Hosea 5: They couldn’t turn to God if they wanted to

We are slaves of sin and we can´t turn to God even if we want to.
That was the case of Israel.


3-4 “I know you, Ephraim, inside and out.
    Yes, Israel, I see right through you!
Ephraim, you’ve played your sex-and-religion games long enough.
    All Israel is thoroughly polluted.
They couldn’t turn to God if they wanted to.
    Their evil life is a bad habit.
Every breath they take is a whore’s breath.
    They wouldn’t recognize God if they saw me.

Ephaim was enslaved in sex-and-religon games for a long time. So, is there any hope to Ephraim?
Yes, there is hope: the Lord will attack Ephaim as a grizzly - a ferrous animal. The Lord is good, good enough to attack Ephaim when needed.

14-15
“I’m a grizzly charging Ephraim,
    a grizzly with cubs charging Judah.
I’ll rip them to pieces—yes, I will!
    No one can stop me now.
I’ll drag them off.
    No one can help them.
Then I’ll go back to where I came from
    until they come to their senses.
When they finally hit rock bottom,
    maybe they’ll come looking for me.”