Tyndale Open Study NotesHosea 5

• Hosea criticizes Israel's religious and political leaders. They have led the people into idol worship, like hunters trapping animals.

• The specific sins at Mizpah and Tabor are unknown.

I will chastise them all: This refers to God’s judgment. The Hebrew word musar means “discipline.” God’s judgment would certainly fall on Israel’s leaders. God did not judge Israel only to punish them, but to correct them so that his people would return to him.

Israel is defiled: The word translated as defiled often appears in the first five books of the Bible to describe ritual uncleanness. This physical condition prevented a person from worshiping God in the temple (Leviticus 11–15). The prophets used this idea as a metaphor for Israel’s moral uncleanness due to her idolatry (Isaiah 6:5; Micah 2:10).

• Israel’s worship of idols was so deeply rooted that the people seemed unable to return to the Lord.

• the spirit of prostitution is within them: Israel’s sin was not only an action. It had become part of the nation’s basic character. The people naturally chose what was corrupt instead of what was pure. Only through God’s saving work could Israel be freed from this.

People might believe they can earn God's favor with sacrifices. However, Hosea warned them that they would not find him. God had left them to face the consequences of their sins.

• Hosea warned the Israelites about God's coming judgment. Due to their sins, the Lord had become Israel's enemy and would punish them.

• Gibeah, Ramah, and Beth-aven (another name for Bethel) are cities in the tribal territory of Benjamin.

those who move boundary stones: The Lord owned the land and entrusted it to the tribes after the conquest (see Joshua 13:8–19:51). Moving a boundary marker and changing God's allotted boundaries was stealing from God (Deuteronomy 19:14). Such an act rightly brought divine punishment (Deuteronomy 27:17).

a moth … decay: Sin can slowly weaken a people at their core, and they may not realize the damage until it is already done.

To prevent complete destruction, the Israelites removed King Pekah and made Hoshea the new king. Hoshea asked the Assyrian king Shalmaneser for peace (2 Kings 15:29–30; 17:3), but these efforts could not save Israel. Assyria would soon destroy them.

Hosea reminded Israel that divine judgment was not just punishment. God's goal was to persuade Israel to admit their guilt and return to the Lord (see Hosea 2:2, 14).