Wednesday 02/16/22
Series: Thru the Bible
Message – Hosea – The God Who chastines as a Moth, a Lion & a broken heart
Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:19:48 — 133.0MB)
Share this:
Hosea – The God Who chastines as a Moth, a Lion & a broken heart
The Book of Hosea
The very existence of this Hosea’s ministry and therefore this book, occurring simultaneously with the book of Amos teaches us much about God. God loves His people and desires their health and relative happiness. He pursues them by whatever means His holiness and justice allows.
Amos, a Judean sheep breeder/herder and fig grove tender, called as an adult to prophecy against the Northern Kingdom. This he did in the epicenter of their sin – right, if you will, in the courtyard of their king and kingdom. His prophecies are direct and read much like a rap sheet of all Israel’s sin laden infractions against their God and their common man – especially their poor.
Hosea on the other hand seems to have been a prophet from birth, also called to prophecy to the Northern Kingdom but he, as opposed to Amos, seems to have been a native to the Northern Kingdom. This prophecy uses familiar terms in regard to the northern kingdom and its king, saying, “the land” instead of Israel and “our king” rather than something more formal and distant.
According to the superscription of this account, Hosea began his prophetic activity during the reign of Jeroboam II (c. 786–746 BC) making it somewhat overlap, the ministry of Amos. His prophetic announcements indicate that he was active until near the fall of the northern kingdom of Israel in approximately 721 BC, which was the scene of his entire ministry.
Hosea called on Israel to repent of its sins of apostasy and warned of God’s future judgment but unlike Amos, his God directed approach was through the words of a wounded lover and the great majority of his prophetic ministry was not so much in words but in drama. Hosea himself WAS the message to Israel and his life itself taught the lessons Israel needed to hear in ways words could never capture. As such, Hosea gave his freedom as well as the totality of his life to the cause of being God’s clarion call to His people. He had no life he could call his own – he both spoke and lived the message. As such he is a tremendous example to the New Testament church!
Because SO MANY of the names mentioned in this book, conspire together as brush strokes on the mosaic of God’s message through Hosea’s life, it has been assumed by some that the book, or at least portions of it is allegorical. It is however, written like a historical narrative and therefore it would not be correct to maintain that the narrative is an allegory merely because the names can be interpreted allegorically. There will be many examples in this account, but among the first are Hosea’s name which speaks of salvation means, “He saves” or “He helps” but also, even one of the beginning phrases has significance in meaning. In one Jewish written account of the book, they say the words “Gomer the daughter of Diblaim” evidently meant “destruction in consequence of idolatry“.
None of these things should bother us at all. First and foremost, the scriptures are inspired by God to accurately convey what God is saying to and doing with people – especially His people. So whether something is historical, allegorical or some mixture of the two – it doesn’t matter. It is what God intended it to be. However, it is offensive to believe that God is incapable of collaboration on this level. It is 100% within His ability to have parents name their children certain names (which we will see tonight) in order that in some time in the future that name will reveal a significance in the message God is communicating.
So let’s begin this account of the ministry and prophecies of Hosea.
Hosea 1:1-11,
“(1) The word of the LORD that came to Hosea son of Beeri during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and of Jeroboam son of Joash, king of Israel.
(2) When the LORD first spoke to Hosea, He said this to him:
Go and marry a promiscuous wife and have children of promiscuity, for the whole land has been promiscuous by abandoning the LORD.
(3) So he went and married Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.
(4) Then the LORD said to him:
Name him Jezreel,
The name Jezreel means God will sow
FOR in a little while I will avenge the bloodshed of Jezreel on the house of Jehu and put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel. (5) On that day I will break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel.”
This judgment was that Israel was about to be exiled by Assyria. However, the name Jezreel was a specific reference to 2Kings 9-10 where Elijah had sent one of the prophets to a man named Jehu to anoint him as king.
