Ephraim is oppressed, trampled in judgment, intent on pursuing idols. – Hosea 5:11

Today's Scripture Reading (February 23, 2023): Hosea 5

Karl Marx argued that "the oppressed are allowed once every few years to decide which particular representatives of the oppressing class are to represent and repress them." I wish I could say that he was wrong, but I can't, at least not honestly. I am not a Marxist, but I believe that Marx identified a major societal problem. Where Marx struggles is with the answer to the problem. Marx wanted to replace the oppressing ruling class with people more representative of the population, but when his theory was put into practice, he simply created another oppressive ruling class. After all, a slave sold to another master is still a slave. Nothing really changed.

But there is a secondary problem with Marx's assessment of society, which is that to be oppressed doesn't always take an oppressor. Sometimes we do it ourselves. And that was something that Hosea needed Israel to understand.

Using the name Ephraim is a common way of referring to the Northern Kingdom of Israel, dominated as it was by the tribe of Ephraim, just as the tribe of Judah dominated the south. So, as Hosea states that Ephraim is oppressed, he is not indicating just the single tribe but all of the Northern Kingdom. But his message is also not that Ephraim's oppression comes from outside the nation. Hosea is writing around 766 B.C.E., just forty-five years before Assyria defeated the country in 721. Assyria was on the horizon, and yet, at the time of Hosea's prophecy, the empire was in a period of significant decline. In 766, Israel was not in immediate danger of being defeated and oppressed by Assyria. Still, Hosea insists that they are oppressed. The easiest answer is that even in decline, Assyria continued to be much more than Israel could handle. And that is likely true. But Hosea doesn't name someone who is doing the oppressing of Israel. Instead, he argues that "Ephraim is oppressed, trampled in judgment, intent on pursuing idols." Possibly a clearer statement of intent might be to translate this verse as "Ephraim is oppressed, crushed by their own judgment because they have willingly followed human commandments (or false commandments) instead of God's commands." Israel was oppressed by their own actions, following the harsh expectations placed on them by false gods instead of the divine commandments of God.

Sometimes we still rail against the rules we believe God has placed on us. But the expectations that cause us the most trouble are not a result of God's commandments; they are rules that result from our very human expectations. After all, it was Jesus who taught;

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light (Matthew 11:28-30).

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Hosea 6