Hosea 5
Today's Passage: Hosea 5
In Hosea 5, we see God pronounce more judgment on the people of Israel because of their
unfaithfulness (v. 3-4). But I want to point out something interesting in the first verse: God is
condemning the leadership of the priests and kings. He says, “you have been a snare… a net
spread upon Tabor”, and God is talking about the leaders of Israel. The ESV Study Bible says,
“The image of the net, a device used for catching birds, depicts the Israelites as the prey of
priests and royalty.” The religious leaders during this time were not pointing people to God and
instead, leading them astray. Whether it was because of selfish gain, not a true understanding,
or something else, we might not ever know. But we can know that God is calling out the
spiritual leaders.
And this is something we need to be careful of. Following bad leadership can be costly. We
should never follow someone blindly. I think it is important to have and trust spiritual leaders in
your life. But never allow the influence of someone to be greater than the influence of God’s
Word on your life. Even the best spiritual mentor is human and will make mistakes.
For Israel, the people in charge of shepherding the flock were actually the one’s leading them to
the slaughter.
Let that not be the case for your life. Having a spiritual mentor is a great privilege! And I believe
it is important. But never follow blindly or you might either (1) make that person an idol or (2)
become very vulnerable to any opinion they have.
Written By: Brice Stockton
In Hosea 5, we see God pronounce more judgment on the people of Israel because of their
unfaithfulness (v. 3-4). But I want to point out something interesting in the first verse: God is
condemning the leadership of the priests and kings. He says, “you have been a snare… a net
spread upon Tabor”, and God is talking about the leaders of Israel. The ESV Study Bible says,
“The image of the net, a device used for catching birds, depicts the Israelites as the prey of
priests and royalty.” The religious leaders during this time were not pointing people to God and
instead, leading them astray. Whether it was because of selfish gain, not a true understanding,
or something else, we might not ever know. But we can know that God is calling out the
spiritual leaders.
And this is something we need to be careful of. Following bad leadership can be costly. We
should never follow someone blindly. I think it is important to have and trust spiritual leaders in
your life. But never allow the influence of someone to be greater than the influence of God’s
Word on your life. Even the best spiritual mentor is human and will make mistakes.
For Israel, the people in charge of shepherding the flock were actually the one’s leading them to
the slaughter.
Let that not be the case for your life. Having a spiritual mentor is a great privilege! And I believe
it is important. But never follow blindly or you might either (1) make that person an idol or (2)
become very vulnerable to any opinion they have.
Written By: Brice Stockton
No Comments