Hosea looks at the Nation as a Whole PT-2 (Hosea 4:1-3)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6/11/2015 10:13 PM

My Worship Time                                          Focus:  Hosea looks at the Nation as a whole PT-2

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                      Reference:  Hosea 4:1-3

            Message of the verses:  “1 Listen to the word of the LORD, O sons of Israel, For the LORD has a case against the inhabitants of the land, Because there is no faithfulness or kindness Or knowledge of God in the land. 2 There is swearing, deception, murder, stealing and adultery. They employ violence, so that bloodshed follows bloodshed. 3 Therefore the land mourns, And everyone who lives in it languishes Along with the beasts of the field and the birds of the sky, And also the fish of the sea disappear.”

            It looks like when the people of the land are sinful that the entire land suffers under the effects of their sinfulness, even the beasts of the field and the birds of the sky and also the fish of the sea.  Now remember that we are looking at a trial in the court of the Almighty who is the Judge and this Judge makes no mistakes when He rules His verdict.  We can see that the Lord is showing Israel that they are breaking the Ten Commandants as He lists some of the sins that Israel is doing like murder, stealing, adultery and even swearing.  Because they had broken these commandments the suffering will come upon them.  Now it was Israel to whom the Lord gave His Laws and so they are without excuse when they break them for they know what they are.  Also remember the conditional covenants that the Lord gave to Israel as seen in the books of Leviticus and also Deuteronomy chapters 27-28. 

            In Leviticus 25:23 we read “’The land, moreover, shall not be sold permanently, for the land is Mine; for you are but aliens and sojourners with Me.”  God owns the land for it was God who created it and therefore He owns all that He created.  The people of Israel were polluting the land with their sins which is something that the Lord does not like at all.  Dr. Wiersbe concludes the ending section of his commentary by writing “Natural calamities like droughts, famines, and the devastations of war were sometimes sent by God to discipline His people.  Whether to bless or to judge, God always keeps His covenant promises.”  The following quote is from an endnote that Dr. Wiersbe has about this last statement he just wrote:  “Compare Hosea 4:3 with Genesis 9:8-11 and Revelation 4:7-11 and you will see that God takes seriously His covenant with creation.  He will one day judge those who destroy the earth (Rev. 11:18).  The basis for ecology is not politics or comfort but the holy law of God.  We are stewards of God’s creation.”  I totally agree with this statement and believe that the only thing that causes the environmentalists to do what they do in this country is for both politics and also greed.

6/11/2015 10:31 PM