Deeper Commentary
Hos 5:1 Listen to this, you priests! Listen, house of Israel, and give ear, house of the king!- The royal family, the priests and the ordinary people are all addressed; we note on :9 that Hosea went throughout the land appealing to the ordinary people. The masses cannot pass off responsibility to their leadership, neither can the leadership blame the people. For God values the human person, and judges our individual response to Him. We note Hosea's bravery in witnessing against the royal family and those in religious power. The motivation for such bravery was surely love, in that he hoped for their repentance. For that is what his message is all about. The appeal for them to "listen" to their judgment was because even though judgment had been pronounced, there was still room for repentance. According to :7, it could have been just one month or new moon after which judgment would come.
For the judgment is against you- As noted on Hos. 4:1,4, there is a legal case between God and Israel; and the judgment is against them.
For you have been a snare at Mizpah, and a net spread on Tabor- They were condemned for their negative influence upon others, acting as a snare and trap. Making others stumble is so abhorrent to God; we need to carefully search our positions and our ways lest we are making others stumble. Mizpah ['watchtower'] was in the east and Tabor ['high place'] in the west; the idea was that all the high places across the land were used by the priests to ensnare people. There is a Jewish tradition that these two places were where sentries were placed to stop people going to the Jerusalem temple; they therefore became the scene of ambushes and murders of those Israelites who were on their way up to Jerusalem for Yahweh worship; and they were murdered there (:2). Hos. 6:9 seems to support this.
We must recall that Gomer was a cult prostitute, and the
priests were priests of both Yahweh and Baal. For Israel never formally
abrogated Yahweh. They claimed to worship Him through Baal. Gomer slept
with the priests, but the priests are accused by Hosea of murdering the
faithful Yahweh worshippers and seeking to lead them astray. He was a
Yahweh worshipper. His wife was sleeping with the very men who were out to
take his life, and who murdered his faithful friends and brethren. His
abiding love and commitment to her looks forward to that of Yahweh towards
an Israel who slew His Son and His true people.
Hos 5:2 The rebels are deep in slaughter; but I discipline all of them-
As noted on :1, this could refer to ambushes of the faithful Israelites on
their way to Jerusalem for Godly worship, as in Hos. 6:9. But the text is
difficult; hence GNB "A deep pit at Acacia City, and I will punish all of
you" and LXX: "Which they that hunt the prey have fixed: but I will
correct you".
Hos 5:3 I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from Me- As
noted on :1, Hosea is pleading with Israel to "listen" to God's judgment,
and to realize the most basic reality- that God sees and knows all, and
nothing can be hidden from Him. The basis for this was in Hosea obviously
knowing that Gomer was acting as a prostitute whilst married to him. We
can like her go on in sin, comfortably numb to God's knowledge and
judgment of all.
For now, Ephraim, you have played the prostitute; Israel is defiled- Ephraim is sometimes used as a title of Israel, the ten tribes; but here and in :5 there appears to be a difference. Perhaps Hosea had a ministry in the tribal area of Ephraim and warned them specifically. Perhaps it was geographically within Ephraim that there were many idol shrines, which in turn caused defilement to all Israel.
Hos 5:4 Their deeds won’t allow them to turn to their God; for the
spirit of prostitution is within them, and they don’t know Yahweh- As
explained on Hos. 4:12, Israel were addicted to idolatry just as
Gomer was
sexually addicted. See on Hos. 7:4 Burning. It wasn't that they
sinned so awfully that they could never repent; repentance is always
possible. But the problem with sin is that it gains a psychological grip
upon people. Their deeds of sin were done due to a "spirit of
prostitution", and they would not allow the influence of God's Spirit to
create within them a new psychology. We see this in people today, who
continue in sin up until their graveplanks because they will not accept a
new pair of eyes, the new psychology and structuring of desires which only
God's Spirit can give. They resisted the Holy Spirit, which sought to turn
them to God (Is. 63:10; Acts 7:51). Acts 3:26 is clear that the blessing
of the gift of the Spirit is to be turned to God away from our sins. But
God will not force His way upon the human heart or spirit if we are
resistant to it. If we are open to it, then indeed we find that strength
to think and act differently. They refused to know Yahweh, to have a
relationship with Him, instead seeing their duty to Him as merely a few
ritual acts which were isolated from their heart. See on Hos. 6:6 for what
is implied in knowing Yahweh.
