MOVING THE BOUNDARIES…
Opening Prayer
Thank you, Father, for your love and patience, for the mercy and grace that you offer me each day.
Read HOSEA 5:8–6:11a
“Sound the trumpet in Gibeah,
the horn in Ramah.
Raise the battle cry in Beth Aven[a];
lead on, Benjamin.
9 Ephraim will be laid waste
on the day of reckoning.
Among the tribes of Israel
I proclaim what is certain.
10 Judah’s leaders are like those
who move boundary stones.
I will pour out my wrath on them
like a flood of water.
11 Ephraim is oppressed,
trampled in judgment,
intent on pursuing idols.[b]
12 I am like a moth to Ephraim,
like rot to the people of Judah.
13 “When Ephraim saw his sickness,
and Judah his sores,
then Ephraim turned to Assyria,
and sent to the great king for help.
But he is not able to cure you,
not able to heal your sores.
14 For I will be like a lion to Ephraim,
like a great lion to Judah.
I will tear them to pieces and go away;
I will carry them off, with no one to rescue them.
15 Then I will return to my lair
until they have borne their guilt
and seek my face—
in their misery
they will earnestly seek me.”
Israel Unrepentant
6 “Come, let us return to the Lord.
He has torn us to pieces
but he will heal us;
he has injured us
but he will bind up our wounds.
2 After two days he will revive us;
on the third day he will restore us,
that we may live in his presence.
3 Let us acknowledge the Lord;
let us press on to acknowledge him.
As surely as the sun rises,
he will appear;
he will come to us like the winter rains,
like the spring rains that water the earth.”
4 “What can I do with you, Ephraim?
What can I do with you, Judah?
Your love is like the morning mist,
like the early dew that disappears.
5 Therefore I cut you in pieces with my prophets,
I killed you with the words of my mouth—
then my judgments go forth like the sun.[c]
6 For I desire mercy, not sacrifice,
and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.
7 As at Adam,[d] they have broken the covenant;
they were unfaithful to me there.
8 Gilead is a city of evildoers,
stained with footprints of blood.
9 As marauders lie in ambush for a victim,
so do bands of priests;
they murder on the road to Shechem,
carrying out their wicked schemes.
10 I have seen a horrible thing in Israel:
There Ephraim is given to prostitution,
Israel is defiled.
11 “Also for you, Judah,
a harvest is appointed.
“Whenever I would restore the fortunes of my people,
Footnotes
- Hosea 5:8 Beth Aven means house of wickedness (a derogatory name for Bethel, which means house of God).
- Hosea 5:11 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
- Hosea 6:5 The meaning of the Hebrew for this line is uncertain.
- Hosea 6:7 Or Like Adam; or Like human beings
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
Take time to ‘earnestly’ seek God now (Hosea 5:15).For Israel (signified by Ephraim here, 5:9), punishment was on its way. The people consorted with their godless enemy, Assyria (v. 13)—but there was no easy cure-all there. Although Judah’s leaders tried to shift the boundaries (5:10), it hadn’t escaped God’s notice. Judgment would follow for them too. The rot had already set in (v. 12). God’s repeated calls to return to him were ignored, and his people had chosen a miserable outcome (v. 15). But notice the hints of hope: until they ‘would seek his face’ (v. 15).
Watch out for the possible double meanings in chapter 6:1–3. Are these beautiful, prophetic words of restoration, even pointing to Christ’s resurrection (v. 2)? Or are they words of sardonic reproof to those who take God’s love and forgiveness for granted (see also Psalm 78:36, 37)? Either (or both) might be the case, but here in Hosea’s message the result was God’s exasperated rebuke: ‘What can I do with you?’ and a reminder that his judgment was also as certain as sunrise (vv. 3, 5). Good-sounding words and religious practice don’t account for broken covenant, violence, and unfaithfulness: God desires our true acknowledgment (vv. 6, 7). He sees us (v. 10). And Judah? A time of reckoning (‘harvest’) would come for them too (6:11).
Apply
Do we sometimes persist with our own ways, assuming that outward appearances will get God’s approval?
Closing prayer
Wherever I go, whatever I do, Lord God, you are with me, whether or not I am focused on you and your will for me. Help me, that my life daily reflects the reality of your presence and abiding, loving care.
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