“And Ephraim is as an heifer that is taught, and loveth to tread out the corn; but I passed over upon her fair neck: I will make Ephraim to ride; Judah shall plow, and Jacob shall break his clods.” (Ho 10:11 AV)
This verse needs a little explaining before we can apply it. Ephraim is another name for the ten northern
tribes of Israel. Judah and Jacob are
other names for the two southern tribes.
The fact Ephraim loves to tread out the corn is not a good thing
here. She has a fair neck which means it
was not used under the heavier burden of plowing and breaking clods. According to the law, when the ox treads out
the corn, the husbandman was not to muzzle him.
This afforded the ox the privilege to enjoy the fruits of his
labor. He ate as he went. This made the task of treading out the corn
an enjoyable one. The prophet is comparing
the ten northern tribes against the two southern tribes as it applies to the
hard work of spiritual growth versus the fruit that comes by it. The warning to Ephraim is because they preferred
the blessings that came of spiritual work at the hands of others and did not
yield the neck to the yoke of hard labor, she would ride away. Or, putting it
another way, she would be carried off to Assyria and suffer for her spiritual
laziness.
You know that guy! That guy that
shows up after all the work is done offers to help, but since there is nothing
left to do, he sits down, enjoys the pizza, and goes home thinking he did his part. Remember those work days? Or, there is that child who notices the
family is gathered in the kitchen helping mom put together a meal and when all
the work is done, he carries a plate to the table and thinks he has done a
great chore. He sits down and enjoys the
labor of others when he did little to contribute. All the prep work that goes into a successful
harvest far outweighs the harvest itself.
Having noticed this in my years of living in the agricultural culture, I
noticed the time, equipment, and effort to prep a field and plant it took much
more than harvesting. There is the
bushhogging to start off a field. All
those pesky little trees that grew up over the last few years have to come done. Then there is the initial plowing and
gathering of all those cutting that are gathered and burned. Then there is the disking and re-disking. Following that are chemical treatments to balance
out the soil. There is a gathering of rocks
and piling them. There is initial
irrigation. Then, after about two to
three months of prep work, a crop is planted.
This may only take a few days. When
the harvest comes, only about one-fourth the time and effort are required to
harvest. It goes rather quickly. All the hard work comes at the beginning. Not at the end.
We want to enjoy the blessings of spiritual life without the hard work
that goes into it. For Ephraim, they
wanted to enjoy the blessings of the law that others were following without
following it themselves. They ate the
fruit that Judah’s repentance and obedience afforded the nation without doing
so themselves. We have that is churches
all across our nations. Saints who enjoy
the preaching and ministry provided by the faith and obedience of others while
unwilling to dedicate themselves to holiness and faith. We want to enjoy the fruits that come from the
work the preacher puts into his sermons without doing the hard work of
devotions, study, and meditation. We
want more people to come to church and rejoice when they do, but do not participate
in soul-winning or inviting those who we know.
We sit in our pews and soak up the efforts of others with a clear
conscience while we do little to produce that which we enjoy. Ephraim was unethical at best. At worst, they took for granted what others
did for them and refused to join in the hard spiritual work which produced the fruit
which they loved. For this, God removed
them. Because they enjoyed the fruits of
spiritual blessings provided by others while living in disobedience, God put
them under bondage until they learned to labor in spiritual matters.
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