Hosea - A Covenantal Lawsuit

I recently had an opportunity to translate Hosea 4 from the Hebrew. I completely missed the “covenantal lawsuit” in the English translation, but it hit me like a ton of bricks in the Hebrew. Since this is a covenantal lawsuit, the primary focus of this passage and the entire book is how the Church, whether Old Testament or New, should live. It is not a message to the sinful unbeliever but to the unfaithful believer. It is not so much a message of sin as it is a message of commitment. Look, we all know that we are sinners. In the final analysis, that is not going to change until we leave this world and start our journey to the next. While we strive to put sin to death we will be sinners until death.

What is interesting about this passage is the interplay between the 2nd, 5th and 7th commandments and the 4th to some extent. The people are unfaithful to their covenant God. They commit idolatry. There is a concurrent spirit of adultery. Adultery, as a consequence and as a punishment, also follows. But it doesn’t stop there. The spirit is transferred from one generation to the next and from prophet and priest to the people. Judgment and punishment flow in the same direction until the land mourns. Is the flow of the sin an honoring of the father and the mother? Certainly, the fifth commandment was not being kept in the sense that it was meant to be by the covenant law, but the principle of the fifth commandment is fulfilled in that the younger generation follows after or “honors” the older generation in its faithfulness or unfaithfulness. The faithfulness of the prior generation in keeping the fourth commandment, the cult of the faith, was transmitted to the next generation one way or the other.In the rest of the book, Yahweh continues to pile up accusations and judgments on the people. But they refuse to turn. Yet there are repeated and beautiful expressions of the faithfulness of Yahweh that if they will but turn to Him, He will restore them.

We can learn from these precepts today. The Church is called to be covenantally faithful. We are called to remember the Sabbath, to remember Christ’s body and blood before our children. We are called to baptize our children into the name of Christ. We are called to be holy as He is holy. We are called to make disciples of all nations. And Yahweh, i.e. Jesus, is there expressing his faithfulness, if we will but turn to him, he will give us what we need.