Chapter 816 of 1163

HOSEA 4–5

Ignorance (4:1–10). What you don’t know can hurt you! The priests and prophets did not teach the Word or help the people know God. The religious services were popular, but the people were being destroyed for lack of true spiritual knowledge. It was only a religious routine (Matt. 15:1–9).

Idolatry (4:11–19). The key word here is harlotry, which is what idolatry really is. Like Hosea’s wife Gomer, Israel had forsaken the true God and gone after idols. What is God’s response? “Let him alone!” (4:17).

Indignation (5:1–15). Any faithful husband would be indignant if his wife defiled herself by unfaithfulness (v. 3). Instead of pursuing Israel, God withdrew Himself and His blessings (5:6; 4:17) and let them reap what they had sown. But His judgment was at work: the water was gathering behind the dam (v. 10); the moth was silently destroying the fabric of society (v. 12); the rottenness in the bones would lead to death (vv. 12–13). Then the Assyrian lion would spring (v. 14) and the nation would be conquered.

God withdraws so that we may realize what we are missing and want Him to come back to us again (5:15). There is no reason to stumble (4:5; 5:5) or to be stubborn (4:16) when God will welcome us if we will sincerely seek Him.

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