The Lord God
and Hosea the prophet:
O Israel, return unto the LORD thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity. Take with you words, and turn to the LORD: say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously: so will we render the calves of our lips. Asshur shall not save us; we will not ride upon horses: neither will we say any more to the work of our hand, Ye re our gods: for in thee the fatherless findeth mercy.-Hosea 14:1-3
I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him. I will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon. His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon. They that dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall revive as the corn, and grow as the vine: the scent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon.-Hosea 14:4-5
Ephraim shall say, What have I to do any more with idols? I have heard him, and observed him: I am like a green fir tree. From me is thy fruit found.-Hosea 14:8
Who is wise, and he shall understand these things? prudent, and he shall know them? for the ways of the LORD lord are right, and the just shall walk in them: but the transgressors shall fall therein.-Hosea 14:9/the complete chapter
Background Information:
Israel was the northern nation in the Promised Land and Judah was the nation in the south. The Israelites in the tribe of Ephraim lived in the northern nation and were descended from Abraham (Abram the Hebrew) and Sarah (Sarai), Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob (Israel) and his 2nd wife Rachel, Joseph and Asenath, and Joseph and Asenath's 2nd born son Ephraim. However, Jacob proclaimed Ephraim and Ephraim's older brother Manasseh to be his own sons. The divinely inspired Scriptures of the Holy Bible reveal that the Lord God and several of the prophets of the Lord God, including Hosea, sometimes identified the northern nation of Israel as Ephraim. Lebanon was at the northern border of the Promised Land and was renown for its trees and aromatic spices. The Promised Land, Canaan, was the land that the Lord God promised to give to Abraham, and Isaac, and to Jacob, and their descendants. Joshua was from the tribe of Ephraim. Over 300 years after Joshua led the Israelites across the divinely parted Jordan River and onto the Promised Land, Saul, from the tribe of Jacob and Rachel's 2nd and last son Benjamin, became the 1st king to rule over the Israelites. David, from the tribe of Judah, was descended from Jacob and his 1st wife Leah, and Jacob and Leah's 4th born son Judah. When David was 30 years old, he began to reign only over the tribe of Judah. When David was 37 1/2 years old, he became the 2nd king to reign over all of the Israelites. Solomon, the 2nd child born to David and Bathsheba, was the 3rd king to reign. Solomon mentioned Lebanon in some of the proverbs he spoke. Rehoboam, the son born to Solomon and Naamah, was the 4th king to rule over all of the Isralites. After Rehoboam gave a specific answer, the Israelites split into 2 kingdoms, according to the will of the Lord God, due to the idolatry and other wickedness of Solomon. In Judah, home of the tribe of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin, Jerusalem was the royal city and Rehoboam was the 1st king to reign. In the northern nation of Israel, home of the other tribes, Samaria was the final royal city and Jeroboam, the son born to Nebat and Zeruah, was the 1st king to reign. Assyria (Asshur) was the home of the Assyrians. King Menahem was the 16th king to rule over all of the Israelites in the northern nation of Israel. When King Tiglath-pileser (Pul), ruler of Assyria, came against the northern nation, Menahem paid Tiglath-pileser over 300 pounds of silver to be his ally. During the reign of King Pekah, the 18th king to rule the northern nation, Tiglath-pileser invaded the kingdom and began taking Israelites to Assyria. When King Shalmaneser, ruler of Assyria, came against the kingdom during the reign of King Hoshea, the 19th king to rule over all of the Israelites in the northern nation of Israel, Hoshea paid Shalmaneser tribute money. During the 9th year of Hoshea's reign, the Assyrians conquered Samaria, according to the will of the Lord God, due to the idolatry and other wickedness of the Israelites. Rehoboam's great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandson Ahaz was the 11th king to rule Judah. At least twice during his reign, Ahaz sought help from Tiglath-pileser, and sent Tiglath-pileser gold and silver from the palace and the temple of the Lord. Hezekiah, the son born to Ahaz and Abi (Abijah) was the 12th king to rule Judah. Hezekiah did not make any payment to the Assyrians until after King Sennacherib, ruler of Assyria, captured fortified cities in Judah. Hezekiah took the silver from the palace and temple and cut the gold from off the doors and pillars of the temple to give Sennacherib. When Sennacherib sent delegates and an army to Jerusalem on a mission with a message, Hezekiah sent Shebna the scribe, and Eliakim, and Joah, and some elderly priests to Isaiah the prophet, and Hezekiah went to the temple of the Lord and prayed. Isaiah prayed to the Lord God and spoke the words of the Lord God to Shebna and those with him. The angel of the Lord struck 185,000 in the Assyrian camp, and Sennacherib was killed in Assyria by Adrammelech and Sharezer, his sons. Manasseh, the son born to Hezekiah and Hephzibah, was the 13th king to rule Judah. The Assyrians took Manasseh captive to Babylon, according to the will of the Lord God. Manasseh humbled himself before the face of the Lord God, and prayed to the Lord God, and the Lord God brought Manasseh back to Jerusalem. Manasseh's great-grandson Jehoikaim (Eliakim) was the 17th king to rule Judah. During Jehoiakim's reign, the Babylonians (Chaldeans) invaded Judah and Jerusalem and King Nebuchadnezzar, ruler of Babylon, began looting the temple of the Lord. During the reign of Jehoiakim's son King Jehoiachin (Jeconiah/Coniah), the 18th king to rule Judah, the Babylonians took more prominent Israelites to Babylon. During the reign of Jehoiakim's brother King Zedekiah (Mattaniah), the 19th king to rule Judah, the Babylonians conquered Jerusalem, according to the will of the Lord God, due to the idolatry and other wickedness of the Israelites. Over 500 years after Israelites began returning to Judah and Jerusalem, Jesus the Christ, the Son of God, was born. Jesus was conceived of the Holy Spirit in the womb of Mary, a virgin, and Jesus was born into the tribe of Judah, the tribe of Judah's kings, to Mary and her husband Joseph when Mary was a virgin. Before Jesus was born to Joseph and Mary, and after Jesus was betrayed, arrested, crucified, buried in a tomb, resurrected, seen by over 500 people, and returned to heaven less than 33 1/2 years after he was born, the Roman Empire was ruling the land whereupon the kingdoms of the Israelites previously stood.-Genesis 11:26-50:26, Exodus, Numbers 13:1-14:45, 20:1-29, 26:1-12:23, Deuteronomy 31:1-34:12, Joshua 1:1-4:24, 23:1-24:33, Judges 1:1-2:23, Ruth, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Song of Soolomon, Isaiah 36:1-39:8, Jeremiah 39:1-18, 52:1-34, Hosea, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts 1:1-26
Reference Information:
Asshur = Assur = Ashshuwr/ashur = Assyria
calves = sepatenu = saphah = lips, speech
Reference Scriptures:
And Solomon determined to build an house for the name of the LORD, and an house for his kingdom.-2 Chronicles 2:1...And the house which I build is great: for great is our God above all gods.-2 Chronicles 2:5...Send me also also cedar trees, fir trees, and algum trees, out of Lebanon: for I know that thy servants can skill to cut timber in Lebanon; and, behold, my servants shall be with thy servants,-2 Chronicles 2:8
Thy lips, O my spouse, drop as the honeycomb: honey and milk are under thy tongue; and the smell of thy garments is like the smell of Lebanon.-Song of Solomon 4:11...Thy plants are an orchard of pomegranates, with pleasant fruits; camphire, with spikenard, Spikenard and saffron; calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense; myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices: A fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, and streams from Lebanon.-Song of Solomon 4:15
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