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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - Hosea 5:8 - 5:15
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The Threat of Punishment
v. 8. Blow ye the cornet in Gibeah, the ancient city of Saul, and the trumpet in Ramah, another city located on an eminence, both of them most suitable for giving signals on account of their lofty situation; cry aloud at Bethaven, or Bethel, on the border of the northern kingdom. After thee, O Benjamin! that is, the danger is coming, the enemy is close behind.
v. 9. Ephraim, the entire country of the ten tribes, shall be desolate in the day of rebuke, namely, when the Lord's punishment would strike them; among the tribes of Israel have I made known that which shall surely be, continuous plagues, a lasting punishment. Cf Deu_28:59.
v. 10. The princes of Judah were like them that remove the bound, Cf Deu_19:14, namely, by removing the boundary between the worship of the true God and idolatry, which should have been kept apart forever; therefore I will pour out My wrath upon them like water, in an overwhelming degree, in proportion to the greatness of their offense.
v. 11. Ephraim is oppressed and broken in judgment, cut to pieces by the punishment of the Lord, because he willingly walked after the commandment, it thought good to follow idol-images, it clung to the calf-worship of Jeroboam throughout its existence.
v. 12. Therefore will I be unto Ephraim as a moth and to the house of Judah as rottenness, both of these being figurative of destructive powers, which steadily eat into the very marrow of things.
v. 13. When Ephraim saw his sickness, becoming aware of the illness of the body politic, and. Judah saw his wound, realizing that something was rotten in the nation, then went Ephraim to the Assyrian, looking for assistance from the heathen instead of consulting the Lord, and sent to King Jareb, to the warlike monarch through whose intervention the kingdom hoped to recover; yet could he not heal you nor cure you of your wound, for the help of men is vain in such cases.
v. 14. For I will be unto Ephraim as a lion and as a young lion to the house of Judah, who takes hold of his prey and tears it to pieces; I, even I, will tear and go away, as a lion withdrawing to his den; I will take away, and none shall rescue him, for with the Lord's merciful presence removed, there is no hope of deliverance.
v. 15. I will go and return to My place, as though shutting Himself up in heaven and withdrawing His favor entirely, till they acknowledge their offense and seek My face, this being the hope which is held before them. In their affliction they will seek Me early. This is a truth which is found also in other passages of the Bible, namely, that men seek out the Lord when they are in trouble, they pour out a prayer when His chastening is upon them. Cf Isa_26:16.