The people have removed themselves far from the Lord, spiritually speaking, and the tipping point has now been reached. He stands aloof from them in the book of Hosea because they have stood aloof from Him for so long. "When they go with their flocks and herds to seek the Lord, they will not find Him; He has withdrawn Himself from them. They are unfaithful to the Lord; they give birth to illegitimate children. When they celebrate their New Moon feasts, He will devour their fields." (Hosea 5:6-7)
These verses aren't saying that the Lord would not hear a sincere prayer of repentance. But as we've been told before in the book of Hosea and in the books of the prophets we've already studied, they are only going through the motions when they observe the prescribed religious rites. There is no heart to their observances of these rituals. As the Lord will say later through the prophet Isaiah, "They honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me." (Isaiah 29:13) Their hearts belong to other gods and to other things and to themselves, not to the Lord, which is why He compares them to an unfaithful wife who has conceived children that don't belong to her husband. You'll recall that Hosea's wife Gomer has been unfaithful to him and that it's extremely likely that only the first of their three children is actually his. Hosea understands the heartbreak of having the one you love be unfaithful; he can relate to what the Lord is saying about Israel.
You and I know from our study of the kings that the army of Assyria will soon attack and conquer the northern kingdom of Israel. The Lord has already decided to allow this to happen. He doesn't specifically warn Israel where the threat is coming from but He announces that the threat is imminent. Not only is there an advancing threat on the northern kingdom, but the southern kingdom of Judah has been falling into some of the same sinful practices as the northern kingdom. The situation in Judah will continue to deteriorate until that nation also falls (to Babylon) about 130 years after the northern kingdom. "Sound the trumpet in Gibeah, the horn in Ramah. Raise the battle cry in Beth Aven; lead on, Benjamin. Ephraim will be laid waste on the day of reckoning. Among the tribes of Israel I proclaim what is certain. Judah's leaders are like those who move a boundary stone. I will pour out My wrath on them like a flood of water. Ephraim is oppressed, trampled in judgment, intent on pursuing idols. I am like a moth to Ephraim, like rot to the people of Judah." (Hosea 5:8-12)
The references to moths and rot are references to things that cause destruction. Although the Lord intends to bring destruction through the armies of foreign nations, He makes it clear that this is His work. Assyria couldn't become an ancient world power and lift a finger against Israel if He didn't allow it. Babylon could never muster enough strength to overthrow Assyria and then conquer Judah if He didn't allow it. The judgment is from Him---from the One they've rejected. So He says that He is like a moth or like rot because He is the one bringing about the calamities ahead.
"When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah his sores, then Ephraim turned to Assyria, and sent to the great king for help." (Hosea 5:13a) It's ironic that the people to which they turned for help will be the very people to bring about the ruin of the nation. The people forgot that the Lord was their helper. In trouble they forsook Him in favor of human help, but as David once said, "Human help is worthless." (Psalm 60:11b) The Lord will often send us help through our fellow man, but we are to look to Him for everything we need with the understanding that all our needs are supplied by Him whether He chooses to supply those needs supernaturally or through our fellow man or other natural means. What happened in ancient Israel and Judah is that so many people forsook Him entirely, not acknowledging Him as the giver and sustainer of life, and they looked to pagan deities and to pagan kings for help.
We have all sinned and we can't point a finger at anyone in the Bible since we aren't guiltless ourselves. We have also been guilty at times of depending on our own strength and ingenuity to solve our problems. I was guilty of that lately, turning a problem around and around in my mind until I made myself distraught, only to finally realize I wasn't turning it over to the Lord for help. I was hanging onto it myself and it wasn't until I turned it over to Him that the breakthrough came. I praise Him for that! The whole situation suddenly turned around because He turned it around. So we can't look down on the people of the Bible since we aren't sinless ourselves but we can learn from their mistakes.
We can learn, through the Scriptures, about the folly of placing all our hopes on our own strength or on the help of our fellow man. We can study what the Lord said through the prophets in regard to trusting in anyone or anything except the Lord. We can clearly see, through our study of the Scriptures, the sad consequences of forsaking the Lord. He is the One who created us, who loves us, who provides for us, who hears our prayers, and who makes a way for us to obtain eternal salvation. We couldn't do any of these things for ourselves and this is why He must remain first and foremost at the center of our lives and hearts. He alone is God. He alone created us and sustains us. He alone imputes righteousness to us so that we can someday go into His presence and enjoy fellowship with Him forever. If we refuse His merciful offer of forgiveness, nothing remains to us but judgment. Nothing can be done except for Him to say, "Raise the battle cry!", because we are fighting against the very One---the only One---who can save us from the consequences of our sin and rebellion.
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