Hosea 4:6-11
by
Rev. Mark Perkins, Pastor
Denver Bible Church
326 E. Colorado Ave.
Denver, Colorado 80210
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Hosea 4:6
"My people will be destroyed from the failure of knowledge,
for you have rejected the knowledge, and I will reject you from
ministering as a priest to me. Because you forgot the instruction
of your God, I will also forget your sons."
1. "my people" is AMMI. Hosea's second son was Lo-ammi, and here we are about to gain explanation on his name.
2. The verb DAMA again explains destruction from the viewpoint of the quiet after the violence of the actual destruction of the nation.
3. This verb is in the niphal perfect. The niphal is the passive stem, so the action applies back to the subject of the sentence instead of being produced by it. The perfect tense reveals an event that is set into the divine decree as absolutely certain. This is another foretelling.
4. The preposition MI plus the noun BELI describes the cause for the destruction. "From failure of" BELI shows a failure that finds its source in just plain wearing out. It is like an automobile tire that goes flat. The tread wears down until it is bald, and then until the cord shows through, and then the tire goes flat at the first sharp object. In the same way, the positive volition goes down, and then down some more, until disaster strikes.
5. DA'ATH points to Bible Truth. It defines knowledge by what God knows. This concentrates on the perceptive end of faith perception, the intake side. They have failed in getting the truth into their souls.
6. Next is a tit for tat kind of construction, "you reject me, I reject you." There is nothing irregular here.
7. Because Israel has rejected God, He rejects them from being His priest nation, His ambassadors.
Hosea 4:7
"As they were becoming many [expanding] so they sinned against
me. I will change their glory into dishonor."
1. The sin grew commensurate with expansion of the nation of Israel. The preposition KI and the adverb KEN work together to form the 'as... so' clause. It is a clause of equal expansion.
2. The qal infinitive construct of the verb RABAM describes an expansion. Expansion in numbers and expansion in territory both apply to Israel during the period described. Expansion in spiritual greatness did not occur at all.
3. The verb HATA' is the equivalent of the Greek (hamartano). It describes a missing of the mark in some way. Here, it is very exact: it is the missing of God's mark... the sin is against God. We know from other Scripture that sin is any thought, word, or act against the perfect righteousness of God. Romans 3:23, "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."
4. The result of this expansion of sin is described by the last sentence. God will change [MUR] the glory of Israel [KEBHODHAM] into dishonor [QALON].a. The glory harkens back to the expansion.
b. Therefore, the dishonor must affect the two parts of that expansion.1. The expansion of population will be reversed through war, disease, and famine.
2. The expansion of territory will be destroyed through foreign acquisition and war.
Hosea 4:8
"They eat [endure the consequences of] the sin of my
people, and they increase their appetite through their sin."
1. The subject of this sentence is an unspecified 'they'. They are the people of Israel.
2. The verb eat is YO'KHELU, and it is a metaphor for bearing the consequences of your actions. In the agricultural society of the time, a common figure of speech was 'eat the fruit of your labor', that is, what you grew on your farm. This figure then expanded to embrace the negative side in the law of volitional responsibility.
3. The idea is further expanded by the phrase, 'and they increase their appetite through their sin.'
a. The more they sin, the more they suffer.
b. The more they suffer, the more they hate God, the more they reject His word, the more they accept the cosmic counterfeits and lies, the more unhappy they become, the more entrenched they become in lust and addiction.
Topic: THE COSMIC SYSTEM
4. The people of Israel are trapped in the cycle of self-destruction.
Hosea 4:9
"And it will be like the people, like the priest. And
I will visit his ways against him, and I will personally turn
his deeds back to him.'
1. This verse adds more to the law of volitional responsibility as presented in the previous verse.
2. It shows that the priests will follow the people into their degenerate ways.a. The comparison is drawn with the inseparable preposition KI, and is set up in an exact parallel.
b. So the priests will follow exactly in the people's footsteps.3. This came true with chilling accuracy, and is a reliable historical trend today.
4. The priests without integrity will cave in to the demands of the people.
5. If the people want entertainment and stimulation, then the priests will provide it.
6. If the people want a populous local assembly, then the priests will do what it takes to bring people in.
7. If the people lack integrity, then priests without moral courage will follow.
8. There are certain demands that should never be met. If the people demand from the priests that which does not promote spiritual growth, then the people should be put in their place.
9. For 'priest' you can substitute 'pastor', or even 'politician'. Priests, politicians, and pastors all follow the people.
10. The rest of the verse is a rehash of the law of volitional responsibility that centers on the priests. They will pay for their cratering to the wrong demands of the people.
11. Watch this historical trend in our own nation. When the people want a church that is a social club, they hire social director types as their pastors. When the people want a government that substitutes their responsibilities as citizens, they elect bureaucrats instead of leaders.
Hosea 4:10
"Indeed they will eat but they will not be sated. They
will commit fornication but they will not give birth. For they
have forsaken to wait for Yahweh."
1. Verse ten reminds us of the fruitlessness of sin and life in the cosmic system.
2. No sin finds reward. No system of sin results in prosperity.
3. The reason. The have left behind waiting for God.a. Waiting for God means letting Him solve your problems. It means utter dependence on Him for everything in life. This waiting is the Hebrew verb SHEMOR, which has a basic meaning of 'keep'. It comes to mean "wait", with the idea of dependence over time.
b. You can only do this if you know Him through faith perception. Waiting for God is the end result of the faith perception process.
c. The verb 'AZABH describes leaving or departing something, and thus being absent from it.
Hosea 4:11
"Fornication and wine and new wine take away heart."
1. This verse is a cute verbal joke.
2. It is written in the language of a two-year-old, and it describes the taking away of the human comprehensive abilities.
3. New wine is TIROSH, the wine from the most recent grape harvest. It is not much good for taste, but it intoxicates just as well.a. The people are getting drunk from the new wine because they are too full of lust to wait for the wine to age.
b. They are so anxious to get drunk that they are exhausting the wine supply, so that the most recently fermented stuff must be drunk.
c. The new wine is the thunderbird, the blue nun, the crummy wino kind of wine.4. The abstract noun ZENUTH describes the concept of sexual immorality without focussing on the act. This was before they allowed nudity in films, before the age of cinematic realism.
5. The three things listed here are all the objects of addictive sin. It is worthwhile to note that this verse reflects on the idea of addiction as it applies to the destruction of the soul.
6. Remember - general idolatry leads to the specific. General idolatry is a distraction from relationship with God, while specific idolatry is demon worship. Along the way to specific idolatry general idolatry destroys the function of the soul.
7. The qal imperfect of LAQAH relates a general principle of truth about addictive sin. It is something that is never complete... something that is timeless. The root meaning of LAQAH is "to take". General idolatry takes away leb, or heart. Heart here is understanding, the ability of the mind to perceive and apply information.a. Compulsive concentration as the distraction factor, the enemy of organization.
b. Repetitive and habitual failure as the weakening of the will.
c. Invasive doubt and doublemindedness as the strengthening of indecision. James 1:6-8.
d. Inhibitive secularism as the roadblock to eternal perspective. Both dependence and grace approach.
e. Destructive dissipation related to your time. Eph 5:18.
f. Cosmic rationales as the destroyer of motivation.
g. The double life as the destroyer of integrity.
h. Addictive sin as the destroyer of faithfulness.
End of Lesson 14
Grace Notes
Warren Doud, Editor
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