Hosea (Ch 5-6)
The Prophecy of Hosea is primarily to the house of Ephraim. Being the chief tribe of the ten tribes, Ephraim is often used in place of Israel when it is referring to northern kingdom. Elsewhere on this site Ephraim has been established as the United States. So although Hosea may refer to situation in his time, the encrypted message of Ephraim and Israel is specially meant primarily for the United States or the “Anglosphere” and secondarily its European allies.
More on (1) Ephraim / The United States; (2) Ephraim and Manasseh
Hosea 5
1 “Hear ye this, O priests! And hearken, ye house of Israel! And give ye ear, O house of the king! For judgement is against you, because ye have been a snare on Mizpah, and a net spread upon Tabor. — Hear ye this, O priests, the spiritual leaders of the people; and hearken, ye house of Israel, the family of the ten tribes as such; for judgment is against you;
— and give ye ear, in paying most careful attention, O house of the king, as the temporal rulers of the nation; for judgement is against you, it is intended all of them, to strike them down in due time.
2 And the revolters are deep in slaughter, though I have been a rebuker of them all. — the revolters; all those that have cast off the law of God, both in matters of religion and civil government;
— are profound; dig deep to hide their counsels, or have taken deep root since their apostasy from God, and revolt from the house of David; to make slaughter: all their religion is but a butchering of cattle to baal, and no sacrifice to God; or, which is worse, a murdering of men.
— so the Targum says, “they sacrifice to idols abundantly” and which was for idolaters or worshippers of Baal.
3 I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hid from Me; for now, O Ephraim, thou committest whoredom, and Israel is defiled. — I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hid from me; though Ephraim may cover their designs from other nations;
— and seek deep to hide their counsel from them, and make plausible pretenses for what they do, and put on a good outward appearance; yet God, who knows Ephraim and their hearts cannot be deceived.
4 “They will not frame their doings to turn unto their God; for the spirit of whoredoms is in the midst of them, and they have not known the Lord. — their unclean mind and inclination stands bent and fixed upon spiritual whoredoms, and they are incited to it by the seducing evil spirit;
5 And the pride of Israel doth testify to his face; therefore shall Israel and Ephraim fall in their iniquity; Judah also shall fall with them. — the way this verse is phrased, it seems like Ephraim will fall first, then Judah will fall also; which is true with historical records:
— Judah also fell into idolatry and were guilty of the same crimes as Israel, so should be involved in the same punishment, though not at the same time; for the Babylonish captivity, in which Judah was carried captive, was many years after Israel was carried captives by the Assyrians; which were about 135-150 years before Judah;
— this sequence could re-occured at the endtime, where Israel would fall into captivity first, then after 150 years, Judah would join the fall; and together, for another 40 years; (for more, see Ezekiel 4 – 190/40 Years of captivity).
6 They shall go with their flocks and with their herds to seek the Lord, but they shall not find Him; He hath withdrawn Himself from them. — but they shall not find him; whilst he might have been found they would not seek him, now as a punishment, and to leave them remediless, God will not be found of them; he will not either accept a sacrifice, or pardon their sin, or return to save them.
7 They have dealt treacherously against the Lord, for they have begotten strange children. Now shall a month devour them with their portions. — now shall a month devour; the word indicates the nearness and suddenness of God’s judgements; the term “month,” their rapidity. A “month” is not only a brief time, but is almost visibly passing away;
8 “Blow ye the cornet in Gibeah, and the trumpet in Ramah! Cry aloud at Bethaven! After thee, O Benjamin! — according to the Targum, the words are directed to the prophets, “O ye prophets, lift up your voice like a trumpet”
— to declare to the house of Israel their sins and transgressions, and the punishment that would be inflicted on them for them; or it may be, this is a call of the people to fasting, mounting, and lamentation, as in Joel 2:1.
9 Ephraim shall be desolate in the day of rebuke; among the tribes of Israel have I made known that which shall surely be. — Ephraim was not taken away for a time; it was never restored;
— the country of the ten tribes shall be laid desolate, the inhabitants of them destroyed either by the sword, or famine, or pestilence, and the rest carried captives, as they were by Shalmaneser; and again in the “days afar off” – our time, of the Lord’s rebuke and chastisement.
