Paul Kretzmann Commentary - Hosea 5:1 - 5:7

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Paul Kretzmann Commentary - Hosea 5:1 - 5:7


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The Accusation Against the Priests

v. 1. Hear ye this, O priests, the spiritual leaders of the people; and hearken, ye house of Israel, the family of the ten tribes as such; and give ye ear, in paying most careful attention, O house of the king, as the temporal rulers of the nation; for judgment is toward you, it is intended for them, to strike them down in due time, because ye have been a snare on Mizpah, this being the town in the northern part of their country or beyond Jordan, and a net spread upon Tabor, a mountain in what was later known as Galileo. The leaders are charged with being snares and nets on account of their leading the people entrusted to them into sins.

v. 2. And the revolters are profound to make slaughter,
literally, "and into the corrupt doings of excesses they have sunken deeply," so that the leaders, in their open rebellion against the Lord have carried their transgressions to extremes and beyond; though I have been a rebuker of them all, earnestly trying, by His admonitions, to bring them back to the right way.

v. 3. I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hid from Me,
He was well acquainted with the spirit which possessed them both; for now, O Ephraim, thou committest whoredom, that is, idolatry, and Israel is defiled, by likewise taking part in the spiritual adultery.

v. 4. They will not frame their doings to turn unto their God,
for as long as they are guilty of such transgressions, their evil works will not permit their return to the Lord; for the spirit of whoredoms is in the midst of them, so that the service of idolatry occupies all their thoughts, and they have not known the Lord, for under the circumstances the knowledge of the true God is impossible for them.

v. 5. And the pride of Israel,
as they boast of their glory, doth testify to his face, namely, when the punishment of such pride is suffered; therefore shall Israel and Ephraim fall in their iniquity, stumbling and being brought to destruction because of it; Judah also shall fall with them, tottering and stumbling with Israel, since both are guilty of idolatry.

v. 6. They shall go with their flocks and with their herds to seek the Lord,
as though eager to bring their sacrifices; but they shall not find Him; He hath withdrawn Himself from them, since He has no delight in sacrifices brought in a spirit of hypocrisy, without true repentance.

v. 7. They have dealt treacherously against the Lord,
in blasphemous faithlessness; for they have begotten strange children, as though by illicit intercourse with idols; now shall an month devour them with their portions, or, "the new moon will devour them. " Their hypocritical festal offerings were so little appreciated and acceptable in the sight of God that, instead of bringing them deliverance, they were rather a cause of their ruin. Many a person will find out that his self-appointed worship of God will bring down upon him the wrath of the Lord instead of His mercy.