a Grace Notes course Hosea by Rev. Mark Perkins, Pastor Denver Bible Church, Denver, Colorado Lesson 8 Hosea 5:1-15 Grace Notes 1705 Aggie Lane, Austin, Texas 78757 Email: [email protected] Hosea Lesson 8: Hosea 5:1-15 Instructions Lesson 8: Hosea 5:1-15 .......................................................................................................8-4 Lesson 8 Quiz ..................................................................................................................... 8-10 Instructions for Completing the Lessons Begin each study session with prayer. It is the Holy Spirit who makes spiritual things discernable to Christians, so it is essential to be in fellowship with the Lord during Bible study. Read the whole book of Hosea often. It is a short book, and reading it many times will help you understand the story much better. Instructions 1. Read the introduction to the study of Hosea 2. Study the Hosea passage for this lesson, by reading the verses and studying the notes. Be sure to read any other Bible passages that are called out in the notes. 3. Review all of the notes in the Hosea lesson. 4. Go to the Quiz page and follow the instructions to complete all the questions on the quiz. The quiz is “open book”. You may refer to all the notes and to the Bible when you take the test. But you should not get help from another person. 5. When you have completed the Quiz, be sure to SAVE your file. If your quiz file is lost, and that can happen at Grace Notes as well, you will want to be able to reproduce your work. 6. To send the Quiz back to Grace Notes, follow the instructions on the Quiz page. Hosea Lesson 8 Hosea Chapter Five Hosea 5:2 And the revolters have gone deep in Outline and Overview. slaughter, but I am a correction to all of them. This chapter divides into two parts. The slaughter here is the Hebrew SHAHATAH, The first half, verses 1-7, concentrates on the which denotes the slaughter of animals, for judgement of Israel for their harlotry from God, whatever reason. paying some attention to specific acts of harlotry and idolatry. It can be for legitimate reasons, such as food or animal sacrifice. The second half, verses 8-14, anticipates the final discipline of Israel, and spends some time on the It can also be as here, the slaughter of animals for specific details of that fifth cycle. It also sends a demon worship. The description of Israel wading warning to Judah, the Southern Kingdom. deep into slaughter is a really good description of the depth of degeneracy. Verse fifteen stands separate from the rest of the chapter, more or less a summary of God's purpose The discipline is MUSAR, always Yahweh putting in the judgment and discipline. divine discipline on someone or some group for their own good. In this chapter, Hosea becomes the conduit for God's message to Israel. Really, it is mostly God, Though Israel wades deep into degeneracy, and very little of Hosea's humanity enters the Yahweh disciplines them on the chance that they picture. respond. Hosea 5:1 Hosea 5:3 Hear this O priests! And give attention O I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden house of Israel and give ear O house of the from me. For now you have committed king! For the judgment is for you. Because fornication, O Ephraim. Israel is defiled. you were a trap to Mizpah, and a net spread Interesting. Ephraim was the dominant tribe and out over Tabor. largest territory in the Northern Kingdom. God The Jews had begun to use these two mountains in tells us that the pollution of this tribe extended to Israel for idol worship. Thus they are a trap. the entire nation. Indeed, the picture is of rape. Both of these mountains were famous watch Ephraim commits fornication and Israel is defiled. towers from which they would watch for the The niphal stem of the verb NITMA reveals that approach of the enemy from the North. Now they Israel does not produce this action, but receives it. are a trap for the people. They provide temptation. The produced action is the fornication of Ephraim Formerly a symbol of watchfulness they now and the verb that describes it is HIZNEBA, and is epitomize the opposite. in the hiphil causative stem. The cause is the On these watch-mountains they now welcome the fornication of Ephraim; the effect is the defilement deadliest of enemies - fallen angels. of Israel. A note: Mizpah is right on the mutual border God knows Ephraim and his degeneracy; he sees between Israel and Judah, as are Gilgal and Ai. what goes on in Israel at the hand of Ephraim and The southerners would only have to travel a few it is not hidden from His view. miles to participate in the idolatry at these spots. That is why the southern kingdom is warned Hosea 5:4 about these specific places of idol worship. Their deeds will not allow them to return to their God, for a spirit of fornication is in their midst, and they do not know Yahweh. 8 - 4 Hosea Lesson 8 General and specific idolatry make it quite God testifies in His own throne room, with the difficult to have a relationship with God. result that discipline comes against the Northern A spirit of fornication works in a twofold manner: Kingdom. First, it reveals an addictive complex of sin related The discipline itself is described by the niphal to fornication. verb YIKASHELU. In the active voice it is stumble, while in the passive, it is more less, 'trip'. Second, it reveals a personal relationship with a fallen angel. Since this is the passive voice, the Northern kingdom does not produce the action of the verb, This is a double entendre of general and specific but instead receives it. They do not stumble, they idolatry. are tripped by their own iniquity. Idolatry and relationship with God do not ever So they fall because of their own iniquity - their mix. They are mutually exclusive. general and specific idolatry. The idolatry must be relinquished in order to But an interesting add-on here: Judah will stumble initiate relationship with God. with them. Do not confuse this by thinking that anyone's past • The verb is in the prophetic future perfect can abrogate the possibility of relationship with tense. This prediction will most certainly come God. Such is not true. true. What the verse does say is that their present • The time remains undefined, so that no one behavior is incompatible with God, and that they gives up using fate as an excuse. must leave it behind in order to gain Him. • Remember, God uses the destruction of the This does not mean that idolaters are instantly Northern Kingdom as an example to the 'cured' of their addictive relationships with Southern. "Pay attention! See what I am doing demons. to you neighbors to the north! • Any demon possession immediately ceases at the moment of belief in Christ. Hosea 5:6 • Addictive behavior, in some cases, does cease And they walk with their flocks and with at the moment of belief in Christ. And in their herd to seek Yahweh. But they will not many cases, the object of addiction just find Him; He withdrew from them. switched to something else. Here is a verse that hits home. It is at the time a • However, many new believers revert back to very popular thing to 'seek Yahweh'. And so they the form of their idolatry. go on pilgrimages looking for God. It is abundantly clear from this verse that the idols Looking for an omnipresent God must be an must be rejected for one to believe. In fact, the interesting and time consuming task. very expression of belief is a tacit rejection of Of course you never have to look for God! What idols. hypocrisy! First they 'X' God out of their lives Hosea 5:5 through general and specific idolatry, then they go looking for him, like they had lost their car keys or And the Majesty of Israel testifies in His something. This is utter pig-headedness. presence [face], and Israel and Ephraim will In Colorado, of course, we go looking for God in be tripped by their iniquity; also Judah will the mountains. In Israel it was apparently popular stumble with them. to take a flock of sheep and wander through the The word G'ON describes often the majestic countryside looking for God with your sheep in nature of God. It serves as a synonym for 'the tow. This is why they have religious retreats, you glory of God'. So this is God here. know. To look for God. I have been to many of 8 - 5 Hosea Lesson 8 them, and I can say with confidence that God is no • They should be given the gospel, and the plan different at a retreat than He is in the inner city. of God. Do not get caught in the trap that you can only • They should be trained to be patriotic. think things through by getting away from it all. This is lazy thinking and a fallacy. This training, when done properly, strengthens the child's conscience against the schemes of the The fact of the matter was God had withdrew cosmic system, and is a great system of prevention from Israel as a part of His discipline. And let me against self-destruction. tell you, when God withdraws from you, forget about finding Him. The training should include both punitive discipline and a fair system of reward.