Faithful God (Part Eight): The Lord Announces His Verdict

Transcript

JROT 8
01/29/2023
Faithful God (Part Eight): The Lord Announces His Verdict
Hosea 5:1-15
Jesse Randolph

Well, it’s a joy again to be with you this Lord’s Day and this Lord’s Day evening. And it’s a joy to resume our study of the book of Hosea. It’s been a while, hasn’t it? I had to look back in my files, and I realized the last time we were in the book of Hosea it was before Thanksgiving and that night Duane Nelson did announcements, that shows it’s been some time. There’s obviously been a lot going on here at church on Sunday evenings since we last studied this great book. We had the Christmas holiday, we had a couple of guest preachers, we had a couple of one-off sermons, we had the church-wide update last Sunday evening, and, at long last, we’re ready to dive back in.

Now, it has been quite a while since we were in the book of Hosea and I thought it would be profitable for us to spend some time this evening doing a more in-depth review of where we’ve been so far (we won’t do this every Sunday night) to sort of shake the cobwebs out, before we resume our study of Hosea 5 tonight.

So, by way of review, the first three chapters of this book… And feel free to flip through along in chapters 1-4 as we do some review here. But in these first three chapters we see sort of this bumpy ride, because in these three chapters we’re seated, as it were, in the living room of Hosea and Gomer. And we’re given these insights into all that was happening in their home -- the prostitution, the adultery, the contention, the heartache, the grief, the familial strife. And all of it that we saw, the ups and the downs, the highs and the lows, were representative of Yahweh’s own relationship with His bride, namely Israel.

Back in Hosea 1, feel free to turn there with me. We saw how Hosea’s family was initially formed as God commanded Hosea to marry a harlot, a prostitute, Gomer to be his wife. We saw how God gave Hosea this instruction, so that He, God, could teach a lesson to Israel about her own spiritual whoredom and idolatry. We saw that Hosea immediately followed the Lord’s command, Hosea 1:3, “So he went …” following the Lord’s command and married Gomer the prostitute to be his wife. We saw that Hosea’s wife gave birth to three children, only one of whom was Hosea’s, and the other two of which came from her other lovers. We saw that God directed Hosea to give these children very specific names -- Jezreel, which means bloodshed, or scattered; Lo-Ruhamah which means no mercy; and Lo-Ammi, which means not my people. That was all in chapter 1. And chapter 1 gave us this very dark and bleak picture, not only about the marriage between Hosea and Gomer, but the marriage between God/Yahweh, and Israel. But, as we rounded the corner from Hosea 1 into the beginning of Hosea 2, some rays of hope started to poke through. Starting with the word “Yet,” in Hosea 1:10, and over the course of those three verses, Hosea 1:10, Hosea 1:11, and then Hosea 2:1, we saw that the tone changed. And we saw some of the focus shift to this hopeful future day for Israel. This day of future restoration of God’s original chosen people. This day on which God would renew His promises to them. And this day on which there would be a reconciliation of the divisions that existed between Israel and Judah. A day on which a king would be reinstated. And a day on which Israel would return to her land. And as we saw when we studied those three verses, at the end of Hosea 1 and at the beginning of Hosea 2, those are future oriented prophecies that will one day come to fruition in the future millennial kingdom reign of the Messiah of Israel, the Savior of the world, the Lord Jesus Christ.

But then, the scene turned negative again, in Hosea 2:2 all the way into 2:13. And there we see Yahweh using the broken nuptials between Hosea and Gomer as sort of this divinely-ordained illustration as He’s portraying the judgment that He was going to bring on His people, the people of Israel. And that section of Hosea 2 begins with these words from Hosea to Gomer. Hosea 2:2 “Contend with your mother, contend, for she is not my wife, and I am not your husband.” And you might remember, things had gotten so bad between Hosea and Gomer, between the husband and wife, at that point, that he didn’t even deliver those words directly to her. Instead, he had the kids, they’re always caught in the middle, deliver the message to the mother on his behalf. And after that, God proceeded to issue threat after threat against His people, of judgment that was going to come upon them in the future.

Hosea 2:3, he says, “I will strip her naked and expose her as on the day when she was born. I will also make her like a wilderness, make her like desert land and slay her with thirst.” Hosea 2:6, “I will hedge up her way with thorns, and I will build a wall against her so that she cannot find her paths.” Hosea 2:9, “I will take back My grain at harvest time and My new wine in its season. I will also take away My wool and My flax given to cover her nakedness.” Hosea 2:10, “I will uncover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and no one will rescue her out of My hand. I will also put an end to all her gaiety, her feasts, her new moons, her sabbaths and all her festal assemblies.” Hosea 2:12, “I will destroy her vines and fig trees.” Hosea 2:13, “ ‘I will punish her for the days of the Baals when she used to offer sacrifices to them and adorn herself with her earrings and her jewelry, and follow her lovers. So that she forgot Me,’ declares the Lord.” See, God was going to bring all this judgment on Israel, in this 8th century B.C. context, because as we just read there in verse 13, “she forgot Me.” Israel had forgotten her Lord.

But then, as we saw in the rest of Hosea 2, from 14 down to 23, God hadn’t forgotten Israel. She had forgotten Him, but He hadn’t forgotten His bride. So, as we wrapped up Hosea 2, we saw this rather stunning reversal as we worked through another series of “I will” statements coming from the lips of the Lord. And these “I will” statements were not pointing to judgment on His people, but instead, these “I will” statements were rooted in tenderness toward His people. Care for His people. Love for His people. And these are displayed throughout this section, where He says things, this second half of Hosea 2, like “I will allure her,” [verse 14], “I will give her, her vineyards from there,” [verse 15], “I will also make a covenant for them,” [verse 18], “I will abolish the bow, the sword, and war from the land,” [verse 18], “I will betroth you to Me,” [verse 19], “I will sow her for Myself in the land,” [verse 19], “I will . . .have compassion on her,” [verse 23]. To summarize all of this, a future day was coming on which the blemished bride, Israel, would be wooed again and brought back and made God’s own once more.