This is what happened…
“(1) The prophet Elisha called one of the sons of the prophets and said, “Tuck your mantle under your belt, take this flask of oil with you, and go to Ramoth-gilead. (2) When you get there, look for Jehu son of Jehoshaphat, son of Nimshi. Go in, get him away from his colleagues, and take him to an inner room. (3) Then, take the flask of oil, pour it on his head, and say, ‘This is what the LORD says: “I anoint you king over Israel.”‘ Open the door and escape. Don’t wait.”
(4) So the young prophet went to Ramoth-gilead. (5) When he arrived, the army commanders were sitting there, so he said, “I have a message for you, commander.”
Jehu asked, “For which one of us?”
He answered, “For you, commander.”
(6) So Jehu got up and went into the house.
The young prophet poured the oil on his head and said, “This is what the LORD God of Israel says: ‘I anoint you king over the LORD’s people, Israel. (7) You are to strike down the house of your master Ahab so that I may avenge the blood shed by the hand of Jezebel–the blood of My servants the prophets and of all the servants of the LORD. (8) The whole house of Ahab will perish, and I will eliminate all of Ahab’s males, both slave and free, in Israel. (9) I will make the house of Ahab like the house of Jeroboam son of Nebat and like the house of Baasha son of Ahijah. (10) The dogs will eat Jezebel in the plot of land at Jezreel–no one will bury her.’” ~ 2Kings 9:6-10
At first blush it appears Jehu did all he was told to do, so why is his progeny being punished for the bloodshed God Himself commissioned? Well we’ve seen things deceptively “like” this before with nations. Egypt was commissioned to house Israel during its formidable years so the people of Ammon could have 400 more years to repent before God handed their land over to the Israelites. During this time however, Egypt mistreated Israel and for that God punished them. God called upon Babylon to bring His people into exile, but then later judged them for their actions. This was because God was, in His sovereignty, exercising an economy of actions. Babylon was going to be judged for their arrogance and mistreatment of other nations anyway, and since that judgment was not yet ripe, and God needed to punish His people He chose Babylon to execute that judgment, but in doing so they filled the up the full measure of their sins which brought them to the judgment they were due anyway. God did not MAKE Babylon attack Israel, it was a mere suggestion to the heart of a king and kingdom already prone to such behavior.
In this case, Jehu did well, but did not follow God with all his heart and continued with the worship of foreign Gods like Jeroboam had done before him. God directed Jehu to kill Ahab’s household and Jezebel for taking the field of Naboth the Jezreelite but Jehu when MUCH further than that in his ambitions and bloodshed. Jehu also killed Ahaziah at Jezreel, and God did not condone this action – [2 Kings 9:16-17,21-28].
Jehu succeeded in killing everyone who was related to Ahab but also went further to kill all who were loyal to him.
“So Jehu slew all that remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel, and all his great men, and his kinfolks, and his priests until he left him none remaining” (2 Kings 10:11)
What Jehu’s purpose or agenda was is unclear but we know he took life he was not commissioned to take, making him a murderer. Also we know that he did not follow God with all his heart but led in pagan worship, so we know his heart was not completely pure. God honored him for what he did right, and promised 4 generations to rule but after that, God was going to judge his house. People who were not marked out for destruction were killed in Jehu’s zeal and perhaps his desire to squash resistance to his reign before it started. In the end, the wrath of man cannot work out the righteousness of God.
Hosea 1…
“(6) She conceived again and gave birth to a daughter, and the LORD said to him:
Name her No Compassion, for I will no longer have compassion on the house of Israel. I will certainly take them away. (7) But I will have compassion on the house of Judah, and I will deliver them by the LORD their God. I will not deliver them by bow, sword, or war, or by horses and cavalry.
(8) After Gomer had weaned No Compassion, she conceived and gave birth to a son. (9) Then the LORD said: Name him Not My People, for you are not My people, and I will not be your God. (10) Yet the number of the Israelites will be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or counted. And in the place where they were told: You are not My people, they will be called: Sons of the living God. (11) And the Judeans and the Israelites will be gathered together. They will appoint for themselves a single ruler, and go up from the land. For the day of Jezreel will be great.”
