Hosea 12:9 Study Bible: "But I the LORD your God brought you up from the land of Egypt. I will yet again make you dwell in tents, as in the days of the solemn feast.

◄ Hosea 12:9 ►

But I am the LORD your God ever since the land of Egypt. I will again make you dwell in tents, as in the days of the appointed feast.

Study Bible

But I am the LORD your God ever since the land of Egypt.
This phrase emphasizes God's enduring relationship with Israel, reminding them of His identity as their covenant God. The reference to "the land of Egypt" recalls the Exodus, a foundational event where God delivered the Israelites from slavery, establishing His power and faithfulness. This historical context underscores God's unchanging nature and His role as a deliverer. The phrase also serves as a reminder of the covenant established at Sinai, where God gave the Law and solidified His relationship with Israel. This connection to the Exodus is a recurring theme in the Old Testament, highlighting God's consistent presence and authority over His people.

I will again make you dwell in tents,
This phrase alludes to the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot), a time when Israelites lived in temporary shelters to commemorate their ancestors' journey through the wilderness. The mention of dwelling in tents symbolizes a return to a state of dependence on God, reminiscent of the wilderness period when Israel relied on God's provision. It serves as a warning of impending judgment, suggesting a return to a nomadic lifestyle due to exile or hardship. This imagery also points to the transient nature of life and the need for spiritual renewal and reliance on God.

as in the days of the appointed feast.
The "appointed feast" refers to the Feast of Tabernacles, a significant Jewish festival celebrating God's provision and protection during the Israelites' 40 years in the wilderness. This feast is a time of joy and thanksgiving, but in this context, it serves as a reminder of past hardships and God's faithfulness. The historical and cultural context of this feast highlights the cyclical nature of Israel's relationship with God, marked by periods of faithfulness and rebellion. The prophetic aspect of this phrase suggests a future time of restoration and renewal, where God's people will once again experience His provision and presence.

Persons / Places / Events

1. Hosea
A prophet in the Northern Kingdom of Israel, whose ministry was to call Israel back to faithfulness to God amidst their idolatry and moral decline.

2. The LORD (Yahweh)
The covenant God of Israel, who delivered them from Egypt and desires their exclusive worship and obedience.

3. Egypt
The land from which God delivered the Israelites, symbolizing bondage and God's redemptive power.

4. Tents
Refers to the temporary dwellings used during the Israelites' wilderness journey and during the Feast of Tabernacles, symbolizing dependence on God.

5. The Appointed Feast
Likely refers to the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot), a time of remembrance of God's provision during the wilderness wanderings.

Teaching Points

God's Faithfulness and Deliverance
God reminds Israel of His unchanging nature and past deliverance from Egypt, emphasizing His faithfulness despite their unfaithfulness.

Dependence on God
The imagery of dwelling in tents calls believers to remember their dependence on God for provision and guidance, just as Israel did in the wilderness.

Call to Repentance
The verse serves as a call to return to a simpler, more sincere faith, free from the distractions and idols that have led them astray.

Remembrance and Worship
Observing times of remembrance, like the Feast of Tabernacles, helps believers focus on God's past acts and His ongoing provision.

Living as Pilgrims
The temporary nature of tents reminds Christians that they are pilgrims on earth, called to live with an eternal perspective and reliance on God.

Bible Study Questions

1. How does the reminder of God's deliverance from Egypt in Hosea 12:9 encourage you in your current life circumstances?

2. In what ways can you cultivate a deeper dependence on God, similar to the Israelites dwelling in tents during the wilderness?

3. How can the practice of remembering God's past faithfulness impact your worship and daily life?

4. What modern "idols" or distractions might be drawing you away from a sincere relationship with God, and how can you address them?

5. How does the concept of living as a pilgrim on earth influence your priorities and decisions?

Connections to Other Scriptures

Exodus 20:2
This verse echoes the declaration of God as the one who brought Israel out of Egypt, establishing His authority and covenant relationship.

Leviticus 23:42-43
Describes the Feast of Tabernacles, where Israelites dwell in booths to remember their deliverance and dependence on God.

Deuteronomy 8:2-3
Reminds Israel of their wilderness experience, emphasizing reliance on God and His provision.

Jeremiah 2:2-3
Reflects on Israel's early devotion to God during the wilderness period, contrasting with their later unfaithfulness.

Amos 5:25-27
Critiques Israel's worship practices, pointing back to the wilderness period as a time of genuine relationship with God.