And then we walked through Hosea 3. And once again, the theme there was of Israel’s repentance, future repentance and restoration. That was central to those verses there, especially verses 4 and 5. It says, “For the sons of Israel,” Hosea 3:4, “will remain for many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar and without ephod or household idols. Afterword the sons of Israel will return and seek the Lord their God and David their king; and they will come trembling to the Lord and to His goodness in the last days.” So, at the end of chapter 2, and into chapter 3, we saw that there was this yet glimmer of hope for Israel. Yes, she was estranged from her God. Yes, she was stiff-necked and stubborn and rebellious. And yes, she was soon to be punished by being taken away from the land. But her exile and her estrangement wouldn’t last forever.

And then, in our last time together in this book, again back before Thanksgiving, we worked our way through Hosea 4. And as we turned there, we saw that we were officially done with the whole Hosea and Gomer saga. That’s really in chapters 1-3. Now, the focus was entirely on the relationship between God and Israel. Including God’s words of warning to Israel, His rebuke of Israel, His reminders to Israel, His pleas with Israel, His threats to Israel, and as we saw last time in chapter 4, His contention with Israel.

See, starting in chapter 4, we moved out of Hosea’s house. From the household dispute between this man and his wayward bride over the prostitution, and the adultery, and the out-of-wedlock children, and the threats of divorce, and the talking through the children, and the picking up of Gomer from her lovers’ house and the awkward car ride home after that. We move from Hosea’s house, and all of its brokenness and ugliness and sin which typified the brokenness in the relationship between God and Israel -- we move from Hosea’s house to the courthouse. And last time in Hosea 4 we saw God was serving as prosecutor in that courthouse as He announced His various charges against Israel. Charge number one was against the careless people of Israel. We had mapped that out in verses 1-3. Charge number two was against the corrupt priests of Israel. That was in verses 4-10. Charge number three was about the compromised priorities of Israel which we saw in verses 11 all the way down to verse 19.

Well, this evening as we study Hosea 5 we are still in the courtroom, but God here is portrayed not so much as the prosecuting attorney but more so as the Judge as He now renders His verdict against this apostate nation. And with that, we’re going to get into our text for this evening, Hosea 5. And fair warning, kind of like last time, this is going to be one of those ‘fasten your seatbelt’ kind of evenings. Because I plan to go through this entire chapter tonight, all fifteen verses as we take the section as a whole. Let’s go ahead and read it together. By together, I mean I’ll read it, you sit there and listen. And then we’ll go through it verse by verse.

Hosea 5, starting in verse 1. “Hear this, O priests! Give heed, O house of Israel! Listen, O house of the king! For the judgment applies to you, for you have been a snare at Mizpah and a net spread out at Tabor. The revolters have gone deep in depravity, but I will chastise all of them. I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from Me; for now, O Ephraim, you have played the harlot, Israel has defiled itself. Their deeds will not allow them to return to their God. For a spirit of harlotry is within them, and they do not know the Lord. Moreover, the pride of Israel testifies against him, and Israel and Ephraim stumble in their iniquity; Judah also has stumbled with them. They will go with their flocks and their herds to seek the Lord, but they will not find Him; He has withdrawn from them. They have dealt treacherously against the Lord, for they have borne illegitimate children. Now the new moon will devour them with their land.”

“Blow the horn in Gibeah, the trumpet in Ramah. Sound an alarm at Beth-Aven: ‘Behind you, Benjamin!’ Ephraim will become a desolation in the day of rebuke; among the tribes of Israel I declare what is sure. The princes of Judah have become like those who move a boundary; on them I will pour out My wrath like water. Ephraim is oppressed, crushed in judgment, because he was determined to follow man’s command. Therefore I am like a moth to Ephraim and like rottenness to the house of Judah. When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah his wound, then Ephraim went to Assyria and sent to King Jareb. But he is unable to heal you, or to cure 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 to pieces and go away, I will carry away, and there will be none to deliver. I will go away and return to My place until they acknowledge their guilt and seek My face; in their affliction they will earnestly seek Me.”

Now, Hosea is a notoriously difficult book to preach. And I’m not saying that as a cop-out. There have been countless numbers of people who have come up to me in recent months and asked me the question, “Why? Why did you choose to preach the book of Hosea?” I’m going to save that answer for another time. (Cliffhanger!) But the point is this, as is true of many of the prophetic works in the Old Testament, it can be difficult to track the flow of what’s happening in this book. And that’s because some of the events that are recorded, are recorded and grounded in what was present day Israel for Hosea. And some of the events that are recorded are future events but they’re near-future events from Hosea’s perspective. And then other events are recorded in this book that are actually far-future events, even events that have not taken place from our vantage point yet. So, it’s a tough book to read. It’s a tough book to study. Thankfully we have the Spirit of God living in us to illuminate what’s there. But it can be tough to outline and tough to sketch out. But I’ve given it my best attempt here in Hosea 5.
Here’s how I’ve outlined it:
and the name of the sermon is “The Lord Announces His Verdict.”
In verses 1-3 we’re going to see “Yahweh’s Firm Verdict.”
In verses 4-6 we’ll see “Israel’s Futile Response.”
In verses 7-11 we’ll see “Israel’s Future Judgment.”
In verses 12-14 we’re going to see “Yahweh’s Fury Unveiled.”
In verse 15 we’ll see “Israel’s Faith Predicted.”

