Ephraim and Judah.
The judgment is represented in these verses as already fallen. Shrill cornet and trumpet blasts announce the presence of the invaders. They fill the land. They are at the borders of Judah. They menace Benjamin.
1. Ephraim's destruction came upon him suddenly. It was on him before he was aware. Ere almost he could realize the fact, the land was in possession of invaders. It is thus that God's judgments commonly overtake transgressors. While they are saying to themselves, "Peace and safety," "sudden destruction cometh upon them" (1 Thessalonians 5:3). They mocked at the warning and professed to disbelieve it. Now, to their amazement, they find God's word come true. They are caught in the wave of judgment. "The sorrows of death compass them, the pains of hell get hold upon them." It was so at the Flood (Matthew 24:38, Matthew 24:39); at Sodom (Luke 17:28, Luke 17:29); at the destruction of Jerusalem (Luke 17:30, Luke 17:31); and shall be so at the Lord's second advent (Matthew 24:48-51).
2. When Ephraim's hour came he was powerless to save himself. He might blow his trumpets; he might raise cries of frantic distress; he might warn Benjamin; but he could not deliver his own soul. So, in the day of judgment, the haughtiest of those who now exalt themselves against God will find themselves to be impotent. They will find their foe to be one against whom there is no contending. They may cry for mercy; may shout to the mountains and rocks to fall on them (Revelation 6:16); may plead, like Dives, for their "five brethren" (Luke 17:27, Luke 17:28); but they will know that for themselves there is no hope in resistance.
3. Ephraim's desolation would be complete. "Ephraim shall be desolate in the day of rebuke," etc.
II. THE DANGER TO JUDAH. (Hosea 5:8, Hosea 5:10)
1. The ruin of one sinner is a warning to others. Judah was partaker in Israel's sins. The destruction of Ephraim was therefore of very special significance to the sister state. It portended judgment to it also. When the northern kingdom was in the hands of the foe, the cry might well be raised, "After thee, O Benjamin."
2. The ruin of one sinner foretells judgment on others. It not merely warns of it; it predicts it. It says, "Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish" (Luke 13:3). Judah's punishment was as certain as Ephraim's.
III. MORAL CAUSATION. (Hosea 5:11, Hosea 5:12) The moral state of Ephraim and Judah, and the judgments which overtook them, stand in the relation of cause and effect. There is nothing arbitrary in the Divine government. God but gives to the sinner what his own doings have earned (Hosea 4:9).
1. Judah's sin and Ephraim's sin were practically the same sin.
2. Judah's punishment and Ephraim's punishment would accordingly be alike. "Therefore will I be unto Ephraim as a moth, and to the house of Judah as rottenness." The agency at work in their destruction, while supernatural in origin, would work through natural causes and in accordance with natural laws. Destruction is prepared for by a process of internal decay. This decay is gradual, secret, sure, ruinous. It affects all parts of the social fabric. It so eats away its substance that it needs but a touch to make it fall in pieces. This is precisely what happens in a state when moral laws are tampered with.—J.O.