Africa Study Bible Sampler - Flipbook - Page 59
H O S E A 5 : 2
For you have led the people into a snare
by worshipping the idols at Mizpah
and Tabor.
2 You have dug a deep pit to trap them at
Acacia Grove.*
But I will settle with you for what you
have done.
3 I know what you are like, O Ephraim.
You cannot hide yourself from me,
O Israel.
You have left me as a prostitute leaves
her husband;
you are utterly defiled.
4 Your deeds won’t let you return to your
God.
You are a prostitute through and
through,
and you do not know the Lord.
“The arrogance of Israel testifies against
her;
Israel and Ephraim will stumble
under their load of guilt.
Judah, too, will fall with them.
6 When they come with their flocks and
herds
to offer sacrifices to the Lord,
they will not find him,
because he has withdrawn from them.
7 They have betrayed the honour of the
Lord,
bearing children that are not his.
Now their false religion will devour them
along with their wealth.*
5
“Sound the alarm in Gibeah!
Blow the trumpet in Ramah!
Raise the battle cry in Beth-aven*!
Lead on into battle, O warriors of
Benjamin!
9 One thing is certain, Israel*:
On your day of punishment,
you will become a heap of rubble.
8
10
“The leaders of Judah have become like
thieves.*
58
5:3
Amos 5:12
5:4
Hos 4:6, 14
5:5
2 Kgs 17:19-20
Ezek 23:31-35
5:6
Isa 1:15
Ezek 8:6
Mic 6:6-7
5:7
Hos 2:4
5:9
Isa 28:1-4; 37:3
Hos 9:11-17
5:10
Deut 27:17
Pss 32:6; 93:3-4
Ezek 7:8
5:12
Ps 39:11
Isa 51:8
5:13
Jer 30:12
5:14
Pss 7:2; 50:22
Hos 13:7
5:15
Isa 64:7-9
Jer 2:27
6:1
2 Chr 7:14
Isa 30:26
Jer 50:4
Hos 14:4
Zeph 2:1-3
6:2
Ps 30:5
6:3
Isa 2:3
Joel 2:23
Mic 4:2
6:4
Ps 78:34-37
Hos 13:3
So I will pour my anger on them like a
waterfall.
11 The people of Israel will be crushed and
broken by my judgement
because they are determined to
worship idols.*
12 I will destroy Israel as a moth consumes
wool.
I will make Judah as weak as rotten
wood.
“When Israel and Judah saw how sick
they were,
Israel turned to Assyria—
to the great king there—
but he could neither help nor cure
them.
14 I will be like a lion to Israel,
like a strong young lion to Judah.
I will tear them to pieces!
I will carry them off,
and no one will be left to rescue them.
15 Then I will return to my place
until they admit their guilt and turn
to me.
For as soon as trouble comes,
they will earnestly search for me.”
13
A Call to Repentance
1 “Come, let us return to the Lord.
He has torn us to pieces;
now he will heal us.
He has injured us;
now he will bandage our wounds.
2 In just a short time he will restore us,
so that we may live in his presence.
3 Oh, that we might know the Lord!
Let us press on to know him.
He will respond to us as surely as the
arrival of dawn
or the coming of rains in early spring.”
6
4
“O Israel* and Judah,
what should I do with you?” asks the
Lord.
5:2 Hebrew at Shittim. The meaning of the Hebrew for this sentence is uncertain. 5:7 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
5:8 Beth-aven means “house of wickedness”; it is being used as another name for Bethel, which means “house of God.” 5:9 Hebrew
Ephraim, referring to the northern kingdom of Israel; also in 5:11, 12, 13, 14. 5:10 Hebrew like those who move a boundary marker.
5:11 Or determined to follow human commands. The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain. 6:4 Hebrew Ephraim, referring to the
northern kingdom of Israel.
Applica tio n
A Nation Is the Reflection of Its Leaders • Hosea 5
The priests and the leaders of Israel strayed from God into
The situation in Hosea’s time can be compared to many
idolatry and led the people into a snare by their folly (Hosea of our nations. Social, political, and military crises are so
5:1). God was angry at the attitudes of the priests, leaders, devastating that the nations turn to the United Nations for
and people. The entire nation betrayed him. God felt like a help. Extremism is developing, and diseases like Ebola are
husband who had been left by his wife. He complained, “You killing many. Although the United Nations and World Health
have left me as a prostitute leaves her husband” (Hosea 5:3). Organization send international military forces and medical
Hosea prophesied that God would judge Israel and Judah help, they cannot solve the deeper problem.
The leaders in areas of crisis need to take action by turning
so harshly that they would turn to the king of Assyria for help.
But he would not be of any help to them until they recognised to God for guidance. Is God not strong enough to help us fix our
own problems? Leaders of Africa, turn to God, not outsiders,
how sick they were and returned to God.
for help. This can begin a process of healing.