Imagine a wind off the desert that dries up every spring in its path. Hosea uses that picture for Ephraim, a people who had grown fruitful and comfortable: “an east wind shall come, the wind of the LORD shall come up from the wilderness,” and the fountain “shall be dried up.” The other two verses in this list borrow wind in a looser way. Jeremiah says wind will eat up Jerusalem’s shepherds, and Paul warns believers not to be “tossed to and fro” by “every wind of doctrine.” In each, wind is something that carries away what has no root. Hosea 13 is the place to begin.
3 verses
The wind shall eat up all thy pastors, and thy lovers shall go into captivity: surely then shalt thou be ashamed and confounded for all thy wickedness.
Though he be fruitful among his brethren, an east wind shall come, the wind of the LORD shall come up from the wilderness, and his spring shall become dry, and his fountain shall be dried up: he shall spoil the treasure of all pleasant vessels.
That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
Matthew George Easton, 1897
The wind coming from the east (Job 27:21; Isa. 27:8, etc.). Blight caused by this wind, “thin ears” (Gen. 41:6); the withered “gourd” (Jonah 4: 8). It was the cause and also the emblem of evil (Ezek. 17:10; 19:12; Hos. 13:15). In Palestine this wind blows from a burning desert, and hence is destitute of moisture necessary for vegetation.