This is explained by Paul in his letter to the Romans in chapter 9:22-26,
“(22) And what if God, desiring to display His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience objects of wrath ready for destruction? (23) And what if He did this to make known the riches of His glory on objects of mercy that He prepared beforehand for glory– (24) on us whom He also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles? (25) As He also says in Hosea: I will call “Not-My-People,” “My-People,” and she who is “Unloved,” “Beloved.” (26) And it will be in the place where they were told, you are not My people, there they will be called sons of the living God.”
Hosea 2:1-23,
“(1) Call your brothers: My People and your sisters: Compassion.
(2) Rebuke your mother; rebuke her. For she is not My wife and I am not her husband. Let her remove the promiscuous look from her face and her adultery from between her breasts. (3) Otherwise, I will strip her naked and expose her as she was on the day of her birth. I will make her like a desert and like a parched land, and I will let her die of thirst. (4) I will have no compassion on her children because they are the children of promiscuity. (5) For their mother is promiscuous; she conceived them and acted shamefully. For she thought:
I will go after my lovers, the men who give me my food and water, my wool and flax, my oil and drink.
(6) Therefore, this is what I will do: I will block her way with thorns; I will enclose her with a wall, so that she cannot find her paths. (7) She will pursue her lovers but not catch them; she will seek them but not find them.”
This is the reference Christians have misused in vain prayers to “place a hedge of thorns” around a person for their protection or to force them in the right direction. Though in part, that is what God did with Israel, it was God’s doing and not by the direction of man.
We need to be careful getting into weird manipulating prayers. We are already told what to pray under the New Covenant. If a brother is sinning a sin which is NOT unto death we are to ask “LIFE for them“ – not pray a hedge of thorns around them [1Jn. 5:16].
There is a LOT of goofy stuff that takes place in groups of people who call themselves “intercessors”. I cannot tell you how many off the wall, out of context and downright silly things I heard prayed and nearly all of it is in order to have something to say…something which takes control into their hands so they can bring forth the answer or the deliverance through prayer times. These long and drawn out sessions are often guided more by ambition and heightened emotions than on truly loving their siblings or the lost.
It is truly only safe to stick with what the scriptures tell us -ESPECIALLY under the New Covenant.
Hosea 2…
“Then she will think: I will go back to my former husband, for then it was better for me than now.
(8) She does not recognize that it is I who gave her the grain, the new wine, and the oil. I lavished silver and gold on her, which they used for Baal.
(9) Therefore, I will take back My grain in its time and My new wine in its season; I will take away My wool and linen, which were to cover her nakedness.
(10) Now I will expose her shame in the sight of her lovers, and no one will rescue her from My hands.”
God gave grain, wine, oil, silver, gold lavishly to Israel and they turned and worshiped Baal with those gifts.
This happens all the time. Everything we have comes from God. All of our potentials and talents, our power and authority, our ability to increase in wealth or lack thereof…what we do with these investments…these stewardships are the basis for our judgment. Will it draw us NEAR or drive us AWAY?
Perhaps there are no two greater expressions of this in today’s world than in politics and entertainment. The fact that those in political power use their authority for their own advancement and fame needs no support, it is widely known by all. However, what is often seen in the entertainment industry is just as evil, is both celebrated and encouraged even by Christians.
When a person shows talent in music or acting, we build them up, become their followers, increase their wealth by investing in their movies and music, being their proselytes by telling everyone about them and waste countless hours filling our hearts with their “craft”, but who are they honoring with their talents?
Who are WE honoring regarding their talents?
Is God glorified?
Is Jesus placed in the spotlight and honored?
In the great majority of cases the answers to these questions is no – yet, even Christians not only seem to have no problem with it, they actually encourage it and thereby play party to it.
