The Lord’s Case With Israel (4:1-19)
Neal Pollard
Hosea 4 begins the prophet’s disclosure of what his personal assignment was truly about. Writing from an empathy he otherwise would not have had, the inspired seer lays out the Lord’s case against His bride, Israel. It is possible to teach on subjects that one has no personal experience with and be effective, leaning on the power of God’s Word (Heb. 4:12). Yet, some of the most passionate, persuasive lessons come from intimate knowledge. For an omniscient God, there is perfect knowledge about every subject, but He is speaking from experience through the pen of Hosea. As such, He states His case (1).
The overview of the charges (1b-2). There is a twofold indictment against Israel. She is guilty of negligence, for her failure to be what she should be and do what she should do. He says, “There is no faithfulness or kindness Or knowledge of God in the land” (1). They lacked faithfulness, which James Swanson defines as “a state or condition of being dependable and loyal to a person or standard” (Dict. Of Biblical Languages, np). They were devoid of kindness (lovingkindness, loyalty; “The core idea of this term relates to loyalty within a relationship,” Nettelhorst, in Lexham Theo. Wdbk, np). They were without knowledge (“information of a person, with a strong implication of relationship to that person,” Swanson, np). All three of these sins of omission center around the neglect of the relationship, a failure to invest in it to the point that they were cold, distant, disinterested, and, not surprisingly, unfaithful to the relationship.
On the other side of this, they were aggressors as much as they were passive in this relationship. Verse two says, “There is swearing, deception, murder, stealing and adultery. They employ violence, so that bloodshed follows bloodshed.” Their unfaithfulness went beyond a failure to love. They were hateful and guilty of immorality on a grand scale. Their aggression was seen in acts of sexual immorality, but also violent mistreatment of others. God was an appalled, aggrieved groom.
The outcome of the crimes committed (3-14). Hosea focuses on the many consequences that followed Israel’s guilt in both her sins of omission and commission. The land and the people mourned (3). Sin promises joy and satisfaction, but it delivers guilt, misery, and emptiness (Psa. 38:4-8; Prov. 13:15). The people stumbled (5). They walked around in perpetual darkness and the prophets were no help. This sin cut across prophet, priest, and people. The people were destroyed for lack of knowledge (6). They were guilty of violating half of the Ten Commandments, the third, sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth (M. Weiss. “The Decalogue in Prophetic Literature.” The Ten Commandments in History and Tradition. Ed. B.-Z. Segal and G. Levi. Jerusalem: Magnes, 1985. 67–81). These relate mostly to sins against one another, but also include sin against God (including the mention of idols later in the chapter). The Period of the Judges proves that the failure to know God leads to limitless lawlessness (Jud. 2:11-23; 17:6-21:25). They prospered, but it led to sin and shame (7). Perhaps they thought money would buy happiness, but Scripture shows that the opposite is more the rule (1 Tim. 6:9-10). They negatively influenced each other, subjecting themselves to shame (8-9). Hosea points out that they negatively influenced one another through their sinful living–“it will be, like people, like priest” (9; cf. 1 Cor. 15:33). If only they had remembered Solomon’s inspired wisdom: “Righteousness exalts a nation, But sin is a disgrace to any people” (Prov. 14:34). They were greedy, but unfulfilled (10). They fed the desires of their flesh, to their undoing (11). Consider the divine truth Paul would some day share: “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life” (Gal. 6:7-8). They were ruined by idolatry (12-14). Entire families were consumed with religious sins that led to moral disintegration. It was pitiful, yet powerful. Israel was running headlong after sin, and it was spiritually killing them every step of the way!
The order for the chosen ones (15-19). Hosea diverts his attention from Israel to Judah, the southern kingdom and the tribe from which the Messiah would eventually come. While addressing Israel and warning her against evil influence, Hosea also charges Judah to learn from Israel’s folly and avoid it! He tells Judah to stay away from Israel’s centers of idolatry, Gilgal (9:15; 12:11), Beth-aven (Bethel? 5:8; 10:5; cf. Amos 4:4; 5:5), and Ephraim. The latter was the largest tribe of the northern kingdom, and it often is used to represent the entire nation. At least four reasons are given to stay away from Ephraim (17-19):
- Ephraim was a stubborn heifer–They could not be fed and pastured in such a state (16).
- Ephraim was joined to idols– God simply says, “Let him alone” (17)
- Ephraim was morally degenerate–“Their liquor gone, They play the harlot continually; Their rulers dearly love shame” (18)
- Ephraim was doomed–“The wind wraps them in its wings, And they will be ashamed because of their sacrifices” (19)(cf. James Smith, The Major Prophets, OT Survey Series, 232).
While this was not a legal case as much as it was like a divorce proceeding, it was an open and shut case. Israel was not only as guilty as sin, they were guilty of sin in every imaginable plain and to an unbelievable degree! What a reminder of the well-worn adage that “sin will take you further than you wanted to go, keep you longer than you wanted to stay, and cost you more than you wanted to pay.” Israel seems to be oblivious to danger. Would Judah learn from the sins of her sister?
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