a silly dove. They were without heart. They were going to other nations for their security. Israel is like a bird fluttering about, confused and without direction. They think they can escape God by running to other nations, but the Lord has caught them in His net! The dove will watch a predator eat her young and then start again at the same nest. They are easily drawn away. Are you easily drawn away? If you are saved, you will not be easily drawn away. Get committed and stop being easily deceived. They were being destroyed by a lack of knowledge.

4. A deceitful bow

It looks good, but when you pull the string, the bow breaks. The bow lets you down at the last minute. There is a dry rot within the bow. The bow snaps in the time of trouble and you are defeated. Just like Samson. God wants to reach the mark through you, but He hasn’t been able to as you haven’t been looking after you bow. If the bow cannot be relied upon then it will not have the power to reach the target or will not fire straight. God needs a reliable bow. The time of action is now. There is no time to lose!

Categories: Hosea