seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Hosea 4:1 Hear the word of the Lord, you Israelites,
because the Lord has a charge to bring
against you who live in the land:
“There is no faithfulness, no love,
no acknowledgment of God in the land.
2 There is only cursing,[a] lying and murder,
stealing and adultery;
they break all bounds,
and bloodshed follows bloodshed.
3 Because of this the land dries up,
and all who live in it waste away;
the beasts of the field, the birds in the sky
and the fish in the sea are swept away.
because the Lord has a charge to bring
against you who live in the land:
“There is no faithfulness, no love,
no acknowledgment of God in the land.
2 There is only cursing,[a] lying and murder,
stealing and adultery;
they break all bounds,
and bloodshed follows bloodshed.
3 Because of this the land dries up,
and all who live in it waste away;
the beasts of the field, the birds in the sky
and the fish in the sea are swept away.
4 “But let no one bring a charge,
let no one accuse another,
for your people are like those
who bring charges against a priest.
5 You stumble day and night,
and the prophets stumble with you.
So I will destroy your mother—
6 my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge.
let no one accuse another,
for your people are like those
who bring charges against a priest.
5 You stumble day and night,
and the prophets stumble with you.
So I will destroy your mother—
6 my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge.
“Because you have rejected knowledge,
I also reject you as my priests;
because you have ignored the law of your God,
I also will ignore your children.
7 The more priests there were,
the more they sinned against me;
they exchanged their glorious God[b] for something disgraceful.
8 They feed on the sins of my people
and relish their wickedness.
9 And it will be: Like people, like priests.
I will punish both of them for their ways
and repay them for their deeds.
I also reject you as my priests;
because you have ignored the law of your God,
I also will ignore your children.
7 The more priests there were,
the more they sinned against me;
they exchanged their glorious God[b] for something disgraceful.
8 They feed on the sins of my people
and relish their wickedness.
9 And it will be: Like people, like priests.
I will punish both of them for their ways
and repay them for their deeds.
10 “They will eat but not have enough;
they will engage in prostitution but not flourish,
because they have deserted the Lord
to give themselves 11 to prostitution;
old wine and new wine
take away their understanding.
12 My people consult a wooden idol,
and a diviner’s rod speaks to them.
A spirit of prostitution leads them astray;
they are unfaithful to their God.
13 They sacrifice on the mountaintops
and burn offerings on the hills,
under oak, poplar and terebinth,
where the shade is pleasant.
Therefore your daughters turn to prostitution
and your daughters-in-law to adultery.
they will engage in prostitution but not flourish,
because they have deserted the Lord
to give themselves 11 to prostitution;
old wine and new wine
take away their understanding.
12 My people consult a wooden idol,
and a diviner’s rod speaks to them.
A spirit of prostitution leads them astray;
they are unfaithful to their God.
13 They sacrifice on the mountaintops
and burn offerings on the hills,
under oak, poplar and terebinth,
where the shade is pleasant.
Therefore your daughters turn to prostitution
and your daughters-in-law to adultery.
14 “I will not punish your daughters
when they turn to prostitution,
nor your daughters-in-law
when they commit adultery,
because the men themselves consort with harlots
and sacrifice with shrine prostitutes—
a people without understanding will come to ruin!
when they turn to prostitution,
nor your daughters-in-law
when they commit adultery,
because the men themselves consort with harlots
and sacrifice with shrine prostitutes—
a people without understanding will come to ruin!
15 “Though you, Israel, commit adultery,
do not let Judah become guilty.
do not let Judah become guilty.
“Do not go to Gilgal;
do not go up to Beth Aven.[c]
And do not swear, ‘As surely as the Lord lives!’
16 The Israelites are stubborn,
like a stubborn heifer.
How then can the Lord pasture them
like lambs in a meadow?
17 Ephraim is joined to idols;
leave him alone!
18 Even when their drinks are gone,
they continue their prostitution;
their rulers dearly love shameful ways.
19 A whirlwind will sweep them away,
and their sacrifices will bring them shame.
do not go up to Beth Aven.[c]
And do not swear, ‘As surely as the Lord lives!’
16 The Israelites are stubborn,
like a stubborn heifer.
How then can the Lord pasture them
like lambs in a meadow?
17 Ephraim is joined to idols;
leave him alone!
18 Even when their drinks are gone,
they continue their prostitution;
their rulers dearly love shameful ways.
19 A whirlwind will sweep them away,
and their sacrifices will bring them shame.
a. Hosea 4:2 That is, to pronounce a curse on
b. Hosea 4:7 Syriac (see also an ancient Hebrew scribal tradition); Masoretic Text me; / I will exchange their glory
c. Hosea 4:15 Beth Aven means house of wickedness (a derogatory name for Bethel, which means house of God)
The easy English seems to explain this best this morning.
A second part of the book of Hosea begins here (4:1-9:9). There are three important sins that Hosea writes about:
· There is no truth.
· People are not loyal to God.
· There is no knowledge of God.
