Hosea 4:3
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. 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.
Therefore the land is set forth as mourning and everyone dwelling in it as languishing, together with the beasts of the field and the fowls of heaven, yea, with the fishes of the sea also taken away. The judgment reaches land, inhabitants, animals, birds, and fish as one shared wasting under sin. The languishing is shown amid widespread calamities in which harvests are swept away, famine and pestilence follow, and destruction strikes both people and animals. Those disasters are to become more frequent and severe.
This suffering comes because there is no truth nor mercy nor knowledge of God in the land, but swearing and lying and killing and stealing and adultery breaking out until blood touches blood. It is covenant unfaithfulness over which the Lord has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land. That condition results from false shepherds turning people away from the laws of God's kingdom to exalt their own theories and suppositions. Prevailing impiety and growing wickedness spring from man-made theories opposed to God's law, and their work reacts back upon the doers themselves.
The verse describes the condition of the world at the present time, in the last days of this earth's history. It is the same corrupt and violent condition seen before the Flood, when the wickedness of man was great and every imagination continually evil and all flesh had corrupted its way. The curse resulting from transgression spreads in proportion as transgression becomes widespread, affecting the land, people, beasts, and fish. The verse will be fulfilled when the judgment of God falls upon mystic Babylon.
This warning about the state of the land is presented in connection with a message calling God's people to prepare for the coming of the Lord. The condition shows the great need for a work that reaches suffering people where they are and teaches the evil of disregarding the laws of health and life and how to preserve the body in health. The verse applies to disease in animals and the danger of eating their flesh, since diseased meat can cause disease among people. Meat is therefore not safe for invalids and should not be prescribed by physicians who know the truth.