Hosea 4:3-4 -- On Fish and Fighting

"Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth therein shall languish, with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven; yea, the fishes of the sea also shall be taken away.
Yet let no man strive, nor reprove another: for thy people are as they that strive with the priest."
Hosea 4:3-4


This chapter is talking about the wickedness of the people. The first verse of the selection seems to be about the consequences of that. A couple of ideas there... not sure, but it might be talking about how we're connected to each other, and to the earth and the creatures therein, so that when the earth is sick from wickedness, it isn't just spiritually, because even though we can't see it, the spiritual and the physical are connected, and if we are spiritually sick it can influence our physical well being as well. If that is the case, as here, then excessive wickedness can cause the animals to be taken away... which seems like such a dramatic and almost impossible thing, but the wickedness discussed is similarly dramatic: "there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land" (verse 1).

The other thing that stood out to me is in the second verse where it talks about "they that strive with the priest." That seems to mean arguing even when there is no chance that we are right... arguing just for the sake of arguing, or thinking that we know better than the scriptures (which is what a priest would be sharing), although in later verses here we learn that the priests are also corrupt and God disowns them, saying "thou shalt be no priest to me." So the encouragement not to reprove could also mean that it is pointless to strive/contend with each other because it's just done in anger and making things worse. No one is sincerely seeking truth, and reproving when there is no one sincerely able to learn or be benefitted is pointless, the same way arguing against the scriptures is.

Let's think about this today, and make sure we don't lose truth and mercy, and work on living well and setting a good example rather than arguing with people who aren't seeking truth. We can still be ready to answer anyone who asks us about our testimony, of course, but letting go of pointless contention will go a long way in helping us all to retain the Spirit in our lives.