Hosea chapter four is about idolatry. Israel has gone after other loves. They have abandoned God. They give themselves to others, spiritually and physically.

They are offering sacrifices all over the place. They are asking pieces of wood what to do.

Why would people do that?

Have you ever felt desperate? Have you ever found yourself grasping at straws trying this and that wanting something to happen?

There were things the people wanted that they didn’t have. They tried this. They tried that. If God wasn’t answering, they asked other gods instead of turning to God humbly and asking why and repenting.

One of the judgments in this chapter is that God wasn’t going to punish their daughters for turning to others.

Being left to your sin is a very bad, scary thing. We want God’s discipline keeping us on the straight and narrow, keeping us on the paths of righteousness, because those paths lead to eternal life with God.

We don’t want to be left to ourselves. We certainly don’t want to be left to wander away from God.

They are dying because of their ignorance. Verse six says, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.”

Why do they lack knowledge? They rejected it.

Do you want to know the truth? Do you pursue the truth? Or, are you happy in your ignorance? Would you rather not know what God wants so you can stay in your sin? Or, do you want to give up anything God might require of you?

Ignorance isn’t bliss when you are ignoring the voice of the Lord.

Listen and obey.