HOSEA 4
15 Though you play the whore, O Israel, let not Judah become guilty.
Enter not into Gilgal, nor go up to Beth-aven, and swear not, “As the Lord lives.”
16 Like a stubborn heifer, Israel is stubborn;
can the Lord now feed them like a lamb in a broad pasture?
17 Ephraim is joined to idols; leave him alone.
18 When their drink is gone, they give themselves to whoring;
their rulersdearly love shame.19 A wind has wrapped themin its wings,
and they shall be ashamed because of their sacrifices. – Hosea 4:15-19
HOSEA 4 STUBBORN SPIRIT
According to Dr. Constable’s commentary, verse 15 was a warning to the Israelites not to influence the Southern Kingdom with their adultery. He also warned them not to go to the pagan shrines and take an oath in His name since they did not really worship Him. Gilgal and Beth-aven were representative pagan cultic sites mentioned in Hosea 9:15. The prophet had come to refer to Bethel (house of God) by the name Beth-aven (house of wickedness) because it had become one of the main centers of idolatry in Israel since the reign of Jeroboam I mentioned in Amos 5:5. The use of one name to represent a different though similar place is a figure of speech called atbash. Verse 16 indicates that God asked rhetorically if He could continue to guide Israel as its Shepherd since it was not behaving like a compliant heifer or lamb but had become stubborn and obstinate. Verse 17 refers to Ephraim, the largest tribe in the Northern Kingdom that stood for the whole nation had abandoned her Shepherd and replaced him with idols. God instructs others to leave Israel alone with her sinfulness. Verse 18 states that the adultery was influenced by their drinking but even when they weren’t drinking, they have embraced such idolatrous acts. They loved their sins so much.
Aren’t we also prone to act like the Israelites? They have grown in their rebellion that the stubborn spirit was the result of such unfaithfulness to God. No wonder the first command of God was not to have any other gods but him. It opened their hearts to stubborn spirits. 1 Samuel 15:23 says that rebellion is as sinful as witchcraft, and stubbornness as bad as worshiping idols.
REFLECTION
- Why do you think stubbornness is as bad as worshipping idols?
