I know all about Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from Me. For now, O Ephraim, you have turned to prostitution; Israel is defiled. I know EphraimThe phrase "I know Ephraim" signifies God's intimate and complete knowledge of the tribe of Ephraim, representing the northern kingdom of Israel. The Hebrew word for "know" is "yada," which implies a deep, personal, and experiential knowledge. This is not a distant or abstract awareness but a profound understanding of Ephraim's actions and heart. Historically, Ephraim was the largest and most influential tribe in the northern kingdom, often used as a synonym for Israel itself. God's declaration of knowing Ephraim underscores His omniscience and the personal nature of His relationship with His people, highlighting that no sin or rebellion is hidden from Him. and Israel is not hidden from Me
This phrase reinforces the previous statement, emphasizing that the entire nation of Israel is fully visible to God. The Hebrew root for "hidden" is "kachas," meaning to conceal or cover. Despite Israel's attempts to hide their idolatry and sins, nothing is obscured from God's sight. This serves as a reminder of God's penetrating insight and the futility of trying to hide from Him. It also reflects the historical context of Israel's persistent idolatry and unfaithfulness, which God continually exposed through His prophets. For now, O Ephraim, you have turned to prostitution
Here, "prostitution" is a metaphor for spiritual unfaithfulness and idolatry. The Hebrew word "zanah" is used, which often refers to both literal and figurative harlotry. Ephraim's turning to prostitution indicates a deliberate choice to forsake God and pursue other deities, akin to a spouse being unfaithful. This imagery is consistent with Hosea's broader theme of Israel's infidelity, as Hosea's own marriage to Gomer serves as a living parable of God's relationship with Israel. The historical context reveals a time when Israel was heavily influenced by Canaanite religion and practices, leading to their spiritual adultery. Israel is defiled
The term "defiled" comes from the Hebrew "tame," meaning to be unclean or impure. This indicates a state of moral and spiritual corruption resulting from Israel's idolatry and disobedience. In the Old Testament, defilement often required purification rituals, symbolizing the need for repentance and cleansing. The defilement of Israel is not just a personal issue but a national crisis, affecting their covenant relationship with God. This phrase serves as a call to recognize their impurity and the need for divine intervention to restore holiness and righteousness. Historically, this defilement led to God's judgment and the eventual exile of the northern kingdom. Persons / Places / Events 1. EphraimA prominent tribe in the Northern Kingdom of Israel, often used to represent the entire Northern Kingdom. Known for its significant role in Israel's history and its eventual fall into idolatry and sin. 2. IsraelThe Northern Kingdom, consisting of ten tribes, distinct from the Southern Kingdom of Judah. Known for its repeated disobedience and idolatry, leading to its eventual exile. 3. Prostitution (Spiritual)A metaphor used by the prophets to describe Israel's unfaithfulness to God through idolatry and alliances with foreign nations. Teaching Points God's OmniscienceGod knows the hearts and actions of His people. Nothing is hidden from Him, and He is aware of both our faithfulness and our failings. Spiritual UnfaithfulnessJust as Israel turned to idolatry, believers today must guard against spiritual unfaithfulness, which can manifest as prioritizing anything above God. Call to RepentanceThe message of Hosea is a call to return to God. Repentance is essential for restoration and healing in our relationship with Him. Consequences of SinIsrael's defilement serves as a warning of the consequences of persistent sin. It reminds us that sin leads to separation from God and eventual judgment. God's Desire for HolinessGod desires His people to be holy and set apart. Our lives should reflect His character and values, avoiding the spiritual defilement that comes from sin. Bible Study Questions 1. How does God's knowledge of Ephraim and Israel challenge us to live transparently before Him in our daily lives? 2. In what ways can modern believers fall into "spiritual prostitution," and how can we guard against it? 3. How does the call to repentance in Hosea 5:3 relate to the New Testament teachings on repentance and forgiveness? 4. What are some practical steps we can take to ensure that our worship and devotion to God are genuine and not superficial? 5. How can the consequences faced by Israel serve as a warning and a lesson for us today in maintaining our faithfulness to God? Connections to Other Scriptures Jeremiah 3This chapter also uses the metaphor of prostitution to describe Israel's unfaithfulness, emphasizing God's call for repentance and return to Him. Isaiah 1Isaiah speaks of Israel's rebellion and corruption, similar to Hosea's message, highlighting the nation's need for repentance and purification. Amos 5Amos calls for justice and righteousness, condemning Israel's superficial religious practices and idolatry, echoing Hosea's themes of true devotion to God. People Benjamin, Hosea, Israelites, JarebPlaces Assyria, Beth-aven, Gibeah, Mizpah, Ramah, TaborTopics FALSE, Committed, Committest, Corrupt, Defiled, Ephraim, E'phraim, Guilty, Harlot, Harlotry, Hast, Hid, Hidden, Itself, Lewdness, O, Played, Prostitute, Prostitution, Secret, Unclean, WhoredomDictionary of Bible Themes Hosea 5:3 5027 knowledge, God's of humanity Hosea 5:3-4 6243 adultery, spiritual
8705 apostasy, in OT Library 'Physicians of no Value'
'When Ephralm saw his sickness, and Judah saw his wound, then went Ephraim to Assyria, and sent to king Jareb: but he is not able to heal you, neither shall he cure you of your wound.'--HOSEA v. 13 (R.V.). The long tragedy which ended in the destruction of the Northern Kingdom by Assyrian invasion was already beginning to develop in Hosea's time. The mistaken politics of the kings of Israel led them to seek an ally where they should have dreaded an enemy. As Hosea puts it in figurative fashion, Ephraim's …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy ScriptureAn Obscured vision
(Preached at the opening of the Winona Lake Bible Conference.) TEXT: "Where there is no vision, the people perish."--Proverbs 29:18. It is not altogether an easy matter to secure a text for such an occasion as this; not because the texts are so few in number but rather because they are so many, for one has only to turn over the pages of the Bible in the most casual way to find them facing him at every reading. Feeling the need of advice for such a time as this, I asked a number of my friends who …
J. Wilbur Chapman—And Judas Iscariot The Call and Feast of Levi
"And He went forth again by the seaside; and all the multitude resorted unto Him, and He taught them. And as He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the place of toll, and He saith unto him, Follow Me. And he arose and followed Him. And it came to pass, that He was sitting at meat in his house, and many publicans and sinners sat down with Jesus and His disciples: for there were many, and they followed Him. And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that He was eating with the …
G. A. Chadwick—The Gospel of St. Mark That None Should Enter on a Place of Government who Practise not in Life what they have Learnt by Study.
