Daily Reading: Hosea 2-4, Psalm 18
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 has forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.”
The book of Hosea compares Israel to a harlot, a wife of whoredoms. This verse is speaking to Israel, to the people who took the blessings of God and offered them to others. I think when He says they are destroyed for lack of knowledge that He specifically means the knowledge of God. We are not destroyed because we aren’t educated…although there is an appropriate application there as well…we are destroyed because we don’t know who God is. The people of Israel were seeking other gods, mingling with other nations and forgetting to follow the laws God had given them for boundaries, safety and security. God doesn’t lash out at them with fire from heaven and plagues. He simply says…if you don’t want to follow my law, that’s fine, you’re on your own. Unfortunately, the generation to come will be paying the price.
How true is that today? Not specifically for one nation or another, although I would say it is more obvious in America because we claim to be a Christian nation, but all Christians around the world. The church as a whole is often neglectful of their calling. How can we expect the protection of God, when we don’t desire the knowledge of God? Things are bad in the world…real bad…and the only thing people can say is…if there was a God…how could he let this happen? No…if there was a God…how could you question whether He exists? There is a blindness to Him that is brought on by the absence of goodwill and love in the world.
I shudder when I think of the consequences to being rid of something as basic as the Ten Commandments. How can you disagree with something so simply good? So what if it’s from the Bible…doesn’t everyone agree that thou shalt not kill? The first and greatest commandment Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and will all thy might. The second is like unto it. Love thy neighbor as thyself. If we could get that down…maybe we could see a little light at the end of this tunnel.
I disagree when I hear talk of the tsunami being a judgment of God…His judgment is swift and terrible, but it is not for this world. His judgment comes later. I do agree that this is quite possibly a sign of the end times. I don’t know for sure because there have been so many disasters of incredible magnitude. I will say though that as the world continues to reject their creator…He cannot protect us. If we swear our allegiance to ourselves, then He cannot interfere with our worship of the god of self. If we swear allegiance to other gods…he will not step in to solve the problems that our god is incapable of. He cannot! He is a jealous God, but He is a gentleman and will not make us worship Him…He will always accept us, always take us back, but never will he bring us to him without our free will turning us in His direction. Choose life!
Psalm 18:6 “In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears.”
Psalm 18 has been one of my favorite chapters in the Bible since college. I have often read it in times of utter despair. This verse is the beginning of an incredible series of verses that tell of the powerful deliverance of God. Unlike the paragraph above…this writer is calling to God for help…he knows God personally and you can tell because he describes Him in detail. In verse 19 he says “He brought me forth also into a large place; he delivered me, because he delighted in me.” God is our protector, our shield, our deliverer, our Savior. He wants so badly to pull us from the destruction around us, because He delights in us. I love that. He doesn’t just know my name; He doesn’t just keep track of my Sunday School attendance…He delights in me! All of me…He loves the fat me, the grey haired me, the lazy me, the good, the bad and the ugly me. He’d reach down into “many waters” (v.16) to draw me out, He would move heaven and earth to see me stable, strong and set down in a large place…a large place…a place of opportunity, a place of ideas, a place of freedom.
Where then is the line? How far from the knowledge of God do we have to be to lose His protection and deliverance? I don’t know. I don’t want to know. I want to stay close. Not just for the sake of having “deliverance insurance” but for the sake of a relationship I cannot live without. I love my God. I really do. I think most of my life I would say that but it was more of a regurgitation of what was taught to me in church. I knew that I was supposed to love God and I knew that He was good and that He made all the good things in my life possible. I loved a lot of things about Him but now I can truly say that I love Him. I’ve actually spent time with Him…just Him and me, and He is amazing.
“I will love thee, O Lord, my strength.” Psalm 18:1