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My people Are Destroyed Hosea 4:6
My people Are Destroyed Hosea 4:6
The more things change, the more they remain the same. Generation after generation come and walk in the same ignorance of God as the generations before them.
· The destruction of the world in Noah’s day
· The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah
· The problems on the lives of the Patriarchs because of their sins.
· The 40 years of rebellion in the wilderness even after God had shown himself in such awe-inspiring ways.
· The awful period of the judges where everyman did what was right in his own eyes.
· The false leadership of so many of the kings, particularly in the northern kingdom of Israel.
· God sent prophets such as Hosea and Amos, yet there arose false prophets who preached ‘easy things’ and led the people away from God (cp. Hosea 4:5).
When God gave the law through Moses, He over and over instructed them to teach and make known this law. In the family, the fathers were given this responsibility to teach their children. The priests were given the job of instructing the people as a whole (cp. Lev. 10:11; Mal. 2:6–7). They failed completely in this. They themselves never learned, and they thus never instructed the people in the ways of the Lord. Thus, the LORD declares: “6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being My priest. Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children” (Hosea 4:6).
Are we any different than them? We live in a time when access to the Word of God has never been more accessible. We are drowning in information and yet are being destroyed for lack of real knowledge. Fathers are still to teach their children (Eph. 6:4). Preachers are still to preach the word, in season and out. Elders are to shepherd the people by preparing them with knowledge of God’s word.
Yet, our land is like the land of Israel: “there is no faithfulness or kindness or knowledge of God in the land. There is swearing, deception, murder, stealing and adultery. They employ violence, so that bloodshed follows bloodshed” (Hosea 4:1-2).
Our country is NOT ‘the chosen people of the Lord” as was Israel. Yet, the influence of Christianity has been part of the foundation since its beginning. Such influence has sadly waned since we began.
As the faithful remnant that lived in the land of Hosea’s time, so the church today is a remnant within a godless land. We need to be faithful witnesses of God’s revelation. We need to shine as lights in a dark world. We need to hold forth the Word of light that we might influence some.
Is YOUR light shining?
Hugh DeLong
