WWUTT 2224 My People Perish for Lack of Knowledge (Hosea 4:1-19)

God brings an accusation against Israel. They are guilty of immorality, of ignorance, and idolatry. He is just in destroying them, but He will show mercy when we understand the text.

This is When We Understand the Text, a daily Bible commentary to help encourage your time in the Word. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday we feature New Testament Study, an Old Testament book on Thursday, and our Q &A on Friday.

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Hosea’s Unfaithfulness and God’s Mercy in Israel’s History

Thank you, Becky. In our study of the book of Hosea, we're on to Part 2 today. We finished Part 1 of the book last week, which was Chapters 1 through 3, setting up the rest of the book. God tells a prophet named Hosea to take a wife of harlotry, and so he marries Gomer, and she bears to him a son, but then she goes and jumps into the beds of other men and has other children from these unfaithful unions.

Hosea promises to cut her off, but then he takes her back and is merciful to her. And this is supposed to be a picture of the way that God will deal with Israel, who has been unfaithful to the Lord and has whored themselves out with the false gods of the Canaanites around them.

God is going to deal harshly with Israel. There will be strict and swift punishments that will be brought upon them, but God will ultimately show mercy through the Jewish people by bringing about a Messiah.

And we do have some messianic prophecies that show up here in the book of Hosea. So here in Part 2, which goes from Chapters 4 through 11, God gives a series of warnings to Israel, accusations of their evil, and then the punishments that he is going to bring upon them.

But then toward the end, in Chapter 11, we read a promise of God's mercy, how he's going to deliver his people. And then Part 3 is going to look the same. That's Chapters 12 to 14, where once again, we have more accusations and warnings of things that will come against the people.

But it concludes with a promise of mercy. Today, we're going to look at Chapter 4, and Chapter 4 can also be broken into three parts. So let me begin by reading Part 1, and then I'll give you how the chapter lays out.

This is Hosea 4, verses 1 through 5. I'm reading from the Legacy Standard Bible. Hear the word of the Lord. Listen to the word of Yahweh, O sons of Israel. For Yahweh has a contention against the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth or lovingkindness or knowledge of God in the land.

There is swearing of oaths, deception, murder, stealing, and adultery. They break forth in violence, so that bloodshed follows bloodshed. Therefore the land mourns, and everyone who inhabits it languishes, along with the beasts of the field and the birds of the sky, and also the fish of the sea, disappear.

Yet let no man contend, and let no man offer reproof. Indeed, your people are like those who contend with the priest. So you will stumble by day, and the prophet also will stumble with you by night, and I will destroy your mother.

And again, that's Part 1 here of Chapter 4. This chapter is broken up in this way. In what we just read, verses 1 through 5, God describes Israel's immorality. Here's what their sins are. And you saw some of those sins that were named explicitly.

In Part 2, which goes from verses 6 through 11, God describes Israel's ignorance. And then in the third part, verses 12 to the end, to verse 19, God describes Israel's idolatry. And he lays these things out as though they are standing trial, for God is saying to them, here is why your punishment is deserved.

As we go through this, we're going to make some application. I think there are some real-world ways that we can see things that are going on in our culture, even what God describes here in Hosea 4. So let me come back to verse 1.

Listen to the word of Yahweh, O sons of Israel, for Yahweh has a contention against the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth or lovingkindness or knowledge of God in the land. Now this kind of sets up.

You know, I mentioned that Part 1 is verses 1 through 5. You really could set verse 1 by itself, because it's a header to the rest of this chapter, where it says there is no truth, which is in reference to their idolatry.

There's no lovingkindness, which is in reference to their immorality. There is no knowledge of God in the land, which is a reference to their ignorance. So again, just as the chapter breaks up in those three ways, we kind of have that outline given to us in verse 1.

So God goes on to describe exactly their immorality. Here are your sins, O Israel. Verse 2, there is swearing of oaths, and the oaths that they swear they don't keep. So that's really why God mentions that.

It could also be that the oaths that they swear are to the false gods that they are worshiping. So in Matthew 5, verse 33, Jesus said, Again, you have heard that the ancients were told, You shall not make false vows, but shall fulfill your vows to the Lord.