So, we’re going to start with the “Firm Verdict” in verses 1-3. And as I’ve already mentioned, going all the way back to Hosea 4, we’re in a courtroom here. This is the lawsuit scene. And even looking at Hosea 4:1 (going back to the chapter) we see the legal nature of the proceedings that we’re dealing with here. Look at Hosea 4:1, “Listen to the word of the Lord, O sons of Israel, for the Lord has a case against the inhabitants of the land, because there is not faithfulness or kindness or knowledge of God in the land.”

Now, here in chapter 5, as we move forward a chapter, Yahweh is serving as Judge, and He’s declaring His verdict which we see in these first three verses. “Hear this, O priests! Give heed, O house of Israel! Listen, O house of the king! For the judgment applies to you, for you have been a snare at Mizpah and a net spread out on Tabor. The revolters have gone deep in depravity, but I will chastise all of them. I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from Me; for now, O Ephraim, you have played the harlot.”

Now, look at those first few words there in verse 1. It says, “Hear this, O priests! Give heed, O house of Israel! Listen, O house of the king!” And with those words, all three facets of corrupt Israelite society -- the priestly class, the royal class, the laity -- are being summoned before the bar of God’s justice. And they’re being called upon to pay close attention to the verdict which is about to be read off. He says, “For the judgment applies to you.” That is, the judgment that is about to be given applies to every level of this wicked and sinful society. No one is going to be spared the verdict that’s about to follow. There’s going to be no special treatment. There will be no plea deals. There will be no avoiding the divine hammer that’s about to fall. And then the words of the judgment, or the verdict. He says, “For you have been a snare at Mizpah and a net spread out on Tabor.”

Now, there were several towns in the region that had the name Mizpah, but the one mentioned here is likely Mizpah of Gilead which was located east of the Jordan. And Tabor was a majestic mountain in the plain of Galilee. Now, both of these places had at some point in Israel’s history had been places of authentic worship of Yahweh. But by Hosea’s day, both of these places had apparently become places of false worship. Meaning the selection of these names here in the prophecy was not accidental. Rather, the mention of these names emphasizes just how deeply false worship had permeated and penetrated these once holy and consecrated places. And so prevalent and wicked was the false worship that was taking place here, that God here says that they “have been a snare at Mizpah and a net spread out on Tabor.”


Now, if you’ve done any sort of reading in the Old Testament, you would know that in the context, whenever you see those words “snares” or “net”, it’s usually in the context of God warning Israel about becoming ensnared or trapped or taken by the various pagan people groups of the land. But here its reversed, where He is saying, as He indites and judges Israel as a nation and as a people, that they themselves are workers of iniquity and corruption and immorality. From the priests to the kings to the laity, it’s the guilt of the nation as a whole that’s being declared here. And Israel could not hide its sin from this all-wise, all-knowing God. They themselves were the snare. They themselves were the net. They were the ones that were causing other people around them to stumble, to trip. They were called to be a blessing to the nations. That was one of the missions of this early society. But instead, they’d been corrupted by those nations. And now, they themselves were a source of corruption to those nations. As they are now singled out here, as being a “snare” and a “net spread out.” This is a really precipitous slide, and a sad and tragic and awful outcome for Israel.

Well, the verdict continues in verse 2. It says, “The revolters have gone deep in depravity. But I will chastise all of them.” The revolters, that’s the label that Yahweh’s now using for His people -- the revolters. Quite the slide from the days of Deuteronomy 7 when Yahweh singles out and sets His love on this people. Not because they were so great, or because they were so mighty or large, or worthy or faithful. But because He loved them. And now, we have Him saying about that same group of people, they’re the revolters. We’ve gone from saying, through the pen of Moses in Deuteronomy 7 in 1445 B.C., “the Lord loved” this people, to this time in history, mid-8th century B.C., the time of Hosea’s day, God calling this people “revolters.” Not just any revolters though. Look what it says, the revolters have “gone deep in depravity.” Which is a reference to Israel’s again religious apostasy and spiritual whoredom.

The relationship between Yahweh and Israel, it’s probably quite the understatement here, but had taken a turn for the worse. It had completely soured. Those whom God loved, those whom He had set His love upon, He is now rendering His verdict on, and He’s calling them revolters.

And in that same vein, Yahweh now says, in the second part of verse 2, “But I will chastise all of them.” And that word “chastise” is the same word that’s often translated “discipline.” And it refers to severe punishment, what’s designed to restore one to proper behavior. And there’s actually an element of hope in this word. Because it implies correction rather than final punishment. Discipline is an expression of love that arises out of a close relationship. That’s true of earthly fathers. Proverbs 13:24, “He who withholds his rod hates his son, but he who loves him disciplines him,” same word, “diligently.” And that’s true of God our Father. It’s true of our earthly fathers and true of God our Father. Proverbs 3:11-12, “My son, do not reject the discipline of the Lord or loathe His reproof, for whom the Lord loves He reproves, even as a father corrects the son in whom he delights.” Or you could write down Hebrews 12:5-6, “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor faint when you are reproved by Him; for those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, and He scourges every son whom He receives.” Well, here in Hosea, God is disciplining, He’s “chastising” His people in love, so that they would return to Him and acknowledge Him.

