Hosea 5: The Lion is the Lamb

​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. 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6 With their flocks and herds they shall go to seek the Lord, but they will not find him; he has withdrawn from them. 7 They have dealt faithlessly with the Lord; for they have borne alien children.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-haven; 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. 10 The princes of Judah have become like those who move the landmark; upon them I will pour out my 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.
 
Meditation
The picture of salvation painted by God’s prophets is so majestic the angels of Heaven long to see into the mystery (1 Peter 1:10-12).  Today’s reading frames God’s magnificent work of salvation with Israel’s rebellious situation.   
 
In the famous account of Daniel and the lion’s den, God spared Daniel before the guards were consumed by hungry lions. Hosea condemns the rebellious and wayward people of God by comparing them with those guards! God’s appointed leaders had given their hearts away and lead His people astray, not seeking the Lord (1-7). God promised judgement (8-13). Like a hungry lion, God promised to consume all who would not return to Him from their heart. 
 
God identifies as a lion, one whose righteous anger and justice will devour sinful and idolatrous people. Rather than seeking the Lord, Israel sought salvation from other nations, and this was to their condemnation. God declared, “no one shall rescue” them from His just judgment.
 
In God’s sovereign grace, sin is never the end of the story. God promises patience for all who are penitent, saying He will “return to His place” until His wayward people acknowledge guilt and turn to seek His face (15). 
 
God’s steadfast love is made possible because the lion is the lamb. Jesus is the “Lion of the Tribe of Judah” (Revelation 5:5) who is the “Lamb who takes away the sins of the world” (John 1:29). Jesus was devoured by God’s wrath against sin so all who believe can be forgiven, free to turn from our sin and seek Him with all our heart.
 
Richly Dwelling
-What stands out to you from today’s reading, especially the difficult diagnosis of Israel’s sin?
 
-“No one shall rescue” is pointed and powerful (14). Do you feel the weight of the desperation of your sinful position, the penalty of death rightly pronounced?
 
-How does the fact that Jesus is the lion and the lamb give you peace and power to seek Him? Where (specifically) do you need to apply this reality?
 
Key Verse
… 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.