Read: Hosea 4-5
Chapter four
begins the passages about God’s charges against Israel. As we read them we must remember that the
entire book of Hosea is structured around two key things: Israel’s
unfaithfulness and God’s faithfulness. “There is no faithfulness, no
love, no acknowledgment of God in the land. 2There is only cursing,
lying and murder, stealing and
adultery; they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed” (4:1-2). The land mourns (4:3)
because sin affects all living things.
The priests should have known God and should have reminded the people to
follow the laws of the Lord but they shirked their responsibilities and did not
act as guardians of God’s laws or give proper religious instructions to the
people. The prophets were also guilty of
stumbling. Hosea warned the priests not
to blame the people for they themselves were guilty of twisting the law of God
for their own benefit (4:6-8). The
people willingly followed the priests in their degraded lifestyle and they all
would be punished – priests, prophets and people. They all entered into idolatrous
relationships and practiced the religious rites associated with them (4:9-10)
including cult prostitution, drunkenness and worshipping wooden idols
(4:11-12). Even their daughters had been led astray into
prostitution in the name of worship (4:12-13) however the Lord lays the blame
on the men who sponsored such conduct (4:14).
The people lack understanding and will come to ruin (4:14b). Hosea concludes with a stern warning of the
consequences of Israel’s spiritual adultery (4:15-19) and issues a plea to
Judah to not follow in the ways of Israel (4:15). His final verdict is that because of their
adultery and idolatry Israel will be put to shame (4:19).
The accusation against
the priests, rulers and people continues in chapter five. The
rulers of Israel have led the people into unfaithfulness. Hosea sites two examples of this, the first
is at Mizpah (5:1) and the second is at Mount Tabor (5:1). The result of poor leadership was a “deep
slaughter” which may refer to child sacrifice.
God warns the people that He knows about their sins. God is omniscient and is fully aware of all
that transpires on planet earth. The
Lord singles out Ephraim who led Israel into sin (5:3) and also caused Judah to
stumble into sin (5:5). The oracle ends
with Hosea telling the people that their religiosity will not help them. Because of their false worship, idolatry and
promiscuity they have no real knowledge, devotion or commitment to God and
without real repentance they cannot find God (5:6-7). The next section begins with a call to
action. “Blow
the horn,” (5:8) as a warning that the danger of God’s judgment is
near. The people would be judged in the
form of foreign invasion (5:8-11). This coming judgment is likened to two
destructive forces: a moth and dry rot
(5:12). Just as moths eat away at
clothing and dry rot causes gradual deterioration, God’s people will waste
away. Instead of turning to God, they
turned to Assyria (5:13) and now God will consume them like a lion consumes his
prey (5:14) and carry them off into exile.
God will deprive the Israelites of His gracious helpful presence until
they realize that turning to anything other than God is useless for help and
repent, earnestly seeking Him (5:15).
Prayer and Journaling
1. God’s people casually followed religious
traditions and were slowly enticed into the trap of spiritual adultery and
idolatry. There is a difference between
religion and having a genuine relationship with God. The Israelites were full of religious activity
(much of which was a perversion of God’s law’s) but lacked genuine relationship
with God out of which flows love, repentance and devotion to Him. How is your relationship with God? Are you living a life of regular confession,
genuine faith and obedience? Ask the
Lord about each one of these things.
What does He want to say to you about this today?
2. Pray for the leaders of the Canadian church to
follow through on their responsibility to deliver God’s Word faithfully and
represent Him in all they do. Ask the
Lord to show you how you can pray for church renewal in Canada.
