When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah his sore, then went Ephraim to the Assyrian, and sent to king Jareb; but he was unable to heal you, nor hath he removed your sore.
Hosea speaks to a divided nation in decline — the northern kingdom, called Ephraim after its leading tribe, and the southern kingdom of Judah. Both feel the damage God's hand has done, and the real question is not whether they noticed the wound, but where they took it.
The prophets regularly name the two kingdoms by their strongest tribe, which is why one nation can be addressed under two names in a single line.
When the tribes divided, Ephraim took the leading place. Shechem and Samaria stood in Ephraim's territory, which helped to make this so, and it explains why the prophets keep calling the ten tribes "Ephraim." In the same way the two tribes are called "Judah." Hosea 5:3, 5, 13, 14.
The picture just before this verse shows where the sickness and the wound came from.
To Ephraim the Lord would be like a moth. To the house of Judah He would be like rot. The moth destroys. Both pictures, moth and rot, stand for destroying forces at work against the house of Israel and the house of Judah. Then they turned to the Assyrian for help and to King Jareb. But there was no help.
Where the ESV has "the great king," older translations read "king Jareb." That is not an ordinary personal name.
It seems to be a symbolic name for the king of Assyria. Israel had sent to Assyria for help, but Assyria proved to be no help at all — instead a Jareb, that is, an "adversary, enemy."
Israel's appeal was a real transaction. Their king paid silver to keep his throne.
Menahem was king of Israel while Uzziah reigned over Judah, and he "gave Pul a thousand talents of silver…to confirm the kingdom in his hand" (2 Kings 15:19). What a serious turning away from Jehovah — that Israel should ask the king of Assyria for help in a time of trouble instead of turning to Jehovah.
Only someone who can reach the cause of an illness can heal it. Assyria could not, and going there put Israel's unbelief on public show.
It was bad enough to be unfaithful to God. It was worse that they had to put their godlessness and unbelief on display by running to a foreign power. It is painful when the children of God behave badly among themselves. But it is a dreadful thing when they feel no shame in seeking the resources of the world that hates them… In fact it was God who was striking them: no wonder the wound could not be cured.
The deeper problem was distance. They had drifted so far that the one real remedy no longer occurred to them.
Ephraim had seen his weakness, which was the result of his sin, and Judah had seen his wound. But they had gone too far from Jehovah to turn to Him. They had sought help from the Assyrian. Could he rescue the sinful people from Jehovah's judgment? Certainly not.
The verse names Judah's wound beside Ephraim's. Judah then made the same mistake under King Ahaz.
Ahaz chooses to trust the king of Assyria against Pekah and Rezin rather than to trust the Lord and obey Him… So the word the Lord had spoken against Israel, who had sought Assyria's support (Hosea 5:13-14), He now speaks against Judah, who sought that same alliance. At first this trust in Assyria seemed to work out well for Judah.
Hosea does not end at the failed physician. The last chapter shows the same nation refusing the help it once ran to.
His heart, now taught and cleansed, refuses the help of Assyria, which he had turned to in his unbelief, when he rejected his God who searched his ways. He will no longer lean on human strength… God Himself would heal their wandering away; He would love them freely.
- Wound — the sickness Ephraim saw was God at work as a moth and as rot. God sent the trouble; it was not random.
- Wrong doctor — they took the wound to Assyria and paid silver for protection, instead of taking it to the Lord.
- No cure — the one who struck is the only one who can heal, so an outside power could never reach the disease.
- Repeated — Judah watched Ephraim's failure, then made the same alliance under Ahaz and came under the same word.
- Healed — Hosea's last chapter shows the cure. Israel refuses Assyria's help, owns the sin, and receives God's free love.
For I will be unto Ephraim as a lion, and as a young lion to the house of Judah. I, I will tear and go away; I will carry off, and there shall be none to deliver.
Hosea has just described two kingdoms that felt their sickness and ran to Assyria for a cure. Now the LORD names the real cause of the wound. The lion tearing them is God Himself. No ally, no army and no treaty can pull them out of those jaws.
The verse names two halves of one nation. The prophets had a reason for using these two names.
When the tribes divided, Ephraim took the leading place. Shechem and Samaria were in their territory, which added to this. That is why the prophets always call the ten tribes "Ephraim." In the same way they call the two tribes "Judah." Hosea 5:3, 5, 13, 14.
They had gone to a foreign king for healing. But the wound came from God, and no foreign king could undo it.
Chastening did not lead them to God, but to the Assyrian: could he heal or cure? It was bad enough to be unfaithful to God. It was worse that they exposed their contempt for Him and their unbelief by turning to a stranger... It is a sad thing when the children of God behave badly among themselves. It is an awful thing when they feel no shame in seeking help from the world that hates them... In fact it was God who was inflicting it: no wonder it was incurable. "For I will be like a lion to Ephraim, and like a young lion to the house of Judah." So we see that Ephraim and Judah are now joined together, in sin and in punishment alike. First slow decay, then fierce violence.
Slow decay comes first. The lion follows when that quiet warning is ignored.
The picture does not end with the tearing. The lion carries the prey away and leaves.
Although God had rebuked them, they would not return to Him. Afterwards they would seek Him and not find Him. He would have withdrawn Himself from them... God would be to them like a lion that tears its prey. Then He would go and return to His place, until they acknowledged their offence. In their affliction they would seek Him earnestly.
One writer sees more here than the invasions of Hosea's own day. He ties God's withdrawal to the rejection of Christ.
The last verse of this chapter has a wider meaning than the past judgment which came upon the house of Israel. The Lord of glory came to earth and visited His people. He came with the message and offer of the kingdom to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. He came to His own, but His own did not receive Him. After they had rejected Him and handed Him over to the Gentiles to be crucified, He returned to His place. There He is now at the right hand of God, waiting for the day when the remnant of Israel will repent and seek His face.
One writer puts the case directly to the Jewish people. He points at their long scattering.
Are you not, instead, mere moneychangers among the Gentiles? A people without a country, without a king or even a prince? Worst of all, though you are no longer fanatics for a false religion, you are without the true one. This is the undeniable sentence of your own holy prophet.
The tearing is not the end of God's purpose. One writer sees here God's settled way of working.
God often reminded them of what they had lost by their own foolishness. He wanted them to think about their ways and return to Himself, the source of all true blessing. And how many, like the prodigal son, have been brought back that way!... He wounds so that He may heal. He breaks so that He may bind up the broken-hearted. "He has torn us, that He may heal us."
- Wound. Ephraim stands for the ten tribes and Judah for the two; both were hurt, and both looked to Assyria for a cure.
- Hand. The wound was incurable because God Himself was inflicting it — no human ally can undo what God has begun.
- Warning. Slow decay came first, then the lion. Ignored sin ends in fierce violence.
- Withdrawal. Being left is worse than being torn. He returns to His place, and they seek Him without finding Him — as Christ, rejected, went back to the right hand of God and waits there.
- Healing. The tearing has a goal. He wounds to heal, and the torn people will one day say, "He has torn us, that He may heal us."