Punishment Coming
for Israel and Judah
Hear
ye this, O priests; and hearken, ye house of Israel; and give ye ear,
O house of the king; for judgment is
toward you, because ye have been a snare on Mizpah, and a net spread
upon Tabor. Hos. 5:1
Hear
ye this,...
The 7th prophecy in Hosea (Hos. 5:1-15, fulfilled). Next, Hos. 6:1.
Fourteen
Predictions—Fulfilled:
1.
Israel and Ephraim will fall for their iniquity (Hos. 5:5).
2.
Judah also will fall with them.
3.
They will go with their flocks to seek the Lord, but will not find
Him (Hos. 5:6).
4.
A month will devour them with their portions; that is, this will
happen in a month (Hos. 5:7).
5.
Ephraim will be desolate in the day of rebuke (Hos. 5:9).
6.
I will pour out My wrath upon them like water (Hos. 5:10).
7.
I will be unto Ephraim as a moth (Hos. 5:12).
8.
I will be to the house of Judah as rottenness.
9.
I will be unto Ephraim as a lion (Hos. 5:14).
10.
I will be like a young lion to Judah.
11.
I will tear them and go away.
12.
None will rescue them.
13.
I will go and return to My place, till they acknowledge their
offense, and seek My face (Hos. 5:15).
14.
In their affliction they will seek Me early.
ye
house of...
Both the nation and the king are mentioned here as committing the
same sins (Hos. 5:1-2). The book of Hosea could be called the Record
of the Sins of Israel.
spread
upon Tabor...
Tabor was not in Ephraim. The name means mound, and the idolatrous
altar on this mound may have been called Mizpah, the place which
became a snare to Israel.
Hosea
addressed the priests, the people and the royal family; the 3
imperatives demand attention. The religious and civil leaders had
entrapped the people (compare 6:9; 7:7).
“Mizpah”
and “Tabor” were prominent sites of Baal worship. There was a
Mizpah of Benjamin in the south and a Mizpah of Gilead, east of the
Jordan. Tabor was located in the north. Depending on which Mizpah is
in view, the land is depicted as sin-ridden from south to north, or
from east to west, in other words, sin was everywhere.
This is
speaking of this judgment being not just on the people, but the king,
as well. The sin in the land was so great; it had even reached the
priests. Places that had been a great advantage to them, like Mizpah
and Tabor, had now been converted into places to worship false gods.
And
the revolters are profound to make slaughter, though I have
been a rebuker of
them all. Hos. 5:2
And
the revolters... The revolters are all those that have cast off the
law of God, both in matters of religion and civil government.
are profound... Dig deep
to hide their counsels, or have taken deep root since their apostasy
from God, and revolt from the house of David. They
have deeply designed a slaughter, and I will chastise them all.
to make slaughter... All
their religion is but a butchering of cattle, no sacrifice to God;
or, which is worse, a murdering of men.
though I have... Hosea,
“have been a rebuker": A preacher, who ill the name and word
of God have sharply inveighed against their brutish religion and
their bloody slaughters.
of them all... None that
have been guilty have escaped the reproof; I have declaimed against
idolatrous priests and bloody usurpers, such as were in those times,
Shallum, Menahem, and Pekah.
It appears, there was much
opposition to going up to Jerusalem to worship. There were people,
who had revolted against God, lying in wait to kill them, as they
passed by Tabor and Mizpah.
I
know Ephraim, and Israel is not hid from me: for now, O Ephraim, thou
committest whoredom, and
Israel is defiled. Hos. 5:3
I
know Ephraim...
Ephraim was the largest tribe, and the name became that of the
northern kingdom, just as Judah became the name of the southern
kingdom because of it being the ruling tribe (Hos. 5:3, 5:5, 5:9-15).
Ephraim, the tribe so called, as distinguished from "Israel"
here and the other nine tribes. It was always foremost of the tribes
of the northern kingdom. For four hundred years in early history, it,
with Manasseh and Benjamin, its two dependent tribes, held the
pre-eminence in the whole nation. Ephraim is here addressed as
foremost in idolatry.
not hid
from... Not withstanding their supposed profound cunning (Hosea 5:2;
Rev. 2:2, 9, 13, 19).
for now,
O... Though I have been a rebuker of all them (Hosea 5:2), who commit
such spiritual whoredoms, thou art now continuing in them.
Ephraim was
the most prominent of the tribes of Israel. Just as many times, Judah
was spoken of as both the tribe of Judah and Benjamin, and other
times was separated out, so is Ephraim. It appears, Ephraim was even
more idolatrous than the other tribes. They had received the right
hand blessing, so perhaps they were also, more responsible.
