For those who may wish to ‘study’ this chapter, the following simple resources are provided for you. Each passage has a four-Part approach to help you take in and think further about what you have read.

Passage: Hosea 5:1-7

1 “Hear this, you priests!
    Pay attention, you Israelites!
Listen, royal house!
    This judgment is against you:
You have been a snare at Mizpah,
    a net spread out on Tabor.
2 The rebels are knee-deep in slaughter.
    I will discipline all of them.
3 I know all about Ephraim;
    Israel is not hidden from me.
Ephraim, you have now turned to prostitution;
    Israel is corrupt.

4 “Their deeds do not permit them
    to return to their God.
A spirit of prostitution is in their heart;
    they do not acknowledge the Lord.
5 Israel’s arrogance testifies against them;
    the Israelites, even Ephraim, stumble in their sin;
    Judah also stumbles with them.
6 When they go with their flocks and herds
    to seek the Lord,
they will not find him;
    he has withdrawn himself from them.
7 They are unfaithful to the Lord;
    they give birth to illegitimate children.
When they celebrate their New Moon feasts,
    he will devour their fields.

A. Find Out:

1. What 3 groups are spoken against? v.1a
2. What had obviously happened? v.2
3. What had the nation done? v.3
4. How did that now affect them? v.4
5. What will they do but what will happen? v.6
6. What was Israel’s state and what was happening? v.7

B. Think:

1. Look back over the last chapter.  How often is prostitution mentioned?
2. What was this prostitution that the prophets speaks about?
3. How far had it gone?

C. Comment:

The word comes against the priests, the people generally and the royal household. No one in Israel is excluded. They should all have known better, the priests and the royal family had particular responsibilities and the people all had the law. Particular things had been happening at Mizpah and on Mount Tabor (which we are aren’t told about) that had involved rebellion against God and destruction of people. Whether that was physical, spiritual or economic destruction we don’t know, but it was sufficient for God to speak against it.

It is probable that it involved spiritual destruction because the charge returns to that of prostitution which has taken them away from God, and there is reference to their New Moon festivals which would have been idol worship times. This was not a casual, occasional thing, this was something that had gone deep into them in such a way that they were incapable of genuinely coming back to God. There are various references in the Bible to the impossibility of being able to turn back after having gone so far away, see Jer 13:23, Heb 6:4-6, 2 Pet 2:19-22.

The warning is very strong: we should never let ourselves get anywhere near a position where there is a question mark over our salvation. If there is any doubt, do something about it now!

D. Application:

1. Spiritual prostitution is going after other gods.
2. Never let anything in that draws you away from God in any way.

Passage: Hosea 5:8-12

8 “Sound the trumpet in Gibeah,
    the horn in Ramah.
Raise the battle cry in Beth Aven;
    lead on, Benjamin.
9 Ephraim will be laid waste
    on the day of reckoning.
Among the tribes of Israel
    I proclaim what is certain.
10 Judah’s leaders are like those
    who move boundary stones.
I will pour out my wrath on them
    like a flood of water.
11 Ephraim is oppressed,
    trampled in judgment,
    intent on pursuing idols.
12 I am like a moth to Ephraim,
    like rot to the people of Judah.

A. Find Out:

1. What is being sounded? v.8a
2. What actually is it and by whom? v.8b
3. What is going to happen? v.9
4. What is God’s complaint against Judah? v.10
5. What is happening in Ephraim? v.11
6. How does the Lord describe Himself? v.12

B. Think:

1. Understand the geography. Look up the names on a map.
2. What does the southern kingdom seem to be doing?
3. What is the Lord’s feeling about this.

C. Comment:

Remember this is the time of the divided kingdom, Israel in the north and Judah in the south. In fact it was Judah and Benjamin in the south so the boundary was between the areas allotted to the tribes of Benjamin and Ephraim. That is why the Lord refers again and again to the northern kingdom as Ephraim, for it was there that the religious activity was focused following the setting up of one the golden calves at Bethel (1 Kings 12:28,29).

This passage is not clear but it appears that the south are rising up in battle against the north (v.8). Judah was taking the opportunity, while the northern kingdom were suffering with other invaders, of reclaiming parts of Benjamin that had been over run in the past (e.g. 2 Kings 14:11-14).  While some might have considered this legitimate, the Lord did not think so and spoke against both Judah and Israel.  Both moth and rot eat away and this is a picture of the Lord gradually bringing judgement that eats away at both nations. It is slow because He wants them to hear, understand and come to their senses and repent and return to Him.

From condemnation of spiritual adultery, the condemnation through the prophet comes against the two nations who are squabbling like two small children. This is against political disagreements.

D. Application:

1. God is against all unrighteous incursions!
2. God watches over all the affairs of politics.

Passage: Hosea 5:13-15

13 “When Ephraim saw his sickness,
    and Judah his sores,
then Ephraim turned to Assyria,
    and sent to the great king for help.
But he is not able to cure you,
    not able to heal your sores.
14 For I will be like a lion to Ephraim,
    like a great lion to Judah.
I will tear them to pieces and go away;
    I will carry them off, with no one to rescue them.
15 Then I will return to my lair
    until they have borne their guilt
    and seek my face—
in their misery
    they will earnestly seek me.”

A. Find Out:

1. To whom did Ephraim turn? v.13b
2. Yet what does the Lord say about that? v.13c
3. What does the Lord say He will be like? v.14a
4. What will He do to them? v.14b
5. Then what will He wait for? v.15

B. Think:

1. Of what were the two nations aware?
2. So what did Israel do?
3. What did the Lord say about that and what would happen?

C. Comment:

We find here a clear sequence of events spelled out. First there is the effect of the ungodliness of the two nations and their civil warring. They both realise they need help, they are in a mess, they are sick, they show signs of sickness. Awareness of plight is the first phase.

The second phase is the turning to wrong help. They should at that point, have turned to God and sought His help, but instead they turned to human resources in the hope that human strength would help. How often we do that! How foolish we are!

The third phase is the condemnation of the Lord for their foolish behaviour: He will tear the two nations to pieces and carry them off – a reference to exile. He will not let them just get worse and worse but will take positive action to bring this to and end and bring them to their senses.

Yes, that is the fourth phase that the Lord is working for, the RETURN to the Lord by the nation. Eventually they will return to Him in their plight. We may look in the short term and consider the Lord’s words harsh, but they are intended to shake the nation to repentance and, if that doesn’t happen, to actually bring it about so that repentance does come and the nation does come back to God. It is only when the nation is in relationship with God can they receive all of God’s goodness, that’s why it’s vital they come back.

D. Application:

1. Humans in sin work for their self-centred destruction.
2. God through grace constantly works to bring man back to Himself.