John Calvin Commentary Hosea 12:1

"Ephraim feedeth on wind, and followeth after the east wind: he continually multiplieth lies and desolation; and they make a covenant with Assyria, and oil is carried into Egypt." — Hosea 12:1 (ASV)

The Prophet here speaks out strongly against the vain hopes of the people, for they were so inflated with arrogance that they despised all instruction and all admonitions. It was therefore necessary, in the first place, to correct this vice, and therefore he says, Ephraim feeds on wind. For when one gulps the wind, he seems indeed to fill his mouth, his throat, his chest, and his whole stomach; but there is nothing but air, no nourishment.

So he says that Israel indeed placed much confidence in their cunning schemes, but it was only to feed on the wind. They dreamed that they were happy when they secured alliances, when they had both the Assyrians and the Egyptians as their allies. They are only gusts, says the Prophet. Indeed, he says, they are harmful gusts; for by the East he understands the east wind, which blows from the rising of the sun; and this, as they say, is in Judea a dry and often a stormy wind.

Other winds either bring rain or some other advantage, but this wind brings nothing but drought and storms. Thus it appears that the Prophet meant that Israel, through this their vain confidence, brought upon themselves many sorrows and always remained void and empty. Ephraim then feeds on the wind, and further, he follows after the east wind.

Hosea explains his meaning afterwards more clearly when he says, He daily multiplies falsehood and desolation. By "falsehood," I have no doubt he alludes to the deceptions by which the people deceived themselves, just as hypocrites do, who, by sharpening their wits to deceive God, involve themselves in many fatal snares. So Israel is also said to have multiplied falsehood, for they made themselves so obstinate as to become quite hardened against God’s teaching.

This obstinacy is called falsehood for this reason: because unbelieving men, as we see, fabricate many excuses for themselves. Though these are deceptions, they still think themselves safe against all God's threatenings, provided they set up some unknown thing which they believe will be sufficiently effective. Therefore, the Prophet repeats again that there was nothing but falsehood in all their cunning decrees.

He then emphasizes the point further, saying that it was desolation—that is, the cause of desolation. He first derides the people's vain confidence because they thought they could blind God's eyes with their vain disguises. “This is falsehood,” he says, “this is deception.” Then he presses them more severely and says, “This is your perdition: you will at last perceive that you have gained nothing by your plans but destruction.”

How so? Because they made a covenant. I take this latter clause as explanatory. For if the Prophet had only spoken generally, the people's impiety would not have been sufficiently exposed. The masks of complacent men must be torn away, and their crimes, so to speak, depicted, so that they may be ashamed. For unless they are, so to speak, drawn out before the public and their wickedness exposed to everyone's view, they will always hide themselves in their secret places.

This, then, is the reason why the Prophet here specifically points out their deceptions, which he had mentioned before. Behold, he says, they made a covenant with the Assyrian, and carry their oil into Egypt. That is, they seek the friendship of the Assyrian on one side, and on the other, they try to win over the Egyptians with great persistence. Indeed, they do not spare their own goods, for they carry presents to win them over.

We now understand, then, how Israel had multiplied falsehood and desolation: they implicated themselves in unlawful agreements. But why it was unlawful for them to turn to the Assyrians and Egyptians, we have explained elsewhere, and it is not necessary here to repeat at length what has been said.

God wished the people to be under His protection. When God promised to be the defender of their safety, they should have been satisfied with His protection alone. But when they turned to Egypt and Assyria, it was clear evidence of unbelief, for it was the same as denying that God's power was sufficient for them.

We also know that the Israelites never went to Assyria or Egypt except when they plotted the destruction of their own brothers, for they often worked to overturn the kingdom of Judah. They only sought allies to satisfy their own cruelty.

However, this one reason was abundantly sufficient to condemn them: they fortified themselves with foreign aid when God was willing to keep them, so to speak, enclosed under His own wings.

Therefore, whenever we attempt to provide for ourselves by unlawful means, it is the same as if we denied God. For He calls and invites us to come under His protection. But when our thoughts run here and there, and we seek some vain help, we grievously dishonor God. It is, so to speak, to flee to Egypt or Assyria. And the teaching of this verse ought to be applied for this purpose.