Hosea 5: 1 – 15
Human precepts
1 “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. 2 The revolters are deeply involved in slaughter, though I rebuke them all. 3 I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from Me; For now, O Ephraim, you commit harlotry; Israel is defiled. 4 “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. 5 The pride of Israel testifies to his face; Therefore, Israel and Ephraim stumble in their iniquity; Judah also stumbles with them. 6 “With their flocks and herds they shall go to seek the LORD, but they will not find Him; He has withdrawn Himself from them. 7 They have dealt treacherously with the LORD, for they have begotten pagan children. Now a New Moon shall devour them and their heritage. 8 “Blow the ram’s horn in Gibeah, the trumpet in Ramah! Cry aloud at Beth Aven, ‘look behind you, O Benjamin!’ 9 Ephraim shall be desolate in the day of rebuke; Among the tribes of Israel I make known what is sure. 10 “The princes of Judah are like those who remove a landmark; I will pour out My wrath on them like water. 11 Ephraim is oppressed and broken in judgment, because he willingly walked by human precept. 12 Therefore I will be to Ephraim like a moth, and to the house of Judah like rottenness. 13 “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. 14 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. 15 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.”
In the gospel of Mark 7: 6-8 we read, “He said to them, “Isaiah prophesied rightly about you hypocrites, as it is written, ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching human precepts as doctrines.’ You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition.”
In verses 1-5, the Pharisees and scribes noticed that Jesus’ disciples don’t follow all the traditional rules of Israel, rules about ritual washing before eating. Jesus says this, and then in verses 9-13 chastises them for some traditions they follow which end up breaking God’s commands.
These problems are not new. We will read in verse 11 of our chapter study that in the prophet Hosea our Great and Holy God told him to tell the people they were having the same issues, ‘11 Ephraim is oppressed and broken in judgment, because he willingly walked by human precept.’
This makes us also think about the arguments and dissensions in modern church bodies and congregations. It seems to me that people on both sides of such arguments tend to think the above passage refers to their opponents, particularly “teaching human precepts as doctrines, abandoning the commandment of God and holding to human tradition.”
How does this problem get started? I believe that all this crept in when Pastors began to teach on social issues instead of just preaching the word and giving the Good News about Jesus Christ. People need to come away from a teaching being more in awe, love, and appreciation for our Lord Jesus Christ.
We read in the book of Hebrews chapter 4 verse 12, “for the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”
Our Holy God does not need us to get into all these debates. Just let His Word go forth. It is alive and can do it work on its own.
Our Holy God points this out to us that we let social issues seep into our fellowships and the only thing this does as our Great and Mighty Creator has expressed over and over about keeping human precepts out of His church.
Hosea involves every section of society, including royalty, in their ‘going against YHWH’, and points out that what they are is known to YHWH. Their behavior and attitudes have been so affected by their false ritual that they have reached a position where they themselves do not really know God as He Is, and therefore cannot turn to Him. When they do seek Him it will be in vain, because He has withdrawn Himself from them as a result of their behavior and the consequences that result from it, children with no natural families. As a consequence, their new moon will not be a time of celebration and feasting but will rather be a time when their land portions given to them by YHWH are ‘devoured’.
1 “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 call comes to priests, people and royal house to listen to what YHWH, The God of Israel, has to say. All are involved. The word rendered ‘judgment’ can mean either ‘justice, the carrying out of what is right’. Thus some see ‘to you pertains justice’ as a reminder to them, and especially to the royal house and the priests, that it was their responsibility to ensure the maintenance of justice and the carrying out of what was right, something which they had failed to do in the religious sphere where they had rather set a snare and a trap for the people.
It included the need to keep the religion of the people pure.
So, instead of encouraging what was right they have been like bird hunters on Mizpah and Tabor, setting snares and traps for the people by leading them astray. All the males who heard Hosea would probably have had memories of hunting for birds, and setting snares for them, in the mountains, and would have been able to picture the helpless birds struggling in the hands of their captors. It was a helpful thought that this was what they were like themselves.
2 The revolters are deeply involved in slaughter, though I rebuke them all.
Here we have explained the reason why they were seen as setters of snares. It was because in their behavior they were behaving like rebels against YHWH by involving themselves in ‘deep slaughter’, that is in offering large numbers of sacrifices to Baal (on every high hill and under every green tree), and even in child sacrifice. They were erring through teaching the people falsehood. In consequence YHWH will rebuke them by chastising them severely without exception. And that was something that could only occur through invasion and exile.