10 The princes of Judah were like them that remove the landmarks; therefore I will pour out My wrath upon them like water. — Judah will also go down, following Ephraim, as history recorded them;
— this sequence could be repeated at the endtime, where Israel would fall into captivity first, then after 150 years, Judah would join the fall; and together, for another 40 years; (for more, see Ezekiel 4 – 190/40 Years of captivity.
11 Ephraim is oppressed and broken in judgement, because he willingly walked after the commandment. — or as the Targum says; by the tyranny of their kings, and the injustice of their judges, who looked only for the mammon of unrighteousness.
12 Therefore will I be unto Ephraim as a moth, and to the house of Judah as rottenness. — will I be unto Ephraim as a moth; as had been from Jeroboam’s death to this day, which eats garments, penetrates into them, feeds on them quietly, secretly, and gradually consumes them; but at last utterly, they are just of no use left.
13 “When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah saw his wound, then went Ephraim to the Assyrian, and sent to King Jareb. Yet could he not heal you, nor cure you of your wound. — then went Ephraim to the Assyrian, looking for assistance from the heathens instead of consulting the Lord; again, Ephraim is recorded first, Judah following behind in going down; its significance could be prophetic.
14 For I will be unto Ephraim as a lion, and as a young lion to the house of Judah; I, even I, will tear and go away; I will take away, and none shall rescue him. — I, even I, will tear and go away, as a lion withdrawing to his den; I will take away, and none shall rescue him, for with the Lord’s merciful presence removed, there is no hope of deliverance;
— I, even I, in an emphatic way, will tear and go away; as a lion tears its prey in pieces it seizes upon, and goes away, and leaves it torn, having satisfied itself;
15 I will go and return to My place, till they acknowledge their offense and seek My face; in their affliction they will seek Me early.” — this is flashing forward, as if it is a Second Coming, where redemption becomes available again, but the house of Israel will have to go into captivity; perhaps for a period of 190 years! On reflection they were in Egypt for about 210 years, so some solemn cheers; this coming captivity is 20 years shorter.
— and those who consistently break the Law of Moses (Leviticus 26; Deuteronomy 28) in their Judgement shall be more than horsewhipped! They would suffer by the sword, by famine, by pestilence and spending years in captivity to reflect; that is “till they acknowledge their offense and seek My face;” and repent (for more see Ezekiel 4 – 390/40 Years and A Sword from the South!)
Hosea 6
There is a great time gap from their detestable filthy and abominable stage in chapter 5 to one where the house of Israel would be ready to accept God’s statues, judgements and new spirits in chapter 6; in fact in the book of Ezekiel, it flashes from chapter 2 to chapter 37.
1 Come, and let us return unto the Lord; for He hath torn, and He will heal us; He hath smitten, and He will bind us up. — it’s very prophetic, yet from a rather historical perspective as Rashi comments; he smites, and He will bind us up: Heb. It is a present tense. He smites us, and He will bind us up.
2 After two days will He revive us; on the third day He will raise us up, and we shall live in His sight. — as a thousand years is to God a single day (II Peter 3:8); the first day is the captivity of the ten tribes by the Assyrians, and of the other two tribes under the Babylonians, considered as one judgement upon the nation and both were in the fourth millennium (1 BC to 999 BC);
— beginning with the captivity of the ten; the second day is the fifth millennium, beginning with the first coming of the Messiah and the dispersion of the house of Judah by the Romans. The third day is the sixth millennium (1000 AD to 1999 AD), scattered with some restoration of the Messiah to the house of Israel.
Flashing forward into the third millennium will bring the scene to our time, when the house of Israel will be revived; the United States gained independence on July 4, 1776 and grew into a great united nation; then the revival of many churches (Catholics, Protestants; LDS, SDA, CoGs, JW, Pentecostal, Evangelical) but toward the end, to be preceded by 190 years of captivity for the house of Israel and 40 years for the house of Judah (Ezekiel 4).
