Hosea 6:4, commentary and pictures

Ephraim and Judah's goodness was their loyalty and devotion to God, yet it was brief and unreliable, repeatedly turning away and vanishing like a morning cloud and the early dew. God's question of what He shall do unto them grieves their failure to remain faithful and asks what more can be done, since their refusal to repent made His efforts to heal them fruitless, even while He still bore with them, favored them, and longed to save them. Repentance that is only passing feeling, emotional excitement, or violent exercise of impulse vanishes like morning dew, gives no permanent relief to the soul, and leaves a person worse than before and easily turned from serving God to serving self. Lasting goodness and reform require inward change of heart with settled principles, decided reform and practice of truth, entire consecration to Christ, and an active working faith constantly increasing in strength. The same fleeting devotion is a prophecy of the world just prior to the second coming, when iniquity abounds through transgression of the law and men turn from God to seducing spirits and self-indulgence.

Israel's Vanishing Goodness

The goodness of Ephraim and Judah was their loyalty and devotion to God, and it was brief and unreliable and short-lived, repeatedly turning away and vanishing like a morning cloud and as the early dew that quickly disappears. It did not endure but disappeared, failing to remain faithful through inconsistency. Even in the face of their rebellion God bore with them and still longed to reveal His willingness to save them. He continually favored them, yet their loyalty did not endure. His question expresses how persistently He had sought to turn them back.

God's question of what He shall do unto them laments their failure to remain faithful and to show lasting faithfulness. It expresses the difficulty of dealing with such fleeting goodness. It asks what more can be done for them, calling forth from their inconsistency the inquiry what more He can do. Their refusal to repent made His efforts to heal them fruitless.

The verse warns those who oppose God and work against His will that their short-lived faithfulness leaves them accountable for their choices. It warns that selfishness and covetousness among God's people defile His work and dishonor Him. It describes God's loyal and faithful children living in a world full of atheists and worldly religionists. That world ever since Cain lifted up his hand against Abel has rejected every provision heaven has made to restore the moral image of God in man, even casting aside as worthless the gift of His only begotten Son.

Prophecy of Final Apostasy

Hosea 6:4 is a prophecy of the condition of the world just before the second coming. In that time the end of all things is at hand and iniquity abounds. This abounding iniquity comes because men have transgressed the law and have broken the everlasting covenant, which was given on condition of obedience. It comes also because of continual transgression.

In that same time the world comes more and more under the sway of seducing spirits as men turn away from God and from His righteous government. Even men professing godliness indulge their own traits of character. Unless conscientiously under the control of God, they become self-indulgent and self-centered.

Fleeting Versus Lasting Repentance

Repentance that is only a passing desire, or a spasmodic, violent exercise of feeling, vanishes like morning dew and gives no permanent relief to the soul. Such feeling-only repentance is delusive and itself needs to be repented of, and because it does not produce the peaceable fruits of righteousness it leaves a person worse than before. Left without those fruits, the person stands open to evil thoughts and is easily diverted from serving God to serving self. Lasting repentance requires decided reform and putting learned truth into practice, entire consecration to Christ and living in communion with Him as Counselor, and an active, working faith constantly increasing in strength. Without this, the tempter brings plausible excuses for self-serving and self-pleasing, and the person falls back into old practices and neglects the work that would give hope and comfort and assurance.

The goodness of those who profess to believe the truth and follow Christ while living unconsecrated, unsanctified lives is only temporary, as lasting as frost before the rays of the sun. Such persons are a continual reproach to the cause, prate about sanctification and holiness, and when there is a revival mourn over their unchristian lives and make wonderful resolutions but fail to carry them out because their dependence is in self. Goodness or reform prompted by emotional excitement or a passing impulse is short-lived like morning cloud or dew and lasts only as long as the excitement. Lasting conversion and reform require inward change of heart and settled principles rather than a passing impulse. The comparison to morning clouds and early dew describes convictions about spiritual devotion that do not last or reach deeply enough to bring about a lasting change.

Goodness comes only in flashes and passes away quickly like morning dew when self is considered, appetite is indulged, and the inclination to evil is not restrained by moral and religious principles that look beyond present transitory gratification and momentary indulgence to the future. Strong traits of character under the control of the Spirit bear good fruit, but without such restraint the battle is lost. The morning cloud and early dew show how quickly goodness can vanish, and happiness pursued without trust in God is just as brief.