4:1ff In this chapter, God brings a charge of disobedience against Israel. The religious leaders had failed to turn the people to God, and ritual prostitution had replaced right worship. The nation had declined spiritually and morally, breaking the laws that God had given them. The people found it easy to condemn Hosea’s wife for her adultery. They were not so quick to see that they had been unfaithful to God.
4:1-3 God explained the reasons for Israel’s suffering. Their lawless behavior had brought the twin judgments of increased violence and ecological crisis. There is not always a direct cause-and-effect relationship between our actions and the problems we face. Nevertheless, when we are facing difficulties, we should seriously ask, Have I done anything sinful or irresponsible that has caused my suffering? If we discover that we are at fault, even partially, we must change our ways before God will help us.
4:2 This verse may allude to the assassinations of kings during Hosea’s lifetime. Shallum killed Zachariah and took the throne. Then Menahem killed Shallum and destroyed an entire city because it refused to accept him as king (2 Kings 15:8-16). God pointed out that even murder was being taken casually in Israel.
4:4 We often blame others if we fear punishment for wrongdoing. Hosea warned the priests not to blame anyone else; the nation’s sins were largely their fault. Israel’s priests pointed out the people’s sins, but God would not allow them to overlook their own irresponsible actions. Instead of instructing the nation in religion and morality, they had led the way toward idolatry and immorality. Their failure to lead the people in God’s ways placed most of the blame for Israel’s destruction on them. Knowing that God will not allow us to blame others for our sinfulness should cause us to admit our own sins. We are responsible for our own sinful actions. Beware of the tendency to blame others because it can keep you from feeling the need to repent.
4:4-9 Hosea leveled his charges against the religious leaders. Who were these religious leaders? When Jeroboam I rebelled against Solomon’s son Rehoboam and set up a rival kingdom in the north, he also set up his own religious system (see 1 Kings 12:25-33). In violation of God’s law, he made two gold calves and told the people to worship them. He also appointed his own priests, who were not descendants of Aaron. At first the residents of the northern kingdom continued to worship God, even though they were doing it in the wrong way; but very soon they also began to worship Canaanite gods. Before long they had substituted Baal for God and no longer worshiped God at all. It is not surprising that Jeroboam’s false priests were unable to preserve the true worship of God.
4:6-9 God accused the religious leaders of keeping the people from knowing him. They were supposed to be spiritual leaders, but they had become leaders in wrongdoing. The people may have said to one another, “It must be OK if the priests do it.” Spiritual leadership is a heavy responsibility. Whether you teach a church school class, hold a church office, or lead a Bible study, don’t take your leadership responsibilities lightly. Be a leader who leads others to God.
4:8 The priests were glad when the people sinned. Every time a person brought a sin offering, the priest received a portion of it. The more the people sinned, the more the priests received. Because they couldn’t eat all of the offerings themselves, they sold some and gave some to their relatives. The priests profited from the continuation of sin; it gave them power and position in the community. So instead of trying to lead the people out of sin, they encouraged sin to increase their profits.
4:10-12 The chief Canaanite gods, Baal and Ashtaroth, represented the power of fertility and sexual reproduction. Not surprisingly, their worship included rituals with vile sexual practices. Male worshipers had sex with female temple prostitutes, or priestesses, and young women wishing to bear children had sex with male priests. But God said their efforts to increase fertility would not succeed.
4:12 The “staff,” or divining rod, was a way of attempting to tell the future. By divorcing themselves from God’s authoritative religion centered in Jerusalem, inhabitants of the northern kingdom had effectively cut themselves off from God’s word and from his way of forgiveness. The drive to be free from all restrictions can move us completely out of God’s will.
4:15 God sent a warning to the southern kingdom of Judah that its priests should not become like those in Israel. (The southern kingdom was called Judah after its most powerful tribe.) Israel’s priests who remained in the north had forgotten their spiritual heritage and had sold out to Baal. They were promoting idol worship and ritual prostitution. Israel would not escape punishment, but Judah could if it refused to follow Israel’s example.
4:17 Ephraim is another name for Israel, the northern kingdom, because Ephraim was the most powerful of the 10 tribes in the north.
4:19 The wind that would sweep Israel away refers to the Assyrian invasion that would destroy the nation about 20 years later.