Just before teaching tonight, I ran across this quote from Keith Green that I wasn’t even looking for…
What does God say…
“(11) I will put an end to all her celebrations: her feasts, New Moons, and Sabbaths–all her festivals. (12) I will devastate her vines and fig trees. She thinks that these are her wages that her lovers have given her. I will turn them into a thicket, and the wild animals will eat them. (13) And I will punish her for the days of the Baals when she burned incense to them, put on her rings and jewelry, and went after her lovers, but forgot Me. This is the LORD’s declaration.”
It is the goodness of God that leads us to repentance
Hosea 2…
“(14) Therefore, I am going to persuade her, lead her to the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her. (15) There I will give her vineyards back to her and make the Valley of Achor into a gateway of hope.
There she will respond as she did in the days of her youth, as in the day she came out of the land of Egypt.
(16) In that day–the LORD’s declaration–you will call Me: My husband, and no longer call Me: My Baal.
(17) For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth; they will no longer be remembered by their names.
(18) On that day I will make a covenant for them with the wild animals, the birds of the sky, and the creatures that crawl on the ground. I will shatter bow, sword, and weapons of war in the land and will enable the people to rest securely.
(19) I will take you to be My wife forever. I will take you to be My wife in righteousness, justice, love, and compassion. (20) I will take you to be My wife in faithfulness, and you will know the LORD.
(21) On that day I will respond–the LORD’s declaration.
I will respond to the sky, and it will respond to the earth. (22) The earth will respond to the grain, the new wine, and the oil, and they will respond to Jezreel. (23) I will sow her in the land for Myself, and I will have compassion on No Compassion; I will say to Not My People: You are My people, and he will say: You are My God.”
Hosea is again commissioned to play the drama of God’s telling before Israel through his life…Hosea 3:1-5,
“(1) Then the LORD said to me,
“Go again; show love to a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress, just as the LORD loves the Israelites though they turn to other gods and love raisin cakes.”
(2) So I bought her for 15 shekels of silver and five bushels of barley.
(3) I said to her, “You must live with me many days. Don’t be promiscuous or belong to any man, and I will act the same way toward you.”
(4) For the Israelites must live many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar, and without ephod or household idols.
(5) Afterwards, the people of Israel will return and seek the LORD their God and David their king. They will come with awe to the LORD and to His goodness in the last days.”
The last days are yet to come and have not yet been fulfilled. One could mistakenly think this was the Maccabean period of 400 years of silence, but even during that time Israel offered sacrifices and had priests with ephods.
That time did not come to a close until the temple was destroyed in 70AD and the pure breed of red heifers were gone. Since then, Israel as a whole has not offered sacrifices and has had no true temple worship.
According to this prophecy they will remain in that condition for MANY YEARS until they return to the Lord God in awe in the last days.
The words, “and David their King” is most likely word play as in Ezekiel 34:20-31 referring to David as their shepherd during a time when God will supernaturally remove all dangerous animals from the land and the people would be safe with the Lord as their God.
This is a clear reference to the Millennial kingdom.
Ezek. 34:20-31, “(20) Therefore, this is what the Lord GOD says to them: See, I Myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. (21) Since you have pushed with flank and shoulder and butted all the weak ones with your horns until you scattered them all over, (22) I will save My flock, and they will no longer be prey for you. I will judge between one sheep and another. (23) I will appoint over them a single shepherd, My servant David, and he will shepherd them. He will tend them himself and will be their shepherd. (24) I, the LORD, will be their God, and My servant David will be a prince among them. I, the LORD, have spoken. (25) “I will make a covenant of peace with them and eliminate dangerous animals in the land, so that they may live securely in the wilderness and sleep in the forest. (26) I will make them and the area around My hill a blessing: I will send down showers in their season–showers of blessing. (27) The trees of the field will give their fruit, and the land will yield its produce; My flock will be secure in their land. They will know that I am the LORD when I break the bars of their yoke and rescue them from the hands of those who enslave them. (28) They will no longer be prey for the nations, and the wild animals of the land will not consume them. They will live securely, and no one will frighten them. (29) I will establish for them a place renowned for its agriculture, and they will no longer be victims of famine in the land. They will no longer endure the insults of the nations. (30) Then they will know that I, the LORD their God, am with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are My people.” This is the declaration of the Lord GOD. (31) “You are My flock, the human flock of My pasture, and I am your God.” This is the declaration of the Lord GOD.”