And how had Israel gotten herself in this situation? Well, as we continue on in reading the verdict in verse 3, we get our answer. Look at verse 3, He says, “I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from Me.” Now right away, you’ll note that both Ephraim and Israel are mentioned here. And in this context, Israel and Ephraim, they make up together the northern kingdom. As they are being used here, it’s in contrast to Judah, the southern kingdom. And what we see described here in verse 3, and in other places where we see Israel and Ephraim mentioned together, is the northern kingdom being described jointly. All ten tribes from the north. Yahweh here is reminding all of Israel, the entire northern kingdom, here in verse 3, that He is omniscient. Nothing is hidden from Him, He says. He sees everything. The verdict that’s being handed down here in this passage, is not being handed down based on hearsay, or shaky and unreliable witnesses. No, the all-wise, all-knowing, omniscient God of everything has seen it all. Though Israel may not know God, though Israel may think that God doesn’t see what they’re up to, He reminds them here that He certainly does know them! “I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from Me.” Though their sin may have been committed with some degree of stealth and craftiness, they cannot hide from an omniscient God. There is no pulling the wool over His eyes.

And what is it He had seen? What is it that He knew about them? Well, the rest of verse 3 tells us. It says, “For now, O Ephraim, you have played the harlot, Israel has defiled itself.” The Lord, in other words, had witnessed with total clarity, with perfect, high-definition resolution (before there was such a thing as high-definition resolution), Israel’s sordid track record of spiritual prostitution and impurity and uncleanness. Which led to this nation now being in the position it finds itself in, facing exile at the hands of a foreign invader, and sitting under the judgment of God. We get a summary taste of what’s being described in this verdict in verses 1-3. In Psalm 106:34-39, there the psalmist, speaking of Israel, says, “They did not destroy the peoples, as the Lord commanded them,” this is speaking of the Israelites not commanding the other surrounding nations,” but they mingled with the nations and learned their practices, and served their idols, which became a snare to them.” See there, Israel is the one who’s been snared. “They even sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the demons, and shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and their daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan; and the land was polluted with the blood. Thus they became unclean in their practices,” and look at this familiar language, “and played the harlot in their deeds.”

Israel’s sin was not hidden from Yahweh. Just as our sin today is not hidden from Him. No human creature, whether in ancient Israel or today in modern society is capable of hiding, not only our actions from God, but our thoughts from God. He sees it all and He knows it all. And in Israel’s case, they were about to face judgment for their sinful, idolatrous practices.

So that takes us through the first part of chapter 5, “Yahweh’s Firm Verdict.” Next, we’re going to see
“Israel’s Futile Response” in verses 4-6. I’ll read it first. It says, “Their deeds will not allow them to return to their God. For a spirit of harlotry is within them, and they do not know the Lord. Moreover, the pride of Israel testifies against him, and Israel and Ephraim stumble in their iniquity; Judah also has stumbled with them. They will go with their flocks and their herds to seek the Lord, but they will not find Him; He has withdrawn from them.”

Let’s pick it up in verse 4, where it says, “Their deeds will not allow them to return to their God. For a spirit of harlotry is within them, and they do not know the Lord.” The people of Israel had become so entangled with their sin, so engrossed with the worship of false gods and idols, so overpowered with what’s described here as “a spirit of harlotry,” and outright devotion to religious infidelity. That the text here says, “Their deeds will not allow them to return to their God.” Now, here in verse 4 that word there for “return” in Hebrew is “shuv,” which is the same word from which we would get the word “repent.” Return/repent. And repentance on Israel’s part was precluded for the time being, because they were so given over to, and so enslaved by, their sin.

You know, later in the New Testament, we’ll see examples of this very idea of individuals being enslaved to their sin. Romans 6 is a chief example. But there’s other examples where you see this undercurrent in the New Testament, of people being unable, apart from the divine grace, a divine work of the grace of God, to repent and return to Him, because of their deadness, because of their enslavement to their wicked ways. 1 Corinthians 2:14 says, “But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.”
Titus 3:3, speaking of the old man says, “For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures.”

In Hosea’s day, that’s what was happening on the national level with Israel. The Israelites of this time were prisoners of their own sinful habits and practices. And short of a divine intervention and assistance from God, they were, the text says, incapable of returning to their God. And that was because there was this “spirit of harlotry is within them, and they do not know the Lord.” Now, those last words, “they do not know the Lord”, actually links back to Hosea 4:1, where Yahweh makes His charges against Israel. We’ve already read it, let’s read it again. Hosea 4:1, “Listen to the word of the Lord, O sons of Israel, for the Lord has a case against the inhabitants of the land, because there is no faithfulness or kindness,” here we go, “or knowledge of God in the land.” And now in Hosea 5:4 it says, “they do not know the Lord.” See, a return to God, finally, could only be brought to pass until Israel realized the error of their ways, until they repented of their ways, and they came to truly know God. And not just intellectually, but relationally and obediently.

The futility of any response by Israel to the verdict here is further underscored by what we see here in verse 5 now. Moving on to verse 5 it says, “Moreover, the pride of Israel testifies against him, and Israel and Ephraim stumble in their iniquity; Judah also has stumbled with them.” Now, it starts with “the pride of Israel.” That’s not a good thing. That’s not like the good sort of pride where like certain celebrities are called the pride of a certain home town. Or a ship is the pride of a certain harbor. No, here the “pride of Israel” refers to this nation’s heedless sense of self-importance, their nationalistic arrogance, the stubbornness of their will.

And now they’re incriminated and that’s because pride is always blinding. Proverbs 16:18, “Pride comes before…” What? “Destruction.” Other translations, “the fall.” And we see here, in the middle of verse 5, that Israel and Ephraim are now stumbling in their iniquity it says. They had been set apart by God. They had been appointed and chosen to walk on a certain path by God. And on that path, as I mentioned already, they were to be a link to the nations. But now because of their pride they had stumbled. They were staggering, they were tottering. And this whole thing was about to come crashing down in judgment. And all because of their wickedness and their idolatry and their pride.