The main idea from Hosea tells the people this. Everything that he says comes from God. The message is for everyone who lives ‘in this country’. God is taking his people to a ‘court’. The people will have to give an answer for their sins. The first of these sins is that the people are not ‘true’. The people do not know God. This is something that is important to Hosea. It was part of the covenant between Israel and God. There are six sins that break the commandments (Exodus 20:7-15 and Deuteronomy 5:5-19).
In verse 2, to ‘swear’ can also mean a *covenant between two people where they use God’s name. ‘Lying’ means people who are not being true with each other. This could be about business. Life will slowly come to an end. God will not let anything live. The second word for ‘die’ can also mean a woman who cannot have any children. God (verse 4) does not have one priest that he is thinking of. He is thinking of all the priests and prophets in Israel. The word ‘falling’ perhaps means that they cannot see. They are weak. They ‘fall’ against each other (see Deuteronomy 28:28-29). The priests can only blame themselves for this. Israel used to know God in a way that was part of the covenant. But the priests did not want to know God. They forgot him. So God will not accept them as priests. God will forget the priest’s children too. In the book of Hosea, the word ‘forget’ is the opposite of ‘know’. It can also mean ‘not obey’.
The priests became rich when Jeroboam 2nd was king. They gave help to the rich people and leaders. The priests did not try to correct them. The priests, too, were earning money at the sacrifices. The priest could have a part of the animal sacrifice (Leviticus 7:28-38). But it is probable that the priests forgave people too easily. The priests did this if the people gave them money. So the priests lived from the people’s sins This is what the word ‘eating’ means. But the food will not be enough.
God cannot show his people the right way. This is because of all the wine that the people drink. It makes them stupid . The ‘wood’ might mean an *idol. Perhaps it means a way of finding out what God wants about something. The sticks of wood would fall in a certain way(Ezekiel 21:21). There is a spirit of prostitution. This means that another power has made the people not true to God.
The ‘tops of the mountains’ and ‘hills’ were places where the priests put altars. These were small and simple things. Perhaps there were a few trees and a kind of idol. Perhaps they made some of the sacrifices to God. But they made some sacrifices to other gods. This was the same as not being true to their husbands or wives. It is possible that ‘daughters’ means women. Hosea does not mean that the women were prostitutes. It is a way of saying that they, too, worshipped other gods. But there were temple prostitutes. The men offered their sacrifices and then had sex with them. All these things meant that the people understand very little.
This is from bibletrack.org.In this chapter, the sin of Israel's embracing false gods is once again the theme. Verse 1 sets the tone for the chapter, "Hear the word of the LORD, ye children of Israel: for the LORD hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land." Again, let me remind you, from their first king, Jeroboam, they never served God. He immediately erected two calves for worship, and that became their form of basic worship in the Northern Kingdom. When they wandered away from the base religion to Baal, Molech and others, they would from time to time come back to their basic worship, the two calves. They were unfaithful to the one true God from their very beginning. Even their two-calf priests are given dishonorable mention in verses 4-11. Their culpability is identified here.
We see in verses 12-14 that the people of Israel were worshiping and looking for leadership from false gods rather than from their own true God. Judah is mentioned in verse 15. They had their problems of going after other gods as well, but their base religion was the worship of the one true God. When they went back to basics, that's where they went. The prophets often identify the deviation from serving Jehovah as spiritual harlotry. Ephraim is mentioned in verse 17 as the most influential of the tribes comprising the Northern Kingdom.
A friend asked me why so much awful stuff happened to those descendants of Jacob [Israel]. This is a good example of why. The temple priests were drunken, lying, thieves.... they were selling forgiveness. I need to remember.... Israel had split from Judah. Judah had the Temple in Jerusalem..... the people from Israel had to travel to Jerusalem to do their sacrifices and religious holidays...... which hurt productivity and the rich were not happy..... so they built two fake temples in Israel. The people in Israel were worshiping a golden calf and having fertility orgies in their temples.... and the priests were encouraging it.
Today there are rich "priests"..... they have built crystal palaces, they make millions from donations aimed to cure a broken soul. They sell music and preach feel good stories. The idea that the Living God would rather see all that money used to feed the poor and heal the sick seems to have passed them by.... they rake it into their banking accounts.... and feed on the human need to "feel forgiven". These preachers say "buy my book"...... "donate to my cause"..... "buy these prayers"..... "you'll feel better".
I keep thinking of something I know to be true, this morning. When the water is turned off.... we have to go to the bathroom. Happens every time. Electric is off and we flip the switch on the wall when we enter a room.... as if that's going to help. There was no Temple in Israel.... the priests were drunk with power and deceit. They were making money off of religion.... but the people who trusted them..... instead of salvation they were heading right straight to hell.
Now this is not all the "priests" part. Back in the day.... when the descendants of Jacob [Israel] were given the 10 commandments.... it was a big deal. God told those people to teach their children those commandments. God told those people to teach their children the five books of law..... that way they would know how to act..... but those stupid humans didn't do that.... now they are being led right to hell..... with their priests leading them in ignorant bliss.
I wonder.... how many people in churches and chapels today are being led to hell? How many preachers are preaching to the paycheck and the free housing? How many choir directors are singing to the record label? How many singers are preaching to the bankers to increase their coffers? Do we make our idols out of copper, silver, and paper these days?
