What Can I Do With Ephraim and Judah
Comments for Study 4
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There is no clear topical outline in this study. The bet way to approach the passage is chapter by chapter, paragraph by paragraph. If in your studies you detect a main theme for a particular chapter, record this in your study notes. Do not feel frustrated if such themes are hard to identify.
I. The Cause (6:4-7:16)
* See a chart showing the Old Testament Covenants to the right.
>1. What does the Lord desire most of all? (4-6; Matt. 9:10-13)
* Hosea 6:4-6 "What can I do with you, Ephraim? What can I do with you, Judah? Your love is like the morning mist, like the early dew that disappears. Therefore I cut you in pieces with my prophets, I killed you with the words of my mouth; my judgments flashed like lightning upon you. For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings."
* Matthew 9:10-13 "While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew's house, many tax collectors and "sinners" came and ate with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and 'sinners'?" On hearing this, Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."
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>What covenant did Adam and Israel break? (7; Gen. 2:15-17; Exo. 19:3-8)
* Hosea 6:7 "Like Adam, they have broken the covenant-- they were unfaithful to me there."
* Genesis 2:15-17 "The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die."
* Exodus 19:3-8 "Then Moses went up to God, and the LORD called to him from the mountain and said, "This is what you are to say to the house of Jacob and what you are to tell the people of Israel: 'You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself. Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.' These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites." So Moses went back and summoned the elders of the people and set before them all the words the LORD had commanded him to speak. The people all responded together, "We will do everything the LORD has said." So Moses brought their answer back to the LORD.
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>How far had the people of Gilead gone away from mercy? (8-9)
* Hosea 6:8-9 "Gilead is a city of wicked men, stained with footprints of blood. As marauders lie in ambush for a man, so do bands of priests; they murder on the road to Shechem, committing shameful crimes."
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>Where any of God's people exempt? (10-11)
* Hosea 6:10-11 "I have seen a horrible thing in the house of Israel. There Ephraim is given to prostitution and Israel is defiled. Also for you, Judah, a harvest is appointed."
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>2. How is Israel's history summed up in 7:1-2?
* Hosea 7:1-2 "Whenever I would restore the fortunes of my people, whenever I would heal Israel, the sins of Ephraim are exposed and the crimes of Samaria revealed. They practice deceit, thieves break into houses, bandits rob in the streets; but they do not realize that I remember all their evil deeds. Their sins engulf them; they are always before me."
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>Why would people delight in stories of sin? (3-4; 2 Tim. 4:3-4)
* Hosea 7:3-4 "They delight the king with their wickedness, the princes with their lies. They are all adulterers, burning like an oven whose fire the baker need not stir from the kneading of the dough till it rises."
* 2 Timothy 4:3-4 "For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths."
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>What were their days like? (5-7)
* Hosea 7:5-7 "On the day of the festival of our king the princes become inflamed with wine, and he joins hands with the mockers. Their hearts are like an oven; they approach him with intrigue. Their passion smolders all night; in the morning it blazes like a flaming fire. All of them are hot as an oven; they devour their rulers. All their kings fall, and none of them calls on me."
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>3. What should have made them return to the Lord? (8-10)
* Hosea 7:8-10 "Ephraim mixes with the nations; Ephraim is a flat cake not turned over. Foreigners sap his strength, but he does not realize it. His hair is sprinkled with gray, but he does not notice. Israel's arrogance testifies against him, but despite all this he does not return to the LORD his God or search for him."
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>What did the Lord long to do? (11-13)
* Hosea 7:11-13 "Ephraim is like a dove, easily deceived and senseless-- now calling to Egypt, now turning to Assyria.
12 When they go, I will throw my net over them; I will pull them down like birds of the air. When I hear them flocking together, I will catch them.
13 Woe to them, because they have strayed from me! Destruction to them, because they have rebelled against me! I long to redeem them but they speak lies against me."
* Matthew 23:37-39 "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing. Look, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.'"
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>What does the Lord repeat in verses 14-16 that shows the desire of his heart?
* Hosea 7:14-16 "They do not cry out to me from their hearts but wail upon their beds. They gather together for grain and new wine but turn away from me.
15 I trained them and strengthened them, but they plot evil against me.
16 They do not turn to the Most High; they are like a faulty bow. Their leaders will fall by the sword because of their insolent words. For this they will be ridiculed in the land of Egypt."
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II. The Judgment (8:1-9:17)
>4. Even though they cry out to the Lord why won't he answer them? (1-6)
* Hosea 8:1-6 "Put the trumpet to your lips! An eagle is over the house of the LORD because the people have broken my covenant and rebelled against my law.
2 Israel cries out to me, 'O our God, we acknowledge you!'
3 But Israel has rejected what is good; an enemy will pursue him.
4 They set up kings without my consent; they choose princes without my approval. With their silver and gold they make idols for themselves to their own destruction.
5 Throw out your calf-idol, O Samaria! My anger burns against them. How long will they be incapable of purity?
6 They are from Israel! This calf--a craftsman has made it; it is not God. It will be broken in pieces, that calf of Samaria."
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>What did Jesus teach about people who only have lip service? (Matt. 7:21-23)
* Matthew 7:21-23 "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'"
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>5. Even though Israel will be scatted among Assyria what did the Lord promise? (7-10)
* Hosea 8:7-10 "They sow the wind and reap the whirlwind. The stalk has no head; it will produce no flour. Were it to yield grain, foreigners would swallow it up.
8 Israel is swallowed up; now she is among the nations like a worthless thing.
9 For they have gone up to Assyria like a wild donkey wandering alone. Ephraim has sold herself to lovers.
10 Although they have sold themselves among the nations, I will now gather them together. They will begin to waste away under the oppression of the mighty king."
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>How did they practice religion that was unacceptable? (11-14)
* Hosea 8:11-14 "Though Ephraim built many altars for sin offerings, these have become altars for sinning.
12 I wrote for them the many things of my law, but they regarded them as something alien.
13 They offer sacrifices given to me and they eat the meat, but the LORD is not pleased with them. Now he will remember their wickedness and punish their sins: They will return to Egypt.
14 Israel has forgotten his Maker and built palaces; Judah has fortified many towns. But I will send fire upon their cities that will consume their fortresses."
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>What did Jesus say about such religious practices? (Matt. 23:27-28)
* Matthew 23:27-28 "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness."
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>6. What happens to people who practice religion without loving Jesus and obeying his commands? (9:1-9)
* Hosea 9:1-9 "Do not rejoice, O Israel; do not be jubilant like the other nations. For you have been unfaithful to your God; you love the wages of a prostitute at every threshing floor. Threshing floors and winepresses will not feed the people; the new wine will fail them. They will not remain in the LORD's land; Ephraim will return to Egypt and eat unclean food in Assyria. They will not pour out wine offerings to the LORD, nor will their sacrifices please him. Such sacrifices will be to them like the bread of mourners; all who eat them will be unclean. This food will be for themselves; it will not come into the temple of the LORD. What will you do on the day of your appointed feasts, on the festival days of the LORD? Even if they escape from destruction, Egypt will gather them, and Memphis will bury them. Their treasures of silver will be taken over by briers, and thorns will overrun their tents. The days of punishment are coming, the days of reckoning are at hand. Let Israel know this. Because your sins are so many and your hostility so great, the prophet is considered a fool, the inspired man a maniac. The prophet, along with my God, is the watchman over Ephraim, yet snares await him on all his paths, and hostility in the house of his God. They have sunk deep into corruption, as in the days of Gibeah. God will remember their wickedness and punish them for their sins."
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>What did Jesus say about such people? (Matt. 12:43-45)
* Matthew 12:43-45 "When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, 'I will return to the house I left.' When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation."
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>7. How had Israel changed from when the Lord first found them? (10-14)
* Hosea 9:10-14 "When I found Israel, it was like finding grapes in the desert; when I saw your fathers, it was like seeing the early fruit on the fig tree. But when they came to Baal Peor, they consecrated themselves to that shameful idol and became as vile as the thing they loved. Ephraim's glory will fly away like a bird-- no birth, no pregnancy, no conception. Even if they rear children, I will bereave them of every one. Woe to them when I turn away from them! I have seen Ephraim, like Tyre, planted in a pleasant place. But Ephraim will bring out their children to the slayer." Give them, O LORD-- what will you give them? Give them wombs that miscarry and breasts that are dry."
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>What happened to their root? (15-17)
* Hosea 9:15-17 "Because of all their wickedness in Gilgal, I hated them there. Because of their sinful deeds, I will drive them out of my house. I will no longer love them; all their leaders are rebellious.
16 Ephraim is blighted, their root is withered, they yield no fruit. Even if they bear children, I will slay their cherished offspring."
17 My God will reject them because they have not obeyed him; they will be wanderers among the nations."
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>What did Jesus teach about people who start out good but produce no fruit? (Mark 4:14-20)
* Mark 4:14-20 "The farmer sows the word. Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop--thirty, sixty or even a hundred times what was sown."
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III. The Appeal (10:1-15)
>8. Instead of their prosperity bring them closer to the Lord, what did it do? (1-8)
* Hosea 10:1-8 "Israel was a spreading vine; he brought forth fruit for himself. As his fruit increased, he built more altars; as his land prospered, he adorned his sacred stones.
2 Their heart is deceitful, and now they must bear their guilt. The LORD will demolish their altars and destroy their sacred stones.
3 Then they will say, "We have no king because we did not revere the LORD. But even if we had a king, what could he do for us?"
4 They make many promises, take false oaths and make agreements; therefore lawsuits spring up like poisonous weeds in a plowed field.
5 The people who live in Samaria fear for the calf-idol of Beth Aven. Its people will mourn over it, and so will its idolatrous priests, those who had rejoiced over its splendor, because it is taken from them into exile.
6 It will be carried to Assyria as tribute for the great king. Ephraim will be disgraced; Israel will be ashamed of its wooden idols.
7 Samaria and its king will float away like a twig on the surface of the waters.
8 The high places of wickedness will be destroyed-- it is the sin of Israel. Thorns and thistles will grow up and cover their altars. Then they will say to the mountains, "Cover us!" and to the hills, "Fall on us!"
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>9. What happened at Gibeah? (9-10; Judges 19-21)
* Hosea 10:9-10 "Since the days of Gibeah, you have sinned, O Israel, and there you have remained. Did not war overtake the evildoers in Gibeah? When I please, I will punish them; nations will be gathered against them to put them in bonds for their double sin."
* Judges 19-21.
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>How were the people of God suppose to live? (11-12)
* Hosea 10:11-12 "Ephraim is a trained heifer that loves to thresh; so I will put a yoke on her fair neck. I will drive Ephraim, Judah must plow, and Jacob must break up the ground.
12 Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the LORD, until he comes and showers righteousness on you."
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>Did they? (13-15)
* Hosea 10:13-15 "But you have planted wickedness, you have reaped evil, you have eaten the fruit of deception. Because you have depended on your own strength and on your many warriors,
14 the roar of battle will rise against your people, so that all your fortresses will be devastated-- as Shalman devastated Beth Arbel on the day of battle, when mothers were dashed to the ground with their children.
15 Thus will it happen to you, O Bethel, because your wickedness is great. When that day dawns, the king of Israel will be completely destroyed."
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>From this study what can be learned about living a life that pleases God?
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