Sound the Alarm

Hosea 5:8-15

“Blow the horn in Gibeah, the trumpet in Ramah.  Sound the alarm at Beth-aven; we follow you, O Benjamin!  Ephraim shall become desolation in the day of punishment; among the tribes of Israel, I make known what is sure. The princes of Judah have become like those who move the landmark; upon them I will pour out my wrath like water.  Ephraim is oppressed, crushed in judgment, because he was determined to go after filth.  But I am like a moth to Ephraim, and like dry rot to the house of Judah.  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.  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.  I will return again to my place, until they acknowledge their guilt and seek my face, and in their distress earnestly seek me.”

Gibeah is a hill-town of Benjamin it was the birthplace of king Saul and a place known for the almost total destruction of the tribe of Benjamin found in Judges 19 and 20.  Now Ramah was “one of the cities of the allotment of Benjamin. (Joshua 18:25)  Its site is at er-Ram , about five miles from Jerusalem, and near to Gibeah.” (Smith's Bible Dictionary)  They were to sound the alarm at Beth-aven, “the house of nothingness; i.e., "of idols", a place in the mountains of Benjamin, east of Bethel. ( Joshua 7:2 ; 18:12 ; 1 Samuel 13:5 ). In Hosea 4:15 ; 5:8 ; 10:5 it stands for "Bethel" (q.v.), and it is so called because it was no longer the "house of God," but "the house of idols," referring to the calves they worshiped.” (Easton’s Bible Dictionary)

If you were in Ephraim you were in for a time of judgment, the battles were going, to begin with, Benjamin but all of Israel and especially Ephraim would be crushed in judgment.  Why was Ephraim to have the brunt of the punishment?  Because they chased after what is worthless, and how often do you and I do the same thing? 

But one should not overlook that Judah the near neighbor has been enticed by their sins and will also enter into judgment for their actions of going after filth.  The people chosen by God had festering wounds and had no cure for them, so Ephraim went to Assyria hoping to find a cure.  But God, like a lion, is carrying its prey to its den, yes God has withdrawn from Israel.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice