Deeper Commentary
Hos 4:1 Hear the word of Yahweh, you children of Israel; for Yahweh has a charge against the inhabitants of the land- Hosea 4 described a "charge" or law suit (Hos. 4:1 Heb.) between God and the inhabitants of the land- and it’s over lack of integrity, mercy and knowledge of God. This parallels Hosea's projected divorce with Gomer. Verse 4 and Hos. 5:1 continues the legal language. These things are paralleled in the law suit with murder, stealing and adultery- things which most people would shrug at are considered by Him to be criminal matters. At the end of chapter 3 we find God hopeful that His relationship with Israel might be re-established at the return from exile. But here, the tone changes. However it could be that we have here a prophecy from earlier in Hosea's ministry, where he explains why Israel is to be judged.
Indeed there is no truth, nor goodness, nor knowledge of God in the land- These are the very things we have read of in Hos. 2. As noted on Hos. 2:20, the knowledge of God meant relationship with Him, based upon repentance and being given God's grace. This was the ultimate "truth". Israel didn't want this, and yet God wanted to give it to them anyway, just as Hosea so loved Gomer that he wanted by all means to force through the restored relationship with her, just as God wanted the restored community of exiles to be His. The lack of truth reflects Gomer's deep dishonesty with Hosea; the "lying" (deceit) of :2. The key to understanding Hosea 4-14 is perceiving that God's feelings are reflected in Hosea's towards Gomer due to the situation in Hos. 1-3. We have a unique window onto the feelings of Yahweh Himself towards His people.
Hos 4:2 There is cursing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery; they break boundaries, and bloodshed causes bloodshed- There is a downward spiral in sin, both on an individual and communal level. It is evident on the communal level, where "bloodshed causes bloodshed". "Break boundaries" translates a word meaning literally "to increase". It is used in :10; they had thought that they had increased, but all such human gain is in fact not any gain, and this is even perceived by those who so seek it.
The allusion in Hos. 4:2; 6:9; 7:1,4 is clearly to breaking of the ten commandments. These formed the basis of the old covenant. They had broken that covenant by doing these things, just as Gomer had. But the point was that a new covenant was being proposed to Gomer / Israel, seeing they had broken the old covenant- not simply in the sense of disobeying its terms, but thereby they had broken that covenant. It was no more. Just as Gomer's adultery had broken the marriage.
Hos 4:3 Therefore the land will mourn, and everyone who dwells therein
will waste away. All living things in her, even the animals of the field
and the birds of the sky; yes, the fish of the sea also die- This
repeats the language of other prophets, especially Isaiah, about the
calamity to befall Judah in order to appeal for her repentance (Is.
19:5,8; 24:4; Joel 1:10,12). The words and language is so similar. But
famine and drought were God's way of not simply punishing His people for
their sins, but appealing for their repentance; just as Hosea in Hos. 2
had thought of punishing Gomer so that she repented. And there was, as
always, collateral damage due to sin; the physical creation would suffer.
For "the land" is here paralleled with God's people upon it. The
'mourning' of the land was a hint at God's hope that they would mourn in
repentance, just as Hosea hoped of Gomer.
We are reading here of a de-creation, alluding clearly to the order in Gen. 1:30: "To every animal of the earth, and to every bird of the sky". The order of creation was fish, birds, beasts of the field and people- but that is reversed here. Yet this was in order for a new creation when Gomer / Israel entered the new covenant offered to them, as discussed on Hos. 2:18.
Hos 4:4 Yet let no man bring a case, neither let any man accuse; for
Your people are like those who bring charges against a priest- As
noted on :1, God has brought a legal case against Israel. But the tendency
of Israel was to argue back against God, as the returned exiles did:
"Wherein have we despised Your Name... polluted You?" (Mal. 1:6,7).
The parallel was in Gomer insisting to Hosea that she'd done
nothing wrong. And actually he was the one at fault. Bringing charges against a priest is an allusion to Dt. 17:12, where the
sin of presumption is defined as arguing back against the judgment of
God's priest. To argue back against God's judgments was effectively to put
God in the dock and condemn Him. Paul uses exactly this concept in Romans,
perhaps picked up from Hosea 4, in saying that if we seek to justify
ourselves when in court with God, we are putting God in the dock; see on
Rom. 3:4 ["let God be found true, but every man a liar. As it is written:
You must be justified in Your words and must prevail when You come before
judgment"]. Hosea wished his audience to accept that they had sinned
and were in the dock before God; to not accept this was the sin of
presumption. And doubtless he had lived all this out in discussions with
Gomer, who endlessly justified her conscienceless behaviour. And this is
what we are doing if we refuse to recognize our sin, or shrug it off with
excuses.
Hos 4:5 You will stumble in the day, and the prophet will also stumble
with you in the night- This stumbling spoke of what was to happen at
the invasions of Assyria and Babylon (Is. 8:15); but they had spiritually
"stumbled in [lack of] justice" (Is. 28:7), and so their judgment was but
a living out of their own attitudes and behaviour. Sin is its own
judgment, and in that sense "we make the answer now", constantly standing
before the judgment throne of God in daily life. Stumbling at noonday was
what the returned exiles did (Is. 59:10) because they "had no eyes", no
spiritual vision. The prophet who also stumbles with them could refer to
false prophets. But as Hosea spoke these words to his audiences in Israel
and Judah, he was "the prophet". He is thereby professing his unity with
them, just as both God and himself were united with their unfaithful wives
even in their fall. Such was their love.
Stumbling is the language of the curses for breaking the covenant (Dt. 26:37). As Gomer had broken the marriage covenant, so Israel had broken the old covenant. But they were by grace being offered a new covenant- but even that they, and Gomer, refused. And so it was offered to us.
And I will destroy your mother- This initially reflects Hosea's anger with Gomer's children, whom she had apparently born to him, when they were the children conceived in her adultery. Hosea had thoughts of deep anger against Gomer, telling her / his children that he would "destroy" their mother. Just as in Hos. 2 Hosea angrily says he will strip Gomer naked and kill her in the wilderness. But then his passionate love for her gets the better of him; and this all reflected the feelings of God for Israel, and His feelings for us who are sinners and unfaithful to the covenant. Jerusalem was seen as "the mother" (Gal. 4:26), so the Babylonian invasion and destruction of Jerusalem may specifically be in view.
"I will destroy..." is perhaps clarified by :6; the people had destroyed themselves by refusing knowledge / intimacy / relationship with God.
Hos 4:6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge- Although
God has just threatened to "destroy your mother" (:5), this was a
reflection of how they had destroyed themselves (Hos. 13:9) through "lack
of knowledge".
The "knowledge" in view is not academic,
theological propositions. Genuine intellectual failure is not a reason for
the wrath of God, nor of any reasonable person against another who simply
fails to understand. "Knowledge" is being used in the Hebraic sense of
'knowing', having a relationship. Just as Gomer rejected intimacy of
relationship with Hosea, "knowledge" in the relational sense.
Because you have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you- As noted above, this doesn't mean punishment for intellectual failure. One doesn't get angry with a child who adds up a sum in math and comes to a wrong answer. "Knowledge" is being used in the Hebraic sense, of relationship. And again, God's judgment upon His people is only reflective of the position they had adopted themselves. They rejected intimate relationship with Him, and so the relationship was over. And it was therefore axiomatic that He also rejected them.
That you may be no priest to Me- It was God's intention that not just the Levites but all Israel should be a nation of priests (Ex. 19:6), mediating relationship ("knowledge") of Him to the surrounding Gentile world. But instead they committed spiritual adultery with them. So they precluded their own potential, as being a priest to the world. Just as we do, if we become indistinguishable from the world. The word must become flesh in us as it was in the Lord, like Him we are to live amongst them that we may be the light of the world, but if we become as them then we can no longer be their light.
"No priest" means they were no longer His people, which meant being a nation of priests (Ex. 19:6 "If you will indeed obey My voice, and keep My covenant, then you shall be ... to Me a kingdom of priests"). Being a nation of priests was conditional upon their obedience. Although disobedient, God had still counted then as His priests, just as Hosea had married a prostitute, in the hope that they would live as He considered them. But this failed, and so they are stripped of that title and role.Because you have forgotten the law of your God, I will also forget your children- Mal. 2:7 clearly applies Hosea's argument in this verse to the returned exiles: "For the priest's lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth". As noted on Hos. 1:1, Hosea prophesied over a long time in various contexts, to both Israel and Judah. What was true of God's people at the time of the prophecy before the exile was sadly true of them once they returned from it; in essence they repeated the same failures which had led to their exile. "I will also forget your children" again has a basis in Hosea's momentary feelings about Gomer's children, whom she claimed were his when he knew they were hers by reason of her adultery. The law of Israel's God was their covenant with Him; they had forgotten that covenant and committed adultery with the Gentiles, just as Gomer had forgotten her marriage covenant with Hosea and had children by her lovers. But although that was how Hosea felt, it was not how he finally was with Gomer. And God likewise; He would never forget Zion's children, although He felt like doing so and disowning them completely. The "hope of Israel" speaks partly of the hope Israel have of final restoration to God, despite being so hopelessly separated from Him by their unfaithfulness. This is indeed a blessed hope, and the fact Israel have such hope to this day is a profound window onto God's grace. Israel forgot their God and their covenant with Him (Jer. 2:32), but of Zion's wayward children God said: "Yes they may forget, yet I will not forget you" (Is. 49:15).
Hos 4:7 As they were multiplied, so they sinned against Me- The
multiplication refers to the material wealth of Israel under
Jeroboam, and also the literal multiplying of Israel's seed in
accordance with the promises to Abraham. The more Hosea showered Gomer
with material blessings, the further she went from him, using it to pay
her lovers to sleep with her (Hos. 2). And God had the same experience
with Israel, both new and old. If we seek material blessing from God, we
must remember that it is likely to lead us astray spiritually; "Jeshurun
became fat, and kicked" (Dt. 32:15).
I will change their glory into shame- Again, it was Israel who had changed their glory [which should have been in their relationship with Yahweh] into the shame of idolatry (Ps. 106:20; Jer. 2:11). So God was only confirming them in what they themselves had done. Hos. 10:5 is clear that the glory of Israel was their idols. But they were to be ashamed of them; and here again there is the hint of repentance, for shame is intended to lead to repentance. This was and still is the intention of all God's anger and judgments- to elicit repentance. Perhaps Hosea's hard words to and about Gomer and her children were likewise spoken with the intention of provoking her to repentance. The pain of it all was that Gomer, like Israel with God, went through the motions of being the faithful wife.
Hos 4:8 They feed on the sin of My people, and set their heart on
their iniquity- The "they" could be the priests, who ate the
sacrifices of the people. Those sacrifices were a smoke in God's nostrils,
and were "sin" (Is. 66:3). But the "they" could also refer to the idols of
:7, who were thought to 'eat' or feed upon the sacrifices placed before
them. The Hebrew is difficult here, and the GNB may have the idea about
right: "You grow rich from the sins of my people, and so you want them to
sin more and more". Gomer spent Hosea's wealth on getting men to sleep
with her, and Israel squandered the riches of their spiritual inheritance
on their idols. This was why the lovers wanted Gomer to sleep with them
more and more. Or it could be that the priests of Yahweh were also working
as priests of the shrines; for :9 goes on to say that priest and people
shall perish together. They had turned Yahweh, Israel's glory, into the
shame of idolatry (:7).
