The foolishness of man

Hosea 6:1-3

“Come, let us return to the Lord; for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up.  After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him.  Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord; his going out is sure as the dawn; he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth.”

I had not shown up on planet earth at the time of Pearl Harbor, but I’ve read many accounts of the cowardly act of the Japanese government.   “Just before 8 a.m. on December 7, 1941, hundreds of Japanese fighter planes attacked the American naval base at Pearl Harbor near Honolulu, Hawaii.  More than 2,000 American soldiers and sailors died in the attack, and another 1,000 were wounded. The day after the assault, President Franklin D. Roosevelt asked Congress to declare war on Japan; Congress approved his declaration with just one dissenting vote.”  The Emperor of Japan, Hirohito renounced his divinity in 1946, at the insistence of a peace agreement with his nation, but during the war millions of people died because of this sick, evil, little man who wanted to be a god. 

 I was not around then as I’ve stated, but on September 11, 2001, I was driving in Houston, Texas to an appointment when the news broke that a plane had flown into the world trade center.  It was only moments later it seemed that the second report came that a second plane had hit the other tower, and my plans changed.  I drove to a mall and watched with many others as it became clear our Nation was under attack.  On September 11, 2001, 19 militants associated with the Islamic extremist group al-Qaeda hijacked four airliners and carried out suicide attacks against targets in the United States. Two of the planes were flown into the towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, a third plane hit the Pentagon just outside Washington, D.C., and the fourth plane crashed in a field in Pennsylvania.  These 19 were Muslims, and like the Japanese, they believe the cowardly act was fighting for a god.

Hosea 6:1-3, is so teachable for today; that the USA, like Israel has drifted far from God, and yet like Israel at the time of being taken captive they believed an outward show would bring God’s blessing, and that He would soon redeem them, and defeat the army of Assyria.  I’m not sure what was in the minds of the people of the USA after 911, but they flocked to church buildings all over the nation, hoping God would show favor to a sinful and evil people who had no desire for God’s face but wanted the comfort of His hand.  So once more, we see that mankind still believes they can con an all seeing and knowing God who tells us this truth in Psalm 139:16, “Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written The days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was not one of them.”  That is who all should seek, one who can number the days of your life.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice