Hosea 5:1–15 | Like a Lion

Hosea 5 confronts us with the Lion who is not safe but is good. I walked through the chapter in three movements: the lion’s eye, the lion’s growl, and the lion’s teeth. First, the lion’s eye: God sees. He addresses leaders because their calling is to guard and guide, yet they had become snares on the high places, multiplying idolatry and normalizing sexual immorality. The Lord’s omniscience can comfort or terrify; He knows our quiet faithfulness as well as the sin we hide. Israel’s pride—what they celebrated publicly—became the very thing that testified against them. They sought the Lord with flocks and herds but without confession, trying religion without repentance.

Second, the lion’s growl: God warns before He strikes. Alarms sounded from south to north, signaling judgment. The princes moved ancient landmarks—greed and injustice were baked into the system—and the people felt the crush. God said He would be like a moth and like dry rot: slow, relentless discipline that erodes false securities. Israel saw the symptoms—political instability, social decay—but misdiagnosed the disease. They ran to Assyria, the butcher, instead of to the Healer.

Finally, the lion’s teeth: when the day comes, judgment is swift and no one rescues. God Himself tears and carries off. Yet the last word is hope: “until.” Until they acknowledge guilt, seek His face, and earnestly seek Him. That is the door of mercy in the middle of judgment. The same Lion who is untamed in holiness is good in His readiness to receive the contrite.

So we examine our leadership—in homes, church, workplaces. We ask what our public “pride” is, what we boast in. We listen for the growl in lesser judgments and disruptions, and we stop treating symptoms with worldly “Assyrias.” We come with honest confession and seek His face, early and earnestly. He loves those who love Him, and those who seek Him diligently find Him.

Key Takeaways

• 1. Leaders exist to guard souls Authority is meant to help people persevere to the end—warning, teaching, and encouraging toward maturity in Christ. When leaders use their posts for self, they become snares on the high places. Every leader—pastor, parent, teacher—must ask, “Am I clearing a path to God, or cluttering it?” [12:23]
• 2. God’s omniscience comforts and convicts The Lord sees our hidden compromises and our hidden obediences. That truth steadies us in trial and sobers us in temptation. Live openly before His face: confess fully, and then walk confidently, because nothing is unknown to Him. [20:10]
• 3. Misplaced pride hastens our fall What we publicly celebrate shapes our steps. Israel’s high places became their boast and their stumbling block; our “high places” can be wealth, health, intellect, or even precise theology. Boast in knowing the Lord, or your best gifts will become your most dangerous idols. [29:03]
• 4. Hear warnings before judgment bites The alarms, the moth, and the dry rot are mercies—wake-up calls before the lion’s teeth. Don’t medicate symptoms with “Assyria”; address the heart disease of sin. Early repentance is easier than late rescue. [39:58]
• 5. Return with confession and earnest seeking God opens the door with three words: acknowledge guilt, seek His face, seek earnestly. Owning sin without turning to God breeds despair, but confession that turns toward Him finds mercy. The Lion receives the contrite and makes Himself findable. [53:08]

Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [00:33] - Scripture Reading: Hosea 5:1-15
• [03:09] - Opening Prayer
• [05:02] - Aslan: Not Safe, But Good
• [07:36] - Leaders Judged and Shepherds’ Calling
• [14:21] - High Places: Snares and Nets
• [18:13] - God’s Omniscience: Comfort and Terror
• [24:32] - Spirit of Whoredom and Our Culture
• [27:43] - Misplaced Pride and Boasting
• [34:17] - Empty Rituals Without Repentance
• [39:58] - Alarms, Landmarks, and Certain Judgment
• [48:28] - False Remedies: Assyria Can’t Heal
• [50:31] - The Lion’s Teeth: Swift Judgment
• [52:30] - Until: Confess, Seek, Find
• [56:22] - Closing Prayer

Bible Reading

Hosea 5:1–15 — 1 “Hear this, O priests! Pay attention, O house of Israel! Give ear, O house of the king! For judgment is for you, because you have been a snare at Mizpah and a net spread upon Tabor. 2 The revolters have gone deep in slaughter; but I will discipline all of them. 3 I know Ephraim; Israel is not hidden from me. For now, O Ephraim, you have played the whore; Israel is defiled. Their deeds do not permit them to return to their God. 4 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 their guilt; Judah also shall stumble with them. 6 With their flocks and their herds they shall go to seek the Lord, but they will not find him; he has withdrawn himself from them. 7 They have dealt faithlessly with the Lord; for they have borne foreign children. Now the new moon shall devour them with their fields. 8 Blow the horn in Gibeah, the trumpet at Ramah! Sound the alarm at Beth‑aven; behind you, Benjamin! 9 Ephraim shall become desolation in the day of punishment; among the tribes of Israel I make known what is sure. 10 The princes of Judah were like those who move a landmark; I will pour out my wrath upon them like water. 11 Ephraim is oppressed and broken in judgment, because he was determined to go after filth. 12 Therefore I am like a moth to Ephraim, and like rot to the house of Judah. 13 When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah saw his wound, then Ephraim went to the Assyrian and sent to the great king; but he is not able to heal you, and he cannot cure you of 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 take away, and none shall rescue, and I will return again to my place, until they acknowledge their guilt and seek my face, and in their distress they will seek me earnestly. 15 Then they will say, ‘Come, and let us return to the LORD; for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up.’

Observation Questions

1. What specific charges does God bring against the leaders in verses 1–3, and how does the preacher describe the leaders’ calling being twisted into a snare? [12:23]
2. Hosea 5:3 says, “I know Ephraim; Israel is not hidden from me.” What examples from the sermon show how God’s omniscience can both comfort believers and expose hidden sin? [20:10]
3. Read verses 5–6. What does “the pride of Israel testifies to his face” mean in the passage, and what modern “high places” did the sermon list as possible contemporary equivalents? [29:03]
4. Verse 6 says they will “go to seek the Lord, but they will not find him.” According to the sermon, what crucial element is missing from their seeking that explains why they don’t find God? [34:17]

Interpretation Questions

1. Why does the prophet address priests, the house of Israel, and the house of the king first in verse 1? How does the sermon interpret the leaders’ responsibility to “guard souls” and the consequence when they fail? [12:23]
2. How should the images of a “moth” and “dry rot” in verse 12 be understood — as gradual divine chastening, natural consequences of sin, or both? What point did the sermon make about these slower warnings before harsher judgment? [47:48]
3. What is meant by the sermon’s statement that Assyria is like a “butcher” and cannot heal Israel (vv. 13–14)? What theological difference does the sermon draw between worldly remedies and true repentance? [50:31]
4. In verse 15 the word “until” links three responses: acknowledge guilt, seek my face, and seek earnestly. What sequence and purpose does the sermon assign to these three steps in turning a people from judgment toward mercy? [53:08]

Application Questions

1. For those who lead (parents, pastors, managers, coaches): what is one concrete change you can make this month to “clear a path to God” for someone under your care—one action, one conversation, one correction? Be specific. [12:23]
2. God “sees” both hidden obedience and hidden compromise. Name one hidden obedience you can thank God for and one hidden compromise you need to confess this week. What first concrete step will you take for the confession (prayer, confess to a friend, remove a temptation)? [20:10]
3. Identify one “high place” you find yourself quietly proud of (wealth, health, ministry skill, intellect, reputation, family). What is a practical step this week to re-orient that pride so you “boast” in knowing the Lord instead? (Example: give away a portion, schedule an accountability conversation, confess publicly.) [29:03]
4. Think of a recent “growl” in your life (a small loss, discipline, or disruption). Instead of patching the symptom with a worldly “Assyria,” what heart-level diagnosis might God be calling you to? Name one specific repentance step you will take. [39:58]
5. Using the three “until” responses in verse 15, write a short, specific plan: (a) one thing you will acknowledge and confess, (b) one practice to seek God’s face (time/place/scripture), and (c) one way you will “earnestly seek” him this week (fast, extended prayer time, meet with a mentor). Then tell one other person for accountability. [53:08]
6. Who in your circle needs a leader who helps them persevere (a neighbor, co‑worker, younger Christian)? Name that person and one concrete way you will help them this month (invite to study, pray for them weekly, offer practical help, point them to repentance). [12:23]