But I say to you, make no oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is the footstool of his feet, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great king. Nor shall you make an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black.

But your statement will be yes, yes, or no, no. Anything beyond these is of the evil one. So Jesus says, don't make an oath at all. For when you swear by these things, you think that your oath is lofty, that it has the very authority or seal of God.

And this is to take his name in vain. It is to claim that you have control over things that you don't have control over. And so this being evil, Jesus says, anything beyond, let your yes be yes and your no be no, is of the evil one.

And so you have the people swearing of oaths, swearing upon things and being unable to keep them. They're liars. So then the next part, there's deception. You deceive people. You say one thing, you do something else.

There's murder. There is stealing. And there is, of course, adultery, just like Gomer had committed adultery. So Israel commits adultery against God. And this is also a reference to the sexual immorality that goes on throughout Israel.

Remember, Gomer was an Israelite. And so just as she is unfaithful to Hosea, who does she go and jump into bed with? Well, there's going to be the pagans. She does go and jump into bed with them. But there are others within Israel who have been unfaithful in this way.

And so God brings this accusation of adultery against them. They even break forth in violence. So that bloodshed follows bloodshed. You have somebody get mad at another, and so he kills them, and then somebody from that family gets revenge and kills the first guy.

And so it's bloodshed that follows bloodshed. Violence is going on in the land. Probably not too unlike the kind of violence that is described in Genesis prior to the flood. That was one of the things that stirred the Lord to anger and that he regretted he made man on the earth because of how much violence was in the land.

And so that very thing is going on in Israel. And this is not too unlike our own culture today. In fact, this is probably a mild list of sins compared to things that are going on in our culture today.

Deception, murder, theft, where governments will steal from our own people, and then even adultery, whoring themselves out with the world, and also the sexual immorality that is rampant in our culture.

And then notice what even flows from that. Verse 2, they break forth in violence so that bloodshed follows bloodshed. This is one of the bloodiest generations that has ever existed in the United States of America.

And I think specifically of abortion. A million babies are going to be mutilated and killed this year by this heinous practice of child sacrifice after the sexual immorality of mom and dad. To try to cover that up, to try to be set free from the guilt of what it is that they've committed with one another, a child must be sacrificed.

And that's the sin, the wickedness, the evil of abortion that continues to be rampant. Fully endorsed by the Democrat Party and allowed somewhat by the Republican Party as well. There is no one in higher office right now of the two parties that are ardently fighting against this heinous bloodshed that is happening in the culture.

And as these things continue, God will bring his judgment against the land. So we must warn the people that judgment is coming, that they may turn from their sin to the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved.

When Jesus returns, he brings judgment upon the land. Revelation 19 says that he will rule the nations with a rod of iron. And again, the only way to escape the judgment of God is by faith in Jesus Christ, who died as a perpetuatory sacrifice for us.

So that by faith in him, we will not perish, but have everlasting life. This is a gospel message that needs to go out to the world. It is the only way that they can be saved from the judgment that is to come.

And so in verse 3, in light of all this wickedness that is happening in the land, therefore the land mourns and everyone who inhabits it languishes. There are people that will say that we need to have these rights to these wicked, evil, perverse things.

They don't call them wicked and perverse, of course. Some of them do. Some will be honest about the fact that these things are evil, even though they might say it tongue-in-cheek. But this does not ever satisfy anybody.

No one's really satisfied with the sin and the evil that they pursue. They still feel empty. They still feel like they need more of it. Maybe more of it will make me feel better. And then, of course, there's all the consequences that result from the evil lifestyles that people live in.

So, therefore, everyone who inhabits the land languishes, along with the beasts of the field and the birds of the sky and also the fish of the sea disappear. Eventually, it may come about that because of man's laziness and his obsession with his own wickedness, that we're going to feel it economically.

We are feeling it economically. There are certain leaders that we will blame on the economic problems that are going on in the country. But is it really just those leaders' faults for the ridiculous decisions that they made?

Well, there were people that put them there, and there are people that are lazy, and they want to go with the ruler that is going to give them the passions of their flesh. And so, instead of dealing honestly and responsibly with that God has blessed us with, the people languish.

And, therefore, we feel it in the economy as well. Beasts of the field, birds of the sky, fish of the sea disappear. So, then, in verse 4, let no man contend and let no man offer reproof. Indeed, your people are like those who contend with the priest.

So, you will stumble by day, and the prophet also will stumble with you by night, and I will destroy your mother. Now, who is their mother? Well, their mother is Jerusalem. Now, Jerusalem was in Judah.

It was not in Israel. But, still, Jerusalem is mother. That's where the temple is. That's where God inhabits. And the apostle Paul, by the way, even says this in Galatians, that Jerusalem is our mother.

The Jerusalem above is our mother. So, just as Hosea had told his children, well, not his children, but the children that lived in his home from these unfaithful unions that Gomer had, he told his children, contend with your mother, warn her that I'm going to cut you off because she continues to go after other men.

She finds her pleasure in the beds of other men. So, God has said, just like Hosea threatened Gomer, I will destroy your mother. So, then, this next part, verses 6 through 11, this is highlighting Israel's ignorance.

So, consider verse 6. My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge because you have rejected knowledge. I also will reject you from ministering as my priest. Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I myself also will forget your children.

And in any city or kingdom or nation that forgets God, this is the punishment that he will bring upon them. They will be destroyed for lack of knowledge. In fact, that could be the case said of any person who stands before God in judgment.

Those that will perish and not enter into eternal life, they're destroyed for lack of knowledge. And not that they weren't told, but they just refused to believe. They refused to commit their minds to it, to acknowledge God, to be thankful to Him.

And as said in Romans 1, because they did not see fit to acknowledge God and give thanks to Him, then God turned them over to their wicked and depraved desires. That's what happens with Israel. That same thing happens with our own nation and the people that we live among.

As wickedness continues and the lack of the knowledge of God is spread throughout the land, so God will forget that nation and bring judgment upon them. Verse 7, the more they multiply, the more they sinned against me.

This is talking about how evil just continues to grow. It gets worse and worse. I will change their glory into disgrace. They eat the sin of my people and lift up their soul toward their iniquity. In other words, they feel fed on the sins that they commit.

And they think that that is going to satisfy them instead of feeding upon God. Jesus said, the one who eats my flesh and drinks my blood will live forever in the kingdom of God. And Jesus described that too.

He explained that in John 6 .35 as coming to him and believing in him. That's what it means to eat and drink of Christ. But instead, people who love wickedness, that's what they eat. That's what they think will fill them up and they will be satisfied.

And for a bit of a time, there is pleasure in that. Even the book of Hebrews says in Hebrews 11 that sin is pleasant for a time, but its effects are fleeting. Verse 9, and it will be like people like priests.

So the ones who teach the people, the priests, will do the same as the people are doing and the people will do as the priests do. It's this wicked sort of symbiotic relationship. The apostle Paul talks about this also with Timothy when he says that they accumulate themselves teachers to suit their own passions.

So a false teacher is a judgment upon a people that desires to have their fleshly desires fulfilled. So they're going to look for those teachers that will promise them the things that their flesh wants.

But as said in verse 10, they will eat and not be satisfied. They will play the harlot, but not break forth in number because they have forsaken Yahweh to keep harlotry. They would rather have their adultery than turn from their sin to the Lord God and be saved.

Verse 11, harlotry, wine, and new wine take away a heart of wisdom. So they will become so drunk upon their their desires and their lusts that wisdom will flee from them. Their sin will be the reason why they continue with lack of knowledge.

Israel’s Idolatry and the Judgment That Follows

Verse 12, now here's the final part where God describes their idolatry. And again these things are being laid out for the people of Israel so that God is just in the way that he will deal with them when he says that he will bring punishment upon them.

Verse 12, my people ask their wooden idol and their diviner's wand declares to them for a spirit of harlotry has led them astray and they have played the harlot departing from their God. So once again you have it said here they've raised up this false God and they plead to it because they believe it's going to give them what they want.

