Exegesis on Hosea 4

Verse 1 has one command and one indictment. You are the people of Israel. This is why you and I struggle with God, by searching the holy scriptures. He commands us to love Him, and indicts us for not loving Him. He is the only judge of salvation. We either accept salvation through His way (the road to righteousness) or seek other gods and goddesses. There is no compromise when it comes to loving God. You do, or you do not. We have neither faithfulness nor loyalty, because if we did, we would spend all of our time seeking the knowledge of God. What is the knowledge of God? The knowledge of God is instruction. If we love Him, we should listen to His instructions.

Verse 2 tells us clearly what we are worshipping instead of God. Putting others down with our words, lying to each other, emotionally and physically battering each other, pouring soda in the water cups at fastfood restaurants and making out with multiple partners without a smidgen of remorse or commitment.

Verse 3 says our environment is in ruins because of our inequities. We are supposed to be stewards of creation, and yet creation is crying out in agony over our sins.

Verse 4 says the servants of God are who God is contending with. But, we knew that. We are guilty, and contending is another way of saying struggling.

Verses 5-6 speak of the depth of the sentences we deserve. For those of you familiar with the difference betwixt binding and non-binding arbitration hearings, imagine these verses as non-binding resolutions of a commercial arbitrator, except with the capability to be turned into binding resolutions if we do not change our ways for His way.

Verse 7 reminds me of a pervasive problem within Ethiopian Orthodox churches in the diaspora. If the moccasin fits you, feel free to slip it on. It has become the dogma of believers (inspired by profane myths and old wives' tales) that the more believers we have in a parish, the more God will be glorified. This is patently false. We love the Faseeka (Pascha) vigils with 1500 people cloaked in white and holding candles in the dark. I shall not lie, this is truly beautiful. But, beauty has facets. This is only an outward expression of beauty. If all we are focused on in our lives is outward beauty, then we still have not grasped the gospel of Jesus Christ. The gospel of Jesus Christ is about inward change. Otherwise, we are doomed to be Pharisees, Sadducees and hypocrites. My ideal parish has 50 parishioners, but I don't hold on to that number fanatically. It could decrease by twenty, or increase by fifty. I am thinking like a shepherd. Parishioners are a flock of sheep that are in pain. Since priests are not omnipotent, we should have them dealing with manageable amounts of sheep. How could two or five priests have close relations with 1500 people? How could they hear 1500 people's stories, and help them change their ways to His way? A sober mind is needed in considering the size of a parish. Use the loose rule of a smaller flock is easier to heal and grow than a larger flock.

Verse 8 hurts, but I must speak the truth with love. The sheep that come to church and consciously choose to anathematize repentance, and thus self-excommunicate, are in deep sin, but they bring Federal Reserve Notes. The Wu-Tang Clan declare that cash rules everything around them, and millions of their fans agree. It's hard to disagree. The clergy will not stand against the self-excommunicants, because self-excommunicants pay for the clergies' salaries and the lights of the Church's building. Pride is the root of all sins, and this situation is no different. We do not need $10 million buildings to hear the word of God. We could meet in a backyard, or a park. Think of how much more money we would have to aid the poor. Think humbly.

Verses 10-11 reminds us that we are truly devoted, in the most ritualistic and religious way possible, to sinning against God, and reveling in our whoredom. Why is it so hard for us to give everything to God? We deserve nothing, and He deserves everything. Also, it is permissible for you to drink but not to get 'turnt up'.

Verse 12 slaps all extra-scriptural instruction across the face. We look up our daily horoscopes, love mini quotes from the Dalai Lama, actors, politicians and comedians. We shake inanimate 8-balls and ask them advice. We put sacrifices (money) into Zoltar for guidance. Our universities all bow down to the wisdom of the Myers-Briggs Psychology personality test. Truly, a spirit of whoredom has led us astray from seeking the instruction of the triune God.

Verse 19 is a moment where I take a breath and thank eminent biblical scholar Fr. Paul Nadim Tarazi. I am a Semite, and native speaker of Amharic. In Amharic the words breath, wind and spirit all have the same root word. This lends to more depth gleaned from reading the holy writings in Amharic than in the American language. Fr. Tarazi points out, in his audiobook series on the scroll of Ezekiel, that the helter-skelter RSV translators translate one Hebrew word as both wind and spirit.

A wind has wrapped her in its wings, and she shall be ashamed because of her altars.

Replace wind with spirit. Know that we are battling against the cosmic powers of this present darkness and against the spiritual forces of evil. Not everything from the heavens is welcome. Let us be ashamed of our past, acknowledge ourselves as sinners and pray

Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us sinners.