Welcome to The Daily, where we study the Bible verse by verse, chapter by chapter, every day. Get your Hosea Scripture Journal now. What happens when men stop leading spiritually? Everything starts to break. Listen to our text today, Hosea 4:12-14: My people inquire of a piece of wood, and their walking staff gives them oracles. For a spirit of whoredom has led them astray, and they have left their God to play the whore. They sacrifice on the tops of the mountains and burn offerings on the hills, under oak, poplar, and terebinth, because their shade is good. Therefore your daughters play the whore, and your brides commit adultery. I will not punish your daughters when they play the whore, nor your brides when they commit adultery; for the men themselves go aside with prostitutes and sacrifice with cult prostitutes, and a people without understanding shall come to ruin. — Hosea 4:12-14 Hosea starts this section by showing how far the people have drifted from God. "My people inquire of a piece of wood…" God's covenant people are looking for guidance from lifeless wood objects, something that required zero obedience whatsoever?! They even had rituals, sacrifices, and sacred spaces for these lifeless wood objects and false gods. They worshiped on the hills, under trees, in places that felt peaceful and appealing. Hosea even tells us why: "because their shade is good." It was comfortable. It felt right. And these woke ideas spread. "Therefore your daughters play the whore, and your brides commit adultery." What began in corrupted worship showed up in corrupted relationships. What they practiced before God eventually shaped how they lived with one another. Then comes the stunner in the text. "I will not punish your daughters… nor your brides…" Why? Because it was an issue with men and male spiritual leadership—or the lack of it. God tracks the issue back to the source. The issue is not just the outcome—it is the leadership. The men led this. The men normalized this. The men participated in the very sin that shaped the culture. And everyone else followed. This is how all nations fall. Not just because of sin, but because those responsible for spiritual leadership abandon it. When men stop leading with truth, others are left to follow confusion. When men compromise, culture drifts. When men stay silent, sin spreads. And eventually, as God says, "a people without understanding shall come to ruin." That is always the conclusion. If you are a man, you are called to spiritual leadership—first in your own life, then in your home, then at church, then at work, and anywhere God has placed you. If you are passive, compromised, or silent, that absence will shape more than just you. Because when men stop leading spiritually, everything else begins to fall apart. So if you are a man listening today, lead. Do something in the name of the Lord to lead others back to Him. If you are in, write "I will take a lead" in the comments below. DO THIS: Take responsibility for one area of spiritual leadership in your life today—your habits, your home, or your influence—and lead it toward God. ASK THIS: Where have you seen the absence of spiritual leadership affect others? Are you leading spiritually—or drifting passively? Who is shaping your spiritual direction right now? PRAY THIS: Father, call me out of passivity and into leadership. Give me the courage to lead with truth and the humility to follow you fully. Amen. PLAY THIS: "Give Me Jesus"
