Monthly Archives: December 2025

HOSEA 5 UNTIL THEY ADMIT THEIR GUILT & SEEK ME

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December 10

HOSEA 5

The princes of Judah have become like those who move the landmark;
upon them I will pour out wrath like water.
11 Ephraim is oppressed, crushed in judgment, 

because he was determined to go after filth.
12 But I am like a moth to Ephraim, and like dry rot to the house of Judah.

13 When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah his wound,
then Ephraim went to Assyria, and sent to the great king.
But he is not able to cure you or heal your wound.
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 and go away; I will carry off, and no one shall rescue.

15 I will return again to my place, until they acknowledge their guilt and seek my face,
and in their distress earnestly seek me. – Hosea 5:10-15

HOSEA 5 UNTIL THEY ADMIT THEIR GUILT & SEEK ME

A poem by ILMA inspired by these verses

When we have rebelled against God by sinning

We will experience God’s wrath until we admit it

When we dismiss the gravity of the sin we committed

We are defying God and choose to rebel against him

Return to the Lord, admit your sins and ask for mercy

Until we recognize our guilt and seek him, we won’t repent.

According to Jamieson’s commentary, verse 10 refers to “Ahaz and his courtiers (the prince of Judah) setting aside the ancient ordinances of God, removed the borders of the bases, and the laver, and the sea, and introduced an idolatrous altar from Damascus (2 Kings 16:10-18); he also burnt his children in the valley of Hinnon, after the abominations of the heathen (2 Chronicles 28:3).” Verse 11 refers to God’s people following the command of King Jeroboam to worship idols instead of staying faithful to the One true God. As a result, the wrath of God is upon them since they pursued filthy gods instead of worshiping him alone. In Verse 12, God declares war with Ephraim and Judah. God is disgusted with all the idols that they have sought instead of staying faithful to him. What adulterous people! They have completely forgotten that God is their husband and they have committed adultery by worshiping other idols. Surely, they will receive God’s wrath although verse 15 was still an invitation for confession and repentance of their sin.

REFLECTION

  • What character of God was manifested in these following verses?

HOSEA 5 THE CONSEQUENCE OF PRIDE

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December 9

HOSEA 5

5 The pride of Israel testifies to his face;
Israel and Ephraim shall stumble in his guilt; Judah also shall stumble with them.
6 With their flocks and herds they shall go to seek the Lord,
but they will not find him; he has withdrawn from them.
7 They have dealt faithlessly with the Lord; for they have borne alien children.
Now the new moon shall devour them with their fields.

8 Blow the horn in Gibeah, the trumpet in Ramah.
Sound the alarm at Beth-aven; we follow you, O Benjamin!
9 Ephraim shall become a desolation in the day of punishment;
among the tribes of Israel I make known what is sure. – Hosea 5:5-9

HOSEA 5 THE CONSEQUENCE OF PRIDE

A poem by ILMA inspired by these verses

When a child of God decides to choose arrogance

He will have struggles to follow God’s commands

His loyalty will be divided between God and himself

And he will most likely prefer to please the idol inside him

He will then suffer the pain of God’s wrath and punishment

For God hates those who think highly of themselves.

Sources say that the pride mentioned in verse 5 refers to the arrogance of the nation. Their pride was so visible throughout the Old Testament. Coffman comments “They jealously opposed Gideon, were disrespectful to Jephthah, made an Ephraimite concubine’s son king over Israel, presumptuously called their bastard nation “Israel,” the true name of the nation they had rebelled against, upheld for seven years the house of Saul against David, even though they knew it was against God’s will, joined Absalom in the rebellion against David, and in the final rebellion they supported Jeroboam of Ephraim against Rehoboam of the house of David. They were also conspicuous in their setting up of the bull-gods at Dan and Bethel in opposition to the worship of the true God in Jerusalem.”

In Isaiah 65:24 we hear that even before God’s people call on him, he has already answered them. We know that this time, God withdrew hearing their prayers. This shows how serious God judged their sins. In James 4:6, we know that God opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble. Continued pride shows no humility and much idolatry as 1 Samuel 15:23 says. How can the Israelites have forgotten their covenant promise to God that they will be his people?

