How could this happen, that Israel fell into sin so deeply? Hosea's answer is simple: they had no leadership. False promises had destroyed the people's trust in their leadership, with the result that the people said, we have no king.
Hosea 10:3 For now they shall say, We have no king, because we feared not the LORD; what then should a king do to us?
4 They have spoken words, swearing falsely in making a covenant: thus judgment springeth up as hemlock in the furrows of the field.
People follow a leader only to the extent that they trust him.
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