Verse 6a tells us that God’s people—the priests—would be destroyed because of a lack of that knowledge of God mentioned in verse 1. The people of Israel did not know God’s regulations, and the priests also lacked that knowledge.
God will reject the priest, for he has rejected “that knowledge” of God (v. 6b). Thus, he will no longer be a priest to God.
God will forget the priest’s children, since he has forgotten the law of his God (v. 6c).
The more the priests were multiplied, the more they sinned against God. Hence, Jehovah said that He would change their glory in their multiplication into shame (v. 7). This indicates that as God’s priests, His serving ones, we need to be careful, for our service involves our children.
Referring to the priests, verses 8 and 9 say, “They feed on the sin of My people, / And their soul desires their iniquity. / And it will be that as it is with the people, so will it be with the priest; / Thus I will visit their ways upon them, / And I will recompense their doings to them.” A portion of the sin offering was to be food for the priests. The priests desired that the people would sin, because the more the people sinned, the more sin offerings there would be for the priests to eat.
As it was with the people, so it was with the priests. This means that the priests, who had been sanctified, separated, to be a special group among the people, made themselves the same as the people, becoming low and common. Therefore, regarding the priests God said that He would visit (punish) their ways upon them and recompense their doings to them.
The priests would eat but would not be filled, and they would commit fornication but would not increase, for they had ceased giving heed to Jehovah (v. 10).
Hosea 4:11-14 is a word concerning three things that were prevailing among the Israelites—fornication, wine, and harlotries.
Fornication, wine, and new wine took away the heart of the people of Israel (v. 11). They did not have a heart for anything else.
Instead of praying to God and inquiring of Him, God’s people inquired at their wooden post (idol), considering that their rod informed them of things. A spirit of harlotries made them err, and they had gone about as harlots away from their God (v. 12).
Upon the tops of the mountains they offered sacrifices, and upon the hills they burned incense, under oak, poplar, and terebinth, because its shade was good. Therefore, their daughters went about as harlots, and their brides committed adultery (v. 13). But God would not punish their daughters or their brides, for the men themselves went off with harlots and offered sacrifices with the cult prostitutes (v. 14a; cf. Deut. 23:17).
The people who had no understanding would be cast down (Hosea 4:14b).