Hosea

Chapter Introduction

Listen. Listen!  LISTEN!!

This is how Hosea 5 opens up.  The charges were brought to court in chapter four, and the judge had already spoken of the punishment for rejecting Him.  God simply removed Himself from their lives.  This is what they wanted.  This is what they had done.  They had purged the land from anything but a cursory knowledge of God. 

Nowadays, this is like everyone saying, “Yes, of course we believe in God.  Doesn’t everybody?”  However, superficial beliefs don’t cause repentance.  It brings about no life change.  There is no relationship or obedience, let alone true worship and praise of Him. 

This chapter brings the sentencing, starting with the leaders of the land that God would hold accountable.  They were the ones who should have led the people to God and in godly ways.  They were the ones to promote justice and mercy by the law.  They were the ones to lead in humility, repentance of sin, and seeking forgiveness from God.  They had failed because of their own self-interest and pride.  They weren’t real leaders who would lead regardless of the cost.  They were phony and only leaders by title and position.

Hosea 5:1-3

Hear this, take heed, and give ear are three Hebrew words that call for listening.   God spoke through Hosea to those leaders of Israel, the priests, kings, palace, and tribal leaders.  God placed this judgment squarely on them.  They were elevated to power and authority, which also came with responsibility. 

From their lofty places, they were to be the watchtower over Israel.  This is the play on words with Mizpah, which means watch tower, and Tabor means lofty places.  Both of which were prominent places in Israel.  Instead of these leaders watching from their prominent locations, they had been a snare and spread a net like hunters luring in prey to capture them.  Mizpah and Tabor represent the entire land, from one end to the other. 

These leaders are the rebels that were drawing the people into a slaughter even though God had rebuked them.  Over and over, God rebuked the leaders and priests for their ignorance and apathy.  The priests saw themselves as holy. The people were the problem.  The Kings saw themselves as lofty, above the little people they had little respect for.  Neither loved the people enough to speak the truth to them, to take a stand and bring about change.. 

Hosea 5:4-5

There’s a subtle contrast here.  God says He knows and sees them, but they do not know or even look to Him.  They aren’t trying and failing.  They aren’t even trying. 

Instead, their energy and focus are on seeking after their idols.  This is the spirit of harlotry.  The word spirit is ruah – the word used for the breath of God.  The ruah is life breathed into us.   They were being unfaithful to God, the one who loved them.  Instead, they were running to the arms of another.

The pride of Israel is an unreasonable and inordinate self-esteem..  Their arrogance and insolence testify to the face of God.  No one needed to testify to the pride of Israel; they testified for themselves by their actions.  Their arrogance was prominent, bold, and long-lasting.  Israel was stiff-necked and held their own opinions, thoughts, and feelings in high regard, higher than they held the word of God. 

It’s as if they said, “I know what God says, but…..” and went on to justify their prideful actions when they knew they were sinful. I’m not responsible; it’s the government’s fault, my parents' fault, or whatever way we proclaim ourselves as victims. 

The Israelites didn’t have a corner on the market of pride.  They are not the only stiff-necked people. These are human traits that come with our sinful nature.  Our pride is the root of rebellion against God.  How can we ever overcome it? 

Os Guinmess said this in his book The Call: 

After all, as Václav Havel wrote in his concluding letter on responsibility, “one’s identity is never in one’s possession as something given, completed, and unquestionable.” Rather than a place to sit or a pillow on which to rest, human identity is neither fixed nor final in this life. It is incomplete. As such we may refuse the call and remain stunted—unresponsive and irresponsible. Or we may respond to the call and rise to become the magnificent creatures only one Caller can call us to be. Is this a recipe for a faceless personality and a cramped life? On the contrary. As C. S.Lewis pointed out, “The more we get what we now call ‘ourselves’ out of the way and let Him take us over, the more truly ourselves we become.” The alternative is the real disaster. “The more I resist Him and try to live on my own, the more I become dominated by my own heredity and upbringing and surroundings and natural desires. In fact what I so proudly call ‘Myself ’ becomes merely the meeting place for trains of events which I never started and which I cannot stop.” Only when we respond to Christ and follow his call do we become our real selves and come to have personalities of our own.

