Lack of Truth in the Land

• Hosea 4:1 "Hear the word of the Lord, ye children of Israel: for the Lord hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land."

There are three things here that the Lord is grieved with Israel about. No truth, no mercy and a lack of the knowledge of God throughout their land.

We see how easily this can happen to a nation. So far in the United States I see a lack of truth. I see a substitute of lies and falsehood put in place instead of truth. Examples are: the THEORY of evolution, the SAFE sex myth, that abortion is nothing more than getting rid of a mass of tissue and that same sex relationships is an alternative lifestyle and perfectly normal. There are more but these are the main ones that are in the forefront of my mind. These lacks of truth will one day led to the lack of mercy and the lack of the knowledge of God. Since writing this article, we see that now we have gender confusion, a rebellion against gender pronouns and even operations that change our gender. Its getting so confusing and the young people are the ones reaping the consequences.

At present we have in the United States the knowledge of God and we still have mercy toward the hungry, poor and sick. However, I do expect this to change if we do not change as a nation. What causes these things to happen is a lack of truth. Although we still have the knowledge of God as a supreme being, the fear of God or the fear of God's judgment upon sin, is disappearing at an enormous rate. So in reality, the true knowledge of God is disappearing because we are losing our vision of what God stands for and who God really is.

A belief in God is one thing, but a reverence and fear of God is quite another which we lack in the world today. Without a reverence toward his written word and fear of his judgment upon sin, sin will abound. When sin abounds with no fear of God, mercy will flee and suffering will prevail.

No matter what is taught to the contrary, modern day prison systems, hospitals, mercy on the mentally ill and the sick, compassion for the elderly is really a result of the influence of Christianity. It was Christian reformers and preachers who built hospitals, improved prisons, and abolished slavery in some parts of the world. If the United States abolished slavery by conviction of their hearts by the preaching of traveling preachers like England did, there would have never been a civil war. Deep in their hearts they should have realized that owning another human being is wrong and the very opposite of freedom of which this country fought against England to achieve.

What is it that hinders us from seeing truth? Aside of prayer and the study of God's word, I would say, GREED.

The reason slavery was popular in the south was basically, GREED. They needed slaves to work the large plantations and they did not want to pay them a fair wage for their work. Another reason that enters the picture is LAZINESS. They did not want to do the work themselves.

Hardheartedness also was a factor and using religion as an excuse. One ridiculous reasoning I use to hear was that if the blacks had not have come to America, they would not have heard the gospel. We know this is silly because nowhere in the New Testament did Jesus Christ ever instruct us to spread the gospel by enslaving people. We were instructed to go into the entire world and bring the gospel to every creature. This type of excuse for wrongdoing is a cop out.

How do we excuse abortion today? How often have I heard, "Isn't it better to abort a child than to have it come into the world and suffer abuse?" This too, is a cop out. Two wrongs do not make a right. We do not kill children just to keep them from being abused. If injecting a burning solution into the mother's womb to kill and baby is not abuse, I don't know what is?

Euthanasia is another cop out. "Isn't it better to let them die than to see them suffer?" When we start deciding who lives and who dies are we any better than Adolph Hitler? Here are some objections to suicide:

1. An elderly person in pain will naturally feel like dying but we forget that they may recover and be glad they didn't die.
2. A greedy relative may influence his elderly parents into signing the death decree unnecessarily.
3. An elderly couple may be tempted to ask for euthanasia if they think their medical bills may be a burden for their children.
4. The best reason against it is this: God and God alone should decide when a person should die. He is the only one who knows all particulars and can determine whether or not it is time for a person to leave this life and enter eternity. I hate to see people suffer also but killing is not the answer for the suffering. Medical care, compassion and love are the answer.
5. To believers in salvation through Jesus Christ, another reason is the person dying may not be "born again" or "right with God".  We could be sending them to hell if they die before their appointed time.

