Hosea 4 Devotional
by Pastor Mark Hudson
One way to look at the structure of Hosea 4 is to follow Stuart of the Word Biblical Commentary
4:1-3 Accusations against the land
4:4-10 Accusations against the priesthood (could also be the people)
4:11-14 Accusation against false worship
4:15-19 Fall of false worship
The use of accusation in his outline comes from the English word controversy in the ESV in v 1. This word is used in legal settings. God is bringing evidence into court against the nation of Israel (the northern kingdom that split away from Judah in the south).
4:1-3: Notice the spiritual condition of the nation that was called by God. Notice the sins in juxtaposition to the ten commandments (Stuart).
Cursing #3 violation of Ex 20:7
Lying #9 violation of Ex 20:16
Murder #6 violation of Ex 20:13
Stealing #8 violation of Ex 20:15
Adultery #7 violation of Ex 20:14
Idols #2 violation of Ex 20:4-6
What God wants is three things according to verse 1: faithfulness or honesty or trustworthiness; 2: steadfast love – in this context “mutual concern that should bind people together (McComiskey), and 3: an “understanding of God’s ways and moral requirements (Ibid.).
4:4-10 is an accusation of the priests or the people. If you read the ESV, this section teaches that the priests are bad. If you read the NIV, NASB, NKJV, it is the people who are bad. I will skip over this important section to spend more time in 4:11-14
You might think that religious people who ignore God’s law would stop worshipping. Not the case here. We are incurably worshipping people. Listen or read scientist that are on t.v. or are popular. They are not talking science only but philosophy. These “scientist” sound as moralistic as an evangelist which is really what they often are.
A 21st century way to describe this worship is the twisted way people use the word “spiritual”. They don’t like dogma which means they don’t like anyone telling them what to do. They don’t like being told how to worship or who to worship because they don’t think anyone should be worshipped. And that is that. We are the party of Adam and Eve. We vote for ourselves, do things our way, and we won’t be told what is right and wrong. That is for us to decide.
Notice once again how idolatry lead to immorality. We see this over and over in the Bible. Fornication and wine . . . take away the understanding (v. 11). In fact, every verse in this section condemns immorality of some kind. It makes one wonder why a rejection of God also leads to a rejection of his wonderful gift of intimacy.
4:15-19: This section serves as a warning to the southern kingdom. Israel is lost, “joined to idols, leave him alone (v. 17). This is a strong and dreadful word against Israel. As Judah observes Israel, she must learn and turn away from her own sins. As Biblical readers know who are familiar with the O.T., this is not what Judah did. Rather, they also turned away from God and the judgment that fell on Israel fell on Judah.
This should be a warning for us. We as individuals, as a church, and as a nation (though we are not a theocracy like the nation of Israel was), have sinned against God. We have rejected God, ignored His law, and chosen our own way time and time again. We need to repent and purify our own worship and follow God’s law. His first law is to have complete trust in His Son as the only way to heaven. We show our gratitude for His grace by obedience.
If you get lost in all these accusations, the sins, the judgments, remember this word from McComiskey’s commentary on the first few verses, “Hosea’s marriage pictures sin not as disobedience to the demands of an austere God, but an affront to love. It is ingratitude to God who has loved us in our unloveliness and who has delivered us from the sordidness of life without him “ McComiskey p. 56. This is why grace can be called amazing.