They
will not frame their doings to turn unto their God: for the spirit of
whoredoms is
in the midst of them, and they have not known the LORD. Hos. 5:4
They
will not... Turning from a direct address to Ephraim, he uses the
third person plural to characterize the people in general. The Hebrew
is against the Margin, their doings will not suffer them" the
omission of "them" in the Hebrew after the verb being
unusual. The sense is, they are incurable, for they will not permit
(as the Hebrew literally means), their doings to be framed so as to
turn unto God.
for the
spirit...Implying that they resist the Spirit of God, not suffering
Him to renew them; and give themselves up to "the spirit of
whoredoms", in antithesis to "the Spirit of God"
implied in "suffer" or "permit" (Hosea 4:12; Isa.
63:10; Ezek. 16:43; Acts 7:51).
they have
not... We see in this verse, not only were they practicing idolatry,
but they had the spirit of idolatry, as well. They have turned their
will over to evil, instead of to God. Plain and simple, they have
fallen in love with false gods and left the One True God.
This
wording is probably drawn from Num. 5:20, 5:27-28 where the same verb
(ṭāmā)
describes the effects of adultery on the unfaithful party (cf. Lev.
18:20, 18:24). Sinful Israel had become so overpowered by a spirit of
prostitution (Hos. 5:4; cf. 4:12) that any possibility of repentance
and recognition of the Lord’s authority was precluded for the time
being.
And
the pride of Israel doth testify to his face: therefore shall Israel
and Ephraim fall in their iniquity; Judah also shall fall with them.
Hos. 5:5
pride
of Israel... Israel’s pride in idolatry provided self-incrimination
(compare 7:10).
The words
“Ephraim” and Israel” are interchangeable here.
God had
blessed Israel and Judah above other nations. Instead of this
humbling them, they had become very proud, and thought themselves
better than others.
fall in
their... They had become so proud, they believed they could do
anything, and God would still bless them. They had brazenly
worshipped false gods. They thought they were above sin.
The
nation’s own arrogance served as a legal witness (testifies; cf.
the same expression in 1Sa. 12:3; 2Sa. 1:16) to its guilt and, in
accordance with the famous proverb (Pro. 16:18), had led to its fall
(cf. stumble in Hos. 4:5). Judah had followed Israel’s example and
had come to mortal ruin as well.
They
shall go with their flocks and with their herds to seek the LORD; but
they shall not find him;
he hath withdrawn himself from them. Hos. 5:6
They
shall go... And seek to make their peace with God and to induce him
to be favorable to them by a multitude of sacrifices; but they shall
not find their expectations answered. This is spoken of the people of
Judah, mentioned in the latter part of the foregoing verse. Who,
though they attended the temple worship, yet did it without any true
sense of religion, for which the Prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah
particularly reprove them.
to seek
the... The prophecy seems to look forward to the times of Hezekiah
and Josiah, declaring that the attempts of those God fearing kings to
reclaim the people from idolatry, and to restore the true worship of
God, would fail of any durable effect, and would not avail to reverse
the doom pronounced upon the guilty people.
but they
shall... Whilst he might have been found they would not seek him, now
as a punishment, and to leave them remediless, God will not be found
of them; he will not either accept a sacrifice, or pardon their sin,
or return to save them.
He hath
withdrawn... All of the sacrifices they would make now would be
totally unacceptable to God. God warned them of the danger of
worshipping false gods, and they had not taken heed. Now, it is too
late.
The
Lord’s punishment of His people would be expressed in two ways:
withdrawal of aid and blessing (Hos. 5:6-7, 5:15), and active warfare
(Hos. 5:8-14). In the days ahead Israel in desperation would seek the
Lord through sacrifices of flocks and herds. However, this
hypocritical ritualism, devoid of genuine covenant loyalty, would be
ineffective (cf. Hos. 6:6; 8:11-13; Isa. 1:10-17).
They
have dealt treacherously against the LORD: for they have begotten
strange children: now shall a month devour them with their portions.
Hos. 5:7
they
have dealt... God’s people had been unfaithful. The Hebrew verb
(bāg̱aḏ)
often refers to a failure to carry out the responsibilities of a
natural (cf. Jer. 12:6) or contractual (cf. Jdg. 9:6, 9:23; Mal.
2:14-16) relationship.
for
they have... Here marital infidelity provides the background (cf.
