LEARNING DAILY

 

Hosea 4:1-6, Hear the word of the Lord, you Israelites, because The Lord has a charge to bring against you who live in the land: There is no faithfulness, no love, no acknowledgment of God in the land. There is only cursing, lying and murder, stealing and adultery, the break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed. Because of this the land mourns [dries up], and all who live in it waste away; the beasts of the field and the birds of the air and the fish of the sea are dying. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also reject you as my priests; because you have ignored the law of your God, I will also ignore your children.

 

I will return to the Proverbs; perhaps writing on them once or twice per week. We need the wisdom that can be gleamed from them in order to live righteously in this evil world. There is a message for us today from the writing of the prophet Hosea.

 

If you read closely the verses above you will see he is writing to the people of Israel to scold them for breaking five of the Ten Commandments – cursing (misusing oaths and vows), lying, killing, stealing, and committing adultery. Adultery had been incorporated into the nation’s religion through temple prostitution at the temple of Baal. Go back and reread the verses to understand what was said to Israel. The root of Israel’s sin was a lack of knowledge of God and His Word! Israel had broken covenant with God, worshipped other gods and basically changed glorifying God into walking in shame. As a result, crime and violence had increased to a critical condition, fear and misery prevailed in the land; increased crime and violence resulted when the people no longer acknowledged God and His Word as the ultimate authority in the land.

 

“Hear the word of the Lord, you people of the United States of America, because The Lord has a charge to bring against you who live in the land”. The statement is so appropriate to us today. According to an article by Glenn Beck a survey has shown less than 50% of Americans have no doubt that God exists and 34% of Americans never attend church. Have we not seen a tremendous increase in violent crimes in our nation in the last few years? Stores are being looted by mobs, mass shootings are more and more frequent, lies are told to us by our leaders because they think we are ignorant, and the list goes on and on! Like Hosea’s Israel, the United States no longer acknowledges God and His Word as the authority in the land. There is no fear of God as people have turned to the gods of wealth, position, greed, and do what is “right in their own eyes”.

 

The people of Israel grieved the heart of God! They had His Law, His commandments, His prophets; all told them how to live in a world filled with evil and was clear about the consequences of disobeying God and His Word! They did not pay attention and were destroyed for the “lack of and rejection of knowledge”. Consider for a moment hearing that the God who created all things, the God who had chosen them as His special people to receive His inheritance, who had pleaded with them through the prophets to return to Him was no longer going to be with them. Notice who God held responsible – the leaders of the nation, particularly the priests. They had led the people to pagan nations and following their rituals instead of turning to God who had sustained them and provided for their needs.

You decide and tell me if you believe this describes the United States of America in 2023! Do you understand why I continue to encourage you to be in the Word of God daily, reading/studying/meditating so you have the knowledge, understanding, and wisdom to do what He says and to walk the narrow way to eternal life in His kingdom? Do you think evil will not continue? No, it is going to continue to grow worse. I wish I could tell you all would get better! Strengthen your walk with Jesus by being in His Word and by spending time in prayer with Him. He provides the wisdom to walk with Him as He desires!