Book of Hosea Chapter 5 Vs. 1

 

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.

Hear this, O Priests, and hearken, House of Israel, and House of the King, give ear. For on you is the sentence! You who have hitherto been the judges, this time shall be judged.

A snare have ye become at Mizpah, and a net spread out upon Tabor, and a pit have they made deep upon Shittim; but I shall be the scourge of them all.

Israel’s Judgment Announced

The Northern Kingdom remains the primary target group in this section. However, Judah, which had been warned to avoid Israel’s example (Hos. 4:15), was now brought within the scope of God’s judgment (cf. Hos. 5:5, 5:8, 5:10, 5:13-14). The chapter begins with an accusation of guilt (Hos. 5:1-5) which merges into an announcement of judgment (Hos. 5:6-15).

Though the accusation en-compassed the entire nation (you Israelite's), the priesthood (priests) and monarchy (royal house) were singled out for special consideration (cf. Hos. 4:4-10, 4:18). The leaders had encouraged the people to engage in false worship at cult sites such as Mizpah and Tabor. In so doing they were like a snare or net used to trap a bird (cf. Hos. 7:12; Amos 3:5). Mount Tabor was in northern Israel, about 12 miles southwest of the Sea of Galilee. Mizpah in this context refers to a site either in Gilead or in Benjamite territory. If the former, then the places mentioned represent areas of the Northern Kingdom west and east of the Jordan River. If the reference is to Mizpah of Benjamin, the idea is that all cult sites from south to north were involved. In either case the selection of place names was designed to emphasize how the false worship led by the priests had permeated the land.

The rebellious priesthood (rebels) had gone to great depths (are deep) as it were, to slaughter their prey (continuing the haunting imagery of Hos. 5:1), the people of Israel.

Gospel of Matthew Chapter 24 Vs. 3

 Signs of the End of the Age

Matthew 24:3 “And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what [shall be] the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?”

The Mount of... The most commanding view of the temple was obtained from this place. Is a small range of several summits (highest elevation 2,723 feet), running north-south for two and one half miles. The range overlooks Jerusalem from the east, across the Kidron Valley. Jesus often went to the Mount of Olives to teach (Mat. 24:3), to pray (Luke 23:39-40), and to rest (Luke 21:37).

On the western slope, near the base, is a spot known as the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus agonized in prayer on the night before His crucifixion (Luke 22:39-46; Mark 14:32). Jesus fittingly used Olivet to deliver one of His major prophetic discourses (Mat. 24 – 25), since from it He ascended into heaven (Acts 1:9-12), and to it He will return at His second coming (Zec. 14:4).

These disciples had all the things grouped together. One question, when will the temple be destroyed? The physical temple would be destroyed in less than 40 years. The temple of His body would be destroyed in just a few days.

him privately, saying... Luke 21:1-38 spoken publicly. This prophecy was uttered outside the temple on the Mount of Olives (Mat. 24:3), while Luke 21:1-38 was spoken in the temple before He went out (Luke 21:1, 21:27-28).

Tell us, when... Questions 143-144. Next, Mat. 24:45.

shall these things... Three questions asked:

1. When will Jerusalem be destroyed? This question is not answered by Matthew. It is answered in Luke 21:12-24.

2. What will be the sign of Your coming? Answered in Mat. 24:4-26, 24:37-39.

3. What will happen when You come? Answered in Mat. 24:27-31, 24:40-51; 25:1-46.

sign of thy... Twenty-four signs of the second coming:

1. Deceptions (Mat. 24:4-5, 24:11, 24:24)

2. False Christs (Mat. 24:5, 24:23-26)

3. Wars and rumors of wars (Mat. 24:6-7)

4. Famines (Mat. 24:7; Rev. 6:5-6)

5. Pestilences (Mat. 24:7; Rev. 6:8)

6. Earthquakes (Mat. 24:7; Rev. 6:12-17)

7. Anti-semitism (Mat. 24:9; Mark 13:9, 13:13)

8. Offenses (Mat. 24:10; cp. Mat. 18:1-10)

9. Betrayals (Mat. 24:9; Mark 13:12)

10. Hatred (Mat. 24:10; 2Tim. 3:1-9)

11. False prophets (Mat. 24:11, 24:24; Rev. 13:1-18)

12. Lawlessness abounding (Mat. 24:12)

13. Love decreasing (Mat. 24:12-13; 2Tim. 3:1-17)

14. Increased missionary work (Mat. 24:14)

15. Abomination of desolation (Mat. 24:15; Dan. 9:27; 2Thes. 2:4; Rev. 13:1-18)

16. New Jewish nation in Judea (Mat. 24:9, 24:15-26; Eze. 37:1-28; Dan. 9:27)

17. New Jewish temple (Mat. 24:15, 24:26; Rev. 11:1-2; Dan. 8:9-13; 9:27; 11:45; 2Thes. 2:4)

18. Great tribulation of 3 1/2 years (Mat. 24:21; Dan. 12:1; Rev. 12:1-19:21)

19. Martyrdoms (Mat. 24:9, 24:22; Dan. 8:24; Rev. 7:9-17; 11:7; 15:2-4; 20:4-6)

20. Flight of Jews from Judea (Mat. 24:16-21; Rev. 12:6, 12:14; Isa. 16:1-5; Psm. 60:4-8; Dan. 11:40-45; Eze. 20:33-38; Hos. 2:14-16)

21. Increased satanic powers (Mat. 24:24; 2Thes. 2:8-12; Rev. 13:1-18; 16:14; 19:20)

22. Surfeiting (Mat. 24:38; Luke 17:28; 21:34)

23. Sex crimes (Mat. 24:38; Luke 17:27)

24. Procrastination and lethargy (Mat. 24:39)

sign of thy... Parousia—Coming

Greek: parousia, personal visible presence or reappearing. Two appearances:

1. Rapture—personal coming in the air (not to the earth) for the saints (1Thes. 2:19; 3:13; 4:13-17; 5:23; 1Cor. 15:23, 15:51-58; 2Thes. 2:1, 2:7-8; Jas. 5:7-8; 1Jhn. 2:28; John 14:1-3)

2. Second coming to earth with His saints to reign (Mat. 24:3, 24:27-51; 25:31-46; Jude 1:14; Rev. 19:11-21; Zec. 14:1-5)

end of the... world Greek: aion, age, a period of time long or short. It refers to the end of this age, as do all the other places where "the end of the world" is used (Mat. 12:32; 13:39-40, 13:49; 24:3; 28:20). This age will end at the second coming (Mat. 24:29-31; 25:31-46; Rev. 19:11-21; Zec. 14:1-5), but the earth and man will continue forever (Gen. 8:22; 9:12; Ecc. 1:4; Psm. 104:5; Isa. 9:6-7; Dan. 7:13-14; Rev. 11:15; 21:3-22:5).

(Luke 19:11), records that the disciples still “supposed that the kingdom of God was going to appear immediately.” The destruction of the temple (verse 2), did not fit the eschatological scheme they envisioned, so they asked for clarification.

Jesus addressed their questions in reverse order, describing the prophetic sign of His coming (actually a series of signs in verses 4-35), and then addressing their question about the timing of these events beginning (in verse 36). When they asked about His coming (Greek, Parousia; literally presence), they did not envision a second coming in the far-off future.

They were speaking of His coming in triumph as Messiah, an event which they no doubt anticipated would occur presently. Even if they were conscious of His approaching death, which He had plainly prophesied to them on repeated occasions, they could not have anticipated His ascension to heaven and the long intervening church age. However, when Jesus used the term Parousia in His discourse, He used it in the technical sense as a reference to His second coming.

Our Lord describes the events which were to mark the consummation of the age, Mat. 24:3.

These two questions prompted the following discussion by Jesus, commonly called the Olivet Discourse (Mat. 24-25). The questions related to the destruction of the temple and Jerusalem, and the sign of the Lord’s coming and the end of the Age. They have nothing to do with the church, which Jesus said He would build (Mat. 16:18). The church is not present in any sense in chapters 24 and 25. The disciples’ questions related to Jerusalem, Israel, and the Lord’s second coming in glory to establish His kingdom. Actually Matthew did not record Jesus’ answer to the first question, but Luke did (Luke 21:20). The disciples felt that the destruction of Jerusalem, of which Jesus had spoken, would usher in the kingdom. They were thinking, no doubt, of Zec. 14:1-2. (The destruction Jesus referred to in Mat. 23:38 occurred in a.d. 70, a destruction separate from the final one in Zec. 14:1-21.)