Jer. 3:20). As in the preceding chapters, Hosea pictured Israel as
the Lord’s adulterous wife. Carrying on the figure, she had even
given birth to illegitimate children, an inevitable result of her
promiscuous activities. The reality behind the figure was perhaps
those Israelite children whose birth was attributed to cultic sexual
acts (cf. Hos. 4:13-15).
and
shall a... If the statement “the New Moon shall devour them” is
the correct translation, it probably means that these festivals,
which had become tainted by Israel’s disobedience, would be
additional cause for God’s judgment (see Isa. 1:13-14). Another
option is to translate it “[God] the New Moon [festival].
God had
forbidden His people to marry the heathen people around them. This is
possibly, where they picked up their practice of worshipping false
gods. This could also be speaking of their unfaithfulness to God, and
then their children being unfaithful to God. The fact that a month is
mentioned here, could be telling them that it would be just a short
time until the enemy would come and overcome them. Note that God has
to allow this to happen. They could not attack God's people without
God's permission.
Such
rituals only heightened the people’s guilt. Participation in
religious festivals (here represented by the New Moon celebrations;
cf. Hos. 2:11) would actually hasten their destruction, not avert it.
Rather than experiencing population growth, the people would
ultimately be devoured by their own sins (cf. Lev. 26:21-22; Deut.
28:62-63). The fields, for which they sought fertility through Baal
worship, would be destroyed by drought, blight, and insects, and
would be overrun by invading armies (cf. Lev. 26:16, 26:19-20; Deut.
28:17, 28:22-24, 28:33, 28:38-42, 28:51).
Blow
ye the cornet in Gibeah, and
the trumpet in Ramah: cry aloud at
Bethaven, after thee, O Benjamin. Hos. 5:8
Gibeah …
Ramah”: Located on Judah’s northern border with Israel.
These
places mentioned are the line of attack. It shows the progression of
the battle. The cornet was an instrument that could be heard from
great distance, and the silver trumpet was blown to call the people
to battle. Beth-haven was a place near, and the trumpet could be
heard by Benjamin.
Blow
ye the... The sound of battle trumpets was about to be heard in
Israel. An invading force would sweep to the borders of the Southern
Kingdom. Gibeah and Ramah were located a few miles north of Jerusalem
in Benjamite territory in the Southern Kingdom (cf. Jos. 18:25,
18:28). The enemy was already upon them and thus her watchmen were to
sound the alarm (Num. 10:9).
cry
aloud at... Beth Aven (probably Bethel; cf. Hos. 4:15), though
originally a Benjamite town (Jos. 18:22), was then just inside
Israel’s southern border. Beth-aven, (Bethel). situated in southern
Israel (4:15). All three were strategic defense cities.
After
thee, O... The significance of the last clause in Hos. 5:8, lead on,
O Benjamin (lit., “behind you, O Benjamin”) is not clear. The
same expression appears in Deborah’s song in reference to mustering
Israel’s troops (Jdg. 5:14). At that time Benjamin went ahead of
Ephraim into battle against the northern Canaanite forces (NASB).
Perhaps this ancient song was given a sarcastic twist by Hosea.
Ephraim
shall be desolate in the day of rebuke: among the tribes of Israel
have I made known that which shall surely be. Hos. 5:9
shall
be desolate... In the upcoming invasion Ephraim would be devastated.
Rather than leading Ephraim into battle, Benjamin would be pursued by
the same invader. The line might be paraphrased, “behind you, O
Benjamin, Ephraim’s conqueror advances.” It shall not be lightly
rebuked, nor even more grievously chastened; it shall not simply be
wasted by famine, pestilence, and the sword; it shall be not simply
desolate, but a desolation, one waste, in the day of rebuke, when God
brings home to it its sin and punishment. Ephraim was not taken away
for a time; it was never restored.
shall
surely be... The desolation of Ephraim was certain to take place
because it had been announced by the Lord, whose word is inviolable
(I proclaim what is certain). This coming judgment would fulfill the
covenant curse in Lev. 26:32-35.
Doubt
not that this which I say shall come upon thee, for it is a sure
saying which I have made known;" literally, one well-grounded,
as it was, in the mind, the justice, the holiness, the truth of God.
All God's threatenings or promises are grounded in past experience.
So
it may also be, as though God said, "Whatever I have hitherto
promised or threatened to Israel has come to pass. In all I have
proved Myself true. Let no one then flatter himself, as though this
were uncertain, for in this, as in the rest, I shall be found to be
God, faithful and true."
This
just speaks of the surety of the coming battle and their captivity.
God has given them ample warning, and they have not taken heed.
The
princes of Judah were like them that remove the bound: therefore
I will pour out my wrath upon them like water. Hos. 5:10
the
princes of... Judah had followed in the sinful footsteps of Israel.