REFLECTION

  • How is pride the sin of idolatry and what are its consequences?

HOSEA 5 JUDGMENT ON ISRAEL’S SPIRIT OF WHOREDOM

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December 8

HOSEA 5

Hear this, O priests! Pay attention, O house of Israel!
Give ear, O house of the king! For the judgment is for you;
for you have been a snare at Mizpah and a net spread upon Tabor.
2 And the revolters have gone deep into slaughter, but I will discipline all of them.

3 I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from me;
for now, O Ephraim, you have played the whore; Israel is defiled.
4 Their deeds do not permit them to return to their God.
For the spirit of whoredom is within them, and they know not the Lord. Hosea 5:1-4

HOSEA 5 JUDGMENT ON ISRAEL’S SPIRIT OF WHOREDOM

In this account, God continues with his accusation against Israel. Here, the priests and the house of the king are specifically mentioned. They are judged here by God in this chapter which was a continuation of the previous chapter.  According to Coffman’s commentary the snare at Mizpah and the net upon Tabor were indeed the devices of the priests and the secular government; but the whole people were guilty, “the house of Israel.” There are not much details about Mizpah and Tabor except that they were heavily vegetated mountain tops and probably known for vulgar fertility rites of paganism were practiced there. Barnes was of the opinion that the prophet selected these two places for specific mention because “they were probably centers of corruption, or special scenes of wickedness.” Sexual orgies of paganism were traps and snares to stir God’s wrath.

In verse 3, It is not Hosea who is the speaker here, but God. Nothing is hidden in God’s eyes.  The verse may have indicated that Ephraim thinks that his acts were hidden from the Lord.  Ephraim is the name used for Israel. Ephraim was almost as large as Judah, the largest of the twelve tribes; and it was always jealous and envious of Judah. According to sources the tribe of Ephraim led the defection of the ten tribes to form the Northern kingdom; and it also enthusiastically supported the calf-worship instituted by Jeroboam I at Dan and at Bethel. All of the children of Israel eventually were corrupted through Ephraim’s leadership; and it was thus fitting that his name should finally become that of the whole of northern Israel.  Through Ephraim’s evil influence, the other tribes, and so all Israel were defiled.

They find that God has withdrawn himself so as not to receive their sacrifices as verse 15 would state. The word Paul used to describe such a condition is “hardening”; and that is exactly what had happened to northern Israel and would in time happen to southern Israel also. Smith wrote that, “According to Hosea, return for Israel is now no longer a human possibility.”  He also elaborated the basic reasons why this was true: (1) sin robs a man of his faculty for God and of the strength of will to obey God; (2) the whole fabric of the nation’s social, economic, political, and religious life was interwoven with the lustful indulgences of paganism; and (3) there was no longer any true knowledge of God among the people. Without that knowledge, it was impossible to achieve either any communion with God or any kind of human conduct consistent with the terms of their ancient covenant with Jehovah.

REFLECTION

·       Why do you think the priests and house of kings indulged also in the spirit of whoredom?

HOSEA 4 STUBBORN SPIRIT

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December 7

HOSEA 4

15 Though you play the whore, O Israel, let not Judah become guilty.
Enter not into Gilgal, nor go up to Beth-aven, and swear not, “As the Lord lives.”
16 Like a stubborn heifer, Israel is stubborn;
can the Lord now feed them like a lamb in a broad pasture?

17 Ephraim is joined to idols; leave him alone.
18 When their drink is gone, they give themselves to whoring;
    their rulersdearly love shame.19 A wind has wrapped themin its wings,
    and they shall be ashamed because of their sacrifices. – Hosea 4:15-19

HOSEA 4 STUBBORN SPIRIT

According to Dr. Constable’s commentary, verse 15 was a warning to the Israelites not to influence the Southern Kingdom with their adultery. He also warned them not to go to the pagan shrines and take an oath in His name since they did not really worship Him. Gilgal and Beth-aven were representative pagan cultic sites mentioned in Hosea 9:15. The prophet had come to refer to Bethel (house of God) by the name Beth-aven (house of wickedness) because it had become one of the main centers of idolatry in Israel since the reign of Jeroboam I mentioned in Amos 5:5. The use of one name to represent a different though similar place is a figure of speech called atbash. Verse 16 indicates that God asked rhetorically if He could continue to guide Israel as its Shepherd since it was not behaving like a compliant heifer or lamb but had become stubborn and obstinate. Verse 17 refers to Ephraim, the largest tribe in the Northern Kingdom that stood for the whole nation had abandoned her Shepherd and replaced him with idols.  God instructs others to leave Israel alone with her sinfulness. Verse 18 states that the adultery was influenced by their drinking but even when they weren’t drinking, they have embraced such idolatrous acts. They loved their sins so much.

