God, through Hosea continues to rebuke them for their sinful actions and He starts with the priests and the leaders. They are held responsible for the actions of the people. It shows that with leadership comes responsibility and God does not excuse them for their revolting behaviour (v1-3). One must ask, how genuinely are they seeking God. They say they are but are they really?
The LORD says that they will seek Him but not find Him. They were full of pride, even in their evil deeds and even Judah had stumbled with them. The LORD had withdrawn Himself from them, as we read in chapter 4. Their behaviour was described as treacherous, (v4-9) totally disloyal to God. When God rebukes Ephraim they will be desolate. Sadly, they would not even realise that God had forsaken them.
Hosea had reminded Judah earlier that they should not follow in the way of Israel, but it seemed that they possibly had, and God warned them that judgment would come upon them too. Israel had been putting their trust in man.
Here in v10-13 Judah’s leaders are said to be like ‘those who remove a landmark’. This is thought to mean that they were changing God’s statements of right and wrong, blurring the lines between them and replacing true with false religions. In Proverbs 22:28 we read, “Remove not the ancient landmark, which your fathers have set.” One commentator said that we as churches have moved landmarks. Stopped worshiping God and inventing our own gods. We have moved boundaries of worship, and this has led to moving other landmarks like the sanctity of life and marriage.
God has put boundaries (landmarks) in place for our protection and man removes them at his peril. Without boundaries there are no limits, and we can do as we like, and that leads to dangerous spiritual times.
God is obviously not pleased with them for He says that He will pour out His wrath on them like water. He would be to Ephraim (Israel) like a moth and to Judah, rottenness. Both eat away and corrode, leaving them in tatters.
We are in a similar position today, both nationally and spiritually, even worldwide. Many of our churches are in tatters because we have decided that we know better than God. Governments are in chaos; evil seems to be winning, good seems to be losing. We have overthrown God’s laws in the name of ‘love’. God is love, and therefore, all that He does, is loving. Of course, we often face punishment, but that is because He loves us. “Whom He loves, He chastens.” We punish our children because we love them. If we let them do what they want, it could be cruel and lead to anarchy.
The people in Hosea’s time were following man’s directions and living by man’s standards, but God makes it clear that it will come to nothing. They will suffer in the end. How true it is, we need look no further than our present-day situation.
Satan uses many disguises – an angel of light, which we would be attracted to, but also a roaring lion, which most of us would try to avoid. God also deals with us in different ways. Here in v 14,15, He says that He will come as a lion to Ephraim and a young lion to Judah, tear them and take them away and there would be no-one to rescue them. This may sound very disastrous, but He doesn’t stop there. Often it is only suffering and difficulties that make us turn to God, and that is what it states here – ‘when they acknowledge their sin, they will seek My face and earnestly seek Me.’ God is still there and waiting for them.
Why do we wait until we are forced into these situations? Let us seek Him earnestly now.
