Hosea 4:12 - Meaning and Application

In these verses, we see again the sins God charged against Israel and the reason he had a case against them. The first is spiritual adultery, which means idolatry, worshiping false gods instead of the Lord. They had a spirit of whoredoms, a strong pull toward that sin. Their hearts were bent that way, so their wrong desires led them astray.

People often make mistakes in judgment because their desires are already corrupt. In other words, they tend to think well of sin because they are already drawn to it. So it is no surprise that, with such a mind and heart, they went after false gods and turned away from their own God, as Hosea says (Hosea 4:12). They should have lived under him as their head and husband, under his care and rule, but they broke their loyalty and looked to false gods for guidance and protection.

Hosea also says Israel was like a woman chasing after lovers, shameless and unfaithful (Hosea 4:15). Then he compares them to a stubborn heifer, a young cow that will not stay under the yoke (Hosea 4:16). A heifer like that will pull back instead of going forward, and fight against the yoke rather than work in it. That is how Israel was, unruly and hard to govern.

They had begun to come under God’s commands, but they pulled back like people who refuse discipline. When the prophets came to correct them, they resisted and pushed the other way. The whole matter comes to this, Ephraim, that is, Israel, was joined to idols, completely attached to them, with their hearts fixed on them (Hosea 4:17).

Two clear examples show their spiritual adultery. First, they asked advice from their wooden idols and used divining practices learned from idol priests (Hosea 4:12). They asked a stock, a piece of wood, for guidance, as if it could speak like a father. That was a great insult to God, who was truly their Father and had given them his own living words to consult. They were also looking for messages from a staff, probably through pagan methods of divination, like Nebuchadnezzar’s use of arrows (Ezekiel 21:21). Those who leave God’s Word and take their directions from the world and the flesh are really doing the same thing.

Second, they sacrificed to these idols as if they were gods, trying to gain their favor and avoid their anger (Hosea 4:13). They burned incense to please them and made their worship where they liked, not where God had chosen. They picked high places on mountains and hills, thinking the height would help them get closer to heaven. They also chose shady places under oaks, poplars, and elms because the shade was pleasant and seemed fitting for devotion. But they had left the place where God had set his name.

Another sin charged against them is bodily adultery. They kept on committing sexual immorality without stopping (Hosea 4:18). It was their steady practice, not just an occasional fall. Much of this foul conduct was tied to their idolatry, because false worship often drew them into uncleanness. The devil, whom they really served in their idols, is an unclean spirit.

Their idolatry also brought punishment in the same kind of sin. The men who joined in idol worship were often found with prostitutes around the pagan rites, as in the worship at Baal-peor (Numbers 25:1-2). So God gave their wives and daughters over to the same sinful desires, and they committed adultery and harlotry (Hosea 4:13). This would have been a deep shame and grief to their husbands and fathers. When people see in others the same sin that they have practiced themselves, they should admit that the Lord is right and just.

A third sin was the corruption of justice (Hosea 4:18). Their rulers loved bribes and were always saying, “Give, give.” They were greedy for money, and anyone bringing a case had to expect a payment request. Though rulers were supposed to do justice, they would do wrong if they were paid enough. The love of money ruins fairness and is the root of much evil. It is especially shameful in rulers, who should fear God and hate greed.

The line, “Their drink is sour,” may mean that justice had become rotten and unpleasant. Right judgment should refresh people like good drink, but when rulers take bribes and twist the law, they turn justice into bitterness, like wormwood (Amos 5:7). Or it may mean that the whole nation had lost its strength and life, and had become offensive to God, like sour, dead drink.

Their wives and daughters should not be punished for the harm and shame they brought on their families (Hosea 4:14). God says, “I will not punish your daughters.” If they are not punished for their sin, they will keep living in it. This shows a sad truth, the lack of punishment for one sinner can become a punishment for someone else. Or the meaning may be, “I will not punish them as I will punish you, for you must admit, as Judah did about his daughter-in-law, that they are more righteous than you” (Genesis 38:26).