And as if that weren’t bad enough, the end of verse 5 tells us, that the stumbling of Israel in the north, was now going to lead to the stumbling of Judah in the south. “Judah also has,” so it says, “stumbled with them.” The stumbling of Israel and Ephraim would catch up to Judah as well. Unrestrained sin always impacts others. You know, I come from California, and I always think about how the sins of that state always impact the other states. You know, Oregon and Nevada, they always want to be like California. They want to latch on to whatever sin California’s government is passing or favoring, and keep with the times to do the same thing. That’s what’s happening here. Like Israel in the north, Judah in the south would eventually stumble off the righteous path and fall into the judgment, in the hands of God. And that’s exactly what we see recorded in the Old Testament, in both the Kings and Chronicles.

Well, rather than reflecting on its sinful ways, and rather than showing any remorse, and rather than repenting and turning to God -- Israel in its pride, we’re going to see, resorted to the sacrifice of animals and to the shedding of blood in an effort to make peace with God and to return to God. Look at the first part of Hosea 5:6, “They will go with their flocks and herds to seek the Lord.” But that’s just hypocritical ritualism. This is devoid of any genuine loyalty to God. And because of that, this would not be effective. That’s why he says at the end of verse 6, “but they will not find Him.” And that really should have come as no surprise, considering what we see all over the Old Testament about what Yahweh was really after. Was God ever really after blood and sacrifice? No, He was always after, has always been after, hearts that turn to Him in faith. Hosea 6:6, “For I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice, and in the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.” Isaiah 1:10, “Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom; give ear to the instruction of our God, you people of Gomorrah. ‘What are your multiplied sacrifices to Me?’ says the Lord. ‘I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed cattle; and I take no pleasure in the blood of bulls, lambs or goats.’ ”

Now, one might ask, well, aren’t the people of God “to seek the Lord” as the people of Israel appear to be doing here? Yes, they are. The people of God are to seek Him in order that they may find Him. That’s what the prophet Azariah said in 2 Chronicles 15:2 it says, “And if you seek Him, He will let you find Him.” But right after that, in that same verse, again 2 Chronicles 15:2 it says, “But if you forsake Him, He will forsake you.” That’s what had happened here in Israel during Hosea’s day. The people had forsaken Yahweh as evidenced by their religious apostasy and their spiritual adultery. And, as a result now, He had forsaken them. In other words, it was too late. So, try as they might to offer sacrifices and offerings, as some way to regain favor with their God, it wasn’t going to work.

And when you think about it, it was awfully presumptuous of them to think that by simply slitting the throat of a bull, or a lamb, or a turtledove, just going through the motions in some sort of shameless and thinly veiled attempt to manipulate God -- without any genuine repentance or remorse on their part, without any sort of genuine heart change or transformation -- that that was somehow going to cover up for decades and centuries of outright rebellion against Him. No, it wasn’t going to work that way. It was too late. Verse 6, “They will go with their flocks and herds to seek the Lord, but they will not find Him; He has withdrawn from them.” And that’s really the worst of it, that last sentence, “He has withdrawn from them.” In a way, He was giving them what they wanted. You know, up to this point the people of Israel had acted and functioned as though God wasn’t there, without acknowledging Him, as though they didn’t want Him, or that they didn’t need Him. So, God here is saying He’s going to allow them to experience what a complete absence from God is really like as He withdraws from them.

Now, it’s really difficult to convey how terrifying that reality actually is. Especially for somebody, Israel in this day, or for us in the church today, who consider themselves to be one of God’s people. See, God was their source of hope. And He was their source of protection and provision and security. And now He says He’s gone, He’s “withdrawn from them.”

Now, His withdrawal here, should not mean that He’s given up any aspect of His omnipresence. Or omniscience. Or His sovereignty. He will always be all of those things. So, what does that mean? That He’s withdrawn from them? Well, to say that He’s withdrawn from them was simply a way of saying, He has left them to their own devices. He’s abandoned them to exercise their own so-called wisdom. They’re left now, to their own choices and they are left to their own consequences of their own choices. They’re utterly alone now. On their own. They wanted to be free from God. They got what they wanted. And it’s terrifying.

So, we’ve seen the “Firm Verdict,” we’ve seen “Israel’s Futile Response.” Next in verses 7-11 we have “Israel’s Future Judgment.” Verses 7-11, “They have dealt treacherously against the Lord, for they have borne illegitimate children. Now the new moon will devour them with their land. Blow the horn in Gibeah, the trumpet in Ramah. Sound an alarm at Beth-Aven: ‘Behind you, Benjamin!’ Ephraim will become a desolation in the day of rebuke; among the tribes of Israel I declare what is sure. The princes of Judah have become like those who move a boundary; on them I will pour out My wrath like water. Ephraim is oppressed, crushed in judgment, because he was determined to follow man’s command.”