Book of Hosea Chapter 4 Vs. 19

 The Lord Accuses Israel

The wind hath bound her up in her wings, and they shall be ashamed because of their sacrifices. Hos. 4:19

wind hath bound... The spirit of whoredoms has bound her up in her wings (skirts), which has hindered her race; so they will be ashamed of the idol worship. That is, the wind in its wings hath bound up Ephraim, Israel, or the ten tribes. Compared to a heifer; meaning, that the wind of God's wrath and vengeance, or the enemy, the Assyrian, should come like a whirlwind, and carry them swiftly, suddenly, and irresistibly, out of their own land, into a foreign country.

they shall be... They of the ten tribes, the people of Israel; or their magen's, their rulers, as Aben Ezra, shall be filled with shame, being disappointed of the help they expected from their idols, to whom they offered sacrifices; and the more, inasmuch as they will find that these idolatrous sacrifices are the cause of their ruin and destruction.

The most ridiculous thing of all was the fact that they were still going through the formality of worshipping God. The wind, spoken of here, has to do with the wind of God's wrath. This type of sin leads nowhere, but to shame and disgrace.

The expression is doubly appropriate here, since Hosea used marriage as the figure of the relation of a deity to his worshippers. Leave him alone-he must go from bad to worse. Their drunkenness over, they take to harlotry: her rulers have fallen in love with shame, or they love shame more than their pride. But in spite of all their servile worship the Assyrian tempest shall sweep them away in its trail. A wind hath wrapt them up in her skirts; and they shall be put to shame by their sacrifices.

The result of Israel’s sin would be judgment. The first line of this verse reads literally, the wind has enveloped her with its wings, suggesting that she soon would be swept away. At that time the idolatrous sacrifices (or, perhaps, altars, following the LXX) would prove to be only a source of disappointment and shame (cf. Hos. 10:5-6).

This brings the passage to such a climax as Amos loved to crown his periods. And the opening of the next chapter offers a new exordium.

Gospel of Matthew Chapter 24 Vs. 2

 Jesus Foretells Destruction of the Temple

Matthew 24:2 “And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.”

See ye not... Question 142. Next, Mat. 24:3.

There shall not... The 37th New Testament prophecy in Matthew (Mat. 24:2, fulfilled in 70 A.D. when Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans; Dan. 9:26; Luke 21:20-24). These words were literally fulfilled in A.D. 70. Titus, the Roman general, built large wooden scaffolds around the walls of the temple buildings, piled them high with wood and other flammable items, and set them ablaze. Next, Mat. 24:4.

stone upon another... Josephus says that some stones were 94 feet long, 10 1/2 feet high, and 13 feet wide. There were 162 columns which held up the porches that were 52 feet high. Every stone was removed and a plow run over the place where it stood, fulfilling Mic. 3:12.

The heat from the fires was so intense that the stones crumbled. The rubble was then sifted to retrieve the melted gold, and the remaining ruins were thrown down into the Kidron Valley.

Jesus was speaking prophetically of the destruction of the temple that He loved so well. This was the temple where He had driven the money changers out. He had taught reverence in the house of God, that it should be a House of Prayer.

When Jesus (the Lord of the temple), left, it was desolate. The outward magnificence was gone when the holiness was gone. In less than 40 years, this temple would be destroyed in a bloody battle.

These early Christians, they warned them to flee to Pella, and in doing so, to escape the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus.

What could possibly happen to such impressive buildings, especially to the temple of God? Jesus’ response brought them consternation: Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down. The temple would be destroyed and Jerusalem with it. This, however, prompted the disciples to ask when all this would take place.

Book of Hosea Chapter 4 Vs. 18

 The Lord Accuses Israel

Their drink is sour: they have committed whoredom continually: her rulers with shame do love, Give ye. Hos. 4:18

her rulers with... Her rulers love to give sacrifices to the idols, but have contempt for the sacrifices of Jehovah.

This is the only instance where the Hebrew word magen is translated by the English word “rulers.” It occurs in the Old Testament more than 50 times and is usually translated by the English word shield. The leaders God gave to the nation, with the express purpose of shielding it from sin and leading it to God, have instead led in its spiritual defection.

