Hosea 4:1 "Hear the word of the Lord, ye children of Israel: for the Lord hath a
controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor
knowledge of God in the land."
There are three things here that the Lord is grieved with Israel about. No truth, no
mercy and a lack of the knowledge of God throughout their land.
We see how easily this can happen to a nation. So far in the United States I see a lack
of truth. I see a substitute of lies and falsehood put in place instead of truth. Examples
are: the THEORY of evolution, the SAFE sex myth, that abortion is nothing more than
getting rid of a mass of tissue and that homosexuality is an alternative lifestyle and
perfectly normal. There are more but these are the main ones that are in the forefront of
my mind. These lacks of truth will one day led to the lack of mercy and the lack of the
knowledge of God.
At present we have in the United States knowledge of God and we still have mercy toward
the hungry, poor and sick. However, I do expect this to change if we do not change as a
nation. What causes these things to happen is a lack of truth. Although we still have the
knowledge of God as a supreme being, the fear of God or the fear of God's judgment upon
sin, is disappearing at an enormous rate. So in reality, the true knowledge of God is
disappearing because we are losing our vision of what God stands for and who God really
is. A belief in God is one thing, but a reverence and fear of God is quite another which
we lack in the world today. Without a reverence toward his written word and fear of his
judgment upon sin, sin will abound. When sin abounds with no fear of God, mercy will flee
and suffering will prevail.
No matter what is taught to the contrary, modern day prison systems, hospitals, mercy
on the mentally ill and the sick, compassion for the elderly is really a result of the
influence of Christianity. It was Christian reformers and preachers who built hospitals,
improved prisons, and abolished slavery in some parts of the world. If the United States
abolished slavery by conviction of their hearts by the preaching of traveling preachers
like England did, there would have never been a civil war. Deep in their hearts they
should have realized that owning another human being is wrong and the very opposite of
freedom of which this country fought against England to achieve.
What is it that hinders us from seeing truth? Aside of prayer and the study of God's
word, I would say, GREED.
The reason slavery was popular in the south was basically, GREED. They needed slaves to
work the large plantations and they did not want to pay them a fair wage for their work.
Another reason that enters the picture is LAZINESS. They did not want to do the work
themselves. Hardheartedness also was a factor and using religion as an excuse. One
ridiculous reasoning I use to hear was that if the blacks had not have come to America,
they would not have heard the gospel. We know this is silly because nowhere in the New
Testament did Jesus Christ ever instruct us to spread the gospel by enslaving people. We
were instructed to go into the entire world and bring the gospel to every creature. This
type of excuse for wrongdoing is a cop out.
How do we excuse abortion today? How often have I heard, "Isn't it better to abort
a child than to have it come into the world and suffer abuse?" This too, is a cop
out. Two wrongs do not make a right. We do not kill children just to keep them from being
abused. If injecting a burning solution into the mother's womb to kill and baby is not
abuse, I don't know what is?
Euthanasia is another cop out. "Isn't it better to let them die than to see them
suffer?" When we start deciding who lives and who dies are we any better than Adolph
Hitler? Here are some objections to suicide:
· An elderly person in pain will naturally feel like dying but we forget that they may
recover and be glad they didn't die. · A greedy relative may influence his elderly
parents into signing the death decree unnecessarily. · An elderly couple may be tempted
to ask for euthanasia if they think their medical bills may be a burden for their
children. · The best reason against it is this: God and God alone should decide when a
person should die. He is the only one who knows all particulars and can determine whether or
not it is time for a person to leave this life and enter eternity. · I hate to see people
suffer also but killing is not the answer for the suffering. Medical care, compassion and
love are the answer.
The second verse in Hosea gives a further picture of God's controversy with Israel:
"By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they
break out, and blood toucheth blood." Hosea 4:2.
If you can't see this going on in the good old US of A then something is wrong.
Adultery is rampant, even in the church. I have personally witnessed this happening.
