hosea 4:1-10

this is a formal complaint that God is charging Israel with breaking the covenant between them and Him

MSG 1-3 Attention all Israelites! God's Message! God indicts the whole population: "No one is faithful. No one loves. No one knows the first thing about God. All this cussing and lying and killing, theft and loose sex, sheer anarchy, one murder after another! And because of all this, the very land itself weeps and everything in it is grief-stricken—animals in the fields and birds on the wing, even the fish in the sea are listless, lifeless.
NKJV 1 Hear the word of the LORD, You children of Israel, For the LORD brings a charge against the inhabitants of the land: “ There is no truth or mercy Or knowledge of God in the land. 2 By swearing and lying, Killing and stealing and committing adultery, They break all restraint, With bloodshed upon bloodshed. 3 Therefore the land will mourn; And everyone who dwells there will waste away with the beasts of the field And the birds of the air; Even the fish of the sea will be taken away.

v 1. No one is faithful, no one loves, no one knows the first thing about God... God recently has said to me that I know nothing about the love of God... that I don't even know how to love humanly... so I cannot come close to understanding the love God feels for His people... mercy is loyalty or devotion... no one has loyalty or devotion to God.. no one has knowledge of God... this is meaning that no one is recognizing God as their authority.. they are not recognizing Him as their covenant partner...we often wonder about the decline of marriage and rise of divorce... we are not keeping covenant with man nor with God... some one needs to step up and recognize the seriousness of what covenant really is... if we cannot keep covenant... then we have no business getting married at all... no one told you this would be easy... if they did, they were lying... we marry with all the wrong intentions... then we walk away when things are hard... and we carry this into our relationship with God... if He is not being the genie or fairy godfather that we want Him to be.. then we walk away and turn our back... in reality He is our authority... but since we cannot discern headship or order, we cannot understand the importance of His authority...

v2. this mentions 5 of the 10 commandments being broken by the people... how many commandments are WE breaking in our holier than thou world? how many are we taking responsibility of and seeking repentance and turning from them?
v3. when God comes in judgement it will affect ALL living things... we look at the nation around us... and we can easily wonder if we might not be in the judgement of God... as everything is falling apart.... a once prosperous and powerful nation now in debt with a large percentage of people out of work... how will we eat? how will we pay our bills? how will we have healthcare? but for the grace of God... there go I... it could be any one of us in that position... people wonder how a person becomes homeless... well, I am thinking many people are realizing just how it might happen...

NKJV 4 “ Now let no man contend, or rebuke another; For your people are like those who contend with the priest. 5 Therefore you shall stumble in the day; The prophet also shall stumble with you in the night; And I will destroy your mother. 6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me; Because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.
MSG 4-6 "But don't look for someone to blame. No finger pointing! You, priest, are the one in the dock. You stumble around in broad daylight, And then the prophets take over and stumble all night. Your mother is as bad as you. My people are ruined because they don't know what's right or true. Because you've turned your back on knowledge, I've turned my back on you priests.Because you refuse to recognize the revelation of God, I'm no longer recognizing your children

v 4-6. failure of their leaders have now brought about their fall... even the priests were not leading as they should.. lack of knowledge.. the priests failed to teach the people the laws of God... failed to explain to the that the wages of sin is death... instead preaching flowery messages about prosperity and God's love, but failing to explaing that there is judgement with disobedience... this type of priest would serve a special judgement for this sin... God will terminate the priestly line... they did not teach the people that the law of God is the source of life... this could be applied to any one of us... are we teaching our children the ways of God? are we living under the laws and protection of God Almighty? are we obeying His will? are our lives and example to an unbeliever?

NKJV 7 “ The more they increased,The more they sinned against Me; I will change their glory into shame. 8 They eat up the sin of My people; They set their heart on their iniquity.
MSG 7-8 The more priests, the more sin. They traded in their glory for shame. They pig out on my people's sins. They can't wait for the latest in evil.

v 7-8. the honor of God was attached to the priesthood... sinful priests forfeit the honor of being called a servant of the most high God... they were profiting from the people's sins... are we profiting from our sin? are we forfeiting our royal background? are we living as a peculiar people separated unto God?

NKJV 9 And it shall be: like people, like priest. So I will punish them for their ways, And reward them for their deeds. 10 For they shall eat, but not have enough; They shall commit harlotry, but not increase; Because they have ceased obeying the LORD.
MSG 9-10 The result: You can't tell the people from the priests, the priests from the people. I'm on my way to make them both pay and take the consequences of the bad lives they've lived. They'll eat and be as hungry as ever, have sex and get no satisfaction. They walked out on me, their God, for a life of rutting with whores.

v 9-10. they were accepting the hypocritical ways of the people instead of calling them out in their sins... they would worship other gods.. baal was supposed to (in their mind) give them good harvest and many children... but they would not have enough to eat and would not multiply because they are worshipping baal who is nothing... how many times have we worshipped our own "baal"?have we looked to a man for love? have we looked to our jobs for money? have we looked to our government for peace? only God is the source of all things... you can have a man but his love not be satisfying... (I really wasn't talking about sex.. but wouldn't that be horrendous... sex that doesn't satisfy???) there is also religious prostitution in our day... people are not all there for God... some come for all the wrong reasons... if we are not calling them out on sin and teaching of judgement... how are we any different than the priests of Hosea's day? be sure you are in a church that is teaching the ways of God... the God of Abraham, Isaac and Joseph... not the god of man or god of money... looking to please the people... if the people are upset about the preaching of the pastor... he is doing right... he is a true man of God...