Sermons

Happiness in Reserve	J.R. Thomson	Hosea 12:9
The Days of Moed		Hosea 12:9
The Feast of Tabernacles as a Type	E. B. Pusey, D. D.	Hosea 12:9
Fortunes	Homilist	Hosea 12:7-9
Fortunes Badly Used, Badly Made, and Badly Ended	D. Thomas	Hosea 12:7-9
I am Rich	Joseph Parker, D. D.	Hosea 12:7-9
Keeping Up Appearances	W. L. Watkinson.	Hosea 12:7-9
Balances of Deceit	J. Orr	Hosea 12:7-11
Three Painful Contrasts	C. Jerdan	Hosea 12:7-14

People

Aram, Assyrians, Hosea, Jacob

Places

Aram, Assyria, Bethel, Egypt, Gilead, Gilgal

Topics

Appointed, Dwell, Egypt, Feast, Feasts, Festival, Holy, Living-places, Meeting, Season, Solemn, Tabernacles, Tents, Turn, Yet

Dictionary of Bible Themes

Hosea 12:9

6659 freedom, acts in OT

Library

Everybody's Sermon
Now it struck me that God is every day preaching to us by similitudes. When Christ was on earth he preached in parables, and, though he is in heaven now, he is preaching in parables to-day. Providence is God's sermon. The things which we see about us are God's thoughts and God's words to us; and if we were but wise there is not a step that we take, which me should not find to be full of mighty instruction. O ye sons of men! God warns you every day by his own word; he speaks to you by the lips of …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 4: 1858

The Pilgrim's Progress
FROM THIS WORLD TO THAT WHICH IS TO COME. THE SECOND PART. DELIVERED UNDER THE SIMILITUDE OF A DREAM. WHEREIN IS SET FORTH THE MANNER OF THE SETTING OUT OF CHRISTIAN'S WIFE AND CHILDREN, THEIR DANGEROUS JOURNEY, AND SAFE ARRIVAL AT THE DESIRED COUNTRY. By JOHN BUNYAN. 'I have used similitudes.'--Hosea 12:10. London: Printed for Nathaniel Ponder, at the Peacock in the Poultry, near the Church, 1684. THE AUTHOR'S WAY OF SENDING FORTH HIS SECOND PART OF THE PILGRIM. Go now, my little book, to every …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

The Holy War,
MADE BY SHADDAI UPON DIABOLUS, FOR THE REGAINING OF THE METROPOLIS OF THE WORLD; OR, THE LOSING AND TAKING AGAIN OF THE TOWN OF MANSOUL. THE AUTHOR OF 'THE PILGRIM'S PROGRESS.' 'I have used similitudes.'--Hosea 12:10. London: Printed for Dorman Newman, at the King's Arms in the Poultry; and Benjamin Alsop, at the Angel and Bible in the Poultry, 1682. ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. Bunyan's account of the Holy War is indeed an extraordinary book, manifesting a degree of genius, research, and spiritual …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

The Twofold Wrestle --God's with Jacob and Jacob's with God
'And Jacob said, O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, the Lord which saidst unto me, Return unto thy country, and to thy kindred, and I will deal well with thee: I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which Thou hast shewed unto Thy servant; for with my staff I passed over this Jordan; and now I am become two bands. Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau: for I fear him, lest he will come and smite me, and the …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Gen. xxxi. 11
Of no less importance and significance is the passage Gen. xxxi. 11 seq. According to ver. 11, the Angel of God, [Hebrew: mlaK halhiM] appears toJacob in a dream. In ver. 13, the same person calls himself the God of Bethel, with reference to the event recorded in chap. xxviii. 11-22. It cannot be supposed that in chap xxviii. the mediation of a common angel took place, who, however, had not been expressly mentioned; for Jehovah is there contrasted with the angels. In ver. 12, we read: "And behold …
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament

The Unity of the Divine Essence in Three Persons Taught, in Scripture, from the Foundation of the World.
1. Scripture, in teaching that the essence of God is immense and spiritual, refutes not only idolaters and the foolish wisdom of the world, but also the Manichees and Anthropomorphites. These latter briefly refuted. 2. In this one essence are three persons, yet so that neither is there a triple God, nor is the simple essence of God divided. Meaning of the word Person in this discussion. Three hypostases in God, or the essence of God. 3. Objection of those who, in this discussion, reject the use of …
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion

Concerning Worship.
Concerning Worship. [780] All true and acceptable worship to God is offered in the inward and immediate moving and drawing of his own Spirit which is neither limited to places times, nor persons. For though we are to worship him always, and continually to fear before him; [781] yet as to the outward signification thereof, in prayers, praises, or preachings, we ought not to do it in our own will, where and when we will; but where and when we are moved thereunto by the stirring and secret inspiration …
Robert Barclay—Theses Theologicae and An Apology for the True Christian Divinity

