Hosea 5:9

"Ephraim shall become a desolation in the day of rebuke: among the tribes of Israel have I made known that which shall surely be."

"Ephraim shall become a desolation ..." The disappearance from history of this once proud and mighty people eloquently underscores the sad truth of this prophecy. Ephraim simply refused to heed any warning or to make amends for their depravity in any way whatever; nor could they ever say that God had not warned them, a thing that Hosea stressed in the last clause of this verse. Moreover, it was not the word of Hosea alone that thundered the warnings. Moses had declared it (Deuteronomy 31:16-30), and the warning was crystal clear in the writings of Joel, Amos, and Jonah, as well as in many others.

"Day of rebuke ..." Rebuke in Hebrew thought is a judicial decision. God would render a verdict of "guilty" against idolatrous Israel, and the armies of Assyria would be his instruments for punishing his faithless people.[24]

As Mays pointed out, the prophetic words here not only came true; it was this word from God that made it come true. "The prophetic word has the power to fulfill itself!"[25]