Hosea 12:9

And I. This verse consists grammatically of two separate clauses that are independent statements. The first clause reads: “And I am the Lord thy God from the land of Egypt.” Make thee to dwell. The following interpretations of this second clause have been suggested: (1) That it forms a divine warning, that as the Jews were once in bondage in Egypt, so again the Lord will put them in a land of bondage, Assyria. (2) That this is a promise, that as God brought His people out of Egypt and had them dwell in tents in the wilderness on their way to the Promised Land, so will He do again. There may be a threat here that God will drive His people out of their pleasant land and put them in a wilderness state because of their pride and ingratitude. However, notwithstanding threatened punishment, there is extended to Israel the promise and prospect of the Lord’s guiding care and wonderful guardianship, as in the early history of Israel, the memory of which was still kept alive by the Feast of Tabernacles. During the seven days of this feast the people dwelt in booths in commemoration of their having dwelt in tents in the wilderness after they had been delivered from Egypt (see Lev. 23:33-36, 39-43). Not only was the Feast of Tabernacles an occasion of yearly thanksgiving for the blessings with which God had crowned the year, but its booths symbolized that we have here “no continuing city” (see Heb. 11:9, 10; 13:14).