Hosea 5 − Commentary
The Lord is Angry with Priests
Hosea gives a message to three different groups of people. It is a strong message for everyone. God has come as a judge. No one can be free from what he has to say. There were two places called Mizpah in Israel. One was in Gilead, east of the River Jordan. The other place was Mizpah of Benjamin. The word 'catch' means that the leaders tried to take people away from God. They are most to blame. They have not been true to God. Tabor is a mountain. Perhaps bad things happened there.
The
The people keep themselves away from God (verse 4). They might say that they want to know God. But they do bad things. This shows that they want to turn away from him. They have been their own judge (verse 5). They have not wanted to remember the law of Moses. They are too proud to do this. Hosea says that Judah is like Israel. Judah can fall in the same way as Israel. The
War between Judah and Israel
Blow the
Raise the war cry at Bethaven!
Go into war, men of Benjamin!
There will be nothing left of
People of Israel, you can be sure that this will happen.
They have robbed land from Israel. So, I (God) will not be pleased with them in any way. It will be like a time when water covers the earth.
Like a
I will destroy Judah,
like water destroys a piece of wood.
So, they went to Assyria for help.
They told their problems to the great king.
But that king cannot bring you health.
He cannot stop you suffering.
I will attack the people of Judah like a young lion.
I, the
I will carry them away.
And no person will be able to rescue them.
Until the people can see their
Until they come looking for me.
Perhaps they will try to find me when they are really suffering.
A new part of Hosea begins here. Most of these verses are about war. Hosea tells Israel to prepare for war. Gibeon, Ramah and Bethaven were all near Jerusalem. The war will come from the south of Israel. Because of war, these three cities were part of Israel. But they used to be a part of Judah. The people of Benjamin lived near the south of Israel. Judah would attack them first and then attack all of Israel (verse 9). Isaiah also said that Assyria would want to have all of Israel (Isaiah 7:1-8:8). Both Pekah and Hoshea, kings of Israel, lost parts of a war against Judah. But this was only the beginning of the end for Israel. This end came in 722 BC.
In verse 10, Hosea speaks against Judah. He says that they have moved special stones. These stones showed the place where Israel and Judah's land met. Moving these stones was against the law (Deuteronomy 19:14). Judah has broken the
God speaks in pictures to bring his message to Israel and Judah (verse 12). It is not Tiglath-Pileser who brings terrible things to Israel. It is God. God uses the picture of a sick person (verse 13). Both Israel and Judah were sick. Both countries were asking other countries for help. God did not like this. Judah asked Assyria for help after the Syro-Israel attack in 734 BC. Hoshea, a young king of Israel, wanted to make an agreement with Tiglath-Pileser 3rd. But other countries will not be able to help Israel. God himself will attack Judah and Israel like a lion. God is the real danger (verse 14). He is their real enemy. He used other nations to be their judge. The lion will go back to his place. God, too, will leave his people (verse 15). He will leave them when they are in 'pain'. The 'suffering' and '