PUNISHMENT COMING FOR ISRAEL AND JUDAH

INTRODUCTION TO HOSEA

God’s Love for His Apostate People

How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? how shall I cast thee off, Israel? Hos_11:8

II. THE DIVINE JUDGMENT AND MERCY, Hosea 4-14

2. The Guilt of King and Priests, Hos_5:1-15; Hos_6:1-3

PUNISHMENT COMING FOR ISRAEL AND JUDAH

Hosea 5:1-15 and Hosea 6:1-3

Hear this and pay close attention, O priests! Give heed, O house of Israel! Listen, O house of the king! For the [pronounced] judgment pertains to you and is meant for you to hear, Because you have been a snare at Mizpah And a net spread out over Tabor (military strongholds on either side of the Jordan River).

The revolters have gone deep into depravity, But I [the LORD God] will chastise them all.

I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from Me; For now, O Ephraim, you have played the prostitute and have worshiped idols; Israel has defiled itself.

Their [immoral] practices will not permit them To return to their God, For the spirit of prostitution is within them And they do not know the LORD [they do not recognize, appreciate, heed or cherish Him].

But the pride and self-reliance of Israel testifies against him. Therefore Israel, and [especially] Ephraim, stumble and fall in their wickedness and guilt; Judah also has stumbled with them.

They will go with their flocks and with their herds To seek the LORD [diligently searching for Him], but they will not find Him; He has withdrawn from them [refusing to hear the prayers of the unrepentant].

They have dealt treacherously against the LORD, For they have borne illegitimate (pagan) children. Now the New Moon will devour them along with their land [bringing judgment and captivity].

Blow the horn in Gibeah, The trumpet in Ramah [the lofty hills on Benjamin’s northern border]. Sound the alarm at Beth-aven: “Behind you and coming after you [is the enemy], O Benjamin [be on guard]!”

Ephraim will become a desolation in the day of rebuke; Among the tribes of Israel I declare what is certain.

The princes of Judah are like those who move a boundary marker; I will pour out My wrath on them like [an unrestrained flood of] water. [Deu_19:14; Pro_22:28]

Ephraim is oppressed; he is broken and crushed by [divine] judgment, Because he was determined to follow man’s command (vanities, filth, secular precepts).

Therefore I am like a moth to Ephraim And like dry rot to the house of Judah [in My judgment against them].

When Ephraim saw his sickness, And Judah his wound, Then Ephraim went to Assyria [instead of the LORD] And sent to [Assyria’s] great King Jareb [for help]. But he cannot heal you Nor will he cure you of your wound [received in judgment].

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 on [tearing]; I will carry off [the prey] and there will be no one to rescue them.

I will go away and return to My place [on high] Until they acknowledge their offense and bear their guilt and seek My face; In their distress they will earnestly seek Me, saying, “Come and let us return [in repentance] to the LORD, For He has torn us, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bandage us.

“After two days He will revive us; On the third day He will raise us up That we may live before Him. [Isa_26:19; Eze_37:1-10]

“So let us know and become personally acquainted with Him; let us press on to know and understand fully the [greatness of the] LORD [to honor, heed, and deeply cherish Him]. His appearing is prepared and is as certain as the dawn, And He will come to us [in salvation] like the [heavy] rain, Like the spring rain watering the earth.”

By Philippus Schutte

New Covenant Israelite! "And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert grafted in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree;  Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee."  Rom 11:17 -18

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