Impending Judgment on Israel and Judah
“Hear this, O priests! Take heed, O house of Israel! Give ear, O house of the king! For yours is the judgment, because you have been a snare to Mizpah and a net spread on Tabor.
The revolters are deeply involved in slaughter, though I rebuke them all. I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from Me; for now, O Ephraim, you commit harlotry; Israel is defiled.
“They do not direct their deeds toward turning to their God, for the spirit of harlotry is in their midst, and they do not know the Lord. The pride of Israel testifies to his face; therefore Israel and Ephraim stumble in their iniquity; Judah also stumbles with them. “With their flocks and herds they shall go to seek the Lord, but they will not find Him; He has withdrawn Himself from them. They have dealt treacherously with the Lord, for they have begotten pagan children. Now a New Moon shall devour them and their heritage.
“Blow the ram’s horn in Gibeah, the trumpet in Ramah! Cry aloud at Beth Aven, ‘Look behind you, O Benjamin!’ Ephraim shall be desolate in the day of rebuke; among the tribes of Israel I make known what is sure. The princes of Judah are like those who remove a landmark; I will pour out My wrath on them like water. Ephraim is oppressed and broken in judgment, because he willingly walked by human precept. Therefore I will be to Ephraim like a moth, and to the house of Judah like rottenness.
“When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah saw his wound, then Ephraim went to Assyria
And sent to King Jareb; yet he cannot cure you, nor heal you of your wound. For I will be like a lion to Ephraim, and like a young lion to the house of Judah. I, even I, will tear them and go away; I will take them away, and no one shall rescue. I will return again to My place till they acknowledge their offense. Then they will seek My face; in their affliction they will earnestly seek Me.”
Talk about being confused, Hosea’s fellow citizens of Israel are really blinded. ““They do not direct their deeds toward turning to their God, for the spirit of harlotry is in their midst, and they do not know the Lord. The pride of Israel testifies to his face; therefore Israel and Ephraim stumble in their iniquity; Judah also stumbles with them. “With their flocks and herds they shall go to seek the Lord, but they will not find Him; He has withdrawn Himself from them. They have dealt treacherously with the Lord, for they have begotten pagan children. Now a New Moon shall devour them and their heritage.”
The longer the people of Israel revolt against the God of Israel, the further they move from Him. Now the people of Israel are running around like chickens with their heads cut off, looking for protection in all kinds of unlikely places. The last source of help these people are considering is the original Source, the Lord God of Israel who has delivered Israel so many times in the past. “Blow the ram’s horn in Gibeah, the trumpet in Ramah! Cry aloud at Beth Aven, ‘Look behind you, O Benjamin!’ Ephraim shall be desolate in the day of rebuke; among the tribes of Israel I make known what is sure.”
“The princes of Judah are like those who remove a landmark; I will pour out My wrath on them like water. Ephraim is oppressed and broken in judgment, because he willingly walked by human precept. Therefore I will be to Ephraim like a moth, and to the house of Judah like rottenness.” According to Mosaic law, those who removed landmarks were held contemptible and punished severely because these landmarks showed the boundaries of ancestral lands. Now the princes of Judah have become as corrupt as those who remove landmarks. God has no regard for either Israel (Ephraim) or Judah.
“For I will be like a lion to Ephraim, and like a young lion to the house of Judah. I, even I, will tear them and go away; I will take them away, and no one shall rescue. I will return again to My place till they acknowledge their offense. Then they will seek My face; in their affliction they will earnestly seek Me.” God is about to withdraw His presence from both Israel and Judah and leave them to their enemies. Only when the Jews repent and return to the Lord will God favor them.
APPLICATION: If the Book of Job asks the question “Why do the righteous suffer?”, these passages from Hosea demonstrate why the unrighteous suffer. Bluntly speaking, God has delivered the Israelites innumerable times and has warned them that if they persist in idolatry, He will leave them to suffer the consequences. God has not forced these people to offer child sacrifices or indulge in fertility rites; in fact, God has expressly warned them not to copy the pagans around them. But God has also told the Israelites that if they persist and do not repent, He will withdraw His protection so that they will see the worthlessness of their idols.
God has called a godly man, Hosea, to marry a prostitute as a graphic lesson to the people of Israel and Judah. Every detail of Hosea’s marriage serves to demonstrate God’s continuing love and care for His people. Hosea’s children and their names are signs from God. When Hosea’s wife runs off and he buys her back, that act is also a sign from God. God is doing everything He can to arouse the Israelites from their spiritual stupor. In some respects, Hosea’s actions foreshadow those of Jesus Christ. While Hosea does not die for the sins of those around him, he certainly suffers emotional trauma, shame and the relentless judgement and criticism from those around him. Hosea has sacrificed his right to a happy home life for the sake of the Word of God that burns in his heart and that must be spoken.
Millenia later, we might well ask if Hosea’s sacrifices have been worth it? Were there actually people in Hosea’s day who saw Hosea’s example and repented? We want to believe that there were such cases. If some people truly did repent, then God had ways of protecting those people, even if they were forced into exile with the unbelievers. But we know that Hosea’s suffering has continued to serve as a graphic example of God’s love for the unfaithful and His willingness to buy each of us back from our sins. The cost of our freedom has been the blood that Jesus Christ shed on that cross at Calvary when He died for the sins of anyone who would believe on Him.
Eventually, the people of Israel were carried off by the Assyrians while the people of Judah were carried off by the Babylonians. Did these people remember Hosea, his prostitute wife, and his children with the God-given names? We don’t know. We only know that there were those who were found faithful, some of whom would eventually return to rebuild Jerusalem. Hosea was obedient, even when God asked him to do the unthinkable. Today, what is God asking you to do?
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, help us to follow hard after You all the days of our lives and to be obedient, even when You call us to do difficult things. Help all who read these words to realize what a great gift You have given us – the gift of salvation from our sins! In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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