So, starting in verse 7 where he says they “dealt treacherously against the Lord, for they have borne illegitimate children” -- the dealing treacherously with the Lord is referring again to their spiritual infidelity, by prostituting itself (or themselves), by chasing after false gods. Much like Gomer prostituted herself by chasing after all the false lovers. The result was Israel it says here, “had borne illegitimate children,” or the people of Israel. Now, surely there were men, Israelite men, who had somehow at this stage of history become involved with cultic temple prostitutes as they worshiped the various false gods of the day. And surely some of those sexual encounters led to pregnancies which led to actual illegitimate children. I don’t think that’s actually at the heart of what’s being referred to here. Instead, what is being condemned here are the generational consequences of Israelites intermixing with these pagan tribes and these cultures that surrounded them, which was warned against over and over in the Old Testament. Deuteronomy 7:3-4, “You shall not intermarry with them;” speaking of the tribes of the land, “you shall not give your daughters to their sons, nor shall you take their daughters for your sons. For they will turn your sons away from following Me,” this is God speaking, “to serve other gods; then the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you and He will quickly destroy you.” And we don’t have to get too far into Israelite history -- we get just to Solomon, and we see him succumb to this very temptation as he marries the various wives and takes on all the concubines, and the consequences that grow from that.

Well, further words of judgment come at the end of verse 7. He says, “Now the new moon will devour them with their land.” Now, the new moon referenced there ties back to Israel’s involvement in various religious festivals during this time, including a new moon celebration that we saw back in Hosea 2:11. And though these festivals had some sort of at least external religious aim and religious description, what’s being said here is these would not stave off the destruction that was coming upon Israel. Rather, they would hasten it. Because like their futile offerings and sacrifices, the people’s ritualistic participation in these festivals, they weren’t going to placate Yahweh. If the heart hadn’t really been changed, it would only provoke Him, as He brought judgment upon them. And the result is the new moon, that they would be devoured in the land, defeated.

And these invaders are getting closer and closer. And the day of judgment is getting nearer and nearer. Which is why we see these words here in verse 8, “Blow the horn in Gibeah, the trumpet in Ramah. Sound an alarm at Beth-Aven: ‘Behind you, Benjamin!’ ” So, this verse opens with this battle cry and this triple repetition here: blow the horn, and blow the trumpet, and sound the alarm. It’s underscoring the urgency of the situation. These are way more serious then the tornado alerts that apparently many of you ignore in the summertime! No, judgment here is threatened. And the threat is serious. And the threat is imminent. And the enemy is already upon them and Israel’s watchmen here are to sound the alarm.

Not only that though. The fear here is that this judgment is going to be massive and comprehensive. And we can say that because of the geographic markers that are used here in this section of Hosea. You see, you have to remember that Hosea was a prophet to the northern tribes. And what he’s doing here as Assyria comes from the northeast -- as you’re sitting in Israel, he is warning the cities of Gibeah, Ramah and Beth-Aven, as well as the territory of Benjamin. Well, all of those places were in the south, far south of Israel’s stronghold. So, the idea here is that the northern border is about to break as the Assyrians are preparing to come in and invade Israel. What’s being done here is there is already warning that’s being given to the southern tribes and the southern cities and the southern territories, because apparently the Assyrians are going to comprehensively sweep through the land, and conquer and take over all of it.

I couldn’t come up with a better illustration than this. This would be like if we here in Lincoln caught wind that South Dakota was about to invade Nebraska. And we heard that they were not only gong to overtake Nebraska, but they were going to overtake every part of the state, south, north, east and west. We would want (I had to do some geographical research for this) the good folks in Valentine to let us know down here in Lincoln that that was the plan of the South Dakotans. Right? We’d want to know that, hey, they have these plans to take over, not just the northern part of our state, but the whole state, so sound the alarm. Let us know, so we can gather the troops and blast the air-raid sirens, and all the rest. And that’s the idea here. The Assyrian invasion from the north was going to impact, not only Israel in the north, but Juda, down in the south. And that’s what we see recorded in 2 Chronicles 28, where both north and south are sacked and destroyed by Assyria.

So, the signals and the warnings, they were ultimately futile. Because this call to arms that we see in verse 8 could not save Israel. Look at verse 9, it says, “Ephriam will become a desolation in the day of rebuke.” Ephraim, all of Israel, would be devastated. And it would happen in this way and it was certain to take place just as it’s recorded here because of what we see at the end of verse 9. Note what it says, “Ephraim will become a desolation in the day of rebuke; among the tribes of Israel I declare what is sure.” I don’t want to lose sight of those words there. “I declare what is sure.” Yahweh speaking here what is sure. God’s proclamations, God’s pronouncements, His statements, His predictions, His words are infallible, inviolable. And at some point each one of them will be fulfilled. And “Ephraim,” it says here in verse 9, “will become a desolation,” a ravaged wasteland, an eyesore, a shame to its neighbors. Because God had decreed that that very thing would happen.

And He, in fact, had decreed that that very thing would happen some 700 years earlier back in Leviticus 26 there on the plains of Sinai as Moses is given the Law. He’s now giving the Law to the Israelites and explaining to them the blessings for obedience and the curses for disobedience that attach to the Law. And in Leviticus 26:32-33 He says, “I will make the land desolate so that your enemies who settle in it will be appalled over it. You however, I will scatter among the nations and will draw out a sword after you, as your land,” talking to the Israelites, “becomes desolate and your cities become waste.” The judgment that was soon to come upon Israel in Hosea’s day, in other words, was linked directly to the veracity of God’s word. It truly never fails. Or fails to accomplish its purposes. It is certain and trustworthy and reliable. Just as God Himself is certain and trustworthy and reliable.

