By a prophet Yahweh brought Israel up out of Egypt, And by a prophet he was preserved.
"And by a prophet was he preserved ..." Furthermore, the prophetic arm had guided and protected Israel throughout the period of their wilderness wanderings, providentially aided them in driving out the Canaanites, defended them against their enemies, preserved and watched over them continually, all of this contrasting with the state of slavery in which both Jacob and the entire nation had once been submerged.  As a result of all that providential interference upon his behalf, Ephraim was lifted up with pride against his God, glorifying himself, boasting of his riches, forgetting God altogether, and lavishing his favors upon his false gods and even upon his enemies!  The blow of eternal justice was poised to fall, and fall it did!  "Ephraim had rejected the hand that led him and fed him; it was the sheep deserting the shepherd, the wife the husband, the child the father, and such opposition could not go unpunished."[22]