Hosea 7:4

"They are all adulterers; they are as an oven heated by the baker; he ceases to stir the fire, from the kneading of the dough, until it be leavened."

This message of the heated oven is to be understood in the sense of a banked fire, ready to flare up at any time. The ovens of Hosea's times were bell-shaped adobe furnaces in which fires were built; when they were ready to be used, the fire was taken out and the hot interior was used for baking. A fire left in the oven for a long period, such as over-night, or while the bread was rising, when stirred, would flame up suddenly. The comparison seems to be that the evil passions of the people were like such fires, ready to flame up on the slightest opportunity. McKeating expressed it thus: "When left alone, the fire may look black and dead, but fierce heat is below the surface. It can be stirred into life at a moment's notice."[3]

Some stress the baker's part in this metaphor who knows how to control the fire until the appropriate time to use it, with the meaning that Israel's leaders skillfully used their evil passions by plotting intrigues and other evil deeds, controlling them until exactly the right time for the indulgence of their wickedness. Those following this line usually see reference in this passage to the repeated revolutions of that period during which several kings were overthrown. We prefer the former view.