The Wonderful.
Isaiah ix:6. HIS name shall be called "Wonderful" (Isaiah ix:6). And long before Isaiah had uttered this divine prediction the angel of the Lord had announced his name to be Wonderful. As such He appeared to Manoah. And Manoah said unto the angel of Jehovah, What is thy name, that when thy sayings come to pass we may do thee honor. And the angel of Jehovah said unto Him "why askest thou thus after my name, seeing it is Wonderful" (margin, Judges xiii:17-18). This angel of Jehovah, the Person who …
Arno Gaebelein—The Lord of Glory

"But if we Walk in the Light, as He is in the Light, we have Fellowship one with Another, and the Blood of Jesus Christ His
1 John i. 7.--"But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin." Art is the imitation of nature, and true religion is a divine art, that consists in the imitation of God himself, the author of nature. Therefore it is a more high and transcendent thing, of a sublimer nature than all the arts and sciences among men. Those reach but to some resemblance of the wisdom of God, expressed in his works, …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

Motives to Holy Mourning
Let me exhort Christians to holy mourning. I now persuade to such a mourning as will prepare the soul for blessedness. Oh that our hearts were spiritual limbecs, distilling the water of holy tears! Christ's doves weep. They that escape shall be like doves of the valleys, all of them mourning, every one for his iniquity' (Ezekiel 7:16). There are several divine motives to holy mourning: 1 Tears cannot be put to a better use. If you weep for outward losses, you lose your tears. It is like a shower …
Thomas Watson—The Beatitudes: An Exposition of Matthew 5:1-12

The Prophet Hosea.
GENERAL PRELIMINARY REMARKS. That the kingdom of Israel was the object of the prophet's ministry is so evident, that upon this point all are, and cannot but be, agreed. But there is a difference of opinion as to whether the prophet was a fellow-countryman of those to whom he preached, or was called by God out of the kingdom of Judah. The latter has been asserted with great confidence by Maurer, among others, in his Observ. in Hos., in the Commentat. Theol. ii. i. p. 293. But the arguments …
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament

The Eighth Commandment
Thou shalt not steal.' Exod 20: 15. AS the holiness of God sets him against uncleanness, in the command Thou shalt not commit adultery;' so the justice of God sets him against rapine and robbery, in the command, Thou shalt not steal.' The thing forbidden in this commandment, is meddling with another man's property. The civil lawyers define furtum, stealth or theft to be the laying hands unjustly on that which is another's;' the invading another's right. I. The causes of theft. [1] The internal causes …
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments

The Tenth Commandment
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his man-servant, nor his maid-servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.' Exod 20: 17. THIS commandment forbids covetousness in general, Thou shalt not covet;' and in particular, Thy neighbour's house, thy neighbour's wife, &c. I. It forbids covetousness in general. Thou shalt not covet.' It is lawful to use the world, yea, and to desire so much of it as may keep us from the temptation …
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments

There is a Blessedness in Reversion
Blessed are the poor in spirit. Matthew 5:3 Having done with the occasion, I come now to the sermon itself. Blessed are the poor in spirit'. Christ does not begin his Sermon on the Mount as the Law was delivered on the mount, with commands and threatenings, the trumpet sounding, the fire flaming, the earth quaking, and the hearts of the Israelites too for fear; but our Saviour (whose lips dropped as the honeycomb') begins with promises and blessings. So sweet and ravishing was the doctrine of this …
Thomas Watson—The Beatitudes: An Exposition of Matthew 5:1-12

Prayer
But I give myself unto prayer.' Psa 109: 4. I shall not here expatiate upon prayer, as it will be considered more fully in the Lord's prayer. It is one thing to pray, and another thing to be given to prayer: he who prays frequently, is said to be given to prayer; as he who often distributes alms, is said to be given to charity. Prayer is a glorious ordinance, it is the soul's trading with heaven. God comes down to us by his Spirit, and we go up to him by prayer. What is prayer? It is an offering …
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments

The Prophet Amos.
GENERAL PRELIMINARY REMARKS. It will not be necessary to extend our preliminary remarks on the prophet Amos, since on the main point--viz., the circumstances under which he appeared as a prophet--the introduction to the prophecies of Hosea may be regarded as having been written for those of Amos also. For, according to the inscription, they belong to the same period at which Hosea's prophetic ministry began, viz., the latter part of the reign of Jeroboam II., and after Uzziah had ascended the …
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament

Hosea
The book of Hosea divides naturally into two parts: i.-iii. and iv.-xiv., the former relatively clear and connected, the latter unusually disjointed and obscure. The difference is so unmistakable that i.-iii. have usually been assigned to the period before the death of Jeroboam II, and iv.-xiv. to the anarchic period which succeeded. Certainly Hosea's prophetic career began before the end of Jeroboam's reign, as he predicts the fall of the reigning dynasty, i. 4, which practically ended with Jeroboam's …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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