Hosea 4:12 – “My people ask counsel from their wooden idols, and their staff informs them. For the spirit of harlotry has caused them to stray, and they have played the harlot against their God.”
Today’s Old Testament One Year Bible reading is in keeping with the entire theme of the book of Hosea. Hosea is asked by God in chapter one to marry a prostitute. It is God’s way of demonstrating to His people that while they have been unfaithful, He remains faithful.
The text gives an underlying reason why people are unfaithful. According to verse 12 a “spirit of harlotry” causes people to stray and also causes them to be unfaithful to God. This entire reading today in Hosea chapters 4 and 5 really has nothing at all to do with sexual sin and physical adultery or fornication. Harlotry is applied spiritually and must be understood within that context.
What is it that causes people to miss attending church regularly? What is it that causes people to not pay their tithes and offerings regularly? What is it that causes people to miss prayer and Bible reading regularly? Could it be that a spirit, a real, actual, demonic spirit of harlotry is working to keep people from being faithful in any of these areas? While we may be tempted to blow that off as a little too harsh and dogmatic, let me give you another verse in today’s reading found in Hosea 4:6 – “My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge…” If we know what’s causing people to be unfaithful we can pray against the spirit that’s behind it. I think there’s more to it than, “I overslept,” or “I forgot,” or “I didn’t have time.”
Let me give you another verse in today’s reading to think about. Hosea 5:4 – “They do not direct their deeds toward turning to their God, for the spirit of harlotry is in their midst, and they do not know the Lord.” Again, God identifies the root of the problem as a spirit…a spirit of harlotry. The spirit of harlotry is affecting the deeds of the people. As a matter of fact, verse 11 of chapter 4 tells us that the spirit of harlotry will enslave the heart.
Let us be a people who seek the Lord. Let us be a people who are faithful to Him. Leaders, let us be alert to the spirits that are trying to cause the people of God to be unfaithful and let us wage war in that spiritual dimension to neutralize the influence of a spirit of harlotry. God is faithful…we should be faithful too.