3:4 The Lord explained that the Israelites would remain for a long time separated from their idolatrous practices. During this time they would not have a king or leader (i.e., national sovereignty), sacrifices or sacred pillar (or stone, i.e., formal religious activity), ephod or household idols (Heb. teraphim, i.e., methods of divination, cf. Judg. 18:27-31).40They would have none of the things that marked them as God's people or that they had used to worship idols.
3:5 After this period of cleansing, the Israelites would return to the Lord. They would seek Him as their God and a Davidic king as their ruler (cf. 2:7; 5:15; Deut. 4:29). They would approach the Lord with a healthy sense of fear because of His rich blessings. This would happen "in the last days,"namely, the days of Israel's national restoration (i.e., the Millennium; cf. Deut. 4:30; Isa. 2:2; Mic. 4:1).
