Words in italic type have been added for clarity. They are not found in the original Hebrew or Aramaic.

Hosea 5

Impending Judgment on Israel and Judah

Hosea 5:¹ “Hear this, O priests!
Take heed, O house of Israel!
Give ear, O house of the king!
For yours is the judgment (Or to you),
Because you have been a snare to Mizpah
And a net spread on Tabor.

Hosea 5:² The revolters are deeply involved in slaughter,
Though I rebuke them all.

Hosea 5:³ I know Ephraim,
And Israel is not hidden from Me;
For now, O Ephraim, you commit harlotry (idolatry);
Israel is defiled.

Hosea 5:⁴ “They do not direct their deeds (Or Their deeds will not allow them to turn)
Toward turning to their God (‘ĕlōhîm),
For the spirit of harlotry is in their midst,
And they do not know the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ).

Hosea 5:⁵ The pride of Israel testifies to his face;
Therefore Israel and Ephraim stumble in their iniquity;
Judah also stumbles with them.

Hosea 5:⁶ “With their flocks and herds
They shall go to seek the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ),
But they will not find Him;
He has withdrawn Himself from them.

Hosea 5:⁷ They have dealt treacherously with the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ), For they have begotten pagan (Lit. strange) children (married foreigners).
Now a New Moon shall devour them and their heritage.

• “Originally, the New Moon was not fixed by astronomical calculation, but was solemnly proclaimed after witnesses had testified to the reappearance of the crescent of the moon,” Encyclopaedia Judaica, Vol. 12, p. 1039.

Hosea 5:⁸ “Blow the ram’s horn in Gibeah,
The trumpet in Ramah!
Cry aloud at Beth Aven,
‘Look behind you, O Benjamin!’

Hosea 5:⁹ Ephraim shall be desolate in the day of rebuke;
Among the tribes of Israel I make known what is sure.

Hosea 5:¹⁰ “The princes (leaders) of Judah are like those who remove a landmark;

• Deuteronomy 27:17 ‘Cursed is the one who moves his neighbor’s landmark.’ “And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’

I will pour out My wrath on them like water.

• The Day of the Lord’s Wrath. (The future Seven-Year Tribulation)

Hosea 5:¹¹ Ephraim is oppressed and broken in judgment,
Because he willingly walked by human precept.

Hosea 5:¹² Therefore I will be to Ephraim like a moth,
And to the house of Judah like rottenness.

Hosea 5:¹³ “When Ephraim saw his sickness,
And Judah saw his wound,
Then Ephraim went to Assyria
And sent to King Jareb;
Yet he cannot cure you,
Nor heal you of your wound.

• There are no definite answers for the identity of King Jareb.

Hosea 5:¹⁴ For I will be like a lion to Ephraim,
And like a young lion to the house of Judah.
I, even I, will tear them and go away;
I will take them away, and no one shall rescue.

Hosea 5:¹⁵ I will return again to My place

• This verse has a double meaning – in Jewish thought it means “it is a double blessing”: The first meaning is that God is withdrawing from them. The second meaning is prophetic to describe future events.
  
• Jesus Predicts His Departure
• John 8:²¹ Then Jesus said to them again, “I am going away, and you will seek Me, and will die in your sin. Where I go you cannot come.”
  
• John 14:28 You have heard Me say to you, ‘I am going away and coming back to you.’ If you loved Me, you would rejoice because I said, ‘I am going to the Father,’ for My Father is greater than I.

• John 16:28 I came forth from the Father and have come into the world. Again, I leave the world and go to the Father.”

• Jesus Ascends to Heaven
  Acts 1:⁹ Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. ¹⁰ And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, ¹¹ who also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.”

Till they acknowledge (Lit. become guilty or bear punishment) their offense.

• Psalm 22:16 For dogs (gentiles) have surrounded Me; The congregation of the wicked (the Jewish leaders) has enclosed Me. They pierced My hands and My feet;

• Zechariah 12:10 – Mourning for the Pierced One – “And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.

• John 19:34 But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out.

• Note: Jesus endured seven days of affliction during His crucifixion “week”.
  There is a pattern to God’s judgment for the seven days of Jesus’ week of affliction.
  
  • Numbers 14:34b for each day (of disobedience) you shall bear your guilt one year … and you shall know My rejection.

• Because the leaders of the Jews persecuted and crucified Jesus, God gave them (the nation) one year of affliction for every day of affliction they gave Jesus. Therefore; God determined seven years of tribulation in the last days until they then repent. Remember, God announces we can know Him by the “worlds” which He made, and He doesn’t change.

Then they will seek My face;

In their affliction they will earnestly seek Me.”

• “In their affliction” apparently refers to the Seven-Year Tribulation of the future when the Antichrist sets out to annihilate the Jews.

• Then Jesus returns to save the Jews, the nations, and the earth.

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• The Jewish Feast of the ten “High Holy Days” also is a pattern of the coming seven (days) years of affliction when it is highly appropriate for the Jews to afflict their souls between the two days of the Feast of Trumpets and the Day of Atonement. The following speculates on end-time prophecies in the Jewish feasts even as Jesus fulfilled the early Spring Jewish Feasts of Passover (Jesus was killed as the Lamb of God on Passover) and First Fruits (when Jesus rose from the dead), which includes the Wave Offering (A “sheaf”)-Jesus as the first fruit and then the tombs of certain saints were opened as they were raised from the dead). See the Chart below. Jewish Feasts are patterned after Prophecies.

See Topic: The Mystery of Daniel’s 1,335 Days

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