King of Sinners
The prophet Hosea was sent by God to call out the sins of the Northern Kingdom of Israel, and declare the punishment that was coming for their sins: exile in Assyria. As Hosea calls out the list of sins and predicts the severe punishment using a host of colorful metaphors, he says this of Israel: "Nettles shall possess their precious things of silver; thorns shall be in their tents." (9:6, ESV) And again: "The high places of Aven, the sin of Israel, shall be destroyed. Thorn and thistle shall grow up on their altars." (10:8) Literal thorns would overgrow in Israel because of their exile. But there is more here. The metaphor of thorns is used here by the prophet, as it is throughout the Old Testament, as a representation of the curse of God for sin: "And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat