Hosea 4:11
Promiscuity, wine, and new wine take away understanding.
Harlotry, wine, and new wine
The verse begins with a triad of elements that are often associated with moral and spiritual decline in the biblical narrative. The Hebrew word for "harlotry" (זְנוּת, zenut) is frequently used in the Old Testament to describe not only physical unfaithfulness but also spiritual infidelity, where Israel is seen as being unfaithful to God by pursuing other deities. This imagery is consistent with the overarching theme of Hosea, where Israel's idolatry is likened to adultery. "Wine" (יַיִן, yayin) and "new wine" (תִּירוֹשׁ, tirosh) are often symbols of abundance and blessing in the Bible, yet here they are depicted as contributing to Israel's downfall. Historically, wine was a staple in ancient Near Eastern culture, but its misuse is a metaphor for indulgence and excess that leads to moral decay.

Take away understanding
The phrase "take away understanding" (יִקַּח לֵב, yiqqach lev) is a powerful depiction of the consequences of indulgence in sin. The Hebrew word for "understanding" (לֵב, lev) is often translated as "heart" and represents the center of intellect, emotion, and will in Hebrew thought. The idea here is that these vices—harlotry, wine, and new wine—dull the spiritual and moral senses, leading individuals away from wisdom and discernment. This aligns with the biblical principle that sin blinds and enslaves, preventing people from perceiving and following God's truth. The historical context of Hosea's ministry to the Northern Kingdom of Israel underscores this message, as the nation was on the brink of judgment due to its persistent idolatry and moral corruption. The verse serves as a timeless warning about the dangers of allowing worldly pleasures to cloud spiritual judgment and fidelity to God.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Hosea
A prophet in the Northern Kingdom of Israel during the 8th century BC. His ministry focused on calling Israel back to faithfulness to God amidst widespread idolatry and moral decay.

2. Israel
The Northern Kingdom, often depicted in Hosea as unfaithful to God, engaging in idolatry and moral corruption.

3. Promiscuity
Refers to the unfaithfulness of Israel, both spiritually and physically, as they turned away from God to worship other deities and engaged in immoral practices.

4. Wine and New Wine
Symbolic of indulgence and excess, representing the physical and spiritual intoxication that leads to a loss of discernment and understanding.

5. Understanding
The ability to discern right from wrong, which is compromised by indulgence in sin and idolatry.
Teaching Points
The Dangers of Indulgence
Hosea warns that promiscuity and excessive drinking lead to a loss of understanding. Believers are called to exercise self-control and avoid behaviors that dull spiritual discernment.

Spiritual Unfaithfulness
Just as Israel was unfaithful to God, Christians must guard against idolatry in any form, ensuring that their devotion remains solely to God.

The Importance of Discernment
Understanding and wisdom are gifts from God that can be compromised by sinful behavior. Believers should seek to maintain a clear mind and heart to discern God's will.

Consequences of Sin
The loss of understanding is a consequence of sin. Recognizing the impact of our actions on our spiritual health is crucial for maintaining a faithful walk with God.

Pursuing Holiness
Christians are called to live holy lives, avoiding the pitfalls of promiscuity and excess, and instead, pursuing righteousness and a deeper relationship with God.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does Hosea 4:11 illustrate the impact of indulgence on spiritual understanding, and what practical steps can we take to avoid these pitfalls in our own lives?

2. In what ways can modern-day idolatry manifest, and how can we guard our hearts against it, drawing from the lessons in Hosea?

3. How does the warning in Hosea 4:11 about promiscuity and wine relate to the New Testament teachings on self-control and sobriety?

4. Reflect on a time when indulgence in any form led to a lack of discernment in your life. What did you learn from that experience, and how can it inform your future choices?

5. How can we encourage one another in our faith communities to pursue holiness and avoid the spiritual pitfalls highlighted in Hosea 4:11?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Proverbs 20:1
This verse warns about the deceptive nature of wine and strong drink, similar to Hosea's warning about how indulgence can lead to a lack of wisdom.

Ephesians 5:18
Paul advises believers not to be drunk with wine, which leads to debauchery, but to be filled with the Spirit, contrasting worldly indulgence with spiritual fullness.

