Lesson 5 - Hosea 5:15-7:2 - SERIOUSLY SEEKING THE LORD
INTRODUCTION: Last week in Hosea 2:14-23, our lesson focused God's plan to restore the Northern Kingdom of Israel, which He did judge in 721 B.C. when he allowed the Assyrian army to conquer the entire land and disperse the people. As a result of it, the Northern Kingdom effectively ceased to exist as a recognizable people and nation-not even as remnant. However, through Hosea's prophecy, which is symbolized by Hosea's marriage to his unfaithful wife, Gomer, and by their three children, Jezreel (= God scatters or sows), Lo-Rumanah (= she is not loved), and Lo-Ammi (= not my people), we learned that this wasn't the end-that God isn't finished with His people Israel, not by a long shot. The lesson informed us that there will be time in the future when God will do three things for Israel: He will (1) Allure her back to Him; (2) Renew His marriage to her as her husband; and (3) Restore all of His blessings to her. In Biblical terms, this means that God will fulfill the promises that He made in His unconditional covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This will be an eschatological (End-Time) fulfillment when every Jew will be a believer in the Messiah, Jesus Christ.
This week, in Hosea 5:15-7:2, the section actually begins in Chapter 5, with God describing the judgments that are about to befall both the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the Southern Kingdom of Judah. The context of the lesson is the time when Assyria was the reigning superpower of the region, when the Northern Kingdom had formed an alliance with Syria, resulting in a conflict with Judah, which had allied itself with Assyria (see map). From this, the Northern Kingdom (called Ephraim) will stumble and Judah will stumble with them. We know that the Northern Kingdom will be conquered by Assyria, while Judah will manage to stumble-on as a nation for another 100+ years.
Read Hosea 5:15 - IN THEIR AFFLICTION
15 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.
v. 15: The is the concluding verse of Chapter 15 , in which the LORD pronounced judgment on both the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the Southern Kingdom of Judah. In the preceding verse, God described Himself as a lion who has ravaged both kingdoms. The Northern kingdom has ceased to exist as a nation, while Judah has become a puppet state of Assyria that pays them tribute in order to avoid attack (2 Kings 18:14). God, who has allowed all this to happen, returns to His place like a lion to his lair, where He will await His people's repentance. This time, there will be no more wooing and romancing, like that described last week in Chapter 2. They will have to come to their LORD God; He is finished with coming to them. Many modern Bible commentators view the language of this verse as extending into the End-Times, when Israel would indeed repent before Him and seek His face.
Read Hosea 6:1-3 - LET US RETURN TO THE LORD
1 "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. 2 "He will revive us after two days; He will raise us up on the third day, That we may live before Him. 3 "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."
v. 1: "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." - First, we need to see that these people now realize that was their LORD God who "has torn" them, not the secular powers who actually attacked them (they were just tools). And they see him as both the cause and the cure, because He will "heal" and "bandage" them. However, this is just rhetoric, not true repentance, with confession of sin or plea for forgiveness. The people are conscious of their need for healing but utterly fail to acknowledge their need for holiness. God know their hearts. There is no humility in them; they're looking for a quick fix.
v. 2: "He will revive us after two days; He will raise us up on the third day, That we may live before Him." - As Christians, we immediately see that this exactly corresponds to the time that Christ would later spend in the tomb, and then be resurrected on the third day. There are two scholarly views of this: (1) That the national restoration of Israel is simply foreshadowed by the resurrection of Jesus Christ; or (2) the reference is to the last three days of the Tribulation period, with Israel's repentance extending over the first two days, and when the nation is reborn on the third day, as the Messiah, Jesus Christ, appears. (Dan. 12:11-12; Rev. 20:4-6). Take your pick. I like the second one.
v. 3a: "So let us know, let us press on to know the LORD." - The key word here is "know." Last week in Chapter 2, verse 20, we learned that the meaning of the word "know" (Heb. yada (yaw-dah')] envisages a relationship having a sense of understanding and personal experience with the person we know. At the highest level, it involves knowing the other person's deepest feelings and desires. When a person or indeed, a nation, knows the LORD at this level, he, she, or it will personally and individually experience God's righteousness, justice, lovingkindness, steadfast love, mercy, and compassion and will abide with Him in a faithful relationship. What we don't know here is whether these are the words of the people, which may or may not be sincere, or the words of the prophet, who is genuinely calling them to know YHWH at the most intimate and deepest level.
v. 3b: "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." - On one hand, these images, "the dawn, the spring rain," speak of the certainty of the LORD appearing and the renewed life that would come with His presence. His return to bless them would be as certain and as life-giving as the sun rising in the morning. But this would require Israel to know their LORD God in all humility and repentance at the deep level described in the first phrase. The Northern Kingdom and indeed, the Corporate Israel of our time. has never prayed like this. Therefore, the fulfillment must still be in the future, when Christ returns.
APPLICATION 1: The Israelites in this lesson were aware of their need for healing but failed to acknowledge their need for personal holiness. Many Christians today will cry out to God for help when they're in a personal crisis but at the same time, refuse to humble themselves before God and repent of the sins that led to their many of their problems.
Read Hosea 6:4-6 - WHAT SHALL I DO WITH YOU?
