#1232 Hosea 4 The Verdict

 

Hear the word of the Lord, O children of Israel,

for the Lord has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land.

There is no faithfulness or steadfast love,

and no knowledge of God in the land;

2 there is swearing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery;

they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed.

3 Therefore the land mourns,

and all who dwell in it languish,

and also the beasts of the field

and the birds of the heavens,

and even the fish of the sea are taken away.

4 Yet let no one contend,

and let none accuse,

for with you is my contention, O priest.

5 You shall stumble by day;

the prophet also shall stumble with you by night;

and I will destroy your mother.

6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge;

because you have rejected knowledge,

I reject you from being a priest to me.

And since you have forgotten the law of your God,

I also will forget your children.

7 The more they increased,

the more they sinned against me;

I will change their glory into shame.

8 They feed on the sin of my people;

they are greedy for their iniquity.

9 And it shall be like people, like priest;

I will punish them for their ways

and repay them for their deeds.

10 They shall eat, but not be satisfied;

they shall play the whore, but not multiply,

because they have forsaken the Lord

to cherish 11 whoredom, wine, and new wine,

which take away the understanding.

12 My people inquire of a piece of wood,

and their walking staff gives them oracles.

For a spirit of whoredom has led them astray,

and they have left their God to play the whore.

13 They sacrifice on the tops of the mountains

and burn offerings on the hills,

under oak, poplar, and terebinth,

because their shade is good.

Therefore your daughters play the whore,

and your brides commit adultery.

14 I will not punish your daughters when they play the whore,

nor your brides when they commit adultery;

for the men themselves go aside with prostitutes

and sacrifice with cult prostitutes,

and a people without understanding shall come to ruin.

15 Though you play the whore, O Israel,

let not Judah become guilty.

Enter not into Gilgal,

nor go up to Beth-aven,

and swear not, “As the Lord lives.”

16 Like a stubborn heifer,

Israel is stubborn;

can the Lord now feed them

like a lamb in a broad pasture?

17 Ephraim is joined to idols;

leave him alone.

18 When their drink is gone, they give themselves to whoring;

their rulers dearly love shame.

19 A wind has wrapped them in its wings,

and they shall be ashamed because of their sacrifices. Hosea 4 ESV

Hosea 4 

The Lord has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land - He is putting Israel on trial.

There is no faithfulness or steadfast love - This is the beginning of the charges, and whatever men are toward God will flow out into their relationship with those made in His image. Men that say there is no God can easily look at their neighbor and see no natural, innate reason to respect their person. Men that say there is a god, but he is after my fashion, to my likes and dislikes, will always fail their neighbor, for in both cases god is really themselves, they know nothing higher. Israel wants God's favor, but they want it against His unchangeable, infinitely holy nature. 

…36“Teacher, which commandment is the greatest in the Law?” 37 Jesus declared, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38This is the first and greatest commandment.… Matthew 22: 36-38

No knowledge of God in the land - God is the primary force and mind behind all that exist, and the coding of all of Creation comes from His voice. Men have fallen out of the original relationship that our parents had in the garden, yet God has made Himself known. Through His word, the prophets, the temple, the sacrifices, He has provided means, even nature reflects back language and order, the signs of intelligent design. He is the self existing, eternal being, yet men say they have no evidence for God, but these knew of Him; He just wasn't what they wanted Him to be. The heart that loves sin will hate the very thought of a Holy and just God, it really needs no other reason, but that hate does become fashionable, a part of pop culture. Of anything or anyone that you could ever know, He is above all, the Creator of all, yet not worth hardly a moment or a passing glance from you. 

…9Instruct a wise man, and he will be wiser still; teach a righteous man, and he will increase his learning. 10The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. 11For through wisdom your days will be multiplied, and years will be added to your life.… Proverbs 9: 9-11

There is swearing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery - Here is the fruit of not really knowing God, not seeking after God, these are not just one offs, but the way they walk in, what they prefer. God is not cool enough for such that seek these things.

16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy,[d] drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do[e] such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another. Galatians 5: 16-26

Therefore the land mourns - He has put all things under our feet and so when men fall it effects the whole of creation, it is a blemish, a curse upon all things in time and space. We brought sin into the world and the wages of sin is death. Humans even use death for gain, to take what others have, to express dominance, and we have killed millions of infants in the womb even under the guise of compassion, when really we just sacrifice to our sin, to our lust, to our morbidly sick view of fair, that consequences should not rest with us, so we will deem another life as below our own. 

The ultimate result is bloodshed after bloodshed. In the ancient Hebrew, this is literally “bloody deed touches bloody deed.” “Apparently violent crimes had become so common that one seemed immediately to follow another, as if touching it.” (Wood) from Enduring Word

…19The creation waits in eager expectation for the revelation of the sons of God. 20For the creation was subjected to futility, not by its own will, but because of the One who subjected it, in hope 21that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.… Romans 8: 19-21

4-11 Yet let no one contend, and let no one accuse - It is a waste of time, for both the priest who should lead by example and the people they lead are in league with sin. God called the Levites to be priest to the nation, yet He called all of Israel to be a priest to all nations. 

Both priests and people rejected knowledge; God will justly reject them. They forgot the law of God, neither desired nor endeavoured to retain it in mind, and to transmit the remembrance to their posterity; therefore God will justly forget them and their children. If we dishonour God with that which is our honour, it will, sooner or later, be turned into shame to us. Instead of warning the people against sin, from the consideration of the sacrifices, which showed what an offence sin was to God, since it needed an atonement, the priests encouraged the people to sin, since atonement might be made at so small an expense. It is very wicked to be pleased with the sins of others, because they may turn to our advantage. What is unlawfully gained, cannot be comfortably used. The people and the priests hardened one another in sin; therefore justly shall they share in the punishment. Sharers in sin must expect to share in ruin. Any lust harboured in the heart, in time will eat out all its strength and vigour. That is the reason why many professors grow so heavy, so dull, so dead in the way of religion. They have a liking for some secret lust, which takes away their hearts. - Matthew Henry

They are greedy for their iniquity - Oh, no worries, just buy a dove and all is forgiven; they are like the Roman Catholic priests of Martin Luther's day selling indulgences. It still, as these, set themselves in a place that is above and against God's word in favor of their traditions. 

