Charges Against the Priests and People (5)

Introduction

After a short break on Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday, we now return to our present series in the Old Testament book of Hosea. Up to this point in our study, we learned that chapters 1-3 displayed a living parable of Hosea and his unfaithful wife Gomer, and how this related to Yahweh and his unfaithful bride, Israel. We heard how, though the covenant of marriage was broken because of Israel’s unfaithfulness, Yahweh would woo her back and would redeem her and restore her to the end that she would know him and seek him exclusively.

Then last time we saw that there was a transition beginning in chapters 4:1–14:9, where Hosea Spells Out His Parable with Accusations, Warnings, and Promises in more detail. In other words, we are now in the part of the book where we are flashing back to see what led up to the events of the first three chapters. We began this last time with The Lord’s Case Against Israel, in Chapter 4:1-19, where we learned that Israel had abandoned the commands of Yahweh, and were introduced to the cause of such an abandonment, that of unfaithful leadership. This morning, we will pick that back up as we look at the Charges Against the Priests and People, in chapter 5:1-15.

Text: Hosea 5:1-15

Hosea 5 ESV

1 Hear this, O priests! Pay attention, O house of Israel! Give ear, O house of the king! For the judgment is for you; for you have been a snare at Mizpah and a net spread upon Tabor. 2 And the revolters have gone deep into slaughter, but I will discipline all of them. 3 I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from me; for now, O Ephraim, you have played the whore; Israel is defiled. 4 Their deeds do not permit them to return to their God. For the spirit of whoredom is within them, and they know not the Lord. 5 The pride of Israel testifies to his face; Israel and Ephraim shall stumble in his guilt; Judah also shall stumble with them. 6 With their flocks and herds they shall go to seek the Lord, but they will not find him; he has withdrawn from them. 7 They have dealt faithlessly with the Lord; for they have borne alien children. Now the new moon shall devour them with their fields. 8 Blow the horn in Gibeah, the trumpet in Ramah. Sound the alarm at Beth-aven; we follow you, O Benjamin! 9 Ephraim shall become a desolation in the day of punishment; among the tribes of Israel I make known what is sure. 10 The princes of Judah have become like those who move the landmark; upon them I will pour out my wrath like water. 11 Ephraim is oppressed, crushed in judgment, because he was determined to go after filth. 12 But I am like a moth to Ephraim, and like dry rot to the house of Judah. 13 When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah his wound, then Ephraim went to Assyria, and sent to the great king. But he is not able to cure you or heal your wound. 14 For I will be like a lion to Ephraim, and like a young lion to the house of Judah. I, even I, will tear and go away; I will carry off, and no one shall rescue. 15 I will return again to my place, until they acknowledge their guilt and seek my face, and in their distress earnestly seek me.

Main Point: Because God has given his people leaders that are to faithfully teach and model his word, when they fail to do so, God’s judgment falls on the community of God’s people.

I. God’s Call and Subsequent Indictment of the Leaders (1-2)

A. God’s Call (1a)

Note that in each case, God’s call suggests hope in compliance to his command.

We begin with three statements directed at both the leadership and the people in general:

(1a) Hear this, O priests! Pay attention, O house of Israel! Give ear, O house of the king!

Hear this, O priests! - those responsible for the teaching and explaining of God’s law, or the Spiritual leadership

Pay attention, O house of Israel! - the people of God who were responsible to respond to God’s moral and civil laws

Give ear, O house of the king! - The King and royal counselors who were responsible to institute God’s civil laws

Note that no one is exempt from obeying God’s commands. There are no victims in God’s calls, all must obey!

B. God’s Indictment (1b-2)

(1b) For the judgment is for you; for you have been a snare at Mizpah and a net spread upon Tabor. - It is as if each are standing in the presence of the great tribunal and are addressed as being equally responsible before God. Not the priests, nor the Kings and their counselors are above God’s moral and civil laws…they were on the same plane of responsibility as the general people of God! Mizpah in Gilead and Tabor, a mountain in the Valley of Jezreel, marked high points in Israel’s past.

a snare at Mizpah - Mizpah was the home of Jephthah, one of Israel’s judges who lead them to victory over the Ammonites (Judges 10-11).

a net spread upon Tabor - Tabor was the scene of Balak’s victory over Sisera, commander of the Canaanite army (Judg. 4:14; Tabor is also the traditional site of the transfiguration).

