Hosea

Hosea 5: Only the LORD can heal

Begin in prayer

Before reading about a people who ran to Assyria for help, please ask the LORD to show us that only He can heal. Ask Him to teach us to seek His face.

When you said, “Seek my face,” my heart said to you, “I will seek your face, Yahweh.”

Psalm 27:8

Father in heaven, please open our eyes as we read Your Word. Show us that no king or nation can heal sin, and that only You can. Show us Jesus, the Physician of sinners. Make us more like Jesus. And please bless our family as we worship You together. In Jesus' name, Amen.

See where we're going

The LORD calls the priests, the people and the king's house to listen, because His judgment is against them. He says their sins are not hidden from Him, and their deeds will not let them turn to their God. They bring flocks and herds to seek the LORD, but they do not find Him, because He has withdrawn from them. A trumpet sounds to warn that Ephraim will become a desolation, and the princes of Judah will face His wrath too. When Ephraim saw his sickness, he went to Assyria, but the king there could not heal or cure him. The LORD says He will be like a lion to Ephraim and Judah, tearing in pieces, with no one to deliver them. Then He will go back to His place until they admit their guilt and seek His face.

As you read Hosea 5, look for the answers:

Reflect together

Key truth

Only the LORD can heal His people, and He withdraws until they seek His face.

Chapter 4 charged the priests, and chapter 5 widens the charge to the whole nation and the king's house. Mizpah and Tabor were places from Israel's own story, and now their leaders had made them a trap. Israel still went with flocks and herds to seek the LORD, yet He has withdrawn Himself (verse 6). Verse 4 says their deeds will not let them turn, because unfaithfulness is inside them and they do not know the LORD. The trumpets of verse 8 sound the alarm from town to town, as if an enemy were coming down the land. The LORD says He is like a moth and like rot to His people, which eat from the inside before anyone sees (verse 12). When Ephraim saw his sickness, he ran to the king of Assyria, but a king cannot heal what sin has done (verse 13). Jesus said that those who are sick need the physician, and He came to call sinners (Mark 2 verse 17).

How does Hosea 5 show us that only the LORD can heal His people, and that He withdraws until they seek His face?

Israel still brings offerings, but the LORD has withdrawn.

They go with their flocks and herds to seek the LORD (verse 6). The LORD says they will not find Him. Offerings without a turned heart do not reach Him.

No king, no army and no nation can heal sin.

Ephraim went to Assyria and sent to King Jareb, but he cannot heal or cure the wound (verse 13). Then the LORD says He will be like a lion, tearing in pieces (verse 14). Only He who wounds can heal.

The LORD waits for His people to seek His face.

He will return to His place until they admit their guilt and seek Him (verse 15). In their trouble they will seek Him earnestly. Jesus said that those who are sick need a physician, and that He came to call sinners (Mark 2 verse 17).

Memorise

I will go and return to my place, until they acknowledge their offense, and seek my face. In their affliction they will seek me earnestly.

Hosea 5:15

Looking to Jesus in my life

Ask yourself in your heart, where do I run for help when I am sick with sin?

Ephraim was sick, and the LORD said, “I will go and return to my place, until they acknowledge their offense, and seek my face”. That is a heavy thing to hear. Ephraim could not heal himself, and the king of Assyria could not heal him either.

Jesus came for the sick. At the cross He bore the punishment for His people's sin, and Peter says they are healed by His wounds (1 Peter 2 verse 24). God raised Him from the dead, so the Healer lives. His cross is enough to heal every sinner who trusts Him.

So come to Him. Turn from your sin and put your trust in Jesus. He does not reject the sick who come, and He forgives them.

Parent's note

Tell your children that only the LORD can heal sin, and that Jesus heals sinners who come to Him. Parents, please explain verses 3 and 7 yourself, since they speak of unfaithfulness in worship and in marriage. Please do not tell them they are saved just because they grew up in a Christian home. Call each child to turn from sin and trust Jesus, and pray that God would give them a new heart.

Pray together

Now please close your time together in prayer. Thank God that only He can heal sin, and bring the heart question to Him. Every child can pray, so let each one say a short prayer if they want to.

that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through Isaiah the prophet, saying, “He took our infirmities, and bore our diseases.”

Matthew 8:17

Lord God, thank You that only You can heal what sin has broken. Thank You for Jesus, who bore the wounds of His people on the cross. Please bring each one of us to seek Your face and trust Him. Amen.