Hosea 4:1-3

Hosea 4:1-3

1) Listen to the word of the Lord, you sons of Israel,  because the Lord has a case against the inhabitants of the land, for there is no faithfulness, nor loyalty, nor knowledge of God in the land.

2) There is oath taking denial, murder, stealing and adultery. They employee violence, so that bloodshed follows bloodshed.

3) Therefore the land mourns, and everyone that lives in it languishes along with the animals of the field and the birds of the sky and even the fish of the sea disappear. 

Listen to the word of the LORD, O sons of Israel - Given the serious nature of the indictment  that we find in verse 2, it is imperative that the people listen to what God is saying! He is not playing around, but is deadly serious! And so as you might have already surmised "Listen" is not a suggestion but a command and it is like "Pay attention, now not later!" Any time the Lord speaks, we should be willing to pay attention, but especially when He gives a strong command to listen.

Thought - Does this describe your approach to the Word of God? Do you really listen? Remember that when the Bible speaks, God speaks! There are no exceptions. It follows that we should never, ever...ever come to the Bible with a lackadaisical, apathetic, ho-hum attitude. This is the Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer of our souls we are interacting with. I fear that too often I lose that sense of gratitude and wonder that God has provided an awesome path to His throne through His Word. 

Forgive me Lord God for my too frequent "ho-hum" approach! Amen. 

  

"Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God." (James 4:4) The story of Hosea and Gomer perplexes many readers of Scripture. God instructs the prophet Hosea to marry a woman he knows will be unfaithful–she not only commits adultery, she also becomes a prostitute that Hosea must buy back from those making a profit from her (see Hosea 1-3). God does explain the reason behind His mysterious command to Hosea: “Because the land is guilty of the vilest adultery in departing from the Lord” (Hosea 1:2). Hosea 4 details the charge of adultery that the Lord brings against His people. Their sin includes unfaithfulness, a lack of love, cursing, lying, murder, stealing, and adultery. God’s concern for His people on these issues hasn’t changed through the centuries; we will see that James rebukes his readers for many of these same sins, and we can be sure God still cares about these issues in our lives today. Throughout his letter James has been drawing on themes that recurred in the Old Testament prophets, specifically justice and care for the poor which is often typified by the fatherless and the widow. In our passage today, James alludes to another theme frequently found in the Old Testament. The Prophets frequently refer to God’s relationship with Israel in terms of marriage, so it’s not surprising that Israel’s sin is referred to in terms of adultery. When Israel acted in ways that were inconsistent with their relationship with God, they acted adulterously. James is making the same point. Conflict in the church arises from unwise living and following our own desires. This is the same thing as living like the world–which is to say, it’s spiritual adultery and cheating on God. Now we can understand why James uses such a strong tone here! James highlights another contrast here between pride and humility. Pride, pursuing our own way, puts us in opposition to God. Humility, however, positions us to receive blessings of grace from God. And this is the relationship God desires to have with us. James says that the Holy Spirit “envies intensely”–God loves His people, and wants us to walk in the path of life. Just as God used Hosea and Gomer to reflect Israel’s adultery with God, He uses the marriages of Christians to reflect the relationship between Christ and His people.

Can you look at any of this and see the similarities to our current times?  How well are marriages doing in America?  What if I told that as many as half the couples that get married divorce.

"Marriage and divorce are both common experiences. In Western cultures, more than 90 percent of people marry by age 50. Healthy marriages are good for couples’ mental and physical health. They are also good for children; growing up in a happy home protects children from mental, physical, educational and social problems. However, about 40 to 50 percent of married couples in the United States divorce. The divorce rate for subsequent marriages is even higher."  

Adapted from the Encyclopedia of Psychology

(how many more end in the death due to domestic violence I wonder)

Oaths?  In my opinion the group(s) that are the biggest offenders here are politicians and lawyers. But there is other professions that take oaths and you have your offenders there as well...doctors, judges, law enforcement, ministers. Anyone of flesh and blood can be guilty of of it you take an oath when you get married and we see how well that's working out.  When you go to the Lord and utter those words "Jesus Christ, I accept you an my Lord and Savior"...you've taken an oath.

Murder? I really want to put a number to it but my search didn't provide what I was looking for, but if you've turned the TV on in the last OH, basically a year, I'm sure you've seen the violence.  People being killed simply because of their color or because of their job and in some cases because of their political affiliation.  That doesn't cover gang violence or domestic violence. 

We need this country to get up, get the bible out of the bookcase, drawer...closet or where else it might be and dust it off. Set back down...open it and read it.  We as a nation need to come back to the Lord as a whole.  Get down on bended knee and talk to Him...He's there just waiting intently to share His love with you, but you ain't going to find Him on Facebook, on your favorite cops and robbers show.  He's not on CNN, MSNBC or Fox News, He's not on "The View" or any of the other dozens of talk shows. YET HE'S ALL AROUND YOU...HE'S EVERY WHERE!! You've just got to ask him, invite him into you heart, soul and spirit. 

He give us a free will to chose to follow Him or not.

It's up to you, the ball is in your court.