The point is, these revered sites became a “net spread upon Tabor.” The image of a net, a device used for catching birds, depicts the Israelites as the prey of priests and royalty.

(2) And the revolters have gone deep into slaughter, but I will discipline all of them. - This may refer to the sacrifice of children to the pagan gods they espoused, as is mentioned in Psalm 106.

Psalm 106:36–38 ESV

36 They served their idols, which became a snare to them. 37 They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the demons; 38 they poured out innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan, and the land was polluted with blood.

II. God’s Knowledge of Israel’s Secret Sins (3-7)

A. Sin begins within (3-4)

(3) I know Ephraim (Israel: 10 northern tribes), and Israel is not hidden from me; for now, O Ephraim, you have played the whore; Israel is defiled. - directed at idolatry where misdeeds are disregarded and concealed. The Lord knows Israel, though Israel does not know the Lord. James in the NT tells us how this works:

James 1:14–15 ESV

14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.

(4) Their deeds do not permit them to return to their God. For the spirit of whoredom is within them, and they know not the Lord. - their path away from God is shown in deeds that obscure their view for the way back. Very similar to what Paul says in Romans 1:

Romans 1:28–32 ESV

28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. 29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

B. Sin displays without (5)

The pride of Israel testifies to his face; Israel and Ephraim shall stumble in his guilt; Judah also shall stumble with them. - Sin cannot be concealed forever, his face shows it, it causes him to openly stumble…it will always display its decadent fruit. Jesus tells us this in the NT:

Luke 6:45 ESV

45 The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.

C. Sin hides truth (6-7)

(6) With their flocks and herds they shall go to seek the Lord (bringing the sacrifices for sin that God demanded in the law), but they will not find him; he has withdrawn from them. - Sin hides the reality of our relationship with God. Israel thought that they could go on sinning and return to God as if nothing had happened and pick up where they left off. Remember the Judge Samson thought the same thing:

Judges 16:20 ESV

20 And she said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And he awoke from his sleep and said, “I will go out as at other times and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the Lord had left him.

(7) They have dealt faithlessly with the Lord; for they have borne alien children (spiritually illegitimate children who do not know God). Now the new moon shall devour them with their fields. - Sadly, new moon festivals (celebrations for Israel to rejoice for an abundant harvest, and now syncretized with the cults of the Canaanites) will devour the Israelites who participate in them. They and their inheritance (fields) will be swallowed up.

It’s as if the Israelites were using God as a good luck charm, by syncretizing their worship of Baal with their worship of Yahweh, they hoped to maintain God’s good hand upon them.

III. God’s Alarm Sounding of Impending Judgment (8-15)

A. The Alarm is Sounded (8)

(8) Blow the horn in Gibeah, the trumpet in Ramah. Sound the alarm at Beth-aven; we follow you, O Benjamin! - The horn (Hb. shopar) originally meant a ram’s horn, and is the most frequently mentioned musical instrument in the Bible; the trumpet is a bugle of beaten silver. Both were used to alert the community to danger and summon it to a religious festival.

Both Gibeah and Ramah were in the path of destruction (cf. Isa. 10:29).

Gibeah … Ramah … Beth-aven. These Benjaminite towns lie in a straight line running north from Jerusalem: Gibeah, three miles; Ramah, five miles; Beth-aven (Bethel), eleven miles. At various times in their history they were claimed by one or the other kingdom (1 Kin. 15:16–22). It’s as if these three cities where the path of God’s judgment pointing north and south, like a double ended arrow.

B. God’s Judgment will Happen (9-12)

(9) Ephraim (Israel) shall become a desolation in the day of punishment; among the tribes of Israel I make known what is sure. - there is to be no doubt regarding the inevitability of Israel’s coming judgment. God now takes each of the Southern and Northern tribes and declares their sin:

(10) The princes of Judah have become like those who move the landmark; upon them I will pour out my wrath like water. - To move a neighbor’s boundary marker is expressly forbidden; it brings a curse (Deut. 19:14; 27:17). Land-grabbing violates the divine intention that all of God’s people are to enjoy their inheritance, and creates a wealthy, callous, power-abusing class. my wrath like water. The word for “wrath” (Hb. ‘ebrah) carries the image of overflowing fury (cf. Isa. 14:6).

(11) Ephraim is oppressed, crushed in judgment, because he was determined to go after filth. - obstinately pursuing what is worthless; the commands of men.

(12) But I am like a moth to Ephraim, and like dry rot to the house of Judah. - These are unusual similes for the Lord; they emphasize his power to make the people waste away. God will bring unpleasant decay upon sinful Ephraim. Because the moth destroys clothing and the dry rot destroys wooden structures, the point is that the judgment from God will be complete and in every area of unfaithful Israel’s life.

Its like he’s saying that the pride of Judah, and the pursuing of worthlessness by Ephraim, will be destroyed by the worthless, insignificant moth and dry rot which are slow and deadly, and may even be denied that it’s even happening by those who are experiencing such decay.

One of the signs of Christ’s return and subsequent judgment is the denial by the people on earth that it will happen…Peter warns us of this very thing:

2 Peter 3:3–7 ESV

3 knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. 4 They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.” 5 For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, 6 and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. 7 But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.

C. All Israel’s Sin Sickness Will Not Be Healed Apart From God (13-15)

(13) When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah his wound, then Ephraim went to Assyria, and sent to the great king. But he is not able to cure you or heal your wound. -

Instead of turning to the Lord for healing their miseries inflicted by an enemy (cf. Is. 1:5–9; Jer. 30:12, 13), Israel turned to Assyria. Assyrian records speak of the tribute paid by Israel’s kings, Menahem and Hoshea (cf. 2 Kin. 15:17–20; 17:3).

The use of physical infirmities to describe spiritual corruption is common to the OT prophets. (Notice how frequently Hosea puts Israel/Ephraim and Judah together: 1:11; 4:15; 5:12–14; 6:4; 8:14; 10:11; 11:12.) Suggestions as to specifics include Menahem paying heavy tribute to Assyria (2 Kings 15:19) after pacifying Assyria by assassinating Shallum (2 Kings 15:13–15), and Ahaz’s frantic appeal for military aid (2 Kings 16:5–9). The great king is probably Tiglath-pileser III, also called Pul in the OT (745–727 b.c.). This formidable leader headed the neo-Assyrian Empire that ruthlessly subjugated the ancient Near East for over a century.

(14) For I will be like a lion to Ephraim, and like a young lion to the house of Judah. I, even I, will tear and go away; I will carry off, and no one shall rescue. -

Even with Assyrian help, Israel is helpless prey before the powerful lion, the Lord (13:7; Amos 1:2; 3:8).

The repetition of the first person, I, even I, reminds the audience that it is solely the Lord who controls the nation’s fate and not the “great king” (commonly depicted as a lion). Wounded Israel and Judah are vulnerable to a far superior menace, the unleashed fury of the Lord.

(15) I will return again to my place, until they acknowledge their guilt and seek my face, and in their distress earnestly seek me. -

In His anger, God removes His saving presence from the people until they truly repent (3:5).

Alludes to the immediately preceding figure of the lion returning to its den; it is the Lord speaking, and until they acknowledge their guilt … in their distress declares what he expects of his people.

So what is the answer to this dilemma? It is repentance…more about that next week.

So What?

To the leaders; are you/we seeking to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, and strength, and as a result desiring to model before our families, or people, righteousness and holiness?

Are we harboring sin in such a way that we think no one knows but us?

Do we really believe that a day of judgment is coming for both believers and unbelievers?

For believers, we will stand before Jesus Christ to give account of the things done in the body.

2 Corinthians 5:10 ESV

10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.

For unbelievers, it will be the Great White throne judgment.

Revelation 20:11–15 ESV

11 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. 13 And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. 14 Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15 And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.