Hosea 7:11

Like a silly dove. That the dove was a simple, easily deceived fowl seems to have been a widespread opinion anciently. The dove’s stupidity is the subject of an Arab proverb, a proverb whose antiquity is unknown. The utter simplicity of a dove’s flying right into the birdcatcher’s net, without suspecting or observing it (see Prov. 7:23), is effectively used as a graphic illustration of Ephraim’s folly. In asking Egypt and Assyria for help, Israel did not realize she was putting herself in a position to whet the territorial appetite of these imperial powers who sought to control Palestine. Thus Israel lost her national sovereignty and independence (see pp. 31-33).

To Egypt ...to Assyria. The very position of Palestine exposed it to invasion by these two ancient empires. The two Israelitic nations stood on the highway connecting these two mighty powers. The much-coveted prize for which these powerful empires fought was this highway that connected the rich watersheds of the Nile and the Euphrates. The kingdoms of Israel and Judah were caught in this international counterplay and squeezed between the two rivals. In desperation, without spiritual trust in her God, Israel fatuously appealed first to the one and then to the other for a support that could only turn into a snare to her own national well-being.