4 What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? For your loyalty is like a morning cloud And like the dew which goes away early. 5 Therefore I have hewn them in pieces by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of My mouth; And the judgments on you are like the light that goes forth. 6 For I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice, And in the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.
v. 4: What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? For your loyalty is like a morning cloud And like the dew which goes away early." - The LORD asks twice what He will do with Ephraim (No. Kingdom) and Judah. The parallelism in God's question expresses frustration and disappointment more than inquiry. The loyal love (Heb. hesed) of these nations for YHWH as shown by their obedience to His Covenant was about as short-lived as the "morning...dew." It is His hesed-loyal love-that keeps God in a relationship with these rebellious people. After all that has happened, He won't write them off, although they deserve it.
v. 5a: "Therefore I have hewn them in pieces by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of My mouth;" - The LORD's words have real power: God spoke a word and the universe came into being. Now He uses His words, spoken through the prophets, to hew these people-to punish and even kill them-for their faithlessness.
v. 5b: "And the judgments on you are like the light that goes forth." - This could mean that God's judgments are as certain as the light of dawn or that Gods' judgment shines light on peoples' sin.
v. 6: "For I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice, And in the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings." - God's number one desire is their steadfast love rather then sacrifice. And "in knowledge of God" reemphasizes God's desire that they His people will know Him at the deepest, most intimate level rather then give Him "burnt offerings." The problem is not in the sacrifices or burnt offerings themselves, but the fact that the people have substituted ritual observances for true loyalty to God. If these people honestly want to please God and secure His help, they must, above all else, seek a deep relationship with the LORD God based on steadfast love for Him.
APPLICATION 2: God desires His people's loyal love (Heb. hesed) more than their time and money. In the modern context, simply showing up for church on a regular basis and putting money in the offering plate is not substitute for loving God with all your heart, mind, and soul. This is God's first requirement, and it applies to 21st Century Christians as well as the ancient Israelites in this lesson.
APPLICATION 3: Like the Israelites who ignored the warnings of God's prophets in ancient times, the failure to heed God's word today will result in judgment. Today we have all of God's revelation in one book-the Bible, and it expresses God's expectations for every conceivable circumstance in life. Just because we own one or more Bibles doesn't protect us. We must read it, understand it, and apply it to how we live. If we can't understand it, we must seek the Godly counsel of learned Christians who can explain it to us.
Read Hosea 6:7-11 - THEY HAVE TRANSGRESSED THE COVENANT
7 But like Adam they have transgressed the covenant; There they have dealt treacherously against Me. 8 Gilead is a city of wrongdoers, Tracked with bloody footprints. 9 And as raiders wait for a man, So a band of priests murder on the way to Shechem; Surely they have committed crime. 10 In the house of Israel I have seen a horrible thing; Ephraim's harlotry is there, Israel has defiled itself. 11 Also, O Judah, there is a harvest appointed for you, When I restore the fortunes of My people.
v. 7: "But like Adam they have transgressed the covenant; There they have dealt treacherously against Me." - Like the first man, Adam, and the human beings that followed him, the Israelites had violated the LORD's loving instructions even though, like Adam, their blessings had been abundant. The "covenant" they "transgressed" is the Mosaic covenant handed down by Moses at Sinai (Ex. 19-24). Like Adam and all people since him, the Israelites had "dealt treacherously" with God by forgetting their responsibility to love him with all their heart, mind, and soul; because, if they really and truly loved God more than self, they would keep His Commandments.
Synopsis of vv. 8-11: All of these verses are depicted to show evidence of Israel's wickedness. It pictures a city of evildoers with band of robbers who leave "bloody footprints" (v. 8) and even a band of priests who go about murdering people. It talks about Israel practicing "harlotry" as a nation that defiled itself by going after pagan gods (v. 10). And Judah has transgressions to answer for, too.
Read Hosea 7:1-2 - WHEN I WOULD HEAL ISRAEL
1 When I would heal Israel, The iniquity of Ephraim is uncovered, And the evil deeds of Samaria,
For they deal falsely; The thief enters in, Bandits raid outside, 2 And they do not consider in their hearts That I remember all their wickedness. Now their deeds are all around them; They are before My face.
v. 1a: "When I would heal Israel, The iniquity of Ephraim is uncovered, And the evil deeds of Samaria," - "Ephraim" and "Samaria" are both names for the Northern Kingdom of Israel. Hosea, as the LORD's appointed mouthpiece, is simply telling these people like it is-the reality. God longed to heal them and redeem them, but everywhere He looks, the "iniquity...is uncovered," and He only sees new evidence of sin. And We know that God will not, cannot ignore sin. The prophets, despite best efforts, had been unable to stem the rising tide of rebellion against God. They were leaving God with only one recourse: judgment.
v. 1b: "For they deal falsely; The thief enters in, Bandits raid outside," - This is further evidence of hardening hearts. False dealing suggests internal corruption, deception and lying to one another. It even suggests organized crime in some way. They had gone way too far. The term "bandits raid outside" pictures roving bands of outlaws who attacked and robbed people traveling between towns.
v. 2: "And they do not consider in their hearts That I remember all their wickedness. Now their deeds are all around them; They are before My face." - In their selfish and dishonest hearts, the Israelites probably hoped that God might somehow forget or overlook their disloyalty and their wrongdoing, like pretending that God wasn't watching them or didn't notice their sinful thoughts and deeds. But God always perfectly remembers everything-all-seeing and hearing, recording the thoughts and deeds of every human being in every nano-second of history. Because He is holy, He can't ignore it. The Israelites were constantly before His eyes, and He was reminded of their sins whenever He looked in their direction. This make me wonder what God must think when He looks down on the United States of America in the 21st Century, when a majority of our population claims (according to political polls) that they don't believe in God or His Bible. Are we ripe for judgment?
APPLICATION 4: People who think that God will somehow overlook or at some point forget their sins are fools. People sometimes allow themselves to humanize God, thinking that he has human shortcomings and faults-He doesn't notice something or forgets. This is gross error: God always perfectly remembers everything. He sees, hears, and records all of the thoughts and deeds of every human being in every nano-second of his or her life. And there will be an accounting.
