Nothing but Talk
Israel is a people which has risen from nothing and known prosperity (‘a luxuriant vine’ v 1) but a careful observer like Hosea could not miss the fact that in recent years she is a people who have lost their soul. Having found their God (or having been found by him) in slavery, they soon lost him once they secured their freedom. All that remains is a shell.
All the externals are still in place and the right things are still being said but the heart has gone out of it. Sacrifice and ritual are more honoured than meaningful and loving relationships. Altars to false gods have multiplied (v 1) but the obligations of personal relationships, whether to a king or to the Lord, no longer seem to matter (v 3).
With loss of faith has also gone the loss of the social graces within the community. Litigation increased as people were increasingly unable to trust one another to speak the truth and to deal fairly (v 4). When their misdeeds come to light they run for cover and use all means to avoid being found out (v 8). ‘Beth-aven’ (v 5) means ‘House of Wickedness’ an ironical re-naming of Bethel (House of God). They protect the false altars as if they were the real thing, and know no shame. (v 6).
At one level this is the gap between ritual and reality, sometimes expressed by those who say that if your heart is in the right place all rituals are unnecessary, At another level it is the gap between ritual that is expressive of something meaningful and ritual that is a substitute for something meaningful, in which case the ritual is all that is left.