Verse 13, they offer sacrifices on the tops of the mountains and burn incense on the hills under oak, poplar, and terebinth because their shade is good. Therefore your daughters play the harlot and your brides commit adultery.

I will not punish your daughters when they play the harlot or your brides when they commit adultery for the men themselves go apart with harlots and offer sacrifices with cult prostitutes so the people without understanding are ruined.

So it is among the women that they go and do this but the men are really the purveyors of it. Like this is not just being brought against the women lest anybody say that well Gomer was the one that cheated on Hosea so it's really the woman's fault.

I'm hearing this kind of blame game going on in our culture and even among certain reform circles today to say that it's all the women's fault and they'll throw up graphics about how you know look how most women will vote liberal in America so if we just let the men vote then that would solve the problem you know you might hear something like that or maybe we just need to take away the vote from women.

I'm not arguing for that one way or the other. I just think it's foolish to say that this is all women's fault whenever you see problems like this going on in the culture. Whenever you see billboards of women scantily clad or the streaming services are filled with movies where women are taking their clothes off.

This is not exclusively women who have done this. The men have pushed them to this. It is the men who devour it which is why women behave this way act like this or the men have sinned with them and then cast them off and so a woman scorned wants to smash the patriarchy or whatever else.

You cannot say that the majority of evils in any nation is on the women. Exclusively on the women or more on the women. No. It's on the men and that's why God is bringing this up here. In verse 15 Though you Israel play the harlot, do not let Judah become guilty also do not go to Gilgal nor go up to Beth-Avon and swear the oath as Yahweh lives because they would be blaspheming they don't really believe that they don't have knowledge of God the condemnation that was given earlier since Israel is stubborn like a stubborn heifer, can Yahweh now feed them like a lamb in a large field?

He would give them food but they wouldn't devour it. They wouldn't eat it because it's not the lusts that their flesh desires. Ephraim is joined to idols let him alone. Verse 18. Their drink gone. They play the harlot continually.

Their rulers clearly dearly love disgrace. 19 The wind binds them up in its wings and they will be ashamed because of their sacrifices. So this is the idolatry that they have committed. There is going to be judgment that will be brought upon them since they play the harlot continually.

Even if God would feed them, they would not eat it because they go after what they think that these false gods can offer them. And that be the satisfaction, the desires of the lusts of their flesh. And so the judgment of God is just when it comes upon Israel.

But again, as we're going to get to, God will be merciful and he will provide a Savior through Judah. And that Savior is the Lord Jesus Christ who has set us free from the slavery that we were in to the passions of our flesh, to the desires of this world, to the schemes of Satan.

Christ has set us free from that and even taken away the wages of sin which is death. So that all who believe in Jesus no longer do we wear these garments of harlotry but he has clothed us in white so that the shame of our nakedness may not be seen.

And he has restored us to himself and promised us life everlasting through Jesus Christ, our Savior. That message needs to be spoken so that a world that is whoring itself out with the world would turn from their sin to the Lord Jesus Christ and live.

Prayer, Exhortation, and Ministry Sign-Off

Heavenly Father, we thank you for what we've read, looking back at even this Old Testament prophetic book and seeing how it describes things that are going on within our own culture all around us. We see likewise in our culture ignorance.

We see immorality. We see idolatry. Convict our hearts. Convict the hearts of this people through the preaching of the gospel that they may turn from their sin to the Lord Jesus Christ and live. Let us also examine ourselves lest we find in ourselves a heart that is longing for the things of this world the way that Lot's wife did when she turned around and looked back at Sodom as it burned.

Save us from this wicked and depraved generation. Bring us into your kingdom. Give us hearts and minds that desire what is heavenly. It's in Jesus' name that we pray.

Amen. This has been When We Understand the Texts of Pastor Gabriel Hughes. For all of our podcasts, episodes, videos, books and more, visit our website at www .utt .com. If you'd like to submit a question to this broadcast or just send us a comment, email whenweunderstandthetexts at gmail .com and let your friends know about our ministry.

Join us again tomorrow as we grow together in the study of God's Word when we understand the text.