The story of Hosea's marriage now gives way to the second part of the prophecy: the even more heart-breaking account of Israel's unfaithfulness to the Lord (Hosea 4:1-11:11). In chapter 4 we begin to see just how far this adultery has spread.

The scene opens with God taking His people to court. His accusation is that ″there is no faithfulness, no love, no acknowledgment of God″ (Hosea 4:1), and the crimes He lists are straight from the Ten Commandments. Rejecting God does not lead to a more moral society; it is always the reverse. Spiritual decay spawns moral decay.

Spiritual decay also leads to environmental decay (v. 3). God had said, ″If you defile the land, it will vomit you out as it vomited out the nations that were before you″ (Leviticus 18:28). As with the land, so it was with the wildlife: birds and sea animals were all dying-nature itself was echoing Hosea's preaching. Rejecting God does not lead to life, but to death.

What about the religious leaders? Look at verses 4-5. God says, ″My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge″ (Hosea 4:6). Why is this so?

Firstly, the priests ″have ignored the law of your God″ (v. 6). Their job was to teach God's law to the people, but they had stopped doing that. Hence the nation was completely unaware of what it meant to know and follow God.

Secondly, the priests ″feed on the sins of my people and relish their wickedness″ (v. 8). They encouraged sin. As Hosea says in verse 7, ″they exchanged their glorious God for something disgraceful″. God was supposed to be their glorious God, but the priests encouraged idol worship instead, and were doing a roaring trade out of it. No wonder the Bible colleges were full! But looks can be deceptive, for ″the more priests there were, the more they sinned against [God]″ (v. 7).

What will God do? ″It will be: like people, like priests. I will punish both of them for their ways and repay them for their deeds″ (v. 9).

Each step in Israel's decline can be traced back to verse 1. So pray for yourself: pray for faithfulness, for love for God, and for true knowledge. Pray also for good church leaders.

Heavenly Father, please may I be faithful, love you, and know you today. May my church leaders not ignore your Word or encourage sin. In Christ's name, amen.