Hosea compared Judah’s greedy princes to those who move boundary
stones in order to steal land from others. The Law condemned this
practice (Deut. 19:14; 27:17).
remove the
bound... Boundaries, marked by stones, could be easily moved at
night. Moving them was tantamount to stealing land from a neighbor
(Deut. 19:14; 27:17; Prov. 22:28; 23:10). Worse, Israel’s leaders
were moving spiritual lines established by God (compare verse 11).
pour out
my... This is speaking of a time when God's fury has come up in His
face, and He has poured His wrath on His unfaithful. It appears, they
had moved the landmarks, that God had strictly forbidden them move.
This automatically brings judgment from God.
Even
Judah would not be spared ultimately (cf., however, Hos. 1:7). Its
leaders were also guilty of breach of covenant. They were like those
who move boundary stones for they showed no respect for God’s
commands. Moving boundary stones was clearly forbidden in the Law
(Deut. 19:14) and carried a curse (Deut. 27:17). The act was
tantamount to theft as it obscured the legal boundary between
properties and was a way of taking some land that belonged to
another. Perhaps this particular crime was cited in order to allude
to the acts of social injustice being carried out by the Judean upper
class (cf. Isa. 5:8; Mic. 2:1-2). On Judah’s sinful leaders the
Lord would pour out His anger like a flood of water (lit., “like
water”), possibly meaning like rainwater (cf. Amos 5:8; 9:6).
Ephraim
is
oppressed and
broken in judgment, because he willingly walked after the
commandment. Hos. 5:11
Ephraim
is oppressed... He is delivered over to oppressors by God’s just
judgment. Such were Pul and Tiglath-pileser, kings of Assyria.
Archbishop Newcome distinguishes between these phrases thus.
He
willingly walked... It was not forced upon them, they did it
willingly. Though there was a law commanding, yet there was in the
people a forwardness and too great a readiness, to comply and obey
that law which made idolatry the establishment in the ten tribes.
after the
commandment... To forbear going to the temple, and to worship the
calves at Dan and Beth-el, as Jeroboam son of Nebat required.
God allowed
Ephraim to be oppressed and broken by his neighbors, as judgment from
God for his unfaithfulness to God.
According
to Hos. 5:11-14, judgment had already begun. Ephraim was oppressed
and trampled. Again Hosea alluded to a covenant curse (cf. Deut.
28:33 2, NASB). This judgment may refer to the Assyrian invasion of
733 B.C (cf. 2Ki. 15:29). However, Israel’s troubles were
ultimately attributable to her own sin, not to Assyrian imperialism.
The word idols is a conjecture (cf. NIV marg.), for the Hebrew word
ṣāw
is obscure. “Man’s command” (NASB) is a highly unlikely
translation. The word is possibly a corruption of “vanity”
(šāw’,
RSV, following the LXX) or “filth” (ṣāw’,
i.e., “excrement”. The reference is probably to false gods (hence
NIV’s “idols”). The Hebrew literally reads, “for he
persistently walked after vanity/filth (?).” The idiom “walk
after,” translated “follow(ed)(ing),” appears elsewhere with
false gods as an object (cf. Deut. 4:3; 6:14; 8:19; 28:14; Jer. 2:5;
etc.).
Therefore
will
I be
unto Ephraim as a moth, and to the house of Judah as rottenness. Hos.
5:12
as
a moth... Ten
Things God Compared To:
1.
A moth (Hos. 5:12)
2.
Rottenness, or a worm (Hos. 5:12)
3.
An old lion (Hos. 5:14; 11:10)
4.
A young lion (Hos. 5:14)
5.
The rain (Hos. 6:3)
6.
The latter and former rain (Hos. 6:3)
7.
A plowman (Hos. 11:4)
8.
A leopard (Hos. 13:7)
9.
A bear bereaved of her whelps (Hos. 13:8)
10.
The dew (Hos. 14:5)
as
rottenness...
Moths rot a garment, and termites produce rottenness in wood. Both
prey upon the substance in which they lie hidden; and they slowly but
effectively do a work of destruction. This pictures God bringing
judgment upon both Ephraim and Judah. The decay caused by moths and
that by termites are both slow, yet that of the termites is slower.
The reference is to Judah being destroyed more slowly than Ephraim.
The idea is that when men sin God withdraws from them and as they
continue in rebellion they become dead to spiritual things.
Hosea
used similes to create vivid pictures of God’s wrath toward both
kingdoms of sinful Israel (Job 13:28). God’s judgment would slowly
but surely bring about the demise of both Israel and Judah, much like
“moths” and “rottenness” slowly eat away at an object until
it is destroyed. The sinner overlooks this erosion of his conscience
and character. Only God can awaken him to his condition.
