[Brother V]

Hosea 4-6

Hosea 4

1 Hear the word of the LORD, ye children of Israel: for the LORD hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land.

God is pissed at the Northern Kingdom.

3 Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth therein shall languish, with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven; yea, the fishes of the sea also shall be taken away.

God's going to clean house. So much so, that the land is going to miss having stuff on it.

6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.

God seems kind of petty here, but he's not. He entered into a covenant, and the people decided to reject it. The contract was breached, God was within his rights to walk away.

11 Whoredom and wine and new wine take away the heart.

New wine is too sweet.

13 They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains, and burn incense upon the hills, under oaks and poplars and elms, because the shadow thereof is good: therefore your daughters shall commit whoredom, and your spouses shall commit adultery.

Worshiping hills and trees are horrible things to do. There's still a lot of tree-huggers out there today, but not so many hill worshipers. Most of them are in England.

15 Though thou, Israel, play the harlot, yet let not Judah offend; and come not ye unto Gilgal, neither go ye up to Bethaven, nor swear, The LORD liveth.

This is apparently BEFORE the people of Judah were taken to Babylon. God's still telling the North to keep away from the south so they don't corrupt them. HA!!!

Hosea 5

3 I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hid from me: for now, O Ephraim, thou committest whoredom, and Israel is defiled.

Ephraim is another term for the Northern Kingdom.

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.

uh-oh, God is now promising to take Judah (south) with the North. That's not good. At this point, the south is probably like "what did we do?"

10 The princes of Judah were like them that remove the bound: therefore I will pour out my wrath upon them like water.

God is really getting pissed.

Hosea 6

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 seems like if they turn from their ways, they can escape from the coming troubles (we all know that doesn't happen).

2 After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight.

It will only take a little bit of working to get forgiveness, and then they'll be rebuilt. If only they did that little bit of work.

7 But they like men have transgressed the covenant: there have they dealt treacherously against me.

God didn't break the covenant, the men did.

10 I have seen an horrible thing in the house of Israel: there is the whoredom of Ephraim, Israel is defiled.

11 Also, O Judah, he hath set an harvest for thee, when I returned the captivity of my people.

Ephraim did bad. So did Judah. So, why did only Judah get to return, while Ephraim (and the others) were completely erased?

So what have we learned today?

1. God is getting pissed at Ephraim (North).

2. God is getting pissed at Judah (south).

3. They could work for forgiveness, but they won't.

YIC
V

[Brother V]

I have figured out how the author got his name.

His kids were named for the things they represent, as was the author/prophet, Hosea.

He called both Ephraim and Judah whores.

Therefore, his name is Ho-saya.

Get it, Ho-saya... ho-sayer.

YIC
V

[Ezekiel Bathfire]

Then he was doubly well named for, in Ch1:2-3, we see he actually married a prostitute too!

Hosea was a good man who saved fallen women.

[MitzaLizalor]

Originally Posted by Brother V

13 They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains, and burn incense upon the hills, under oaks and poplars and elms, because the shadow thereof is good: therefore your daughters shall commit whoredom, and your spouses shall commit adultery.

Worshiping hills and trees are horrible things to do. There's still a lot of tree-huggers out there today, but not so many hill worshipers. Most of them are in England.

Thank-you for this teaching, which is very helpful. There are a lot of pagan types around here, the more depraved of whom bury themselves in the earth on a hill in amongst the roots of trees - I don't know how they get on for air, but I believe they cover themselves with dead leaves (which they would see as a "gift from the tree"). After about 48 hours, underground, in a yoga trance, they hear a voice. They say it is the voice of the tree. Or the forest. Or the mountain. And the voice says "NO!"
Should these perverts be rebuked as "Tree Worshippers" or "Hill Worshippers" when they emerge?
Thanking you in anticipation,
ML

P.S. if their spouses do not commit adultery during these hill burying episodes, should they be rebuked too?