Hos 5:5 The pride of Israel testifies to his face. Therefore Israel and Ephraim will stumble in their iniquity, Judah also will stumble with them- As noted on :3, Ephraim is sometimes used as a title of Israel, the ten tribes; but here and in :3 there appears to be a difference. Perhaps Hosea had a ministry in the tribal area of Ephraim and warned them specifically. It is pride which hinders human repentance (Hos. 7:10; Jer. 13:17). They knew it; for in the legal language of the courtroom which fills these chapters, their pride testified against them. But they refused to do anything about it. There is a difference between the stumbling and the iniquity; it could be that the sin of pride made them stumble, and call into sin. And Judah were influenced by Israel's pride.
It's hard to know if the prophecies in Hosea are chronological; he prophesied over a long period in various geographical areas, to both Israel and Judah. It's interesting to speculate as to whether the appeal of Hos. 4:15 was before or after Hos. 5:5. Hosea now clearly knew that both Israel and Judah would fall together in condemnation for the same sins (Hos. 5:5; 6:4,10,11; 12:1,2); and yet Hosea appeals to Judah to not sin as Israel had so that they would avoid that same condemnation (Hos. 4:15; 11:12). Likewise, knowing the destruction that would come on all except Noah, God waited in the hope that more would be saved. He as it were hoped against His own foreknowledge that more would saved (1 Pet. 3:20).
Stumbling is the language of the curses for breaking the covenant (Dt. 26:37). As Gomer had broken the marriage covenant, so Israel had broken the old covenant. But they were by grace being offered a new covenant- but even that they, and Gomer, refused. And so it was offered to us.
Hos 5:6 They will go with their flocks and with their herds to seek Yahweh; but they won’t find Him- He has withdrawn Himself from them- See on Hos. 2:11 Her feasts. Sacrifice alone will not please God (Is. 1:11-15). Yet God promises that He will always be found of those who seek Him. So their seeking of God with herds of sacrifices would not "find" Him; for He desires mercy and knowledge / relationship with Him, not sacrifice and ritual (Hos. 6:6). The fate of the rejected will be to seek God at judgment day, when it is all too late; for life is the time to seek Him. The Lord quotes these words about an Israel who all too late will seek Him, at judgment day (Jn. 7:34).
It was of course Yahweh's desire they would seek Him (:15), but
their seeking was on a surface level. We can seek but not seek.
Hos 5:7 They are unfaithful to Yahweh; for they have begotten foreign children- See on Hos. 2:4 Her children. As Gomer had children by her lovers whilst married to Hosea, so Israel bore fruit to the Gentiles through worshipping their idols. Jer. 3:20 speaks of this unfaithfulness to Yahweh as what brought about the Babylonian invasion of Judah. But Hosea's words have relevance to the Assyrian invasion of the ten tribes as well.
Hosea married Gomer knowing she would be unfaithful, and Yahweh likewise married Israel at Sinai. The same word is used in Is. 48:8 "For I knew that you would deal very treacherously [unfaithfully]". Isaiah was contemporary with Hosea. This foreknowledge of human rejection makes God's love the more amazing.
Now the new moon will devour them- Or as AV "Now shall a month devour them" (as in Zech. 11:8). Maybe Hosea uttered this judgment just one new moon or month before judgment was going to fall. God states judgment to come, giving Nineveh 40 days to repent, but in the gap between His word and its execution, we can repent. This gives intensity to our lives.
With their fields- Literally, "with their portions", a term used about their idols in Is. 57:6; Jer. 10:16. We become like what we worship; they were identified with their idols, and would be destroyed along with them. We worship God who is eternal, and are thus identified with eternity.
Hos 5:8 Blow the cornet in Gibeah, and the trumpet in Ramah! Sound a battle cry at Beth Aven, behind you, Benjamin!- These towns in Benjamin were where the invader was to come. The picture is of Benjamin having turned their backs and being chased by the invaders uttering their battle cry. The scene of these towns fleeing before the Assyrians is found again in Is. 10:29. Hosea may have been consciously repeating Isaiah's message. The trumpets were blown to warn of invaders; I suggested on :7 that Hosea's audience had but a month to repent. The invaders were upon them. There was an urgency in this call to repentance, as there is for us. For "the judge stands before the door", now as never before in human history. Again we see Hosea prophesying immediately before the Assyrian invasion; even at that late point, he was offering Israel a new covenant, just as Hosea was offering Gomer a remarriage on a new covenant before he has to judge her. Likewise :7 "Now shall a month devour them" could mean that in a month's time the king of Assyria would be upon them.
