12.6.12

Hosea 4:1-3
Hear the word of the Lord, you Israelites,
because the Lord has a charge to bring
against you who live in the land:
“There is no faithfulness, no love,
no acknowledgment of God in the land.² There is only cursing, lying and murder,
stealing and adultery;
they break all bounds,
and bloodshed follows bloodshed.³ Because of this the land dries up, and all who live in it waste away;
the beasts of the field, the birds in the sky
and the fish in the sea are swept away.


My Thoughts

Psalm 6:34 Let the heavens and the earth praise Him, the seas and all that move in them.  When I read the first three verses in Hosea 4 my mind went straight to this verse in Psalms.  I though if the earth can praise God it can also morn our actions toward God.  When we are in our deepest morning we don't function right and we feel like giving up. We are not productive...and often we act out in anger. 

 

We had a preacher once that talked earthquakes in another country and how that country mistreated it women... he referenced a Bible verse about the land.  I can't remember the verse.  But basically he said that the earthquakes were caused by the mistreatment of the women of that land.  I was amazed and it made such sense.

 

Here it talks about the people committing such sin...it talks about blood shed following bloodshed.  I read these verses and think about gangs that take a life for a life.  I think about how cursing is not shocking any more, like it was when I was a child.  I think about how we have become people who steal from people or our government on paper and think that that is ok....everyday people that seem to do most thing right will cheat on their taxes. My mother put it best one day when she said, "There has always been sin, but now people just seem so proud of their sins."  TV teaches us that sex is expected on the third date if you are a dating adult. 

 

These verses go on to tell us that because of sin the lad dries up...the beast of the field and the birds of the sky, the fish of the sea are swept away.  Only mighty winds could do that.  And look at all the mighty winds we are seeing in our land.  Winds that bring on fierce storms that cause such damage and distruction.  Hot dry summers where crops don't grow...and stormy, stormy falls. 

 

The scientist say there will be so much more of this to come.  They blame it on global warming. God's word says that it is our sins.  If our land, our seas can praise God... our land and our seas can morn our treatment of God.  If morning causes us to be angry and act out.. if it causes us not to be productive and to give up, wouldn't it do the same the the wind and the seas? 

 

We have control over all of this... God put us in control of the land and the animals in Genesis. To gain power over the land we must love God and put God first. We must turn from sin and put God first in our lives. I believe with all my heart that if we do that the ice will quilt melting and causing the earth to cry.  I believe the winds will calm down and the rain will come without storms.  If we love God our earth will rejoice and produce in abundance. But we have to love God. 

 

We each play a part... we can't play the blame game.  When we blame others we don't fix ourselves.  We can't say, "If he didn't sin and she didn't sin." We have to each take responsibility for ourselves and say, "Where am I sinning, how am I letting God down? What is my part in making the earth morn?"