3 I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from Me; For now, O Ephraim, you commit harlotry; Israel is defiled. 4 “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.
There is an interesting inclusion and play on ideas here in that YHWH is said to ‘know Ephraim’ (Israel) while Ephraim and Israel ‘do not know YHWH’. YHWH Is omniscient and Israel are blind. The idea behind YHWH knowing Israel is that nothing that they do is hidden from Him (so the parallel). He is aware of all that they do. He Is fully aware of their idolatry and their playing the harlot after false gods. And the result is that their behavior will not allow them to turn to the One Who Is truly their God. This is because they are possessed with the spirit of whoredom and consequently do not have the true knowledge of YHWH.
5 The pride of Israel testifies to his face; Therefore, Israel and Ephraim stumble in their iniquity; Judah also stumbles with them.
Yahweh Father God Is aware of their pride and self-reliance which testifies to His face, revealed both in their false worship and their social injustice (4.2). By their actions they are boldly declaring to His face that they want nothing to do with Him and His covenant. The word for ‘testify’ is a legal word. They are making their statement as if in a court of law. They are acting as their own accusers.
Consequently, He will make them stumble and fall, and because of Judah’s participation in events Judah will stumble and fall with them. This is an advance on the previous exemption of Judah (1.7). Time has moved on. Judah are now becoming more involved with Israel’s apostasy because of being attracted to their cultic centers. He had warned them in chapter 4.15, but they had not listened. Now they too are in danger of ‘stumbling’. The idea of stumbling in such contexts always leads to a fall.
6 “With their flocks and herds they shall go to seek the LORD, but they will not find Him; He has withdrawn Himself from them. 7 They have dealt treacherously with the LORD, for they have begotten pagan children. Now a New Moon shall devour them and their heritage.
When judgment comes on them they will turn to YHWH with an abundance of sacrifices, of both small and large animals. But it will be too late. They will not find Him, because He will already have withdrawn Himself. This will be because they have been unfaithful to YHWH and produced children who are not acceptable to Him. This may either be because their children too were born under the shadow of spiritual whoredom, or because it is referring to the illegitimate children of prostitutes produced in their religious orgies. And the consequence of their ‘illegitimacy’ is that they no longer have any ‘right by inheritance’ to the land allotted under the covenant.
The phrase ‘Now will the new moon devour them’ indicates that just as the new moon was a time when animals were devoured in sacrifice, so now Israel/Ephraim also will be devoured. Or it may mean that instead of their new moons being a time of celebration in the future as they look forward to that future, they will rather become a time when they and their fields (their portions allotted by YHWH) will be devoured.
This is the first indication of invasion actually taking place against Israel. The secure (even though sinful) days of Jeroboam II are now clearly over. The question is as to whether this is describing a retaliatory attack by Judah when seeking to seize land after Israel had been sorely weakened by Assyrian invasion, or whether it has the Assyrian invasion in mind as a result of Ahaz’s appeal to Assyria for help, or possibly an earlier one. If Assyria had first attacked Philistia they would then approach Israel from the south, and Judah could do nothing to prevent it. The order in verse 8 might suggest the former, and that might be supported by verse 11 where the removal of the landmark might indicate annexation of territory. On the other hand, it may be that in mind is the earlier Assyrian invasion that caused Ephraim (Israel) to seek to make peace with Assyria (verse 13) in the first place, something supported by the mention of the ‘day of rebuke’ in verse 9. Whichever way it is both Ephraim and Judah would suffer under the Assyrian response to the situation for it was YHWH’s purpose to chasten them by means of that invasion, and after that to wait until they truly repented and sought His face. This was because He knew that eventually such affliction would turn their thoughts towards Him in earnest, a hope which will be expressed by Hosea in chapter 6.1-3.
8 “Blow the ram’s horn in Gibeah, the trumpet in Ramah! Cry aloud at Beth Aven, ‘look behind you, O Benjamin!’
The picture is vivid. The call is to the watchmen on the watchtowers to sound the alarm at the sight of invading armies, using both ram’s horn and metal trumpet, and is made to the area of Benjamin (in which Gibeah and Ramah were situated), indicating that they were to ‘watch their backs’. All are to be on the alert for invasion. The order of the cities appears to indicate that the invasion will be taking place from the south.
For the order of the cities is given moving northwards on the road to Bethel through Gibeah and Ramah, and as a result has been seen as indicating an invasion by Judah, coming after Israel had been seriously weakened by the Assyrians, with the aim of regaining land which had been annexed by Israel in the days of Jehoash and Jeroboam II (2 Kings 13.12. Gibeah and Ramah were in Benjamite territory which had once belonged to Judah.
9 Ephraim shall be desolate in the day of rebuke; Among the tribes of Israel I make known what is sure.
Ephraim will become a desolation (a virtual desert) on the ‘day of rebuke (chastisement, punishment)’. This was Hosea’s equivalent of ‘the day of YHWH’ of Amos. God was about to ‘have His day’ in fulfilment of His warnings of judgment. And the certainty of it (‘what will surely be’) is underlined, a certainty which YHWH has made known to ‘the tribes of Israel’ (sometimes called ‘the ten tribes’).
10 “The princes of Judah are like those who remove a landmark; I will pour out My wrath on them like water.
Judah also is to face YHWH’s chastisement although not to the same degree. There is no mention of desolation, but they will nevertheless experience the pouring out of YHWH’s anger on them like water. And this was because their princes had become like those who ‘remove the landmark’.
Landmarks were a feature of those days, marking off what land belonged to one person from what belonged to another. The removal of such landmarks was a heinous offence. As Deuteronomy 19.14 declares, “You shall not remove your neighbor’s landmark,” something underlined in the group of curses connected with the covenant in Deuteronomy 27, “Cursed be he who removes his neighbor’s landmark”.
The reference here is probably to the fact that the princes of Judah have allowed Judah’s standards to slip by easing the requirements of the Law and allowing the men of Judah (including themselves) to participate in Israel’s syncretistic cult. The charge is one of compromising the true worship of YHWH.
11 Ephraim is oppressed and broken in judgment, because he willingly walked by human precept.
The spotlight turns back on Ephraim (Israel). They are being oppressed, they are being crushed in judgment. Both expressions were often used of how the rulers oppressed and crushed the poor (compare Amos 4.1). Thus, what they had done to others was now being done to them. And this was because Israel had listened to man rather than to God. They had walked in accordance with the commands and teaching of men, rather than obeying the commands and teaching of YHWH, by engaging in false worship and by setting aside His commandments.
12 Therefore I will be to Ephraim like a moth, and to the house of Judah like rottenness.
Central to the passage is a description of what YHWH is to both Israel and Judah. To Israel He is as a moth, devouring them like clothes are devoured by moths, to Judah He is like the rottenness in fruit that spreads and spreads rendering the fruit inedible. In both cases the idea is that He Is slowly executing His judgment on them because of their failure in respect of the covenant.
13 “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.
The main warning here is to Israel, but there is a spin off to Judah, possibly because Ahaz was still considering his options (Isaiah 7). Let Judah consider the fact that the king of Assyria will prove of no help in the end to Israel, whose king Menahem had parleyed with him (2 Kings 15.19-20). Or the reference may be to Hoshea’s submission to him to gain the throne (2 Kings 17.3), in which case it is after Ahaz submitted to the king of Assyria. Both Israel (Ephraim) and Judah are sick and wounded because of YHWH’s judgments, but it is Israel who at this juncture look to Assyria for help. They ‘went to Assyria and sent to the Great King’. But the king of Assyria could be of no assistance to them in their present state, for their condition was due to YHWH, the truly Great King, and not to Assyria. Thus, the king of Assyria was helpless to do anything about it.
Judah are having a putrefying wound (Isaiah 1.6) but possibly still has not yet committed to Assyria, otherwise they would be mentioned here, which would support the parleying at this time as being done by Pekah.
14 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.
It is now emphasized that it was YHWH Who was responsible for the troubles of both Israel and Judah, because they had been faithless to Him and His covenant, both in their false worship and disobedience to the covenant commandments, and in their very seeking to Assyria rather than to YHWH. He would be like a lion who came across someone in a lonely place, seizing them and tearing them, and then leaving their carcasses, or carrying them off with no one there to rescue them (Baal being unable to deliver them). The ‘young male lion’ was especially dangerous as, having left the pack, he roamed around, possibly with other young males, looking for a kill.
15 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.”
The thought of the lion going away to the shelter of his lair having torn his prey is now applied to YHWH’s treatment of Israel. He too will go away, leaving Israel torn and bleeding and deserted, and return to His place (to Heaven). But it will only be ‘until they acknowledge their offence and seek My face.’ YHWH’s aim was always repentance. The problem was that it would be a long time before Israel would repent. In the end, however, they will do so, for because of their long affliction in exile they will eventually seek Him earnestly.