Perhaps the judgment was for the sin of crowning Saul, who was
in Gibeah, and for disobeying Samuel, who was from Ramah. Beth Aven is
another name for Bethel, where the calves were (Josh. 7:2).
Hos 5:9 Ephraim will become a desolation in the day of rebuke-
The "desolation" was a "rebuke", and a rebuke is aimed at reformation. The
terrible judgments at the hands of Babylon and Assyria were to be used
positively as an appeal for repentance, and not simply the outpouring of
the anger of an offended omnipotent being. "A desolation" can also
mean 'they shall be bewildered and unable to say anything'. That is
exactly the position of the condemned at the day of judgment.
Among the tribes of Israel, I have made known that which will certainly be- This is Hosea's summary of his mission amongst the ten tribes; he had gone up and down, as we should, imploring people desperately to repent. His mission was not simply a one time statement to the royal family and priesthood; see on :1. It would "certainly be" on one hand, and yet the whole purpose of Hosea's proclamation was so that it would not be. This is no sign of any capricious, not serious God. Rather does it reflect how sensitive He is to human repentance, and how our appeal for repentance can really make an eternal difference in outcomes which are otherwise "certain".
Hos 5:10 The princes of Judah are like those who remove a landmark. I
will pour out My wrath on them like water- "Landmark" is literally
"border"; the reference may not be so much to removing ancient landmarks,
but specifically to the removal of the borders on the laver by Ahaz and
his princes in 2 Kings 16:17 in order that the Assyrian idol altar could
be placed there. This would explain the pouring out of God's wrath because
of the removal of borders. If the reference is to princes literally
removing landmarks, we can perceive that such apparently small, secret,
unnoticed attempts to expand our wealth base at others' expense call forth
the uttermost anger of God Almighty. The removal of the landmarks
may allude to how this was secretly done bit by bit over the generations
by bad neighbours, and it spoke of how Judah had edged closer to their
wicked neighbours in Israel.
Hos 5:11 Ephraim is oppressed, he is crushed in judgment- The
"judgment" of :1, which had been uttered and was yet future, but could be
averted. But it was as if the judgment was already upon them, hence the
present tense. We too live under Divine judgment, yet can repent and
change the judgment, as Paul explains in Romans. They had "crushed" the
needy (Am. 4:1 s.w.), and so their judgment was appropriate to how they
had acted toward the needy. See on Hos. 6:5.
Because he is obsessed in his pursuit of idols- This obsession is the language of addiction; see on Hos. 4:10. They were judged not for individual acts of failure, but because of their way of mental being, their obsession with sin; see on :4. The AV "Because he willingly walked after the commandment" could refer to the commandment of Jeroboam to worship the calves rather than at the Jerusalem temple; likewise the commands of king Omri to perform idolatry were kept religiously as if they were Divine commands (Mic. 6:16).
Hos 5:12 Therefore I am to Ephraim like a moth, and to the house of
Judah like rottenness- In Hos. 4:15, God had earlier entertained hope
that Judah would be different; but now He speaks as if both Israel and
Judah would alike be judged. This reflects how God's hopes and intentions,
like those of Hosea for Gomer, were so often disappointed. We as it were
feel for Him. The language here still continues the marriage reference;
for "She that makes ashamed is (to her husband) as rottenness in his
bones" (Prov. 12:4). Is. 50:9 uses the same figure about the restored
community being a moth-eaten garment, and the New Testament understands
that as meaning that it was permanently destroyed and would be replaced by
the covering which is in Christ.
Hos 5:13 When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah his wound-
Again, this is Isaiah's language for the state of Judah (Is. 1:6); Jer.
30:12 says that the wound was "incurable", but we must remember that Hosea
here is desperately appealing for repentance so that they could be cured.
So it was "incurable" by human help.
