Central Idea

Do not look at your neighbor, God is speaking to you: you will stumble in your sin, you will not find God when you seek him, and you will be devoured by your wicked feasts.

You are not the exception.

Like in 4:1, the cry is made to call us to open our ears and let the words of judgment have their proper effect. But how often our deceitful hearts read passages describing sin and judgment and let them pass on by to indict someone else and leave us in the clear. What great pride we possess when we think ourselves to be the exception.

We can do this as well in an underhanded way. Yes, our lips acknowledge our inclusion in the guilty, but our hearts are so unmoved and unaffected by words of accusation and punishment that it is plain our penitent posture is a ruse.

And there is yet another trick our hard hearts utilize to escape the finger of conviction. We seem to hear the words against us, but then as another group is particularly addressed, our arrogance swells up to the presumption of helping God in his indictment against them and we quickly forget the realities of our own wickedness.

In our passage, God (through Hosea) helps the initial listeners of this prophecy to be rid of this game. (And this ought, by extension, help us.) Priests! Populous! Rulers! The judgment is for you! And when I say "you" I do not mean your neighbor or that other guy--I mean you! 

QUESTION THAT REMAINS: Why Mizpah and Tabor?

They are a snare and a net because they ensnare others with their evil ways (cf. 6:9, 9:8). But why are these two cities particular referenced? Is there biblical connection to be made to gain greater understanding into the meaning of this verse?

How do their deeds not give the people to return to God?

There are at least two biblical ways this question could be answered. Evil deeds disallow people from coming to God because God, in his holiness, hides his face from them (Is 59:1-2). And evil deeds also keep people from coming to God because the people become hardened toward God (Heb 3:13). But what is meant in our passage?

The answer seems to be the latter as we notice the grounding relationship with the phrase that follows: "For a spirit of whoredom is within them." Their hearts are those of unfaithfulness and therefore they do not know God. It is for this reason that they do defiling deeds and as a result are not given to return to God. May the Lord grant us great fear of "dabbling" in sin, lest such a landslide take hold of us!

Israel's arrogance OR God, the Pride of Israel?

Does vs5a speak of Israel's arrogance testifying to his own face of his guilt? Or is "pride of Israel" a way of referring to God (the one whose relationship with Israel gives them special honor) and he is the one doing the testifying? 

A search of this phrase in the rest of Scripture does not lend us much help. It is used two other places: Hos 7:10, where the same ambiguity exists, and Nah 2:3, where it refers to the majesty of Israel (prosperity?) that the Lord promises to restore. The Hebrew word for "pride" ("גאון") by itself does not get us anywhere either as it is both often used positively ("majesty") as well as negatively ("arrogance").

Grammar and arcing together, however, do give us a hint. Notice that vs5a is indicated as containing the only mainline verb of the passage (given its weqatal form), thus suggesting the start of a progressing thought. If this is true, then it belongs more with the verses that follow (focussed on coming judgment), than those that proceed (focussed on establishing guilt). It is for this reason that I understand vs5a to be an introduction to pronounced judgment ("God will tell you of his coming judgment") rather than a further indictment of the Israel's sin ("You are prideful and you know it").

Do not those who seek God find him?

How are we to reconcile vs6a with "For everyone...who seeks finds" (Matt 7:7-11; Luke 11:5-13)? Are there really those that seek God but do not find him?

Before we can answer this question, some groundwork needs to be laid. First, we must understand that Jesus, in the words quoted above, is speaking of the seeking of his children. We see this by the fact that he goes on to say that like earthly evil fathers give good gifts to their children, all the more the heavenly Father gives good gifts. Likewise, both Deut 4:29-31 and Jer 29:10-14 ("You will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart") speak of a promised seeking that God will bring about when he turns the people's hearts back to him; these verses do not give a universal formula.

We also must remember that there are none who, by nature, actually seek God (Rom 3:11; Ps 14:1-3; 53:1-3). That is, there are none that seek him from a God-glorifying heart. As in Prov 1:28-29, there are those that "seek" God when they are in trouble and it appears to them that the Lord could help. It is this sort of seeking that we find here, a seeking that the Lord simply will not have.

The sour heart of their seeking is hinted at here with the sacrifices that accompany their seeking ("with their flocks and their herds"). This nods the hat to insincerity because of what we will go on to read in Hosea 6:6. God desires love and knowing him--not the appeasement of a sacrifice. (See also 1Sam 15:22 and Ps 51:16-17.)

They will not eat the feast of the new moon; rather the new moon feast shall eat them!

Many scholars have made efforts to reconstruct vs7c, assuming missing or added letters, because it is not easy to understand. But instead of presuming to insert our own imaginations into the content of Scripture, it is far better to beg the Lord for understanding as you stare at a passage in confusion. He may just give insight!

In this case, help comes as we notice the connection between this verse and 2:8-12. In chapter 2 we read of the people enjoying grain and wine and figs at their feasts--the first feast to be mentioned being the new moon. And so here is the situation. The people of Israel are devouring good food (that God has created) during their feasts (the new moon feasts being foremost) which are dedicated to their lusts and the Baals--not to the Lord.

And now comes the judgment declaration of vs7c: instead of the people devouring the fruits of their fields at their pagan feasts, the feasts will devour them along with their fields. Their sin, which they think serves them, will show itself to have the upper hand and destroy them.