New Christian Bible Study

The Bible

 

Hoschea 4

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1 Audite verbum Domini, filii Israël, quia judicium Domino cum habitatoribus terræ : non est enim veritas, et non est misericordia, et non est scientia Dei in terra.

2 Maledictum, et mendacium, et homicidium, et furtum, et adulterium inundaverunt, et sanguis sanguinem tetigit.

3 Propter hoc lugebit terra, et infirmabitur omnis qui habitat in ea, in bestia agri, et in volucre cæli ; sed et pisces maris congregabuntur.

4 Verumtamen unusquisque non judicet, et non arguatur vir : populus enim tuus sicut hi qui contradicunt sacerdoti.

5 Et corrues hodie, et corruet etiam propheta tecum. Nocte tacere feci matrem tuam.

6 Conticuit populus meus, eo quod non habuerit scientiam : quia tu scientiam repulisti, repellam te, ne sacerdotio fungaris mihi ; et oblita es legis Dei tui, obliviscar filiorum tuorum et ego.

7 Secundum multitudinem eorum sic peccaverunt mihi : gloriam eorum in ignominiam commutabo.

8 Peccata populi mei comedent, et ad iniquitatem eorum sublevabunt animas eorum.

9 Et erit sicut populus, sic sacerdos ; et visitabo super eum vias ejus, et cogitationes ejus reddam ei.

10 Et comedent, et non saturabuntur ; fornicati sunt, et non cessaverunt : quoniam Dominum dereliquerunt in non custodiendo.

11 Fornicatio, et vinum, et ebrietas auferunt cor.

12 Populus meus in ligno suo interrogavit, et baculus ejus annuntiavit ei ; spiritus enim fornicationum decepit eos, et fornicati sunt a Deo suo.

13 Super capita montium sacrificabant, et super colles ascendebant thymiama ; subtus quercum, et populum, et terebinthum, quia bona erat umbra ejus ; ideo fornicabuntur filiæ vestræ, et sponsæ vestræ adulteræ erunt.

14 Non visitabo super filias vestras cum fuerint fornicatæ, et super sponsas vestras cum adulteraverint, quoniam ipsi cum meretricibus conversabantur, et cum effeminatis sacrificabant ; et populus non intelligens vapulabit.

15 Si fornicaris tu, Israël, non delinquat saltem Juda ; et nolite ingredi in Galgala, et ne ascenderitis in Bethaven, neque juraveritis : Vivit Dominus !

16 Quoniam sicut vacca lasciviens declinavit Israël ; nunc pascet eos Dominus, quasi agnum in latitudine.

17 Particeps idolorum Ephraim : dimitte eum.

18 Separatum est convivium eorum ; fornicatione fornicati sunt : dilexerunt afferre ignominiam protectores ejus.

19 Ligavit eum spiritus in alis suis, et confundentur a sacrificiis suis.

   

Commentary

 

Earth

  
by Brita Conroy

Earth" is a general word that can be thought of as a container for other more specific words, as ground, field, or garden. Each of these means a person in an ascending series as that person learns truths from the Bible, thinks about them, and tries to apply them to life. The series represents the way of becoming good and wise. "Earth" and "ground" are terms that can go either way, as in the parable of the sower (Matthew 13:4-8) there was both good ground and bad ground, but "field" and "garden" mean minds that are regenerating towards good. "Earth" in the Bible can mean a person or a group of like-minded people as in a church. But it refers specifically to the external of the person's mind, or of the general thought of the group. If heaven and earth are mentioned together, then both the internals and externals of the mind are meant – something to note when reading the creation story.

In Revelation the word "earth" is used both as a ground level as we use it in its natural sense and also as the sense of a group. The action in this book takes place in the great middle zone of the spiritual world, where people first go and where they are sorted out. There are both evil people and good there, and sometimes at the end of a church the evil can have great influence before a great judgment comes. This level of the spiritual realm is called the "earth" to which the dragon was cast down (Revelation 12:9) and to which the stars fell (Revelation 12:4). The "earth" that swallowed the dragon’s flood means those still-sincere people within the church who discounted the flood of the dragon's falsities (Revelation 12:15).

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