Stealing is also going on. Stealing is not just robbing a bank. It is cheating in
business, defrauding, shortchanging, lying about the reliability of a product, not
returning a lost wallet, buying something from a store and using it for a time, returning
it when tired of it is another example. I know of a wife who got a large cash advance by
using her and her husband's joint credit card. She placed it into a private bank account
where the husband could not have access it to either spend it or pay it back. The credit card
company told the husband that he was responsible to pay it back. The wife is excused by
law and cannot be prosecuted because she is married to the man. Yet, I see it as stealing
just as if she would have robbed a bank. This woman is supposed to be a spirit filled
Christian and has no guilt for this action.
Murder is happening and is under the disguise of abortion.
Our consciences have become seared, immune to correction. We excuse our actions instead
of repenting which means changing. We say that "we are saved by grace, not
works," and can go on and on sinning without repenting. This should not be. When a
Christian can live in worse sin than a sinner that does not know Jesus Christ, something
is bad wrong with our thinking.
Jesus came to correct, to free us from sin, not just to forgive us in our sin. He came
that we might walk in love, walk in compassion and be fruitful by living right and
bringing others to him. If we are not doing this, something is wrong and we need to
"Go back to the drawing board." No we are not saved by works and earning our
salvation but we do right things because we are saved and have a new spirit and new birth.
Hosea 4:6 "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because, thou hast
rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing
thou hast forgotten the law of they God, I will also forget thy children."
When I read these scriptures further we truly do have a lack of knowledge. We have a
lack of the knowledge of the word of God and what God stands for. This will occur if we
spend hours watching TV and only fifteen minutes a week in the word of God. This will
occur if we listen to the modern day philosophers and positive thinking preachers instead
of the preachers of repentance and righteousness. Without the word of God to guide us we
began to excuse ourselves and bypass true repentance and change. How often have you heard,
"I'm only human." "God knows my weakness." "I know God
understands why I am what I am and why I do what I do."
Yet, neglect of the word will bring us to "Lack of knowledge." Just like no
education brings illiteracy and return a nation to an uncivilized culture, the lack of the
word of God will bring about murder by those who feel it is justified. (abortion,
termination of the mentally ill, and euthanasia), stealing without feeling guilty as I
mentioned above, adultery without guilt, selfishness, lack of mercy, and a lust for power
without caring who it hurts, (listen to the politicians when they want to win an
election).
In the past the lust for power would cause people to put to death their own relatives
in order to achieve the throne. Today we have killing with words. When one wants to win an
election, instead of focusing on issues, they tear down and destroy the reputation of
their opponents not caring whom it hurts. I read Dan Quayle's book once that really
awakened me to the effect negative politics had on the children of candidates. I had no
idea how bad children could feel until I read his book. Children can read too. They can
pick up the newspaper and read how terrible a person their father or mother is. The father
and mother they thought was loving, caring and kind, was pictured by the writer or speaker
very different than what they had believed.
We use excuses like, "That's business, that's the name of the game, and that's
politics."
Jesus Christ wants us to be different. HE calls us to something higher and better. He
came that we might have life, joy, love and fellowship. HE has something better for us
than worldly fame and power. HE has something better than worldly goods and money. HE has
something that we can search high and low all over the earth and never find anywhere but
in Him alone. HE has something that we can awake to in the morning with joy and lie down
at night in peace. Why are we settling for crumbs when we can have the best? The saying,
"It is better to give than receive," is more than just a cliché. It is a
message of joy, peace, happiness and contentment. The commandment, "Love thy neighbor
as thyself," is more than just a phrase; it is the answer to wars, famines, poverty
and peace. Jesus didn't have the bible written just to boss us around; he gave it as an
answer to every single need the human race has in the world today.
Have you ever received Christ as savior? HE is the answer to everything you could ever
need. Christians, is Jesus the Lord of your life? Let him be and see if everything I say in
this article is true. You do not have to fight, war, and struggle to stay ahead, let
Christ go ahead of you first.