Hosea 4:1-19,
“(1) Hear the word of the LORD, people of Israel, for the LORD has a case against the inhabitants of the land:
There is no truth, no faithful love, and no knowledge of God in the land!
(2) Cursing, lying, murder, stealing, and adultery are rampant; one act of bloodshed follows another.
(3) For this reason the land mourns, and everyone who lives in it languishes, along with the wild animals and the birds of the sky; even the fish of the sea disappear. (4) But let no one dispute; let no one argue, for My case is against you priests.
(5) You will stumble by day; the prophet will also stumble with you by night. And I will destroy your mother.
(6) My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I will reject you from serving as My priest. Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I will also forget your sons.”
This passage has been used for many things – some accurate, some not, but the clear reference is to the spiritual leaders of God’s people of any age or covenant. The priest and the prophet had this in common – they were to teach the people of God His ways.
Now listen to this!
This is MUCH like the politician and the entertainer I mentioned earlier.
Each person is given authority and power from God to influence people towards Him. While this is clear with spiritual leaders it is equally true with all. But, the priest and the prophet had authority which drew people to them. They did not have to get their attention, on one level or another they already had it.
I’ve told you this before. I experienced it myself and I’ve seen it in the very young in school. One or two children in a class will often influence the majority. It isn’t due to appearance or size or natural skill – there is a leadership quality about them and people often just find themselves following – many times without really knowing why.
The priest and the prophet had a following and if they did not deliberately teach God and His ways, then what they did became the lessons the people learned and here, God’s people were dying for a lack of understanding.
Hosea 4…
“(7) The more they multiplied, the more they sinned against Me. I will change their honor into disgrace.
(8) They feed on the sin of My people; they have an appetite for their transgressions. (9) The same judgment will happen to both people and priests. I will punish them for their ways and repay them for their deeds.”
People tend to prefer blame shifting over assuming liability for their own missteps, but God does not allow this here. Not only are the priests and the prophets to be punished for their leading in the wrong direction, the people will be punished for lacking the discernment of heart in following.
You might say, “But I thought our desire to follow them was part of their gifting so why would anyone be punished for following someone they were called to follow?” Well it is only partly due to this, there IS a component of spiritual authority which is something not even God can change and that is that those UNDER authority pay the price of our sins.
Interestingly enough we are GREAT with this, when it works to our advantage. How many would be willing to surrender their freedoms, just because they were not the ones who fought in the wars?
We benefit from those who command, but we also pay the price for their missteps.
Now the degree in which we participate in the punishment is largely dictated by how much we participated in their sin.
Daniel was judged with Judah, being taken into Babylonian exile with the rest of his countrymen, but was spared much of their troubles since before and during that exile he honored God, which placed him in a position of honor with the King.
ALL of this teaches spiritual realities and truths which we cannot afford to breach into tonight, but suffice it to say that it is what it is, and it is this way because it is the way of our Maker.
However, regarding our personal responsibility for following a leader I believe there is a perfect answer for this in the book of Job by its wisest speaker – that of Elihu in chapter 32.
Job 32:1-10, “(1) So these three men quit answering Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes. (2) Then Elihu son of Barachel the Buzite from the family of Ram became angry. He was angry at Job because he had justified himself rather than God. (3) He was also angry at Job’s three friends because they had failed to refute him, and yet had condemned him. (4) Now Elihu had waited to speak to Job because they were all older than he. (5) But when he saw that the three men could not answer Job, he became angry. (6) So Elihu son of Barachel the Buzite replied: I am young in years, while you are old; therefore I was timid and afraid to tell you what I know. (7) I thought that age should speak and maturity should teach wisdom. (8) But it is a spirit in man and the breath of the Almighty that give him understanding. (9) It is not only the old who are wise or the elderly who understand how to judge. (10) Therefore I say, “Listen to me. I too will declare what I know.”