There are some also who investigate spiritual precepts with cunning care, but what they penetrate with their understanding they trample on in their lives: all at once they teach the things which not by practice but by study they have learnt; and what in words they preach by their manners they impugn. Whence it comes to pass that when the shepherd walks through steep places, the flock follows to the precipice. Hence it is that the Lord through the prophet complains of the contemptible knowledge …
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great Ramah. Ramathaim Zophim. Gibeah.
There was a certain Ramah, in the tribe of Benjamin, Joshua 18:25, and that within sight of Jerusalem, as it seems, Judges 19:13; where it is named with Gibeah:--and elsewhere, Hosea 5:8; which towns were not much distant. See 1 Samuel 22:6; "Saul sat in Gibeah, under a grove in Ramah." Here the Gemarists trifle: "Whence is it (say they) that Ramah is placed near Gibea? To hint to you, that the speech of Samuel of Ramah was the cause, why Saul remained two years and a half in Gibeah." They blindly …
John Lightfoot—From the Talmud and Hebraica Ripe for Gathering
'Thus hath the Lord God shewed unto me: and behold a basket of summer fruit. 2. And He said, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A basket of summer fruit. Then said the Lord unto me, The end is come upon My people of Israel; I will not again pass by them any more. 3. And the songs of the temple shall be howlings in that day, saith the Lord God: there shall be many dead bodies in every place; they shall cast them forth with silence. 4. Hear this, O ye that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture Meditations for the Sick.
Whilst thy sickness remains, use often, for thy comfort, these few meditations, taken from the ends wherefore God sendeth afflictions to his children. Those are ten. 1. That by afflictions God may not only correct our sins past, but also work in us a deeper loathing of our natural corruptions, and so prevent us from falling into many other sins, which otherwise we would commit; like a good father, who suffers his tender babe to scorch his finger in a candle, that he may the rather learn to beware …
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety Of Civil Government.
OF CIVIL GOVERNMENT. This chapter consists of two principal heads,--I. General discourse on the necessity, dignity, and use of Civil Government, in opposition to the frantic proceedings of the Anabaptists, sec. 1-3. II. A special exposition of the three leading parts of which Civil Government consists, sec. 4-32. The first part treats of the function of Magistrates, whose authority and calling is proved, sec. 4-7. Next, the three Forms of civil government are added, sec. 8. Thirdly, Consideration …
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion That the Employing Of, and Associating with the Malignant Party, According as is Contained in the Public Resolutions, is Sinful and Unlawful.
That The Employing Of, And Associating With The Malignant Party, According As Is Contained In The Public Resolutions, Is Sinful And Unlawful. If there be in the land a malignant party of power and policy, and the exceptions contained in the Act of Levy do comprehend but few of that party, then there need be no more difficulty to prove, that the present public resolutions and proceedings do import an association and conjunction with a malignant party, than to gather a conclusion from clear premises. …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning The Arguments Usually Alleged in Support of Free Will Refuted.
1. Absurd fictions of opponents first refuted, and then certain passages of Scripture explained. Answer by a negative. Confirmation of the answer. 2. Another absurdity of Aristotle and Pelagius. Answer by a distinction. Answer fortified by passages from Augustine, and supported by the authority of an Apostle. 3. Third absurdity borrowed from the words of Chrysostom. Answer by a negative. 4. Fourth absurdity urged of old by the Pelagians. Answer from the works of Augustine. Illustrated by the testimony …
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion Hosea
The book of Hosea divides naturally into two parts: i.-iii. and iv.-xiv., the former relatively clear and connected, the latter unusually disjointed and obscure. The difference is so unmistakable that i.-iii. have usually been assigned to the period before the death of Jeroboam II, and iv.-xiv. to the anarchic period which succeeded. Certainly Hosea's prophetic career began before the end of Jeroboam's reign, as he predicts the fall of the reigning dynasty, i. 4, which practically ended with Jeroboam's …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament Links Hosea 5:3 NIVHosea 5:3 NLTHosea 5:3 ESVHosea 5:3 NASBHosea 5:3 KJV
Hosea 5:3 Commentaries
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