Hos 4:9 It will be, like people, like priest; and I will punish them
for their ways, and will repay them for their deeds- The parallel of
people and priest was perhaps because the worship of Yahweh had become
mixed with that of idols; or maybe the same Levitical priests who
ministered in the temple also worked at the idol shrines, as suggested on
:7 and :8. Whilst leaders or spiritual facilitators [the priests] have a
greater responsibility, those willingly led by them are still culpable of
sin. They would alike be punished. The parallel between "ways" and "deeds"
is typical of how Hebrew poetry rhymes in terms of ideas, but the two
rhyming ideas are not identical, although having the same referent. Each
individual deed or act of sin was felt by God, just as each of Gomer's
adulteries were felt by Hosea. But the "way" of life is made up of the
stream of such deeds. We can deduce from this that individual "deeds" of
sin are felt and yet passed over by God; the question is whether they are
so consistent and habitual that they become a "way" of life. And we need
to likewise not focus upon the isolated failures of a person, but see them
within the overall way of life the person has. See on :18.
Hos 4:10 They will eat, and not feel satisfied- This again is the
theme of the prophets who criticized the Jews who returned from exile,
having apparently re-entered covenant with their God. They focused upon
their own satisfaction, and were not satisfied (Hag. 1:6 s.w.). I
suggested on :8 that the eating in view was in the practice of eating the
sacrifices offered to idols, intended to symbolize the idol eating or
feeding upon the sacrifice. But this would not 'satisfy'. The same word is
used in the curses for disobedience to the old covenant;
Israel would eat
and not be satisfied (Lev. 26:26). They looked for their satisfaction from
alliances with Egypt and Assyria (Lam. 5:6 s.w.), which were spiritual
adultery against Yahweh. But their relationships with Egypt and Babylon
left them unsatisfied (Ez. 16:28,29). They treated wealth as their
satisfaction (Ez. 7:19). As Ecclesiastes makes clear, seeking satisfaction
in anything other than God's ways will leave us not satisfied. And this is
the tragedy of secular man; he is never satisfied. There always has to be
more travelling to reach the end of the rainbow, another million, a better
house or car. Gomer was sexually addicted; but she was insatiable sexually
(Ez. 16:28,29). Being unsatisfied is the nature of all addiction; see on
Hos. 5:11. The same word is so often used of the righteous being satisfied
in God. This is a huge blessedness.
Eating and not being satisfied is the language of the curses for breaking the covenant (Dt. 26:26). As Gomer had broken the marriage covenant, so Israel had broken the old covenant. But they were by grace being offered a new covenant- but even that they, and Gomer, refused. And so it was offered to us.
They will play the prostitute- They had thought that they had increased, but all such human gain is in fact not any gain, and this is even perceived by those who so seek it. See on :2. As noted above, Gomer was sexually addicted and yet never satisfied (Ez. 16:28,29), even paying men to sleep with her, and therefore only 'playing the prostitute'.
And will not increase; because they have abandoned giving to Yahweh- This could mean that Israel like Gomer would become barren, and not bear children any more to her lovers (Hos. 9:14). "Giving to" might be better translated "holding to".
Hos 4:11 Prostitution, wine, and new wine take away the heart-
Alcohol and illicit sex are addictive; Gomer's heart had been "taken away"
by them. She was sexually addicted, even paying men to sleep with her, and
her heart was taken away by wine- perhaps a reference to the psychological
disease of alcoholism, as well as to the wine drunk by Israel before their
idols (Hos. 7:14).
Alcoholism is wrong because it is largely a disease of the mind, in that the alcoholic keeps
drinking because of a mindset which they are in; and therefore the cure is
related to the things of the spirit / mind. The alcoholic cannot trust himself,
their thoughts, feelings or best intentions. They persuade themselves they
will really only have one drink; and invariably they end up drunk. The
desire for alcohol and the need to survive as an active alcoholic makes
them totally self-centred; people become [sub-consciously] merely things
to be manipulated to allow the alcoholism to continue. It’s a disease the
mind persuades them has to be continued in at all costs. Alcoholism thus
becomes the epitomy of all sinful living.
Hos 4:12 My people consult with their wooden idol, and answer to a stick of wood- These sticks were phallic symbols. The idea of the original seems to be that they asked of their idols and [felt they] received answers from them, or that Israel answered to the idols. Although the idols were but wood and inanimate, yet Israel "answered" or responded to them. They felt a call from them; but that call they felt from something inanimate was really the call of their own lusts which they had transferred to the idol. And that is the essence of modern day idolatry.
