Commentary - Hosea 4:7-10

Bird's-eye view

In this section of Hosea, the Lord continues His indictment against Israel, and particularly against the priesthood. The charges are severe because the spiritual condition of a people is never disconnected from the state of its leadership. God had blessed Israel with numerical growth, but this external blessing was met with internal corruption. Instead of gratitude, their prosperity became an occasion for more inventive sin. Consequently, God promises a stark reversal: their glory will be turned to shame. The priests, who should have been ministers of righteousness, are revealed to be spiritual vultures, feeding on the sins of the people. This corruption at the top guarantees corruption at the bottom, leading to the famous and terrible pronouncement, "like people, like priest." The judgment that follows is a classic example of covenantal irony, what we call lex talionis, or the punishment fitting the crime. They will engage in the very activities from which they seek satisfaction, eating and harlotry, but will find no fulfillment. Their idolatrous pursuits are sterile, fruitless, and empty, a direct consequence of forsaking the Lord, the only source of true life and fruitfulness.

The central issue here is covenant infidelity. Israel, and especially her priests, had abandoned their covenant responsibilities. They forsook the knowledge of God, and so God promises to forsake them. This is not arbitrary petulance on God's part; it is the necessary outworking of justice. When a people forsakes the fountain of living waters, they should not be surprised to find their own cisterns broken and empty. The passage is a stark warning against the presumption that God's material blessings are a sign of His approval of our spiritual state. On the contrary, blessing without faithfulness is simply fuel for a greater judgment.

Outline

Context In Hosea

Hosea 4 marks a shift in the prophecy. The first three chapters focused on the prophet's own marriage to Gomer as a living parable of God's relationship with unfaithful Israel. Now, in chapter 4, Hosea begins a more direct legal indictment, a covenant lawsuit (a rib in Hebrew) against the nation. The charge is laid out in verse 1: there is no truth, no steadfast love, and no knowledge of God in the land. The verses that follow unpack this central accusation. Our passage, verses 7-10, is a key part of this indictment, focusing on how the blessings of God were perverted by both the people and their spiritual leaders. It flows directly from the preceding verses where God rejects the people for their lack of knowledge and promises to reject their children and forget them. This section specifies the nature of that rejection and its consequences, setting the stage for the detailed descriptions of idolatry and spiritual adultery that will follow in the rest of the chapter.

Clause-by-Clause Commentary

v. 7 The more they multiplied, the more they sinned against Me; I will change their glory into disgrace.

Here we have the bitter arithmetic of sin. God's blessing of fruitfulness, a direct fulfillment of His promise to Abraham, became for Israel an occasion for greater rebellion. As their numbers swelled, so did their transgressions. This is a profound spiritual diagnostic. Prosperity is a test, and Israel failed it spectacularly. When God gives a man or a nation more resources, more people, more influence, it is not so that they might have a larger platform for their own vainglory. It is for the extension of His kingdom and His glory. But fallen man is an inveterate embezzler; he takes God's capital and tries to set up his own bankrupt kingdom. The result is inevitable judgment. God promises to take "their glory," which could refer to their numerical strength, their wealth, or even the glory of the priesthood, and turn it into "disgrace." The Hebrew word for glory here is kabod, which is connected to weightiness and honor. The word for disgrace is qalon, meaning shame or contempt. God will strip them of their honor and leave them exposed and contemptible. This is what happens when a people glories in the gifts rather than the Giver.

v. 8 They eat the sin of My people And lift up their soul toward their iniquity.