Well, unlike the God who was about to judge them, the people who were about to be judged were anything but trustworthy. Which we pick up on in Hosea 5:10. It says, “The princes of Judah have become like those who move a boundary; on them I will pour out My wrath like water.” “The princes of Judah have become like those who move a boundary.” Now, moving boundaries was clearly forbidden under the old Mosaic Law, Deuteronomy 19:14. To move a boundary was a form of thievery, theft, because you were basically claiming or annexing land which didn’t belong to you. It was shady, criminal behavior. And one who illegally moved boundaries, actually in Deuteronomy 27:17, was to be cursed. Well, the “princes of Judah” here are singled out as being those who are “like those who move a boundary.” It’s not saying that the princes of Judah were actually moving boundaries. But they were engaging in immoral behavior, which was tantamount to, or like, moving a boundary. And so, Yahweh here says at the end of verse 10, “On them, I will pour out My wrath like water.” As we saw back in verse 5, in fact, Judah was not exempt from the judgment that was coming upon their northern neighbors. Judah could not assume that it would be safe, because Israel would sort of be its buffer, protecting them from Assyria. No, the Assyrian army was able to readily reach as far down as Judah and bring judgment and calamity upon the southern tribes as well.

Well, as of Hosea’s taking down of this prophecy, apparently this judgment had started to be executed on Israel. Look at verse 11, it says, “Ephraim is oppressed, crushed in judgment, because he was determined to follow man’s command.” Now, right there, in reverse order, you have the actions and the attitudes. And the consequences that those actions and attitudes bring about. Ephraim, it says, was determined to “follow man’s command.” And those words, “follow man’s command” have been translated differently In various of the English bible. In the NASB we have “he was determine to follow man’s command.” In the ESV it says, “he was determined to go after filth.” In the HCSB it says, “for he determined to follow what is worthless.” I think each is actually a fair translation, because the underlying Hebrew has a very wide range of meaning there. The point though is that the Israelites here had followed after man’s command. They’d followed after the filth of the world. They had compromised and given into the allurement of the culture. And now, they were going to pay the price as they were about to be, it says, “oppressed” and “crushed in judgment.” Now, the judgment that they were going to face was ultimately not due to Assyria’s imperialistic ambitions and spirit. Actually, Israel’s troubles were attributable to her own sin. That’s why they are being “crushed in judgment.”

Well, up to this point in the chapter there’s this very real sense that the Assyrians are coming if they aren’t already on Israel’s doorstep. But in the next few verses we’re about to see that something much worse is yet to happen. Because as we see in verses 12-14, a greater threat was coming. And this is our next major heading for tonight, “Yahweh’s Fury Unveiled.” He says, “Therefore I am like a moth,” verse 12, “to Ephraim and like rottenness to the house of Judah. When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah his wound, then Ephraim went to Assyria and sent to King Jareb. But he is unable to heal you, or to cure 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 to pieces and go away, I will carry away, and there will be none to deliver.”

A war for Israel against the mighty military machine of Assyria was already a terrifying prospect. Especially considering, as we saw back in verse 6, that God had already withdrawn His protection from Israel. But even worse for Israel would have been a war against God Himself. And that’s exactly what we see being described here. God has not just turned His people to their own desires and lusts and consequences as we saw earlier in this chapter. What part of this passage at least is telling us is that God now is at war with His own people. He is silently, but effectively leading His people toward destruction. To Ephraim it says He was like a moth, “Therefore I am like a moth to Ephraim”, verse 12. And of course, moths are destructive agents, specifically with our clothing. Further, God says He is “like rottenness to the house of Judah.” And the rot that’s being referred to here is an agent that eventually causes bones to decay. We see it referred to in Job and in the Proverbs. But both moths and rottenness, the idea here, is that they bring about irreversible consumption and destruction and ruin. And so, through this figurative language, God here is saying that He is sovereignly in control of this whole scene that’s brewing between the nations. He’s sovereign, not only over His people, Israel, but He’s sovereign over Assyria. And in fact, He is causing Assyria to serve Him and His purposes, ultimately, as Israel’s invaders, to teach them a lesson, to chastise them, to discipline them for the many grievous sins they had committed against Him.

Now even as God here is bringing this judgment upon them, Israel’s response is still misdirected. Look at verse 13, it says, “When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah his wound,” referring to the affliction they received from God,” then Ephraim went to Assyria and sent to King Jareb. But he is unable to heal you, or to cure you of your wound.” The nation’s response here to its deterioration was entirely misdirected. They’re following the path here of political expediency. The northern kingdom here is turning to their own invader, Assyria. And this likely is a reference to the alliance that Hoshea (not to be confused with Hosea) sought to forge with Assyria, which is recorded in 2 Kings 17. The king there though, was not named Jareb, in fact, there is no record of a King Jareb in Assyria. What is happening here is that Jareb in Hebrew means warrior. And Hosea here is simply acknowledging the Assyrian King Shalmaneser as the great king here, calling him Jareb, because he’s this mighty warrior king that Israel sought to pay tribute to.

But the main point in all of this is that rather than returning to their God -- the God who loved them, the God who they had turned their back on, the God who actually could do something about their current plight -- instead of going to that God, they linked arms with a pagan nation again. But not just any pagan nation -- a bloodthirsty pagan nation which had its sight set on conquering them. Israel in seeking assistance from Assyria was effectively saying, “Dear Assyria, please spare me from my God!” It was odd. It was sad. And ultimately was a pathetic maneuver which didn’t work. Look at the end of verse 13. It says, “But he,” meaning the king of Assyria, “is unable to heal you, or to cure you of your wound.” And that’s historically provable. Assyria wasn’t running a charity. They weren’t in the business of caring for their own prey. They were a greedy, land-grabbing nation who would eventually topple Israel.