Isaiah 5:11-12
Isaiah condemns those who pursue strong drink and revelry, neglecting the deeds of the Lord, paralleling Hosea's message about the consequences of indulgence.
Sensuality is RuinJ.R. Thomson Hosea 4:11
Priests and PeopleJ. Orr Hosea 4:6-11
Israel's Guilt and PunishmentC. Jerdan Hosea 4:6-14
People
Hosea
Places
Beth-aven, Gilgal, Jezreel
Topics
Fornication, Harlotry, Heart, Lewdness, Loose, Prostitution, Understanding, Whoredom, Wine, Wisdom
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Hosea 4:11

     8355   understanding

Hosea 4:6-13

     7233   Israel, northern kingdom

Hosea 4:10-11

     5850   excess

Hosea 4:10-12

     4514   stick
     6243   adultery, spiritual
     8840   unfaithfulness, to God

Hosea 4:10-13

     8764   forgetting God

Hosea 4:10-14

     6239   prostitution

Hosea 4:10-15

     6189   immorality, examples

Hosea 4:10-19

     8705   apostasy, in OT

Library
'Let Him Alone'
'Ephraim is joined to idols: let him alone.'--HOSEA iv. 17. The tribe of Ephraim was the most important member of the kingdom of Israel; consequently its name was not unnaturally sometimes used in a wider application for the whole of the kingdom, of which it was the principal part. Being the 'predominant partner,' its name was used alone for that of the whole firm, just as in our own empire, we often say 'England,' meaning thereby the three kingdoms: England, Scotland, and Ireland. So 'Ephraim' here
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Life, as Amplified by Mediaeval Biographers.
1. His Early Years.--Ephraim, according to this biography, was a Syrian of Mesopotamia, by birth, and by parentage on both sides. His mother was of Amid (now Diarbekr) a central city of that region; his father belonged to the older and more famous City of Nisibis, not far from Amid but near the Persian frontier, where he was priest of an idol named Abnil (or Abizal) in the days of Constantine the Great (306-337). This idol was afterwards destroyed by Jovian (who became Emperor in 363 after the
Ephraim the Syrian—Hymns and Homilies of Ephraim the Syrian

Instruction for the Ignorant:
BEING A SALVE TO CURE THAT GREAT WANT OF KNOWLEDGE, WHICH SO MUCH REIGNS BOTH IN YOUNG AND OLD. PREPARED AND PRESENTED TO THEM IN A PLAIN AND EASY DIALOGUE, FITTED TO THE CAPACITY OF THE WEAKEST. 'My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.'--Hosea 4:6 ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. This little catechism is upon a plan perfectly new and unique. It was first published as a pocket volume in 1675, and has been republished in every collection of the author's works; and recently in a separate tract.
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

Beth-El. Beth-Aven.
Josephus thus describes the land of Benjamin; "The Benjamites' portion of land was from the river Jordan to the sea, in length: in breadth, it was bounded by Jerusalem and Beth-el." Let these last words be marked, "The breadth of the land of Benjamin was bounded by Jerusalem and Beth-el." May we not justly conclude, from these words, that Jerusalem and Beth-el were opposite, as it were, in a right line? But if you look upon the maps, there are some that separate these by a very large tract of land,
John Lightfoot—From the Talmud and Hebraica

Of Orders.
Of this sacrament the Church of Christ knows nothing; it was invented by the church of the Pope. It not only has no promise of grace, anywhere declared, but not a word is said about it in the whole of the New Testament. Now it is ridiculous to set up as a sacrament of God that which can nowhere be proved to have been instituted by God. Not that I consider that a rite practised for so many ages is to be condemned; but I would not have human inventions established in sacred things, nor should it be
Martin Luther—First Principles of the Reformation

"For the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus Hath Made Me Free from the Law of Sin and Death. "
Rom. viii. 2.--"For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death." You know there are two principal things in the preceding verse,--the privilege of a Christian, and the property or character of a Christian. He is one that never enters into condemnation; He that believeth shall not perish, John iii. 15. And then he is one that walks not after the flesh, though he be in the flesh, but in a more elevate way above men, after the guiding and leading
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