Aren’t we also prone to act like the Israelites? They have grown in their rebellion that the stubborn spirit was the result of such unfaithfulness to God. No wonder the first command of God was not to have any other gods but him. It opened their hearts to stubborn spirits. 1 Samuel 15:23 says that rebellion is as sinful as witchcraft, and stubbornness as bad as worshiping idols. 

REFLECTION

  • Why do you think stubbornness is as bad as worshipping idols?

HOSEA 4 ISRAEL’S WHOREDOM

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December 6

HOSEA 4

12 My people inquire of a piece of wood, and their walking staff gives them oracles.
For a spirit of whoredom has led them astray,

 and they have left their God to play the whore.
13 They sacrifice on the tops of the mountains and burn offerings on the hills,
under oak, poplar, and terebinth, because their shade is good.
Therefore your daughters play the whore, and your brides commit adultery.
14 I will not punish your daughters when they play the whore,
    nor your brides when they commit adultery;
for the men themselves go aside with prostitutes and sacrifice with cult prostitutes,
and a people without understanding shall come to ruin. – Hosea 4:12-14

HOSEA 4 ISRAEL’S WHOREDOM

According to the topical encyclopedia “whoredom” in the Bible alludes to numerous forms of sexual immorality, such as prostitution, adultery, and idolatry. It is often used metaphorically to illustrate unfaithfulness to God, comparing spiritual infidelity to marital disloyalty. This word is mostly found in the Old Testament and is used to convey the gravity of disobedience to God’s laws. In Leviticus 19:29, one of the statutes of God says that daughters must not be profaned by making her a prostitute or else the land falls into prostitution and the land becomes full of wickedness. The account of Hosea and Gomer is a very poignant illustration of whoredom. God literally commanded Hosea to marry a whore so he could point out the unfaithfulness of Israel with their spiritual adultery.

These following verses describe what whoredom looked like. Verse 13 demonstrates the acts of such unfaithfulness to God. They sacrifice on mountain tops and burn offerings on the hills under oak, poplar and terebinth because they gave them good shade and it was convenient for them to do so. Verse 12 indicates that they consult wooden idols and their wooden staff instead of going to God’s truth. Vese 14 rebukes the Israelites for engaging both men and women in prostitution and offering sacrifices with cult prostitutes.

As a result of Israel’s whoredom, they are destroyed by such wickedness and unfaithfulness to God.  Proverbs 6:32-33 cautions that whoever commits adultery lacks judgment; whoever does so destroys himself.

REFLECTION                                                                          

  • What are some acts that a believer can do that is synonymous to whoredom?
  • What are the reasons why believers become unfaithful to God?

HOSEA 4 LACK OF KNOWLEDGE OF GOD

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December 5

HOSEA 4

6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge;

because you have rejected knowledge,

 I reject you from being a priest to me.

And since you have forgotten the law of your God,

I also will forget your children.

7 The more they increased, the more they sinned against me;

I will change their glory into shame.
8 They feed on the sin of my people; they are greedy for their iniquity.
9 And it shall be like people, like priest;

I will punish them for their ways and repay them for their deeds.
10 They shall eat, but not be satisfied; they shall play the whore, but not multiply,
because they have forsaken the Lord to cherish 

11 whoredom, wine, and new wine, which take away the understanding.    

                                                                         – Hosea 4:6-11

HOSEA 4 LACK OF KNOWLEDGE OF GOD

A poem by ILMA inspired by these verses

If you think you understand yourself but not your Maker

You are a fool for you will be hopeless in your trouble

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom

Without it, you will always be chasing freedom.                 

In this account, God the judge against Israel continues to enumerate his case against them. Verse 6 laid down the reason for their ruin: the lack of knowledge of God and his laws. What happens when a covenant has been breached? The relationship falls apart and love is compromised. This is the case with God and Israel. God’s people broke their promise to love the Lord their God with all their soul, mind and strength. Because they have served other gods before the Lord, they suffered the consequence of that adulterous act. The covenant stipulated that they will serve the Lord and they will be God’s people and he will be their God. Verse 11 identifies the cause of their lack of knowledge: the sin of whoredom, which is their mixing their worship of God with other idols.

REFLECTION

  • Why is it important for us to be constantly in God’s word and obey his laws?

HOSEA 4 GOD’S CASE AGAINST ISRAEL

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December 4

HOSEA 4

Hear the word of the Lord, O children of Israel,
for the Lord has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land.
There is no faithfulness or steadfast love, and no knowledge of God in the land;
2 there is swearing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery;
they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed.
3 Therefore the land mourns, and all who dwell in it languish,
and also the beasts of the field and the birds of the heavens,

and even the fish of the sea are taken away.

4 Yet let no one contend, and let none accuse,
for with you is my contention, O priest. 5 You shall stumble by day;
the prophet also shall stumble with you by night; and I will destroy your mother.

                                                                            – Hosea 4:1-5

HOSEA 4 GOD’S CASE AGAINST ISRAEL

A poem by ILMA inspired by these verses

Oh Israel, what have you done against the Lord?

You have rebelled towards him and defied his laws

There’s much swearing, lying and stealing amongst you

So much bloodshed resulted as you engage in murder

Even your priests have sinned against the Lord God

Be ready when the Lord presents his case against you.

In this account, we witness God as Judge and present his case against Israel. When he summons the Israelites, God wants them to listen carefully as he states his case against them. In verse 1 God accuses them of betrayal. Without faithfulness to the Lord, they are guilty of spiritual adultery which is manifest in their worship of Baal and other gods. If they do not have knowledge of who God is, how can they know if they are doing what is right? If they do not know him, they would have no fear or reverence for him. In verse 2 God continues to enumerate the sins that they have committed such as swearing, lying, murder, stealing and adultery. Because of all these sins, they have deprived themselves of all the provisions of the Lord. The priests were also engaging in these sins.

REFLECTION

·       What do you think is the source of all the sins in verse 2?

HOSEA 3 THE COMMAND TO LOVE AGAIN

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December 3

HOSEA 3

And the Lord said to me, “Go again, love a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress, even as the Lord loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love cakes of raisins.” 2 So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and a homer and a lethech of barley. 3 And I said to her, “You must dwell as mine for many days. You shall not play the whore, or belong to another man; so will I also be to you.” 4 For the children of Israel shall dwell many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or pillar, without ephod or household gods. 5 Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the Lord their God, and David their king, and they shall come in fear to the Lord and to his goodness in the latter days. – Hosea 3:1-5

HOSEA 3 THE COMMAND TO LOVE AGAIN

A poem by ILMA inspired by these verses

As we serve the Lord Jesus Christ we are instructed to love

This command includes forgiving those who have betrayed us

When we show mercy to those whom we vowed to love ‘til eternity

We are exercising the same love that God has given us unconditionally

God will do anything to pursue us back into relationship with him

Shouldn’t we respond to that pursuit by turning away from all sins?

Why would God instruct Hosea to forgive his wife after her adultery and buy her back again? What was God showing to Israel when he commanded Hosea to forgive and love again his wife? God is manifesting his great mercy for his beloved wife, Israel when he asked Hosea to redeem Gomer. God was illustrating the unconditional love he has for his people despite their unfaithfulness to him. He loves them despite what they have done. He is always looking after her welfare and wouldn’t want her to perish.

The world system will never comprehend forgiveness. In such a system when a spouse has an affair, the other spouse will automatically give up on them and just contemplate divorce. But in God’s economy, we do differently. We forgive those who have sinned against us just as God forgave our sins and did not punish us with what we deserve punishment for. Instead, he gave his only begotten Son to free us from his wrath. This is unconditional love at its core.

REFLECTION

  • What do you think forgiveness does to a sinful person who has received it?

