Loyal Week 4 Day 2
Hosea 5:5b–7
[5]b 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he has withdrawn from them.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. (ESV)
What does it mean “for they have borne alien children?”
Maybe Judah married the nations that the LORD destroyed before Israel, adopting their false gods as their own and not teaching their children of the One True GOD? Whatever is meant here by the LORD, it is clear that the children of Judah do not know and love the LORD as their own. The LORD is foreign to the children of Judah.
Underline “new moon.” Just after a new moon, when the moon is waxing or growing in illumination, is the best time to sow or transplant above ground crops. If a frost comes, the plant is more likely to survive in the light of the moon rather than the dark of the moon. Apply this knowledge to the sentence; “Now the new moon shall devour them with their fields.” What do you think that the LORD means when He says this?
Hosea 5:8
[8] Blow the horn in Gibeah,
the trumpet in Ramah.
Sound the alarm at Beth-aven;
we follow you, O Benjamin! (ESV)
Emergency!! Pay Attention!! Be Alert!!
These three cities were cities of Benjamin and may have been influencer cities to Judah. Gibeah, located in the hill country of Judah on a height commanding a view, was where King Saul reigned and multiplied his sins. Ramah, which means hill or height, was the birthplace and burial for Samuel and he made it the center of his circuit. Beth-aven, located in the mountains of Benjamin, was once possibly Bethel, meaning house of GOD, which eventually deteriorated to Beth-aven, meaning house of vanity. What do these three cities have in common? All three are geographically elevated cities and influencers of the direction the culture would bend. Sadly, all three departed from loving the LORD. The LORD is graciously turning on the emergency lights and pointing to the punishment of Israel, encouraging Judah to not mimic Israel.
Hosea 5:9–10
[9] Ephraim shall become a desolation
in the day of punishment;
among the tribes of Israel
I make known what is sure.
[10] The princes of Judah have become
like those who move the landmark;
upon them I will pour out
my wrath like water. (ESV)
Ephraim is again transposed for Israel and used as an example of what not to do and the punishments that follow.
Circle “sure” above.
What is sure?
fortresses?
men?
finances?
alliances?
military?
things?
government?
Only GOD makes what is sure.
Circle “like those who move the landmark” above. What comes to your mind when you hear “like those who moved the landmark?”
You probably think scoundrel, thief, and dishonesty to name a few. We probably think of someone other than ourself.
Deuteronomy 19:14
[14] “You shall not move your neighbor’s landmark, which the men of old have set, in the inheritance that you will hold in the land that the LORD your God is giving you to possess. (ESV)
Deuteronomy 27:17
[17] “‘Cursed be anyone who moves his neighbor’s landmark.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ (ESV)
The people of Judah knew this was a no no, not only on their conscience, but they had specifically been told more than once. Because of this love of dishonesty, GOD said “I will pour out my ____________________ like _____________________.” Wow! Do you think that GOD is referring to a calm, slow moving water or a rapidly flowing, tossing and roaring water?
Hosea 5:11
[11] Ephraim is oppressed, crushed in judgment,
because he was determined to go after filth. (ESV)
What was Ephraim, representing Israel, determined to go after?
As Christians, what filth are we chasing after?
As an individual Christian, what filth are you chasing after?
Ask GOD today to point out filth that we have let subtly settle into our lives, our culture, and possibly our habits. Repent of that filth to your Maker and LORD, sweep it up, and throw it out!
Works Cited
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), Copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. May not copy or download more than 500 consecutive verses of the ESV Bible or more than one half of any book of the ESV Bible.
“Dictionary by Merriam-Webster: America's Most-Trusted Online Dictionary.” Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/.
Green, Jay P. “Hosea.” The Interlinear Hebrew-Aramaic Old Testament: With Strong's Concordance Numbers above Each Word, Hendrickson Publishers, Peabody, MA, MA, 1985, pp. 2075–2092.
Publishing, Rose. Rose Book of Bible Charts, Maps, and Time Lines. Rose Publishing, 2015.
Strong, James. The Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible: Showing Every Word of the Text of the Common English Version of the Canonical Books, and Every Occurrence of Each Word in Regular Order, Together with Dictionaries of the Hebrew and Greek Words of Th. Hendrickson Publishers, 1990.