Hosea 4:7-12

Hosea 4:7 (KJB)

As they were increased, so they sinned against me: therefore will I change their glory into shame.

 

The larger the population of Israel became the more they sinned.  This was because the parents did not pass down the law to their children instead became very bad testimonies to their own children and as bad as the parents were, the children became as they were.  They received no help from the priests who should have become the conscience of the nation in bringing them back to the Lord but they were also corrupted.  So God states that what should have been a glorious nation will now become a nation of shame.  They will no longer be looked upon as favored by surrounding nations but now looked down upon.  The word “shame” carries with to the meaning of “disgrace or degradation.”

 

Hosea 4:8 (KJB)

They eat up the sin of my people, and they set their heart on their iniquity.

 

The priests had become a very corrupt group and they had made great gains in endorsing and even leading the people into sin and they knowingly did this.  It was not done by accident but by design since they had set their hearts to practice iniquity.  Basically, just as a true unbeliever cannot sleep unless they perform some kind of evil deeds, these priests could not go one day without plotting to perform any kind of sin which would be profitable for them.  Proverbs 4:16 (KJV) For they sleep not, except they have done mischief; and their sleep is taken away, unless they cause some to fall.

 

Hosea 4:9 (KJB)

And there shall be, like people, like priest: and I will punish them for their ways, and reward them their doings.

 

There was no distinction here as both the people and the priests were involved and encouraging each other in sinning.  There was no difference whether someone held the position as priest or shepherd, all were culpable before the law.  God promises to punish them for their sins against the law of God and the will of God.  They were supposed to be a light to the surrounding nations but they have become just as dark as they were.  They will receive their reward for doing these evil deeds.  The word “doings” carries with it the meaning of “bold deeds.”  Their sins were bold as they did not care about consequences only about pleasure and profit for the time being.

 

Hosea 4:10 (KJB)

For they shall eat, and not have enough: they shall commit whoredom, and shall not increase: because they have left off to take heed to the LORD.

 

These consequences of their sins have happened to them in the past and they should have learned from them.  Ecclesiastes 5:10 (KJV) He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance with increase: this is also vanity.  This verse is not only speaking about food but the fact is that the more they lust after sin, the more they will sin because their lust will never be satisfied.  John D. Rockefeller was once asked “How much money is enough?” and his answer was “just a little bit more.” Then their numbers will never increase even if they try to have children by whoredom their plans and schemes will not work.  Their wives will be barren and so they will resort to adultery but it will not work.  Since they had departed from following the Lord he would turn their promiscuity to decline and they will not proceed any further in any of their plots.

 

Hosea 4:11 (KJB)

Whoredom and wine and new wine take away the heart.

 

All kinds of wine which today we could call all kinds of alcoholic drink such as beer, whiskey, rum, vodka, etc. will cause the heart to depart from reality.  Speak to a drunk and see how rational he or she responds.  When you combine drinking with adultery you get someone who lives for wanton pleasure and nothing else.  They cannot wait for the evening to come so they can start all over again.  The priests who should have known better would have strayed far from God and the law thus becoming evil examples for the people to follow.  Many would think that just because the priests do it, it is permissible for them to do it.  This is what happens today, clergy drink, the people drink, the clergy smokes, the people smoke and so goes the degeneration.  Pretty soon you have a church with no gospel.

 

Hosea 4:12 (KJB)

My people ask counsel at their stocks, and their staff declareth unto them: for the spirit of whoredoms hath caused them to err, and they have gone a whoring from under their God.

 

The stocks and staff refer to the wood used in divination better understood as rods which were used to divine in many parts of the Middle East but the Chaldeans were credited with starting it.  The Scythians would take a bundle of sticks and the soothsayer would lay them down on the side of each other and then he would pick them up again and re-bundle them and then he was supposed to receive a prophecy secretly to himself from the sticks.  A divine power was supposed to rest in the rods.  Another way was the soothsayer would take a stick in his hand and then ask questions and he would then stoop toward the ground to get an answer.  While he was waiting for the answer, he would lean on his staff.  No matter what method they used, they used it because they walked away from the LORD and instead of returning to him, they sought Satan for their advice.  Their heart was carried away with their whoredoms and not necessarily sexual but their whole being was carried away from the LORD in that they sought only pleasure and profit and that drove them.  They have done like Gomer did to Hosea, Israel had gone whoring after other gods and left their husband.  Isn’t it interesting at the beginning of this verse God calls them “my people.”  He shows that he has not forsaken them at this point.  When the verse ends up with “under their God” it deals with the divine guidance he could give them and the leadership they could have from him instead they turned to the occult to give them guidance which only led to their downfall.  Let the Christian beware that items like OUIJA boards, horoscopes, or tarot cards, etc. are not innocent fun but they are serious links to the occult and can cause a Christian spiritual damage if they partake in these things.

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