The second verse in Hosea gives a further picture of God's controversy with Israel:

•  "By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth blood." Hosea 4:2.

If you can't see this going on in the good old US of A then something is wrong. Adultery is rampant, even in the church. I have personally witnessed this happening.

Stealing is also going on. Stealing is not just robbing a bank. It is cheating in business, defrauding, shortchanging, lying about the reliability of a product, not returning a lost wallet, buying something from a store and using it for a time, returning it when tired of it is another example. I know of a wife who got a large cash advance by using her and her husband's joint credit card. She placed it into a private bank account where the husband could not have access it to either spend it or pay it back. The credit card company told the husband that he was responsible to pay it back. The wife is excused by law and cannot be prosecuted because she is married to the man. Yet, I see it as stealing just as if she would have robbed a bank.

Murder is happening and is under the disguise of abortion. Our consciences have become seared, immune to correction. We excuse our actions instead of repenting which means changing. We say that "we are saved by grace, not works," and can go on and on sinning without repenting. This should not be. When a Christian can live in worse sin than a sinner that does not know Jesus Christ, something is bad wrong with our thinking.

Jesus came to correct, to free us from sin, not just to forgive us in our sin. He came that we might walk in love, walk in compassion and be fruitful by living right and bringing others to Him. If we are not doing this, something is wrong and we need to "Go back to the drawing board." No we are not saved by works and earning our salvation but we do right things because we are saved and have a new spirit and new birth.

• 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 hast forgotten the law of they God, I will also forget thy children."

When I read these scriptures further we truly do have a lack of knowledge. We have a lack of the knowledge of the word of God and what God stands for. This will occur if we spend hours watching TV and only fifteen minutes a week in the word of God. This will occur if we listen to the modern day philosophers and positive thinking preachers instead of the preachers of repentance and righteousness. Without the word of God to guide us we began to excuse ourselves and bypass true repentance and change. How often have you heard, "I'm only human." "God knows my weakness." "I know God understands why I am what I am and why I do what I do."

Yet, neglect of the word will bring us to "Lack of knowledge." Just like no education brings illiteracy and return a nation to an uncivilized culture, the lack of the word of God will bring about murder by those who feel it is justified. (abortion, termination of the mentally ill, and euthanasia), stealing without feeling guilty as I mentioned above, adultery without guilt, selfishness, lack of mercy, and a lust for power without caring who it hurts, (listen to the politicians when they want to win an election).

In the past the lust for power would cause people to put to death their own relatives in order to achieve the throne. Today we have killing with words. When one wants to win an election, instead of focusing on issues, they tear down and destroy the reputation of their opponents not caring whom it hurts. I read Dan Quayle's book once that really awakened me to the effect negative politics had on the children of candidates. I had no idea how bad children could feel until I read his book. Children can read too. They can pick up the newspaper and read how terrible a person their father or mother is. The father and mother they thought was loving, caring and kind, was pictured by the writer or speaker very different than what they had believed.

We use excuses like, "That's business, that's the name of the game, and that's politics."

Jesus Christ wants us to be different. HE calls us to something higher and better. He came that we might have life, joy, love and fellowship. HE has something better for us than worldly fame and power. HE has something better than worldly goods and money. HE has something that we can search high and low all over the earth and never find anywhere but in Him alone. HE has something that we can awake to in the morning with joy and lie down at night in peace. Why are we settling for crumbs when we can have the best? The saying, "It is better to give than receive," is more than just a cliché. It is a message of joy, peace, happiness and contentment.

The commandment, "Love thy neighbor as thyself," is more than just a phrase; it is the answer to wars, famines, poverty and peace. Jesus didn't have the bible written just to boss us around; He gave it as an answer to every single need the human race has in the world today.

Have you ever received Christ as savior? HE is the answer to everything you could ever need. Christians, is Jesus the Lord of your life? Let him be and see if everything I say in this article is true. You do not have to fight, war, and struggle to stay ahead, let Christ go ahead of you first.