5:4
“Their deeds do not permit them ..” Actions have consequences, and consequences beyond the obvious ones. We can see this in the case where someone takes drugs and gets addicted, or becomes an alcoholic. They then find it very difficult to give up, even if they want to. All sin has a similar effect, it brings about deeper changes than the immediate action. We are then told that they have the spirit of prostitution (whoredom or harlotry in other versions). Spirit here could be seen as an attitude of mind and heart, or it could also be seen as having some connection with demonic spirits as well, or maybe it is a mixture of the two. Sin has far deeper effects than we ever imagine.
5:5
Ephraim, being the largest tribe, led all of Israel in his pride. The whole of the northern kingdom was infected with this pride. They would follow each other in their sin or iniquity. Moreover, Judah would follow them. So we see here that the whole of Israel, northern and southern kingdoms, was deeply infected with sin. This is the message that the prophets consistently conveyed to the nation, but it was the problem that the nation refused to confront, especially when Jesus was among them. And it was the problem that the Jewish converts to Christ did face up to when the gospel was preached to them. If we want to understand the Bible and Israel properly we have to see Israel as a sinful nation. If we want to understand ourselves and God properly we have to see ourselves as a sinful people. Any view of humanity that does not do this is fundamentally flawed, yet see how often even church teaching will fail to do this.
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