Hosea 10:7–10 (NKJV)
As for Samaria, her king is cut off
Like a twig on the water.
Also the high places of Aven, the sin of Israel,
Shall be destroyed.
The thorn and thistle shall grow on their altars;
They shall say to the mountains, “Cover us!”
And to the hills, “Fall on us!”
“O Israel, you have sinned from the days of Gibeah;
There they stood.
The battle in Gibeah against the children of iniquity
Did not overtake them.
When it is My desire, I will chasten them.
Peoples shall be gathered against them
When I bind them for their two transgressions.
Gibeah is where a Levite’s concubine was raped (see Judges 19:22-26). This is one of the iconic examples of depravity, God sets it up as an example of the unjust being overtaken.
But this passage isn’t so much about justice as it is about timing. These prophecies aren’t predictions; they’re announcements of choices.
When it is My desire, I will chasten them.
Peoples shall be gathered against them
When I bind them for their two transgressions.
The two transgressions are the physical sin like what happened in Gibeah and the spiritual sin that has been the focus throughout Hosea.
God will discipline Israel for these things in His own due time.
God’s timing seems slow to us, and it’s reasonable to wonder why it isn’t faster. In teaching children or training animals, reward and punishment work best when done promptly. So, why doesn’t God punish quickly?
Because God isn’t like us. We need reward and punishment to work with maximum efficiency because getting children and animals to conform to our will is a challenge.
But not for God. He has no problem getting every atom in the universe to conform precisely to His will. He’s not in a hurry.
He’s got agendas way beyond our understanding.
