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Hosea 5 (ESV)

1 Hear this, O priests!

Pay attention, O house of Israel!

Give ear, O house of the king!

For the judgment is for you;

for you have been a snare at Mizpah

and a net spread upon Tabor.

2 And the revolters have gone deep into slaughter,

but I will discipline all of them.

 

3 I know Ephraim,

and Israel is not hidden from me;

for now, O Ephraim, you have played the whore;

Israel is defiled.

4 Their deeds do not permit them

to return to their God.

For the spirit of whoredom is within them,

and they know not the Lord.

 

5 The pride of Israel testifies to his face;

Israel and Ephraim shall stumble in his guilt;

Judah also shall stumble with them.

6 With their flocks and herds they shall go

to seek the Lord,

but they will not find him;

he has withdrawn from them.

7 They have dealt faithlessly with the Lord;

for they have borne alien children.

Now the new moon shall devour them with their fields.

 

REFLECTION:

• Chapter 5 is the judgment that God announced to the whole family of Israel. This section repeats God’s accusation of Israel’s sins: “and they know not the Lord.” (4) Their actual actions include:
  • Gone deep into slaughter (2).
  • “Played the whore” and “spirit of whoredom” (3~4) refer to spiritual fornication ─ worshiping Baal, and moral fornication.
  • Pride, deceit, relying on outward sacrifices and other rituals (5-7).
• Mizpah and Tabor (1) are the main places to worship the false god Baal, and leaders even abet the people to commit crimes in these places. Today, we often choose our own leaders, but we still have to pay attention to whether they are leading us closer or away from God. God requires people to be responsible for what they do, and in the same way, He also wants us to be responsible for our actions and choices.
• Constantly sinning makes people harder and harder to repent. Deliberately choosing to confront God numbs one’s conscience. Once you commit a sin, you will be more likely to commit another sin next time. Try to stay away from sinful behaviour and avoid letting it leave a trail in you.

 

PRAYER:

Confess your sins and repent before God, admit that you have sinned against God and others, ask the Holy Spirit for help, and don’t sin again in the future.

 

HYMN: