50 lines
9.6 KiB
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50 lines
9.6 KiB
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<title>Blue Letter Bible: Text Commentaries</title>
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<h2><a onclick="return mV('Hsa', 5, 'all');">Hsa 5</a> - The Folly of Trusting in Man’s Deliverance</h2>
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<p>A. Israel’s sinful idolatry.</p>
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<p class="c1">1. (<a onclick="return mV('Hsa', 5, '1-3');">1-3</a>) Israel’s leaders are rebuked for the sinful state of the nation.</p>
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<p class="c2"><span>“Hear this, O priests! Take heed, O house of Israel! Give ear, O house of the king! For yours <i>is </i>the judgment, because you have been a snare to Mizpah and a net spread on Tabor. The revolters are deeply involved in slaughter, though I rebuke them all. I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from Me; for now, O Ephraim, you commit harlotry; Israel is defiled.”</span></p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">Hear this, O priests</span></b>: When God saw the sinful state of the nation of Israel, He saw that it was because the leaders did not lead in a godly way. It would be tempting for the priests to blame the people, but it was really the fault of the spiritual leadership (<b><span class="c3">priests</span></b>) and political leadership (<b><span class="c3">house of Israel</span></b>) of the nation.</p>
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<p class="c4">b. <b><span class="c3">The revolters are deeply involved in slaughter, though rebuke them all</span></b>: The real tragedy of Israel’s sin wasn’t so much that they stumbled. It was more so that they did not respond to God’s <b><span class="c3">rebuke</span></b> when they did stumble. If a man knows how to humbly respond to God’s correction, God can always work with him.</p>
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<p class="c1">2. (<a onclick="return mV('Hsa', 5, '4-9');">4-9</a>) Israel’s double desolation.</p>
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<p class="c2"><span>“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 <span class="c6">Lord</span>. The pride of Israel testifies to his face; therefore Israel and Ephraim stumble in their iniquity; Judah also stumbles with them. With their flocks and herds they shall go to seek the <span class="c6">Lord</span>, but they will not find <i>Him; </i>He has withdrawn Himself from them. They have dealt treacherously with the <span class="c6">Lord</span>, for they have begotten pagan children. Now a New Moon shall devour them and their heritage. Blow the ram’s horn in Gibeah, the trumpet in Ramah! Cry aloud <i>at </i>Beth Aven, <i>‘Look </i>behind you, O Benjamin!’ Ephraim shall be desolate in the day of rebuke; among the tribes of Israel I make known what is sure.”</span></p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">The pride of Israel testifies to his face</span></b>: Like all rebellion, Israel’s rebellion was centered on <i>pride</i>. They arrogantly thought that what God said didn’t really matter compared to their own opinions and desires.</p>
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<p class="c4">b. <b><span class="c3">They shall go to seek the <span class="c6">Lord</span>, but they will not find Him</span></b>: When God promised to leave rebellious Israel alone (<a onclick="return mV('Hsa', 4, 17);">Hsa 4:17</a>), it means that when they make superficial gestures of repentance, <b><span class="c3">they will not find Him</span></b>. Their repentance was superficial because <b><span class="c3">they do not direct their deeds toward turning to their God</span></b>.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. In many ways today, people <i>think</i> they are seeking God when they really aren’t. It’s just a superficial investigation. For example, a man might say, “I grew up in the Baptist church and couldn’t find God there. So I went to the Methodist church and couldn’t find God there. Then I went to the Pentecostal church, but couldn’t find God there. Now I’m at the Presbyterian church and can’t find God.” You may imagine you have searched hard after God, but that is an illusion. The truth is that you are running away from God. When He started to get close to you at the Baptist church, you left it and became a Methodist. When He started to get close to you at the Methodist church, you became a Pentecostal. You’ve followed the same pattern - a superficial search for God that backs away when you really start getting close to God.</p>
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<p class="c5">ii. <b><span class="c3">He has withdrawn Himself from them</span></b>: It can happen. We can be so set in our sin and rebellion that God just leaves us to ourselves. Usually we don’t even notice at first, but when we call upon the <span class="c6">Lord</span> and do <b><span class="c3">not find Him</span></b>, then we start to see the result of pushing God away.</p>
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<p class="c4">c. <b><span class="c3">Ephraim shall be desolate in the day of rebuke</span></b>: Because God <b><span class="c3">has withdrawn Himself from them</span></b>, they will find no help or refuge when the Assyrian army attacks. They will be made <b><span class="c3">desolate</span></b>.</p>
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<p>B. Israel’s sinful trust in man for deliverance.</p>
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<p class="c1">1. (<a onclick="return mV('Hsa', 5, '10-13');">10-13</a>) Israel and Judah looked to man’s wisdom.</p>
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<p class="c2"><span>“The princes of Judah are like those who remove a landmark; I will pour out my wrath on them like water. Ephraim is oppressed <i>and </i>broken in judgment, because he willingly walked by <i>human </i>precept. Therefore I <i>will be </i>to Ephraim like a moth, and to the house of Judah like rottenness. When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah <i>saw </i>his wound, then Ephraim went to Assyria and sent to King Jareb; yet he cannot cure you, nor heal you of your wound.”</span></p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">The princes of Judah are like those who remove a landmark</span></b>: This means that the political leaders of Judah were corrupt and cheaters. They were the kind of men who would change property boundaries to their advantage if they thought they could get away with it. This reminds us that while Judah may have been better than Israel, they still had to repent.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. “Judah’s leaders, however, were not shifting physical property lines but spiritual lines established by God, changing the boundary between right and wrong, between true and false religion, between the true God and the idols.” (Wood)</p>
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<p class="c5">ii. We can imagine a citizen of Judah reading Hosea’s prophecy and being a bit smug that their neighbor to the north was so roundly rebuked. God reminds Judah that she has her own sin to deal with.</p>
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<p class="c4">b. <b><span class="c3">He willingly walked by human precept</span></b>: Ephraim’s sinned by living by man’s standards and opinions instead of God’s. We can’t walk <b><span class="c3">by human precept</span></b> unless we first reject God’s precepts, and that was exactly what Israel did.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. <b><span class="c3">Ephraim went to Assyria</span></b>: Israel was foolish enough to trust in man - her eventual conqueror - instead of trusting in God. Choosing a <b><span class="c3">King Jareb</span></b> instead of the <span class="c6">Lord</span> is always foolish and ends in ruin.</p>
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<p class="c5">ii. “‘Jareb’ is not a known Assyrian’s name but means ‘warrior’.” (Wood)</p>
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<p class="c4">c. <b><span class="c3">Like a moth . . . like rottenness</span></b>: God will be the one who eats away and corrodes what Israel and Judah have. They will not be blessed, and they will not increase.</p>
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<p class="c1">2. (<a onclick="return mV('Hsa', 5, '14-15');">14-15</a>) God’s judgment and the goal behind it.</p>
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<p class="c2"><span>“For I <i>will be </i>like a lion to Ephraim, and like a young lion to the house of Judah. I, <i>even </i>I, will tear <i>them </i>and go away; I will take <i>them </i>away, and no one shall rescue. 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.”</span></p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">I will be like a lion</span></b>: God’s judgment would come against Israel and Judah in subtle ways (<i>like a moth . . . like rottenness</i>). But it would also come in obvious, unmistakable ways. Both a moth and <b><span class="c3">a lion</span></b> bring destruction, just in different ways.</p>
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<p class="c4">b. <b><span class="c3">In their affliction they will earnestly seek Me</span></b>: This was the goal of God’s judgment against Israel. The goal was not destruction, but restoration. Sadly, it is often only in our <b><span class="c3">affliction</span></b> that we <b><span class="c3">earnestly seek</span></b> the <span class="c6">Lord</span>. Why not seek the <span class="c6">Lord</span> now, before <b><span class="c3">affliction</span></b> forces you to?</p>
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