Hosea 5

Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just.”

Thomas Jefferson wrote those words about the

United States of America, and as the prophet Hosea surveyed the kingdom of Israel, he would have agreed. From his bitter experience with his wife, Hosea knew that sin not only breaks the heart of God, but also offends the holiness of God, for “righteousness and justice are the foundation of [His] throne” (Ps. 89: nkjv).

God wanted to forgive the sins of His people and restore their fellowship with Him, but they weren’t ready. They not only would not repent, they wouldn’t even admit that they had sinned! So God conducted a trial and brought them to the bar of justice. It’s a basic spiritual principle that until people experience the guilt of conviction, they can’t enjoy the glory of conversion.

Just as Hosea had experienced a quarrel with his wife, so God had a quarrel with His estranged wife, the people of Israel. But it wasn’t a personal quarrel; it was an official controversy: “The Lord has a charge to bring against you who live in the land” (4: niv). The picture of God bringing men and nations to trial in His courtroom is a familiar one in Scripture (see Isa. 1:13; Jer. 2:9, 29; 25:31; Mic. 6:2; Rom. 3:19). “Rise up, O Judge of the earth; pay back to the proud what they deserve” (Ps. 94: niv).

The Judge read the charges to the accused as they stood before him.

The nation as a whole (4:1b–3). The basis for judgment was the holy law of God, the covenant God made with Israel at Mount Sinai. “All that the Lord has spoken we will do,” was their promise (Ex. 19:8), but that promise was soon broken. Just as Gomer didn’t take her marriage vows seriously but went to live with another man, so Israel reneged on her promises to God and turned to pagan idols. There was no faithfulness (truth) in the land, no loyal love to the Lord.

When people reject God’s covenant, they begin to exploit each other, for the Ten Commandments deal with our relationship with our neighbor as well as with the Lord. If we love the Lord, we will also love our neighbor (Matt. 22:34–40; Rom. 13:8–10). But there was no mercy in the land, no love for one’s neighbor, no compassion for the poor and needy. People were falsehearted toward God and hardhearted toward one another.

The basic sin was ignorance; there was “no knowledge of God in the land.” “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge” (Hos. 4:6). This means much more than knowledge about God; it refers to a personal knowledge of God. The Hebrew word describes a husband’s most intimate relationship with his wife (Gen. 4:1; 19:8). To know God is to have a personal relationship with Him through faith in Jesus Christ (John 17:3).

The Judge pointed to the Ten Commandments (Ex. 20:1–17) and reminded the people of how they had violated His law by pronouncing curses, telling lies, murdering, stealing, and committing adultery. As a result, they had brought suffering to themselves, to the land, and even to the animals. God’s covenant promise was that He would bless the land if the people obeyed Him, but that He would punish the land if they disobeyed (Lev. 26; Deut. 27—28).

The land belonged to God (Lev. 25:23), and the sins of the people polluted the land (18:25–28; 26:32–33). Natural calamities like droughts, famines, and the devastations of war were sometimes sent by God to discipline His people. Whether to bless or to judge, God always keeps His covenant promises.

The priests (4:4–14). When Jeroboam I set up his own religious system in Israel, many of the true priests fled to Judah; so the king ordained priests of his own choosing (2 Chron. 11:13–15). Of course, these counterfeit priests knew neither the Lord nor His law. They were primarily interested in having an easy job that would provide them with food, clothing, and pleasure, especially opportunities to be with the shrine prostitutes. “Don’t blame the people for what’s happening,” Hosea said to the corrupt priests, “because they’re only following your bad example!”

When you obey God’s Word, you walk in the light and don’t stumble (Prov. 3:21–26; 4:14–19), but when you reject the Word, you walk in the darkness and can’t find your way (Isa. 8:20). Worldly and ignorant spiritual leaders produce worldly and ignorant people, and this brings destruction to the land. The phrase “your mother” in Hosea 4: refers to the nation of Israel (2:2, 5). As goes spiritual leadership, so goes the church; as goes the church, so goes morality; and as goes morality, so goes the nation. God’s people are both salt and light in society (Matt. 5:13–16); when they are corrupt, society becomes corrupt.

God rejected Jeroboam’s man-made religion and warned the priests that their easy jobs would soon end in disaster. Instead of seeking God’s will, they consulted their idols. The more the people sinned, the more food the priests enjoyed. The more shrines the people built, the more they and the priests could indulge in lustful pleasures as they participated in the fertility rites. But the rites wouldn’t accomplish anything, because God would cause the population and the produce to decrease instead of increase. Furthermore, the priests’ own daughters and daughters-in-law would become shrine prostitutes and commit adultery! Their sins would bring judgment to their families and to the land.

The spectators in the court (4:15–19). Now the prophet turns to the people of the southern kingdom of Judah who were carefully watching events in Israel. Hosea’s warning is clear: don’t meddle in the affairs of Israel because their doom is sure! “Ephraim is joined to idols: let him alone” (v. 17). The people of Judah were supposed to worship in Jerusalem and not go to the hill shrines in Israel or to the special shrines at Gilgal and Bethel. (Hosea calls Bethel “Bethaven,” which means “house of evil or deceit.” Bethel means “house of God.”) Israel was like a stubborn heifer, not a submissive lamb; and God’s whirlwind of judgment would sweep the kingdom away.

Priests, rulers, and people (5:1–7). This is a summation of the evidence that the Judge applied to all the accused. He condemned the leaders for trapping innocent people and exploiting them. There was no justice in the land. They were sinking deep in sin and lacked the power to repent and turn back to God, for their sins had paralyzed them.

What was the cause? They did not know the Lord (5:4; 6:3) and their arrogance only led them to stumble and fall (5:5; Prov. 16:18). Even if they came to the Lord with entire flocks and herds to sacrifice, God would not meet them; for He had withdrawn Himself from them. He rejected their illegitimate children, and their monthly feasts would soon become funerals.

The sentence is pronounced (5:8–15). There could be only one verdict: “Guilty!” A day of judgment was coming when the cites of Israel would be conquered by the invading Assyrian army and the citizens taken into capitivity. “Ephraim will be laid waste on the day of reckoning” (5: niv). The inner decay of the nation was like the slow hidden destruction caused by a moth (v. 12), but the coming of the Assyrians was like the sudden open attack of a lion (v. 14). Both were unavoidable and both brought ruin.

Israel and Judah were weak, sick nations (Isa. 1:5–6; Jer. 30:12–13), but instead of turning to the Lord for healing, both of them turned to the king of Assyria for help (Hos. 5:13). They needed prayer and true repentance, but instead, they trusted politics and useless treaties. All the Lord could do was withdraw and wait for them to seek His face in truth and humility.