If you were asked, “What is the key verse in Hosea 4,” how would you answer? What verse would you land on? For me, the answer would be in vs.6.
“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.”
What did that mean in Hosea’s day? He identifies two things.
They have rejected knowledge.
They have forgotten the law of their God.
Because they have rejected God, He also will reject them from being a priest to Him. So we may ask, “What then was the purpose of the priest?” We see this from Ezra 7:10.
“Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the Lord, to practice it, and to teach its statutes and ordinances in Israel.”
Notice the order: what does the Law of the Lord say? How does it impact his personal life? How then can he teach others God’s ways?
The Jewish word “halakha” – “the path that one walks”, expressed the same idea. It carried two thoughts.
How do I live my life before God?
How do I live my life before others?
The Israelites had forsaken their pursuit of God in their personal lives. As such, it impacted how they lived before others in their daily lives. Notice what God says through the prophet.
There is no truth or mercy or knowledge of God in the land (4:1)
Killing and stealing and committing adultery, they break all restraint (4:2)
They eat up the sin of My people; they set their heart on iniquity (4:8)
The prophet Jeremiah 2:13 would echo the same thought as Hosea, “My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken Me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.” (Jer.2:13)
“There is no fear of God before their eyes.” (Rom.3:18)
The order mattered then. It matters now. Our personal pursuit of God and then living out that pursuit in our own “personal, social, national, and international relationships”. May we seek Him with all our hearts, for surely, we will find Him (Jer.29:13).
Blessings!
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/halakhah; http://estherstable.com
It frustrates me how some people say they don’t believe the Bible…. but refuse to read it. Yes, the Hosea/Ezra/Jeremiah are critical thinkers who tried to be obedient to God’s laws. Of course, we need knowledge first and then are more likely to live as we should. Why do I keep thinking about Israel and their problems? NO, Joyce, stop pointing the finger!! Happy New Year to you, Esther, and your families!!