Changed thier glory to shame

Hosea 4:7-14

As the children of Israel increased and were blessed, the more they sinned against God, so He promised to change their glory into shame. Verse 7, “The more they increased, the more they sinned against me; I will change their glory into shame.”  Many years ago a pastor told me that if he were the pastor for more than seven years the church would take on much of his personality and beliefs, and is that not what is happening in Hosea’s time with these evil priests and prophets?  Referring to verses 8-9, “They feed on the sin of my people; they are greedy for their iniquity.  And it shall be like people, like priest; I will punish them for their ways and repay them for their deeds”.

As we look at verses 10-13, ask the question, is this consistent with what we are seeing in the USA?   “They shall eat, but not be satisfied; they shall play the whore, but not multiply, because they have forsaken the Lord to cherish whoredom, wine, and new wine, which take away the understanding.  My people inquire of a piece of wood, and their walking staff gives them oracles.  For a spirit of whoredom has led them astray, and they have left their God to play the whore.”  If you or I will take our heads out of the sand and look into our own mirror we will see a person who has much but is not satisfied.  It is those “want creators” that has us always wanting more, a bigger house, a new car, more clothes that anyone could wear, so we give good ones away to buy the latest, we are a picture of what Hosea is voicing.  We have people who put no hope in God but who believe the latest bull on Facebook or some Internet site, or put their faith in what government, the military, or the amount of paper money they have in the stock market. 

Verse 14 gives insight into the role of the man, the husband, the protector and the provider, who has no integrity, no moral compass, and yet finds fault with his wife and daughters when they play the whore, or their bride when she commits adultery when he is running to prostitutes.  It is not the daughter or wife that God holds in contempt it is the husband, the dad, for he alone is to be true to those God has assigned to be under his protection.

Today let’s end with a saying from verses six and fourteen, verse 6, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge” and verse 14, “a people without understanding shall come to ruin.”  It is a political year in the USA, and we the people will elect a President, and those two quotes are the reason it is going to be a disaster!

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice