Hosea 5:1-4

Israel is defiled -- Hosea 5:1-4: It was the duty of the priest to lead the people into worship of the true God. Instead they set a snare and got the people caught in the snare of idolatry. At Mizpah and Mount Tabor even the royal family had become a trap for the people instead of a blessing. In the instructions that God gave to Aaron concerning the priesthood He said, "And that ye may put difference between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean; And that ye may teach the children of Israel all the statutes which the LORD hath spoken unto them by the hand of Moses." (Leviticus 10:10-11) The priest had failed miserably by not fulfilling their responsibility before God.

At the very place of worship the priest had despised the authority of God. In their ungodliness they were so treacherous that even murder was not outside of their evil schemes. God knew all about Israel and He found them unacceptable to Him. He said, "Thou committest whoredom, and Israel is defiled." (Hosea 5:2) Ephraim, the capital was guilty, as was all of Israel. Much of the evil in Israel had its beginning in Ephraim. The people had become so corrupt that their evil deeds kept them from returning to God. The spirit of spiritual whoredom kept the people form knowing the Lord God. Their spiritual whoredom had also lead to the practice of physical whoredom. They were corrupted more and more by evil.