A garment
riddled by a moth is ruined. The moth eats away at the material,
until it is of no use. "Rottenness" speaks of decay from
within. For a long time, Judah's rottenness will not show. This is
saying, their destruction will not come instantaneously, but will be
progressive until they are destroyed. We certainly know this to be
true with Judah, because Babylon took many years to totally destroy
them.
When
Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah saw
his wound, then went Ephraim to the Assyrian, and sent to king Jareb:
yet could he not heal you, nor cure you of your wound. Hos. 5:13
to
king Jareb...
Another name for Tiglath-pileser who punished both Ephraim and Judah
(2Ki. 15:27-31; 16:7-10). When the moth and termites had performed
their work on both nations of Israel, then God became a lion to
Ephraim and destroyed the nation (2Ki. 17:1-41); later He became a
young lion to Judah and destroyed her (2 Ki. 24-25). Jareb means
“warrior” and refers to the king of Assyria, to whom Israel (2
Ki. 15:19-20), and later Judah (2 Ki. 16:5-9), turned to for help.
It appears
from the verse above, that Ephraim and Judah became aware they had a
problem. The sad thing was that Ephraim did not go to God with the
problem, but went to the Assyrians. Neither was willing to admit that
their problem was because of their worship of false gods.
could he
not... The world has no answers to problems then or now. The worldly
king Jareb was no help at all.
For
I will be
unto Ephraim as a lion, and as a young lion to the house of Judah: I,
even
I, will tear and go away; I will take away, and none shall rescue
him. Hos.
5:14
as
a lion... First the trans-Jordanic tribes, then additional provinces,
and lastly the whole population, were carried away as in the teeth of
a beast of prey (compare Amos 3:6). Assyria is here referred to as
represented by Tiglath-pileser. A similar fate overtook Jerusalem (in
587 B.C.), at the hands of Babylonia, in the reign of Nebuchadnezzar
(2 Chron. 36:4-10; 2 Kings 24:10-16; 2 Kings 25:1-11).
and none
shall... None shall rescue him: none have courage to attempt or power
to affect a rescue, the prey must hopelessly perish; so it will be
with Ephraim and Judah, when God appears as a lion against them.
I, will
tear... The destruction of Ephraim is actually a little worse than
the destruction of Judah. Perhaps that is why God speaks of Himself
as being as a lion to Ephraim, and a young lion to Judah. The young
lion would not do as much damage as the lion.
I will
take... Notice that God tells them of the many battles that will take
place, when He says; He will "tear and go away". This is a
judgment of God, and no one will be able to stop it.
The
moth (Hos. 5:12) is transformed into a raging lion which violently
kills its prey. The use of six first-person forms (I) in the Hebrew
emphasizes God’s role in this judgment. In the final analysis the
Lord Himself would be the attacker and destroyer, even though He
would use foreign armies as His instruments.
For
Ephraim this prophecy was fulfilled a few years later when Assyria
conquered Samaria and carried the people into exile (2Ki. 17:1-41).
Judah was overrun by the Assyrians in 701 B.C, but she experienced a
miraculous deliverance after being severely ravaged (cf. Hos. 1:7).
The prophecy about Judah’s fall and exile (Hos. 5:14) was
eventually fulfilled through Nebuchadnezzar (2Ki. 25:1-30).
I
will go and
return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my
face: in their affliction they will seek me early. Hos. 5:15
I
will go... Tenderness blends with judgment, and insulted love bleeds
and hopes. The image of the lion is dropped. Jehovah speaks of “His
own place”, Heaven. He will cause all manifestations of His regard
for them to cease till “they suffer punishment, and seek my face,”
and, like the prodigal in the flush of a new morning, will arise and
go unto the Father.
till
they acknowledge... Till they confess and humble themselves for their
sins. Their offence, and seek my face,
God said He would return to His place till both houses of Israel
would acknowledge their sins and seek Him (Zech. 12:10-13:1; Rom.
11:25-29).
And seek
my... Me their God, my mercy, and my law; their Sovereign as well as
Savior.
In their
affliction... In deep distresses they will, at least some will, seek
me diligently, as indeed they did at the end of Judah’s seventy
years’ captivity.
This speaks
of the time being extended for their captivity. The lion tears at its
victim and then carries it away. The lion then goes to his den and
rests. This is also, what this is speaking of here. God will allow
all of these terrible things to happen to them.
they will
seek...He will not intervene and stop it, as He has in the past. It
is such a shame that they have to be in such destitute condition,
before they reach out to God. The captivity is to cause them to
repent and turn back to God. God will not seek them, they must seek
Him. Because of the great affliction, they will seek God sooner than
they would, had they not suffered so greatly.