Also in Job 33:12-33,
“(12) Now in this, you are not right – I answer you, for God is greater than a human being. (13) Why do you contend against him, that he does not answer all a person’s words? (14) “For God speaks, the first time in one way, the second time in another, though a person does not perceive it. (15) In a dream, a night vision, when deep sleep falls on people as they sleep in their beds. (16) Then he gives a revelation to people, and terrifies them with warnings, (17) to turn a person from his sin, and to cover a person’s pride. (18) He spares a person’s life from corruption, his very life from crossing over the river. (19) Or a person is chastened by pain on his bed, and with the continual strife of his bones, (20) so that his life loathes food, and his soul rejects appetizing fare. (21) His flesh wastes away from sight, and his bones, which were not seen, are easily visible. (22) He draws near to the place of corruption, and his life to the messengers of death. (23) If there is an angel beside him, one mediator out of a thousand, to tell a person what constitutes his uprightness; (24) and if God is gracious to him and says, ‘Spare him from going down to the place of corruption, I have found a ransom for him,’ (25) then his flesh is restored like a youth’s; he returns to the days of his youthful vigor. (26) He entreats God, and God delights in him, he sees God’s face with rejoicing, and God restores to him his righteousness. (27) That person sings to others, saying: ‘I have sinned and falsified what is right, but I was not punished according to what I deserved. (28) He redeemed my life from going down to the place of corruption, and my life sees the light!’ (29) “Indeed, God does all these things, twice, three times, in his dealings with a person, (30) to turn back his life from the place of corruption, that he may be enlightened with the light of life. (31) Pay attention, Job – listen to me; be silent, and I will speak. (32) If you have any words, reply to me; speak, for I want to justify you. (33) If not, you listen to me; be silent, and I will teach you wisdom.”
Hosea 4…
“(10) They will eat but not be satisfied; they will be promiscuous but not multiply; FOR they have abandoned their devotion to the LORD.
(11) Promiscuity, wine, and new wine take away one’s understanding.
(12) My people consult their wooden idols, and their divining rods inform them. For a spirit of promiscuity leads them astray; they act promiscuously in disobedience to their God.
(13) They sacrifice on the mountaintops, and they burn offerings on the hills, and under oaks, poplars, and terebinths, because their shade is pleasant. And so your daughters act promiscuously and your daughters-in-law commit adultery.
(14) I will not punish your daughters when they act promiscuously or your daughters-in-law when they commit adultery, for the men themselves go off with prostitutes and make sacrifices with cult prostitutes.
People without discernment are doomed.
(15) Israel, if you act promiscuously, don’t let Judah become guilty! Do not go to Gilgal or make a pilgrimage to Beth-aven, and do not swear an oath: As the LORD lives!
(16) For Israel is as obstinate as a stubborn cow. Can the LORD now shepherd them like a lamb in an open meadow?”
Those words are an allegory for what is stated in James, “God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble” in other words, you cannot guide a heart that will not be led. If you are prideful and stubborn, all the influence in the world will not compel you to go the right way, because you have no ears to hear – no heart willing to listen and understand.
“(17) Ephraim is attached to idols; leave him alone!
(18) When their drinking is over, they turn to promiscuity. Israel’s leaders fervently love disgrace. (19) A wind with its wings will carry them off, and they will be ashamed of their sacrifices.”
A poetic way of rewording Psalm 1:3,4
“(3) He is like a tree planted by flowing streams; it yields its fruit at the proper time, and its leaves never fall off. He succeeds in everything he attempts. (4) Not so with the wicked! Instead they are like wind-driven chaff.”
God continues His case against the priests…
Hosea 5:1-15,
“(1) Hear this, priests! Pay attention, house of Israel! Listen, royal house!