Then Ephraim went to Assyria- Menahem in 2 Kings 15:19 gave 1000 talents of silver to Pul, and Hoshea likewise appealed to Shalmaneser (2 Kings 17:3). Likewise also to Ahaz of Judah. He gave a bribe to Tiglath-pileser to assist him against Rezin the king of Aram (2 Kings 16:8). "He is not able to heal you" would then refer to 2 Chron. 28:21 : "and he gave it to the king of Assyria, but he did not help him".
And sent to king Jareb- This clause matches what Judah did when he saw his wound. Jareb ought rather to be translated, 'their defender'; in Jud. 6:32, Jerub, as in Jerubbaal, means 'to plead one's cause'. This is another example of courtroom language. God had made the case against His people; but He would also be the pleader of their cause. But instead they turned to human strength.
But he is not able to heal you, neither will he cure you of your wound- Hosea prophesied in the time of Hezekiah (Hos. 1:1). He was contemporary with Isaiah, whom he often quotes or alludes to [or did Isaiah quote from Hosea?]. At this time, Judah had sent to Jareb, just as Hezekiah sought help from Egypt to avert God's judgment. But it was not yet manifest that this "Jareb" would be unable to heal them. So Hosea may have been prophesying this at the time of Hezekiah's sickness, during which it seems Hezekiah sent to Egypt for help. All this became so relevant for Hezekiah; his incurable sickness at the time was comparable to that of Judah. But he was saved out of it, just as Judah were saved from the Assyrians. But like Judah, he was ungrateful and unresponsive to such great grace, just as Gomer was to Hosea's grace.
Hos 5:14 For I will be to Ephraim like a lion, and like a young lion
to the house of Judah. I myself will tear in pieces and go away; I will
carry off, and there will be no one to deliver- "I myself" reflects
the intensity of God's manifestation through the 'lions' of Babylon and
Assyria. Even if we were to read that the Lord Jesus was 'God Himself',
this would not justify the erroneous idea of the Trinity; God can be
intensely manifested in individuals who are not Him personally. God can be
manifest in a tiny moth (:12) as well as like a roaring lion who tears in
pieces; Hosea here is quoting Ps. 50:22. The 'carrying off' of Judah to
Babylon was therefore done by God; and yet the analogy requires that God
took them to Babylon as a lion carries the prey. So in wrath He remembered
mercy, and as it were went with the to Babylon. Thus Ezekiel saw the
cherubim of glory leave Jerusalem and then reappear amongst the captives
in Babylon.
Being ravaged by wild animals is the language of the curses for breaking the covenant (Dt. 26:22). As Gomer had broken the marriage covenant, so Israel had broken the old covenant. But they were by grace being offered a new covenant- but even that they, and Gomer, refused. And so it was offered to us.
Hos 5:15 I will go and return to My place, until they acknowledge
their offence, and seek My face- The allusion is to a lion returning
to his "place" or lair. But the lion does so with his prey. Again there is
grace in these judgments; God would as it were go with His judged people
to Babylon. The Hebrew idea may be of 'accepting the punishment of their
offence'. The hope of God, as of Hosea with Gomer, was that they would
repent after a period. The prophecies of the restoration were contingent
therefore upon Judah and Israel repenting in their captivity. But they did
not, and therefore Dan. 9 explains that the 70 years captivity prophecy of
Jeremiah had to be recalculated because they had not repented. See on Dan.
9:26. To seek someone's face was to beg their grace and favour. But this
would only happen because they repented.
"I will go and return" matches the words He placed in the mouths of Israel in :1: "Let us go and return to the Lord". He hoped that His actions would elicit theirs, there was to be a parallel between them. But they didn't respond.
"Offence" translates the Hebrew word also translated "guilt". Unlike in English, Biblical Hebrew has no direct term for "guilt". The word is sometimes translated "guilt" and sometimes "sin", or similar. The offence, the sin, is the guilt. Repentance is about taking guilt, and realizing that it is in God [through the Lord Jesus] that guilt is dealt with and taken away. The guilty can still seek His face. But Israel, like Gomer, refused to take guilt. They bought in to the modern narrative that they were 'awesome', sin was merely a technical matter. And so there was no desperate seeking of God's face.
In their affliction they will seek Me earnestly- This was God's hope, as it was that of Hosea for Gomer. But it didn't come about as He hoped and intended. The exiles who returned did so largely in the hope of personal betterment in Judah, and most of them remained in Babylon and Persia. This was God's hope for holocaust... but still it didn't happen.
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