…2“Why do Your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They do not wash their hands before they eat.” 3 Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? 4For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’ and ‘Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.’…

…5But you say that if anyone says to his father or mother, ‘Whatever you would have received from me is a gift devoted to God,’ 6 he need not honor his father or mother with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. 7You hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied correctly about you:… Matthew 15: 2-7

12-14 Inquire of a piece of wood - They were idolaters, the equivalent of adultery in the spiritual, in man's relationship to the true God. The people sought a worldly wisdom that fit with how they felt, though every faculty of reason and conscience had long been defiled, seared and hardened against the truth. 

Burn offerings on the hills - Much was said of the high places, and a people knowing about the true God, yet preferring the nature cults and the autonomy of being able to choose their own way, based upon their own preference, unfettered by reality. 

…32for the message that he cried out by the word of the LORD against the altar in Bethel and against all the shrines on the high places in the cities of Samaria will surely come to pass.” 33Even after these events, Jeroboam did not repent of his evil ways, but again he appointed priests for the high places from every class of people. He ordained anyone who desired to be a priest of the high places. 34And this was the sin of the house of Jeroboam that led to its extermination and destruction from the face of the earth.… 1 Kings 13: 32-34

I will not punish your daughters when they play the whore, nor your brides when they commit adultery - Why not, wasn't this the law? This is what everyone hates to hear in our day, but God created Adam first, and Eve was not an after thought, but this was His ordained order. He brought Adam from the dust and Eve from the side of Adam, this is headship, this is responsibility, and men are to be the priests and protectors. They are to lead the way in all godliness, ensuring that their family is spiritually fed by the word of God and by doing what God's word says, yet the men of Israel were not without guilt in this; they went to prostitutes, so they were fornicators and adulterers. God is not disarmed by culture or consent, there is no where outside His jurisdiction with what He created. It reminds me of the men that came after Jesus, bringing Him a woman caught in adultery. They caught her, right? That implies that they witnessed something. Let's put the text here:

but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2 Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. 3 The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst 4 they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. 5 Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” 6 This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. 7 And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. 9 But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. 10 Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” 11 She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”]] John 8: 2-11

We caught her, dead to rights, and they knew this, that Rome was over them, remember this is in the time of gentile rule, so for Christ to give a sentence of death would be to defy those who governed, who held the power of life of and death, like the thumbs up or thumbs down in the movie Gladiator. God has taken on the form of man, much deeper than that though, He has added humanity to His deity, so they just see a man in front of them, and they think they have outsmarted Him. If He says, "go ahead, stone her", he defies Rome, but if he says, "don't", then they think to accuse Him of defying God, Who He claims as His Father. But there is another problem here, that they have witnessed adultery, which is a sin of two people, so where is the man? They are hypocrites and Christ's answer takes it to uncomfortable depths, that they had a rule for them and another rule for women, but actually by the law, look, "let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone", and he had already written once on the ground, and oh I could speculate, maybe He wrote these words from Hosea 4: 13-14, that we are reading now, or maybe He wrote down how they knew of her adultery, that they had known this woman too, or other women, but we don't know, it doesn't tell us what is on the ground, but He has precedence from His Father's word. Some think He wrote nothing, just scribbled in the sand while they seethed and the Holy Spirit brought them under conviction. Remember what He also told them? They were all guilty.

27You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery.’ 28But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 Matthew 5: 27-28

Beginning with the older ones they dropped their stones and left; they knew they were guilty, and they were willing to put this woman through this, but not the man, because that would effect them. That's why I love it when men say, "abortion is a woman's issue," you say that because your not a man, you're a male human, but not a man the way God defines it, not the head, the one that is supposed to love your wife like Christ loved the church and laid His life down for it. God forbid you have to take the road of a dying social life, of being hated for righteousness sake, of standing alone, of sounding archaic because you put more trust in God than in the ever fluctuating beliefs of a immoral culture. They walked away because they wanted to hide, she stayed even with all those eyes on her, and the One, the only One there that was without sin, who could have thrown a stone out all of them, what does He say? "Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on, sin no more.  

15-19 Nor go up to Beth-aven - Gilgal was once a holy place to God.

Judah was to stay away from Israel's centers of false worship, including Beth-aven ("house of wickedness/deceit"). This was deliberate substitution for the name Bethel ("house of God"), once sacred to God, but made by Jeroboam a place to worship calves. - J Mac Study Bible

…16When Jacob woke up, he thought, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was unaware of it.” 17And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven!”

18Early the next morning, Jacob took the stone that he had placed under his head, and he set it up as a pillar. He poured oil on top of it, 19and he called that place Bethel, though previously the city had been named Luz.… Genesis 28: 16-19

Ephraim is joined to idols - Ephraim is often used as the head of the northern tribes, the largest of the tribes of Israel. Judah has been able to see all that Ephraim is doing and will now see them swept away by Assyria, but they don't head the warning. We have much history to look back on.

Their rulers dearly love shame - They hit the bottle and then partake in all sorts of immoral behavior, their rulers are drunks, shameful, yet brazen in their stupidity. When God lets them alone, turns them over to their depravity, it is certain from history what follows. If He is just as He claims to be, it must follow. They were wicked and given wicked rulers, that is a sure sign that God is judging a nation.