Hosea 10:4

"Surely now they will say, “We have no king; for we don’t fear the LORD; and the king, what can he do for us?”"

Key Reflection

This verse reveals a profound spiritual crisis among the people of Israel, indicating that without true fear and reverence for God, their human kings are rendered ineffective. It suggests that when people reject divine authority in favor of earthly rulers, those rulers lose their true power and significance.

From the Scholars: Barnes' Notes

They have spoken words -The words which they spoke were eminently “words;” they were mere “words,” which had no substance; “swearing falsely in making a covenant, literally, swearing falsely, making a covenant, and judgments springeth up as hemlock in the furrows of the field.” : “There is no truth in words, no sanctity in oaths, no faithfulness in keeping covenants, no justice in giving judgments.” Such is the result of all their oaths and covenants, that “judgment springeth up,” yea, flourisheth; but, what judgment? Judgment, bitter and poisonous as hemlock, flourishes, as hemlock would flourish on ground broken up and prepared for it.

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