Oséias 5

BLIVRE · Chapter 5/14

1Ouvi isto, ó sacerdotes, prestai atenção, ó casa de Israel; escutai, ó casa do rei; porque contra vós é este julgamento; pois tendes sido um laço em Mispá, e uma rede estendida sobre Tabor.

2Os rebeldes têm se aprofundado na matança, mas eu repreenderei a todos eles.

3Eu conheço a Efraim, e Israel não está oculto para mim; pois agora, ó Efraim, te prostituis, [e] Israel está contaminado.

4Seus atos não lhe permitem se converterem a seu Deus, porque o espírito de prostituições está no meio deles, e não conhecem ao SENHOR.

5E a soberba de Israel dará testemunho contra ele. Israel e Efraim cairão em sua maldade, e Judá cairá juntamente com eles.

6Com suas ovelhas e com suas vacas irão buscar o SENHOR, mas não o encontrarão; ele se retirou deles.

7Agiram traiçoeiramente contra o SENHOR, porque geraram filhos estrangeiros; agora a lua nova os consumirá com suas propriedades.

8Tocai a corneta em Gibeá, a trombeta em Ramá; gritai em Bete-Áven; atrás de ti, ó Benjamim.

9Efraim será desolado no dia do castigo; nas tribos de Israel eu fiz saber o que certamente [acontecerá] .

10Os príncipes de Judá são como os mudam os limites; derramarei como água meu furor sobre eles.

11Efraim é oprimido, e quebrantado no julgamento, porque quis seguir regras inúteis.

12Por isso eu serei como traça a Efraim, e como podridão à casa de Judá.

13Quando Efraim viu sua enfermidade, e Judá a sua ferida, então Efraim subiu à Assíria, e procurou o grande rei; porém ele não poderá vos sarar, nem curar vossa ferida.

14Porque eu serei como leão a Efraim, e como leão jovem à casa de Judá; eu mesmo a despedaçarei, e irei embora; eu a levarei, e não haverá quem a livre.

15Irei, [e] voltarei a meu lugar, até que se reconheçam culpados, e busquem minha face. Em sua angústia, eles me buscarão ansiosamente.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Judgment extends to the priests, the people, and the royal house; Israel and Judah are accused of unfaithfulness and of seeking help in foreign alliances (Assyria) instead of in God.

Explanation

Here the criticism turns specifically against the political and religious leaders who should have guided the people back to God but instead became 'a snare' and 'a net' that trap them ever deeper in sin. The mention of king Jareb (an ironic nickname for the Assyrian king, meaning something like 'great contender') shows the futility of seeking security in human powers instead of in God. The final phrase, that they 'will seek my face' when in distress, reveals the biblical pattern that it is often crisis that brings us back to God. Today's application is to examine whom we truly trust when we face hardship.

Fun facts

  • Blowing the trumpet (shofar) in Gibeah and Ramah (v.8) was the war alarm signal used in Israel — the prophet announces that the alarm should sound because of the people's own sin.
  • 'Ephraim' is used throughout the book as a synonym for the Northern Kingdom, because it was the largest and most influential of the ten tribes that made up Israel.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Oséias 5:1God summons the priests, the people, and the royal family to hear the judgment: they became hunting traps at Mizpah and on Mount Tabor, places that should have been only for worship.
  2. Oséias 5:2By offering twisted sacrifices, they sank deeper and deeper into corruption; so God Himself will be the one to correct them all.
  3. Oséias 5:3God is not deceived: He knows Ephraim and knows about the unfaithfulness that has contaminated all of Israel, even if the people try to hide.
  4. Oséias 5:4The people do not even try to change their lives, because idolatry ("the spirit of whoredoms") has already taken over their hearts to the point that they no longer recognize the Lord.
  5. Oséias 5:5Israel's arrogance is visible on the people's own face; the fall caused by injustice will not strike Israel and Ephraim alone, it will drag Judah down with them.
  6. Oséias 5:6Even bringing the usual sacrifices (sheep and cattle), they will not find God, because He had already withdrawn from them beforehand.
  7. Oséias 5:7Betrayal against the Lord for begetting "strange children" (the fruit of mixed worship); even their own religious celebrations, like the new moon, will turn against them.
  8. Oséias 5:8Blowing the cornet at Gibeah and the trumpet at Ramah was the alarm system of the time — one city warning another that danger, probably a war between Israel and Judah, was coming.
  9. Oséias 5:9Ephraim will be devastated on the day of punishment — God makes it clear, before all the tribes of Israel, that this is the certain sentence.
  10. Oséias 5:10The leaders of Judah are also accused of "removing the bound" (stealing land, committing injustice), which brings God's wrath down on them like a flood.
  11. Oséias 5:11Ephraim is being oppressed in judgment because he chose, of his own will, to follow a wrong path instead of God's true commandment.
  12. Oséias 5:12God compares Himself to a moth and to rot — not a sudden attack, but a slow, internal corrosion that destroys Ephraim and Judah from within.
  13. Oséias 5:13"King Jareb" is probably not a proper name but a mocking nickname for the king of Assyria; the text shows Ephraim seeking Assyrian military help instead of seeking the Lord — an alliance that will cost dearly.
  14. Oséias 5:14God compares Himself to a lion tearing its prey apart, a shocking image used to make clear that the announced punishment comes from Him, not only from enemy nations.
  15. Oséias 5:15God promises to withdraw until the people acknowledge their own guilt; only in distress, at daybreak, will they finally seek Him with their whole heart.

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