So Israel seeks help from their enemy, Assyria. They don’t get the help they wanted. Now they’re fully exposed and unable to defend themselves. And look at what comes next, in verse 14. “For I,” again this is God speaking, “will be like a lion to Ephraim and like a young lion to the house of Judah. I, even I, will tear to pieces and go away, I will carry away, and there will be none to deliver.” The judgment here of Yahweh against His people is no longer portrayed as being slow and progressive, like it would be with a moth or with rot. Instead, its portrayed as being sudden and violent, the way a lion’s destruction of its prey is sudden and violent. He will be it says, “like a lion to Ephraim and a like a young lion to the house of Judah.”

Now, is that saying that God is actually going to physically turn into a lion and physically tear apart actual Israelites? No, it’s a simile, He will be like a lion. And the way He’ll deal with them surely sounds similar to the way a lion deals with its prey. It says, He “will tear to pieces and go away, I will carry away, and there will be none to deliver.” All that’s being said here is that He is going to physically afflict them. He would tear them to pieces through the Assyrian armies. He would tear to pieces the apostate and unrepentant people of Israel through those armies. And that’s referring here to a loss of life, meaning there would be casualties on the battlefield. And then it says, “I will carry away, and there will be none to deliver.” And that simply language of exile -- Israel would, in fact, be carried away by the Assyrians as they were taken into exile as a consequence for their sin.

And again, make no mistake. While it was Assyria doing the slaughtering and the conquering and the capturing, it was all done under God’s sovereign and guiding and good hand. Note, there are six first person statements there in verse 14. If we have any question as to who was causing what to be done to the Israelites, there is six places where God says “I,” “I,” “I,” “I,” “I,” “I,” which highlights the fact that it was God who the Israelites would now have to contend with. We see similar language in Deuteronomy 32:39, where it says, “See now that I, even I, am He, and there is no god beside Me. I kill and I make alive. I wound and I heal. And no one can deliver out of My hand.” In Hosea’s context, God was the one who was ultimately fighting against Israel and contending against Israel as He worked through Assyria to bring His own people to their knees.

Well, as we come upon our final verse here in chapter 5, we see another shift in Hosea’s prophecy. And this is our final point or heading for this evening, this is “Israel’s Faith Predicted,” verse 15. “I will go away,” it says, this is still God speaking, “and return to My place until they acknowledge their guilt and seek My face; in their affliction they will earnestly seek Me.” So, this verse 15 starts by carrying over some of this lion-type language from the preceding verse, where God it says is going back like a lion returning to its lair. But then he goes on and says, “Until they acknowledge their guilt and seek My face.” He’s going back to the lair “until they acknowledge their guilt and seek My face.” See, the ultimate purpose of the Lord’s judgment and chastisement and discipline of His people was to restore them. And a time of acknowledgement and repentance was still available to them. In fact, from all that we’ve seen so far in this chapter -- the chastisement and the discipline in verse 2, God’s withdrawal in verse 6, His judgment in verse 11, up to the present verse -- it was all designed to bring His people Israel back to a place of repentance, back to Him.

And it didn’t have to be this way. Israel didn’t have to choose it’s spiritually adulterous and stiff-necked ways. But they did. And the result was that they brought on themselves these increasingly intense forms of judgment. They chose the overwhelming flood, and the rot-inducing moth, and the predatory lion. And yet, at the end of verse 15, we see that there was still hope. He says, “I will go away and return to My place until they acknowledge their guilt and seek My face; in their affliction they will earnestly seek Me.” So, as we conclude, the day of judgment is nearly upon Israel. In vain they have blown the trumpet as they seek to defend themselves. In vain they’ve warned Judah to the south. In vain they’ve attempted to forge an alliance with Assyria, or get help from Assyria in the north. But it’s not going to work because God has withdrawn His protection from them and God has Himself become their enemy. And it is with Him that they must now contend. But even then, we get this note of hope again in verse 15. It’s like a truck could drive through this, explaining how hopeful this is. “Until they acknowledge their guilt and seek My face; in their affliction they will earnestly seek Me.” The door is left open for Israel to repent and be restored.

That’s the cliff hanger for this week. And we’ll get into Hosea 6 nest Sunday night. In Hosea 6, we’re going to see Hosea once again, tenderly and beautifully appealing to wayward Israel. In fact, to end our time tonight I’m going to give you that teaser for next week. We’re going to read just the first three verses of Hosea 6, the next few lines of the prophecy. That’s going to help us end on this higher note and remind us of this unchanging God that was addressing Israel during Hosea’s day, but the same unchanging God that we worship today, and the same unchanging God who speaks though His word.

Hosea 6:1-3, “Come, let us return to the Lord. For He has torn us, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bandage us. He will revive us after two days; He will raise us up on the third day, that we may live before Him. So let us know, let us press on to know the Lord. His going forth is as certain as the dawn; and He will come to us like the rain, like the spring rain watering the earth.” Amen

Let’s pray. Almighty God, we thank You for this chance to study Your word this evening. We thank You for the many lessons that the book of Hosea teaches us -- the lessons about You and Your character, Your holiness, Your demand for faithfulness from Your people, Your unchanging faithfulness, Your hatred of sin, Your love for righteousness, Your patience, Your mercy, Your longsuffering nature, Your lovingkindness. These traits, these attributes of who You are, are stitched throughout the book of Hosea. And I pray that as we go through it, we are continually in awe of who You are. We aren’t the Israelites, we’re the church, but there certainly are ways in which we can benefit from this book. Behold Your character, behold what pleases You, what honors You, what brings You glory. And so, we as those who have been bought by the Messiah of Israel, the Lord Jesus Christ, simply say thank You for this book. Thank You for its lessons. But most importantly, thank You for the God who stands behind it, You God, our God, the God of all. We give You thanks and praise. Pray all this in Jesus’ name. Amen.