Indeed the spirit of prostitution has led them astray, and they have been unfaithful to their God- As Gomer was sexually addicted and insatiable, even paying men to sleep with her, so the spirit of Israel was wrong. It wasn't a case of occasional, out of character failure; but a spirit of living. They were led astray by a mindset or spirit which sought self satisfaction, rather than the satisfaction which is from God alone. And it was this spirit which "led them astray". The essential issue in our day is whether we have the Spirit of Christ, without which we are none of His, or that of the world.
Hos 4:13 They sacrifice on the tops of the mountains, and burn incense
on the hills, under oaks and poplars and terebinths, because its shade is
good- The idolatry involved sleeping with the priests or
priestesses (:14); therefore "shade" and some seclusion was
required.
Therefore your daughters play the prostitute- "Your daughters" may have initial reference to other children of Gomer whilst married to Hosea. They did these things because "they", Israel, their parents, did them. The implication would be that those children of Gomer also grew up to live highly immoral lives. Again the problem with sin is the collateral damage done; others are influenced to sin. We have more influence upon others through our example than we think. Bearing in mind that the punishment for such whoredom was death, we see how God’s grace in Hosea’s lovely character actually contradicts the letter of the law, and certainly contradicts all natural human desire for judgment and expiation against those who have wronged us. Here was grace, pure and wonderful.
And your brides commit adultery- The sexual addiction in Israel was at such a tempo that brides committed adultery, sleeping with the male priests at the idol shrines, just as Gomer paid men to sleep with her.
Hos 4:14 I will not punish your daughters when they play the
prostitute, nor your brides when they commit adultery; because the men
consort with prostitutes, and they sacrifice with the shrine prostitutes;
so the people without understanding will come to ruin themselves-
Perhaps we are to read "I will not only punish your daughters..."
for being whores- because the men are equally or more guilty, in that it
was the men of Israel who slept with the women of Israel in this
fornication. Possibly we have here a warning against blaming prostitution
simply upon the female- her behaviour is in fact dependent upon males
wanting her services. The idea is that God need not additionally punish Israel because sin is
its own punishment; they would ruin themselves. And I have noted
throughout this chapter that so many of the Divine judgments upon Israel
were merely a reflection of how they themselves acted. Punishment for
adultery, sexual sin and idolatry was very clear within the Law of Moses.
But God says He will do this; He would let sin be its own punishment.
Hosea likewise thought of punishing Gomer for her unfaithfulness,
including judging her as a prostitute was to be judged under the Law; but
he refrained. All this behaviour was because the people lacked
"understanding". The reference is not to incorrect theology, but to the
"understanding" which is part of 'knowing' God in a relationship (Is.
6:10; Jer. 4:22). Hosea concludes with an appeal for "understanding" in
the sense of walking in God's ways (Hos. 14:9).
Hos 4:15 Though you, Israel, play the prostitute, yet don’t let Judah
offend- In the end, Judah behaved more immorally than Israel
did (Ez. 23:4,11,18). I suggested on Hos. 3:1 that perhaps Hosea married
two wives who were both prostitutes. Hosea's hope was that the second one
would not be so bad, and this reflected God's hope for Judah. It is so
tragic that God's dearest desires for people often don't come true. He so
respects human freewill that He will never force obedience or devotion to
Him, just as Hosea would not force this to come about.
And don’t come to Gilgal, neither go up to Beth Aven, nor swear, ‘As Yahweh lives’- These locations were just over the border from Judah, in the territory of Israel. Judah could just cross over briefly into Israelite territory and perform idolatry at the shrines there and then return to Judah. "Beth Aven" is literally 'house of vanity / idols'; perhaps the idea is that Beth El, the house of God, had become a house of idols as Israel had made Yahweh worship into idol worship. Gilgal had shrines (Jud. 3:19; Hos. 12:11) and was very attractive to Judah as a place of sin (Am. 4:4; 5:5). "All their wickedness is in Gilgal" (Hos. 9:15) shows how utterly abhorrent this is to God; to maintain an appearance of superior devotion to Him, whilst briefly slipping over the border to sin. This is the besetting weakness of our age; quietly, online, unseen by others, we can slip over the border to regular idolatry and then return. The oath "As Yahweh lives" was the oath of exclusive loyalty to Him; and yet God's people swore by Him and also by their idols (Dt. 10:20; Zeph. 1:5). Just as Gomer appeared faithful to Hosea, and yet slipped off to her lovers. It is a powerful challenge to us, demanding our total and exclusive loyalty to God; for anything less is adultery and idolatry.