3 Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord; His going forth is prepared as the morning; and He shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth. — after the 190 years of captivity for the house of Israel and 40 years for the house of Judah, then “shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord.” Only then they would known, so today they don’t know, though they pretend very hard to know; very strange people!
4 “O Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee? O Judah, what shall I do unto thee? For your goodness is as a morning cloud, and as the early dew it goeth away. — God is expressing his predicament, thus asking O Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee? O Judah, what shall I do unto thee?
— for your goodness is as a morning cloud; your goodness or godliness as morning cloud; soon dispersed by the sun; and as the early dew; they vanish quickly and without effect;
5 Therefore have I hewn them by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of My mouth; and [My] judgements are as the light that goeth forth. — Rashi: Because I have hewed by the prophets: Heb. עַל-כֵּן. Because I hewed My words upon them through the prophets, but they did not take heed, therefore…the Targum is, “my judgment goes forth as the light.”
— the Targum says it clearer for the whole: “because I admonished them by the message of my prophets, and they returned not, I will bring upon them those that slay, because they have transgressed the word of my will.”
6 For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings. — for I desired mercy, and not sacrifice, that is, rather than sacrifice, this being spoken comparatively. I am better pleased with true goodness, compassion and charity towards men, than with the most exact observance of the external duties of sacrifices:
— a parallel verse in I Samuel 15:22 says “And Samuel said, “Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.”
— and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings; which were reckoned the greatest and most excellent sacrifices; but knowledge of God is preferred to them; not just knowing the laws of Moses as a lawgiver, judge, and consuming fire, but how to execute them justly and at times where situations require, mercifully;
— to have a form and shell of godliness, but to deny its substance, is the essence of hypocrisy.
7 But they like Adam have transgressed the covenant; there have they dealt treacherously against Me. — in the covenant they entered into, and then breaking it by offering sacrifices to idols, under a pretense of offering them to God, was dealing treacherously against him.
8 Gilead is a city of them that work iniquity, and is polluted with blood. — Gilead is a city inhabited by Gad, Reuben and the half tribe of Manasseh; and is polluted with blood; murders committed there have polluted it, or murderers protected there against the law of God, who provided these cities a relief; and so belonged to the ten tribes;
9 And as troops of robbers wait for a man, so the company of priests murder on the way by consent; for they commit lewdness. — “in the way of Shechem” as good people passed by Gilead to Shechem, and so to Jerusalem, to worship there at the solemn feasts, they lay in wait for them, and murdered them; because they did not give into the idolatrous worship of the calves at Dan and Bethel:
10 I have seen a horrible thing in the house of Israel; there is the whoredom of Ephraim, Israel is defiled. — I have seen an horrible thing in the house of Israel; idolatry, starting with the calves set up at Dan and Bethel, which God saw with abhorrence and detestation;
— and later, at Mount Gerizim, they corrupted themselves with a new version of their passover at sunset, at dusk, worshipping the Sun, yet pretending to worship God!
— a parallel Scripture in Jeremiah 8:2; facing the East, worshipping the Sun: the worship of heavenly bodies was against God’s will which Moses had warned the people (Deuteronomy 4:19, 17:3, whose penalty is to be stoned to death, Deuteronomy 17:5 ’till they die). Those 25 men in Ezekiel 8:16 corrupted themselves by worshipping the sun; and so the Targum renders it, “and, lo, they corrupted themselves, worshipping facing the east the sun; their backs toward the temple of the Lord”
— they turned their backs against the most holy place; which is an aggravation of their impiety; these pretenders casting their utmost contempt for God:
11 Also, O Judah, he hath set a harvest for thee, when I returned My people from captivity.
— Israel is always mentioned first, followed by Judah, who didn’t have the wisdom to take the warning seriously, hence they, too, will go into captivity after Israel has gone into captivity for 150 years. Another 40 years to add towards 190 years in total (Ezekiel 4).
Joel Huan
The Mystery of Ephraim 