The pronoun "they" here refers to the priests. This is a devastating charge. The priests were supposed to be the ones who made atonement for sin through the sacrifices. The sin offerings were, in a sense, their livelihood (Lev. 6:26). But the system had become utterly perverse. They were no longer ministers of grace but were instead spiritual parasites, feeding on the brokenness of the people. They didn't just eat the meat of the sin offerings; they were "eating the sin" itself. This means they encouraged the people to sin so that there would be more sacrifices, and thus more food for the priests. Their souls, their deepest desires, were set upon the iniquity of the people. Think of it: the very men charged with teaching righteousness were longing for wickedness. When the spiritual leadership of a nation develops a vested interest in the sin of the people, that nation is on the brink of total collapse. It is a picture of the most cynical and ghoulish form of ministry imaginable, where the pastor rejoices in the sins of his flock because it keeps him in business.

v. 9 And it will be like people, like priest; So I will punish them for their ways And cause their deeds to return to them.

This is a proverb of shared corruption and shared judgment. The distinction between the leaders and the led had been erased, not by the people rising to holiness, but by the priests sinking into depravity. The priests were just like the people, and the people were just like the priests. The spiritual rot was pervasive. And because their sin is shared, their punishment will be shared. God does not grade on a curve. He will not excuse the people because their leaders were corrupt, nor will He excuse the priests because the people were eager to sin. Judgment will be meted out according to their "ways" and their "deeds." This is the principle of reciprocity. God will cause their own actions to boomerang back upon their own heads. They sowed the wind of idolatry and rebellion, and they will reap the whirlwind of divine judgment. This is a foundational principle of God's government of the world. What you do comes back to you. The universe has a grain, and when you go against it, you get splinters.

v. 10 They will eat, but not be satisfied; They will play the harlot, but not break forth in number, Because they have forsaken Yahweh to keep harlotry.

Here the punishment perfectly fits the crime. The entire system of idolatry is revealed for what it is: utterly sterile and unsatisfying. The priests ate from the people's sin, but they will find themselves perpetually hungry. This is a direct curse from the covenant stipulations in Leviticus (Lev. 26:26). The people pursued the fertility cults of the Canaanites, engaging in ritual prostitution ("play the harlot") in order to ensure the fertility of their crops, their livestock, and their families. But God says it will not work. They will engage in the harlotry, but they will not "break forth in number." There will be no population explosion. Their idolatrous worship is impotent. Why? The reason is given plainly: "Because they have forsaken Yahweh." They left the only source of life, blessing, and fruitfulness. They abandoned the Creator to worship the creature, and the result is always futility, frustration, and emptiness. They were "keeping harlotry," which is a striking phrase. It suggests a diligent, devoted maintenance of their idolatrous practices. They were faithful to their false gods, and their reward is to be left with an empty stomach and an empty womb. This is the dead end of all sin. It promises satisfaction and life, but it delivers only hunger and death.

Application

The message of Hosea 4 is not some dusty artifact from ancient Israel. It is as relevant as this morning's headlines. We live in a culture that is drunk on prosperity and has a priesthood, both secular and at times sacred, that often feeds on the sins of the people. The principle that blessing, when not met with gratitude and faithfulness, becomes a catalyst for judgment is a timeless one. We must examine ourselves. Do our blessings draw us closer to God in worship, or do they make us fat, lazy, and arrogant?

The corruption of the priesthood is a perennial danger. Whenever the ministry becomes a mere profession, a way to make a living rather than a way to lay down one's life, this passage becomes a terrifying mirror. Ministers of the gospel must be those who hate sin, starting with their own, not those who see the sins of others as an opportunity for self-advancement. The church must hold her leaders to the highest standard, because when the pulpit is corrupt, the pews will not be far behind.

Finally, we must see the ultimate futility of forsaking God. Our world is filled with people eating and not being satisfied, pursuing every form of sexual license and finding themselves more empty and alone than ever. They have forsaken the Lord, the fountain of living waters, and are trying to quench their thirst at broken cisterns that can hold no water (Jer. 2:13). The only answer is the one Hosea points to throughout his prophecy: return. Return to the Lord. The gospel is the good news that even for a people guilty of such profound harlotry, there is forgiveness and restoration. Christ is the true and faithful high priest, who did not feed on our sin, but rather became sin for us (2 Cor. 5:21). He is the bread of life who truly satisfies our hunger. In Him, and in Him alone, is there true life and fruitfulness.