When they swore falsely, they would mention God's Name. Jer. 5:2 observes the same. "They swear 'As the Lord lives,’ they, nevertheless, swear falsely”.
Hos 4:16 For Israel has behaved extremely stubbornly, like a stubborn
heifer. Then how will Yahweh feed them like a lamb in a meadow!-
There is an intended dissonance between the images of a stubborn heifer in
a stall refusing to be goaded or coaxed and backsliding (AV) away from her
owner; and a lamb being fed by a shepherd in a meadow. This was how things
could have been; but Israel would not. God dreamed of it, as Hosea
fantasized about a remarriage with Hosea. This was the whole tragedy of
the Hosea-Gomer relationship, and of that between the God of all
passionate love and His unfaithful people. The ten tribes to whom Hosea
was prophesying had made God in the image of a heifer or calf (1 Kings
12:28). And they had become like that which they worshipped. That
principle is true for us all.
Hos 4:17 Ephraim is joined to idols. Leave him alone!- "Joined"
alludes to how a man is "joined" to a woman in marriage and the sexual
act. Again the simile continues; Israel's worship of idols was adultery
against God. And in practice, they worshipped idols through performing the
sexual act of joining. It could be that this verse is a direct warning
from God to Hosea to stop trying to appeal to Ephraim, the ten tribes. The
way Hosea apparently kept trying with them would therefore have been a
reflection of his lifelong efforts with Gomer. And yet God like Hosea has
never left Ephraim alone, despite his being joined / married to idols. We
see throughout the wonderful passion of God, expressing His rightful sense
of hurt and disengagement with Israel, and yet His love and grace
continuing that engagement.
"Leave him alone" may be God's word to Hosea, telling him to stop trying to win them back. But Hosea does continue, just as he gave up with Gomer at times, or felt like doing so, but kept trying with her.
Hos 4:18 Their drink has become sour. They play the prostitute
continually. Her rulers dearly love their shameful way- See on 7:4 Burning.
This is the last stage of the addiction process; the drink is distasteful,
"sour", but is still drunk. The "way" is loved to the end, despite the
shame. "They play the prostitute continually" is
just two words in the Hebrew: "Prostitution, prostitution". They were
sexually addicted just as Gomer was. This is the end result of dabbling in
sin, like dabbling with narcotics. What is of the essence is our "way";
see on :9. Occasional sin becomes a way of life, or an addiction.
Hos 4:19 The wind has wrapped her up in its wings- This ultimately came true in Zech. 5:9: "Then lifted I up mine eyes, and looked, and, behold, there came out two women, and the wind was in their wings; for they had wings like the wings of a stork: and they lifted up the ephah between the earth and the heaven"- and carried it back to Babylon. As explained on :18, their dabbling in sin, hopping over the border to commit idolatry in Israel (:15), had led them to shameless addiction. They were now to be carried by the wind- both into captivity in Babylon and scattering in Assyria, and also spiritually or literally scattered back to Babylon even after they returned from exile, which is the context of Zech. 5.
And they shall be unfulfilled in the offering of their sacrifices- As noted on :10, there is a major theme of unfulfilment. Gomer was not satisfied by her affairs; she became sexually addicted, even paying men to sleep with her. This is the tragic end of all who follow the flesh. Their sacrifices to the idols, or to Yahweh, would not bring satisfaction because of their deep psychological devotion to their own flesh and their resistance of 'knowing' Yahweh, having a relationship with Him which was exclusive and took their entire heart.
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