They themselves would also prosper for a while, but their success would help destroy them. That kind of prosperity is a sign of God’s anger (Hosea 4:16). The Lord would feed them like a lamb in a large pasture, with plenty of grass and full meals, but only to prepare them for slaughter. A lamb that grows fat is only being fattened for the butcher. Some understand it this way instead, that they are like a lamb on the open common, where there is some room, but little good grass and no shelter. The Shepherd of Israel would drive them out of his pasture and out of his protection.

No effort would be made to bring them back to repentance (Hosea 4:17). Ephraim, meaning the northern kingdom of Israel, is joined to idols, deeply attached to them. So let him alone, as Hosea 4:4 says, “Let no one reprove him.” Let him be handed over to his own sinful desires and to his own plans. People may try to heal him, but he will not be healed, so let him be left to his chosen path. See what their end will be (Deuteronomy 32:20). It is a terrible judgment when God says of a sinner, “He is joined to his idols,” whether the idols are the world, the flesh, pride, greed, drunkenness, or sexual sin. Then even conscience, ministers, and providences are left to be silent. Nothing will wake him until the fires of hell do it. A father no longer corrects a rebellious son when he has decided to disinherit him. Those who are not disturbed in their sin will be destroyed for their sin.

They would be swept away in a fast and shameful ruin (Hosea 4:19). The wind had wrapped them up in its wings to carry them off into captivity, suddenly, violently, and with no way to resist. He would take them away like a whirlwind (Psalm 58:9). Then they would be ashamed of their sacrifices. They would be ashamed of the sin of offering sacrifices to idols, and ashamed of the folly of spending so much on gods that could not help them. In doing that, they had made the true God their enemy, the God who has power to destroy them. There are sacrifices men will one day be ashamed of. Those who have spent their time, strength, honor, and comfort on the world and the flesh will be ashamed of it. Even those who bring God blind, crippled, and careless sacrifices will be ashamed too.

Judah is warned not to sin in the same way Israel did. At the end of Hosea 4:14, the point is clear, those who do not understand will fall. They must fall if they do not know how to avoid the stumbling blocks in front of them. So the warning is given especially to the two tribes, Judah and Benjamin, “Though you, Israel, play the harlot, let not Judah offend” (Hosea 4:15). Though Israel is given to idolatry, Judah must not catch the infection.

This warning was very necessary. The people of Israel were brothers and close neighbors to Judah. Israel was larger and, at that time, doing better outwardly. So there was real danger that Judah would learn Israel’s ways and trap their own souls. The closer we are to sin’s influence, the more carefully we must guard ourselves.

It was also a reasonable warning. Judah had greater light than Israel. Judah had the temple, the priesthood, and the king from David’s line. From Judah, Shiloh, the promised ruler, was to come. God had also reserved greater blessings for Judah. So Judah should not offend, because more was expected from them. If they sinned, they would have more to answer for, and God would take it more seriously. If Israel played the harlot, Judah must not do the same, or God would have no professing people left in the world. In this way God speaks to Judah as Christ later speaks to the twelve, “Will you also go away?” (John 6:67). Those who have stayed faithful so far should hold tightly to their integrity, especially in times of widespread falling away.

To keep Judah from following Israel, two rules are given. First, they must stay away from places tied to idolatry. They must not go to Gilgal, where much evil was done (Hosea 9:15; Hosea 12:11), where they added to their guilt (Amos 4:4). They may also have grown fond of that place because it was once called holy ground when Joshua stood there (Joshua 5:15). For the same reason, they must not go up to Bethel, here called the house of vanity, since Bethaven means that instead of the house of God. Those who want to avoid sin and escape the devil’s trap must carefully stay away from sin’s places and occasions.

Second, if they would avoid idolatry, they must also avoid irreverence. They must not swear, “The Lord lives,” in a careless or false way. Scripture does command people to swear, “The Lord lives,” in truth and righteousness (Jeremiah 4:2). So the warning here is against using God’s name lightly, falsely, or deceitfully, or swearing by both the Lord and an idol (Zephaniah 1:5). Those who want to stay firm in their devotion to God must keep a holy awe of him and speak of him with seriousness. People who can treat the true God as a joke will make a god of anything.