What a picture this is!  In pride, we hold onto our identity, which amounts to nothing more than standing at the intersection of the trains we can’t control.  Without Christ, life is a trainwreck of culture, geography, sex, race, education, parenting, heritage, and genetics. 

Judah was also stumbling. Even in their rebellion, they remained very religious and offered their sacrifices to the Lord. These were times when they acted as though they might repent when they were chastened and corrected. They turned to God as a show but then quickly turned back. Now, when they brought their sacrifices, they would not find the Lord. He had withdrawn from them just like they had withdrawn from Him.

Hosea 5:6-7

The Lord would withdraw from them.  They failed to recognize the blessings He provided and instead gave credit to other gods.  The Lord would give them what they want: He would withdraw from their lives.  They would discover that their blessings were also withdrawn and that they never came from those other gods.

The treacherous acts of Israel proved they were incapable of being faithful to anything or anyone.  In their unfaithfulness, they brought forth children that God couldn’t even recognize as His own.  They were as pagan children, born of harlotry. 

The New Moon festival was a time of sacrifice, feasting, and celebration. But this new moon had been corrupted with Baal worship. God would leave them, and they would part from their heritage of celebrating the new moon before Him. This would add to their downfall. 

Hosea 5:8-9

The Ram’s horn was blown to warn of danger.  The enemy was at hand, very close.  Blowing the horn from Gibeah and Ramah would be heard far and wide.  The cry at Beth Aven, The House of Deceit, was that the danger was right on Benjamin’s doorstep.  The three locations are along a route leading north to the border with Ephraim. 

Destruction and desolation were coming to Ephraim.  God was about to make known what had already been determined.  This was their sentencing from the Just Judge.  The call to the border was to defend Benjamin's territory from enemies.

Hosea 5:10-12

The princes of Judah were the ones who should be upholding the law.  They should be about justice.  Instead, they were like the movers of boundaries.  This was against the law (Deut 19:14).  It’s another picture of throwing off restraints.  It was God’s land, and He set the ancestral boundaries.  Those who moved this were rebellious and disrespectful.  This characterizes the princes of Judah.

To willingly walk by human precept was an unwavering resolve to follow the commands of man rather than God's.  This would bring Ephraim to oppression and brokenness.  A moth would quietly bring destruction, rottenness, and putrefaction were slow and silent.  This is the picture of God’s work against Ephraim. 

There wasn’t a big sign announcing destruction, and there wasn’t a booming voice from the sky speaking of a single day when everything would be destroyed. It happened quietly and slowly.  Then, like finding clothes destroyed by a moth or rotten fruit, Israel and Judah would discover destruction and corruption prominent in their kingdoms.

Hosea 5:13-15

Ephraim (Israel) knew they were in trouble.  Instead of turning to God in their need, they turned to Assyria, their eventual conquerer.  Assyria could offer nothing to cure what ailed Israel.  There was no escape or salvation from God’s judgment.  Yet, He will bring about a day when they earnestly seek Him.  God didn’t judge them for the sake of destruction but to bring them to repentance and reconciliation. 

God said He would return to His place until they acknowledged their offense.  They had departed so far from Him that they didn’t know Him or care if He left.  But they would.  They had determined that He wasn’t their God long before God said, “You aren’t my people.”  God wouldn’t return until they acknowledged the offense of rejecting Him.  He would move them to a spiritual and physical place where they would have no choice but to turn back to him.

Note:  The Syro-Ephraimitic War was a conflict that occurred around 734-731 BCE, involving Damascus (the principal city of Aram) and Israel (also referred to as Ephraim) against Judah. This war was likely initiated to force Judah to join the Syria-Ephraim alliance, which was formed as a defensive alliance against the aggression of Tiglath-Pileser III of Assyria in western Asia. The conflict arose during significant political turmoil in the region, with Assyria's resurgence under Tiglath-Pileser III destabilizing relationships among kingdoms in the West.

The Big Idea

Imagine a time when Jehovah God could not be found.  When judgment falls on rebellious and sinful people, He will take no notice of their troubles, pleas, and prayers – until they understand their guilt brought the judgment to them.  Then, if they repented and humbled themselves, the Lord would take them back.

©2006 Doug Ford; Further Study and Revision 2016, 2025