It appears that the leaders, as well as the people, were continually sinning. It had become a way of life for the whole nation.

The prophet does not mince his words in describing the morals of his time.

The accusation concludes as it began by referring to the carousing and immorality which characterized the people and their rulers (cf. Hos. 4:11). Rulers is literally shields, a term which suggests the positive, protective role which a nation’s leaders should play (cf. Psm. 84:9, 84:11; 89:18). Israel’s rulers failed miserably in this regard, loving only shameful deeds.

Gospel of Matthew Chapter 24 Vs. 1

Matthew Chapter 24

Jesus Foretells Destruction of the Temple

Verses 1-4: This section forms Jesus’ last major discourse and His most prophetic and apocalyptic message of the coming of the end of the world (or the present age). While the message includes a prediction of the imminent fall of Jerusalem, it also goes far beyond to point us to the distant future during which the “times of the Gentiles” will continue until the end of the Great Tribulation.

Jesus then left the city, crossed the Kidron Valley, and went east of Jerusalem to the “mount of Olives” from which He could look down on the temple courtyard. Here His disciples asked Him three questions:

1. “When shall these things be?” the destruction of the temple;

2. “What shall be the sign of thy coming?” Greek parousia, technical term for the coming of the King;

3. “And of the end of the world?” Greek aion, “the age”.

Therefore the entire discourse must be looked upon as answering all three of these questions.

Matthew 24:1 “And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to [him] for to shew him the buildings of the temple.”

Jesus went out,... This prophecy was uttered outside the temple on the Mount of Olives (Mat. 24:3), while Luke 21:1-38 was spoken in the temple before He went out (Luke 21:1, 21:27-28).

buildings of the... Herod’s temple—about 500 cubits square, made of white marble—was one of the wonders of the ancient times. This temple was begun by Herod the Great in 20 B.C. and was still under construction when the Romans destroyed it in A.D. 70. At the time of Jesus’ ministry, the temple was one of the most impressive structures in the world, made of massive blocks of stone bedecked with gold ornamentation.

Some of the stones in the temple complex measured 40x12x12 feet and were expertly quarried to fit perfectly against one another. The temple buildings were made of gleaming white marble, and the whole eastern wall of the large main structure was covered with gold plates that reflected the morning sun, making a spectacle that was visible for miles.

The entire temple mount had been enlarged by Herod’s engineers, by means of large retaining walls and vaulted chambers on the South side and Southeast corner. By this means the large courtyard area atop the temple mount was effectively doubled.

The whole temple complex was magnificent by any standard. The disciples’ conversation here may have been prompted by Jesus’ words (in 23:38). They were undoubtedly wondering how a site so spectacular could be left “desolate.”

Having completed His discussions and debates with the religious leaders, Jesus left the temple to return to Bethany (cf. Mat. 26:6) by way of the Mount of Olives (Mat. 24:3).

Book of Hosea Chapter 4 Vs. 17

 The Lord Accuses Israel

Ephraim is joined to idols: let him alone. Hos. 4:17

Ephraim is joined… Mated or united to his idols and will not get a divorce from them. As the largest and most influential of the northern 10 tribes, Ephraim’s name was often used as representative of the northern nation. This was an expression of God’s wrath of abandonment.

let him alone... When sinners reject Him and are bent on fulfilling their wicked purposes, God removes restraining grace and turns them over to the results of their own perverse choices. This king of wrath is that (in Rom. 1:18-32; compare Jdg. 10:13, 2 Chr. 15:2; 24:20; Psm. 81:11-12).

The name given to Israel because it was the largest tribe of the northern kingdom is completely given over to its idolatry and accompanying practices. He is beyond recall.

Ephraim was the predominant tribe in Israel. They should have been the leaders. They are seemingly the deepest in sin. Idol worship was a rebellion against God, as well as being spiritual adultery.

When the soul of man refuses this, obstinately and persistently, a time arrives when God gives him up to reap as he has sown.

Because of her strong attachment to idolatry (joined to idols) Israel was to be left to herself and allowed to go to her doom. Ephraim, a prominent tribe in the Northern Kingdom, mentioned 36 times in the Book of Hosea, stands for Israel as a whole (cf. the parallelism in Hos. 5:3, 5:5; also cf. Isa. 7:2, 7:5, 7:8-9, 7:17).