Hosea 5 - ESV - Bible Reading / Study Notes

Hosea 5

Punishment Coming for Israel and Judah

5:1   Hear this, O priests!
    Pay attention, O house of Israel!
  Give ear, O house of the king!
    For the judgment is for you;
  for you have been a snare at Mizpah
    and a net spread upon Tabor.
2   And the revolters have gone deep into slaughter,
    but I will discipline all of them.
3   I know Ephraim,
    and Israel is not hidden from me;
  for now, O Ephraim, you have played the whore;
    Israel is defiled.
4   Their deeds do not permit them
    to return to their God.
  For the spirit of whoredom is within them,
    and they know not the LORD.
5   The pride of Israel testifies to his face;¹
    Israel and Ephraim shall stumble in his guilt;
    Judah also shall stumble with them.
6   With their flocks and herds they shall go
    to seek the LORD,
  but they will not find him;
    he has withdrawn from them.
7   They have dealt faithlessly with the LORD;
    for they have borne alien children.
    Now the new moon shall devour them with their fields.
8   Blow the horn in Gibeah,
    the trumpet in Ramah.
  Sound the alarm at Beth-aven;
    we follow you,² O Benjamin!
9   Ephraim shall become a desolation
    in the day of punishment;
  among the tribes of Israel
    I make known what is sure.
10   The princes of Judah have become
    like those who move the landmark;
  upon them I will pour out
    my wrath like water.
11   Ephraim is oppressed, crushed in judgment,
    because he was determined to go after filth.³
12   But I am like a moth to Ephraim,
    and like dry rot to the house of Judah.
13   When Ephraim saw his sickness,
    and Judah his wound,
  then Ephraim went to Assyria,
    and sent to the great king.⁴
  But he is not able to cure you
    or heal your wound.
14   For I will be like a lion to Ephraim,
    and like a young lion to the house of Judah.
  I, even I, will tear and go away;
    I will carry off, and no one shall rescue.
15   I will return again to my place,
    until they acknowledge their guilt and seek my face,
    and in their distress earnestly seek me.

Footnotes

[1] 5:5 Or in his presence
[2] 5:8 Or after you
[3] 5:11 Or to follow human precepts
[4] 5:13 Or to King Jareb

Commentary

v1-3: Priests and rulers picked out for judgment. Although the priests are not of the house of Levi, the people would doubtless look to the priests to provide leadership and example. (Israel had chosen priests from other tribes, 1 Kings 12.31.) Mizpah and Tabor were shrines for Baal worship, which was encouraged by the priests.

Israel could not deny their rebellion, even though they might try. See Ezek 8.12, where the people claim that God is ignorant of their sinful actions.

v4-5: They reject the Lord, not wanting to know Him. Ephraim is mentioned as representative of all Israel, the northern kingdom. The people were in a cycle of disobedience, not able to break out of it; such is the power of sin over a people; compare Rom 1.21-32.

v6: The Lord withdraws from them. Since they do not want Him, He removes opportunity to find Him. If we cherish sinful attitudes, then we will lose God's blessing, James 4.3.

v7: Pagan children; such is the effect of sowing to the flesh, Neh 13.23-24. If we neglect to teach God's truths to them, other things will influence them, making them pagan in their thinking.

The people dealt treacherously with the Lord, and will find He deals similarly with them.

v8-9: The day of battle and defeat drawing near. The towns mentioned here indicate an attack from Judah.

v10-12: In attacking the northern kingdom, Judah removed the ancient landmark set by God, and by godly men and women. They follow "human precept," see Mic 6.16, referring to the reign of Omri, and the laws he introduced. They fail to see the difference between good and evil.

v13: As the problems arrived, the nation looked to Jareb, king of Assyria. But he brings no help.

v14: The Lord Himself is as a lion to Ephraim, tearing in pieces and carrying away; powerful images of the invading Assyrian army.

John Bunyan says, ‘you see your sickness, your wound, your necessity of salvation. Well, do not go to King Jareb, for he cannot heal you, nor cure you of your wound. Take caution, I say, lest Christ, instead of being a Saviour to you, becomes a lion, a young lion, to tear you and go away.’ (Come and welcome to Jesus Christ)

v15: At a later time, they will "admit their guilt," and diligently seek the Lord.