Epistle cxxi. To Leander, Bishop of Hispalis (Seville).
To Leander, Bishop of Hispalis (Seville). Gregory to Leander, Bishop of Spain. I have the epistle of thy Holiness, written with the pen of charity alone. For what the tongue transferred to the paper had got its tincture from the heart. Good and wise men were present when it was read, and at once their bowels were stirred with emotion. Everyone began to seize thee in his heart with the hand of love, for that in that epistle the sweetness of thy disposition was not to be heard, but seen. All severally
Saint Gregory the Great—the Epistles of Saint Gregory the Great

That the Ruler Relax not his Care for the Things that are Within in his Occupation among the Things that are Without, nor Neglect to Provide
The ruler should not relax his care for the things that are within in his occupation among the things that are without, nor neglect to provide for the things that are without in his solicitude for the things that are within; lest either, given up to the things that are without, he fall away from his inmost concerns, or, occupied only with the things that are within bestow not on his neighbours outside himself what he owes them. For it is often the case that some, as if forgetting that they have
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great

The Prophet Amos.
GENERAL PRELIMINARY REMARKS. It will not be necessary to extend our preliminary remarks on the prophet Amos, since on the main point--viz., the circumstances under which he appeared as a prophet--the introduction to the prophecies of Hosea may be regarded as having been written for those of Amos also. For, according to the inscription, they belong to the same period at which Hosea's prophetic ministry began, viz., the latter part of the reign of Jeroboam II., and after Uzziah had ascended the
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament

Seasonable Counsel: Or, Advice to Sufferers.
BY JOHN BUNYAN. London: Printed for Benjamin Alsop, at the Angel and Bible in the Poultry, 1684. ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. THIS valuable treatise was first published in a pocket volume in 1684, and has only been reprinted in Whitfield's edition of Bunyan's works, 2 vols. folio, 1767. No man could have been better qualified to give advice to sufferers for righteousness' sake, than John Bunyan: and this work is exclusively devoted to that object. Shut up in a noisome jail, under the iron hand of
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

Joy
'The fruit of the Spirit is joy.' Gal 5:52. The third fruit of justification, adoption, and sanctification, is joy in the Holy Ghost. Joy is setting the soul upon the top of a pinnacle - it is the cream of the sincere milk of the word. Spiritual joy is a sweet and delightful passion, arising from the apprehension and feeling of some good, whereby the soul is supported under present troubles, and fenced against future fear. I. It is a delightful passion. It is contrary to sorrow, which is a perturbation
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

The Third Commandment
Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain: For the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.' Exod 20: 7. This commandment has two parts: 1. A negative expressed, that we must not take God's name in vain; that is, cast any reflections and dishonour on his name. 2. An affirmative implied. That we should take care to reverence and honour his name. Of this latter I shall speak more fully, under the first petition in the Lord's Prayer, Hallowed be thy name.' I shall
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments

The Doctrine
OF THE LAW AND GRACE UNFOLDED; OR, A DISCOURSE TOUCHING THE LAW AND GRACE; THE NATURE OF THE ONE, AND THE NATURE OF THE OTHER; SHOWING WHAT THEY ARE, AS THEY ARE THE TWO COVENANTS; AND LIKEWISE, WHO THEY BE, AND WHAT THEIR CONDITIONS ARE, THAT BE UNDER EITHER OF THESE TWO COVENANTS: Wherein, for the better understanding of the reader, there are several questions answered touching the law and grace, very easy to be read, and as easy to be understood, by those that are the sons of wisdom, the children
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

The Prophet Hosea.
GENERAL PRELIMINARY REMARKS. That the kingdom of Israel was the object of the prophet's ministry is so evident, that upon this point all are, and cannot but be, agreed. But there is a difference of opinion as to whether the prophet was a fellow-countryman of those to whom he preached, or was called by God out of the kingdom of Judah. The latter has been asserted with great confidence by Maurer, among others, in his Observ. in Hos., in the Commentat. Theol. ii. i. p. 293. But the arguments
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament

Hosea
The book of Hosea divides naturally into two parts: i.-iii. and iv.-xiv., the former relatively clear and connected, the latter unusually disjointed and obscure. The difference is so unmistakable that i.-iii. have usually been assigned to the period before the death of Jeroboam II, and iv.-xiv. to the anarchic period which succeeded. Certainly Hosea's prophetic career began before the end of Jeroboam's reign, as he predicts the fall of the reigning dynasty, i. 4, which practically ended with Jeroboam's
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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