For the judgment applies to you because you have been a snare at Mizpah and a net spread out on Tabor.”
When there are references which you might find hard to understand I like to offer some insights about them. This reference to Mizpah and Tabor is a little difficult, but it is speculated among the Jews that King Jeroboam used to place spies atop these hills to see who traveled to Jerusalem to the sacred feasts, presumably to snare them for not being faithful to pagan deities. This however, cannot be fully relied upon.
“(2) Rebels are deeply involved in slaughter; I will be a punishment for all of them. (3) I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from Me.
For now, Ephraim, you have acted promiscuously; Israel is defiled. (4) Their actions do not allow them to return to their God, for a spirit of promiscuity is among them, and they do not know the LORD.
(5) Israel’s arrogance testifies against them. Both Israel and Ephraim stumble because of their wickedness; even Judah will stumble with them.
(6) They go with their flocks and herds to seek the LORD but do not find Him; He has withdrawn from them.”
You might say, “I thought that the Lord drew near to those who draw near to Him”. Right you are, but not if they do it in pretense and not if they only do it with half their heart.
Isaiah 29:13, “The Lord says, “These people say they are loyal to me; they say wonderful things about me, but they are not really loyal to me. Their worship consists of nothing but man-made ritual.”
and…
Isaiah 58:1-4, “Shout loudly! Don’t be quiet! Yell as loud as a trumpet! Confront my people with their rebellious deeds; confront Jacob’s family with their sin! (2) They seek me day after day; they want to know my requirements, like a nation that does what is right and does not reject the law of their God. They ask me for just decrees; they want to be near God. (3) They lament, ‘Why don’t you notice when we fast? Why don’t you pay attention when we humble ourselves?’ Look, at the same time you fast, you satisfy your selfish desires, you oppress your workers. (4) Look, your fasting is accompanied by arguments, brawls, and fistfights. Do not fast as you do today, trying to make your voice heard in heaven.”
Hosea 5…
“(7) They betrayed the LORD; indeed, they gave birth to illegitimate children. Now the New Moon will devour them along with their fields.
(8) Blow the horn in Gibeah, the trumpet in Ramah; raise the war cry in Beth-aven: After you, Benjamin!”
This is a suggestion that prophecies will soon go forth to Judah (which included Benjamin) for their following their idolatrous brothers of the northern kingdom in their idolatry. Which prophecies indeed went forth through prophets like Nahum, Zephaniah, Habakkuk, Jeremiah & Ezekiel.
“(9) Ephraim will become a desolation on the day of punishment; I announce what is certain among the tribes of Israel.
(10) The princes of Judah are like those who move boundary markers; I will pour out My fury on them like water.
(11) Ephraim is oppressed, crushed in judgment, for he is determined to follow what is worthless. (12) So I am like rot to Ephraim and like decay to the house of Judah. (13) When Ephraim saw his sickness and Judah his wound, Ephraim went to Assyria and sent a delegation to the great king. But he cannot cure you or heal your wound.
(14) For I am like a lion to Ephraim and like a young lion to the house of Judah. Yes, I will tear them to pieces and depart. I will carry them off, and no one can rescue them. (15) I will depart and return to My place until they recognize their guilt and seek My face; they will search for Me in their distress.”
God pursues His people by both the subtle and the extreme. The New English translation uses the word ‘Moth’ for “rot” and rightly so, for that is the proper meaning of the word.
So God is coming to them as One Who devours both with the subtlety of a moth slowly eroding a garment and with the devastating power of a lion.
We will end with the beginning statements of chapter 6, just to end with a glimmer of hope…Hosea 6:1-3,
“(1) Come, let us return to the LORD. For He has torn us, and He will heal us; He has wounded us, and He will bind up our wounds. (2) He will revive us after two days, and on the third day He will raise us up so we can live in His presence.
(3) Let us strive to know the LORD. His appearance is as sure as the dawn. He will come to us like the rain, like the spring showers that water the land.”
Blessings!
