YHWH'S INDICTMENT OF ISRAEL AND WARNING OF THE CONSEQUENCES (HOSEA 4:1). YHWH now charges ‘the people (children) of Israel' with being bereft of all truth and compassion because of their lack of the knowledge of YHWH. In consequence they are breaching all the commandments, and engaging in widesprea... [ Continue Reading ]
ISRAEL'S GROWING SPIRITUAL BANKRUPTCY AND DEGRADED BEHAVIOUR ARE DESCRIBED ALONG WITH THEIR RELIANCE ON IDOLS, FOREIGNERS, UNWORTHY KINGS AND THEMSELVES, AND THIS IN CONTRAST WITH YHWH'S STEADFAST LOVE FOR HIS FAILING SON (HOSEA 6:4 TO HOSEA 11:12). Hosea continues to describe the condition in which... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Hear the word of YHWH, you children of Israel, for YHWH has a controversy (legal grounds of dispute) with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor covenant love, nor knowledge of God in the land.' Hosea, addressing the ‘children of Israel' (Israel is to be their mother in Hosea 4... [ Continue Reading ]
‘There is nought but mouthing curses and breaking faith, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery.' This lack of truth and compassion comes out plainly in their behaviour. They continually pronounce curses ('lh) on others, they break faith and deceive and bear false witness, they kill, th... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Therefore will the land mourn, and every one who dwells in it will languish, with the beasts of the field and the birds of the heavens, yes, the fishes of the sea also will be taken away.' The consequence of all this will be that the land itself will suffer, and everyone in it will languish, to su... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Yet let no man strive, nor let any man reprove, for your people are as those who strive with the priest.' But none of the people of Israel will have any cause to grumble, or disagree with YHWH's actions, or reprove Him for what He has done, because they themselves are lawless. They are like ‘pries... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And you will stumble in the day, and the prophet also will stumble with you in the night, and I will destroy your mother.' The final result of their behaviour will be that God will cause them to stumble, as He metes out His punishment on them, and it will be to such an extent that it will be by bo... [ Continue Reading ]
‘My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. ‘Because you have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you, that you shall be no priest to me. Seeing you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.' It is possible to see this as addressed to Israel, seen as priests t... [ Continue Reading ]
YHWH ATTACKS BOTH PRIESTS AND PEOPLE BECAUSE THEY ARE SO TAKEN UP WITH SIN THAT THEY NO LONGER HEED HIM (HOSEA 4:6). Here we may see YHWH as attacking the priests for failing to teach the people, with the result that the people too will be punished for their doings. Alternately the whole people mig... [ Continue Reading ]
‘As they were multiplied, so they sinned against me. I will change their glory into shame.' YHWH then draws attention to what He had done for them. He had caused them to multiply (compare Hosea 1:10), and He had given them prosperity (‘glory'). This was always seen as a sign of God's approval. And... [ Continue Reading ]
‘They feed on the sin of my people, and set their heart on their iniquity.' The ‘they' here might suggest that the priests are in mind as a distinctive body, becoming wealthy as a result of leading the people astray (feeding on the sin of His people). And the second charge is that they themselves t... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And it will be, like people, like priest, and I will punish them for their ways, and will requite them their doings.' For in the end there will be no distinction between people and priest. People and priest alike will behave badly and will be punished for their ways and requited for their doings,... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And they will eat, and not have enough, they will play the harlot, and will not increase, because they have left off taking heed to YHWH.' And part of their punishment will lie in the fact that when they eat they will not have enough, and when the women have relations with men they will produce no... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Whoredom and wine and new wine take away the understanding.' Israel are here described as being lacking in understanding both because of their whoredom and licentiousness, and because they indulge themselves in abundance of wine, each of which is a consequence of their religious activities. Illici... [ Continue Reading ]
STRONG WINE AND ILLICIT SEX HAVE TURNED THE PEOPLE'S MINDS SO THAT THEY LOOK TO BITS OF WOOD CONCERNING THEIR FUTURE AND PLAY THE HARLOT ON THE TOPS OF MOUNTAINS AND UNDER SACRED TREES RATHER THAN LOOKING TO YHWH (HOSEA 4:11). The strong wine and illicit sex which are a part of their religious acti... [ Continue Reading ]
‘My people ask counsel at their piece of wood (tree, timber), and their staff makes declaration to them, for the spirit of whoredom has caused them to err, and they have played the harlot, departing from under their God.' The result of their behaviour is that they foolishly seek counsel from pieces... [ Continue Reading ]
‘They sacrifice on the tops of the mountains, and burn incense on the hills, under oaks and poplars and terebinths, because its shadow is good. Therefore your daughters play the harlot, and your brides commit adultery.' High places, (raised sites, especially in the hills), were ever a feature of Can... [ Continue Reading ]
‘I will not punish your daughters when they play the harlot, nor your brides when they commit adultery, for the men themselves go apart with harlots, and they sacrifice with the prostitutes, and the people who do not understand will be overthrown.' YHWH then pointed out that He would not punish the... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Though you, Israel, play the harlot, yet let Judah not offend, and do not come to Gilgal, nor go you up to Beth-aven, nor swear, “As YHWH lives”.' Within the prophet's heart was always a fear that Judah would go in the same way as Israel, whilst his hope was that if Judah remained solidly behind Y... [ Continue Reading ]
‘For Israel has behaved himself stubbornly, like a stubborn heifer. Will YHWH then feed them as a lamb in a large place?' In vivid terms Hosea then points out that Israel was like a stubborn heifer which digs its feet in and refuses to follow its owners, even when dragged with ropes. In the same wa... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Ephraim is joined to idols, let him alone.' Indeed all are to recognise that Ephraim (Israel) is conjoined with idols (like mistresses to their lovers, or men bound by a covenant) and is therefore to be avoided. It is to be left alone. Alternately the word ‘conjoined' can have a magical significan... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Their drink has become sour, they play the harlot continually, her rulers dearly love shame, the wind has wrapped her up in its wings, and they will be put to shame because of their sacrifices.' Hosea now provides the reasons why Israel are to be avoided. The first reason is because their drink has... [ Continue Reading ]