HOSEA 2 RENEWED LOVE AND RESTORED MARRIAGE

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December 2

HOSEA 2

19 And I will betroth you to me forever. I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. 20 I will betroth you to me in faithfulness. And you shall know the Lord. 21 “And in that day I will answer, declares the Lord, I will answer the heavens, and they shall answer the earth, 22 and the earth shall answer the grain, the wine, and the oil, and they shall answer Jezreel, 23and I will sow her for myself in the land. And I will have mercy on No Mercy, and I will say to Not My People, ‘You are my people’; and he shall say, ‘You are my God.’”– Hosea 2:19-23

HOSEA 2 RENEWED LOVE AND RESTORED MARRIAGE

A poem by ILMA inspired by these verses

God’s relentless love was manifest when he woes back Israel

He will go through the beginnings of a love renewed once again

The Lord is courting his beloved Israel as if she wasn’t unfaithful

He will renew all his care and provision and grant mercy to his people

The Lord will claim back his covenant promise with them like new

He will be their God and Israel will be his own people.

In this account, we witness God’s unfailing love for his wife, Israel. He renews his love for them and would do everything to restore the marriage they originally had. The narrative gives us a glimpse on the fact that God would renew His love for Israel and would restore their “marriage” relationship. In 2 Samuel 3:14 David paid to get his wife Michal back. That was the tradition in ancient days in the East. The man paid a price to seal the agreement when he became engaged and the couple will be regarded as good as married in the law.  According to Dr. Constable’s commentary, “What the Lord vowed to give Israel to seal this nuptial agreement was righteousness (what was right), justice (fair treatment), loyal love (unswerving commitment), compassion (tender affection), and faithfulness (dependability). This was God’s marriage vow for Israel. In response, Israel would recognize her special relationship to Him and show this by faithfully obeying Him.” Their agricultural losses will again be restored. In that coming day of blessing the Lord would restore agricultural productivity to the land. He would respond to the heavens, personified as crying to Him to send rain. This message stresses the renewed fertility and restored favor that Israel could anticipate because Yahweh would reach out and save her in the future.” God expresses his mercy on his beloved wife and changes back the name Jezreel which means “God sows or plants.” Israel used to call Baal who they considered the god of harvest. God was willing to restore them into a good harvest in the future.

REFLECTION

  • How do you think a marriage that was touched by adultery can still be repaired?

HOSEA 2 GOD’S MERCY ON ISRAEL

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December 1

HOSEA 2

14 “Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her. 15 And there I will give her her vineyards and make the Valley of Achor a door of hope.
And there she shall answer as in the days of her youth, as at the time when she came out of the land of Egypt. 16 “And in that day, declares the Lord, you will call me ‘My Husband,’ and no longer will you call me ‘My Baal.’ 17 For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, and they shall be remembered by name no more. 18 And I will make for them a covenant on that day with the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the creeping things of the ground. And I will abolish the bow, the sword, and war from the land, and I will make you lie down in safety.

                                                                     – Hosea 2:14-18

HOSEA 2 GOD’S MERCY ON ISRAEL

A poem by ILMA inspired by these verses

If God chose you to be his bride, he will never break his promise

Even if that wife is unfaithful, God stays uncompromised

He is a God of mercy, he will pardon the deceitfulness

He will do everything to lure back his wife to their declarations

He will never give up because he is steadfast in his love

Even if she betrays him, he can never stop loving her.

In the beginning of this chapter, we hear how God rebuked Israel when she was unfaithful to Him by worshiping Baal and using all the resources God gave to them to serve this pagan god. We learned God’s discipline on those whom he loves. He will never let them be endangered by their ignorance and he reminded them of those consequences that resulted in their infidelity to him.

In these following verses, we see a shift from God’s rebuke to his alluring them back to him. He does this by gently making them see how much he could forgive them for being weak not to see the enticement of the world. Just like how parents would do anything to ensure their children are not perishing with the choices they make, God does the same unconditional love for his people. This account focuses more on the relationship between a husband and wife. God is the husband and the Israelites are his wife. Many marriages where one spouse has been unfaithful can still be restored if it’s based on true love.

REFLECTION

  • What’s the difference between the world and God’s view on adultery?