The news that the Senate failed to impeach Alejandro Mayorkas, United States Secretary of Homeland Security, has motivated me to republish a Bible study I published in February 2024. Tragically, our nation’s leaders have again demonstrated their feebleness in holding leaders accountable for their failure to uphold the Constitution and laws of our country.
President Biden, his cabinet, the Democratic party, and the impotent Republican party are selling out our future as a nation, even as military-age Chinese men pour across the southern border of the United States and hide within the interior of our country. Drug cartels have overwhelmed our nation’s security, and tens of thousands of American youth are overdosing and dying from Fentanyl addiction.
Tragically, young people’s disillusionment is directly related to the American families’ failure to bond as households. The result is that our society is bent on self-destruction. All this while most churches in the United States are content with entertaining the masses rather than calling saints and sinners to turn from their sins to the LORD.
We are not the first nation to rot and decay from within, and the history of ancient Israel recorded in the Book of Hosea offers ample evidence that without a spiritual awakening, there is little hope for the United States to turn back from the brink of destruction.
The Signs of a Decaying Culture and a Dying Nation (Hosea 7:1-2)
Reminding us that God is compassionate and forgiving, even at the midnight hour, the LORD declared: “I would have healed Israel, Then the iniquity of Ephraim was discovered, and the wickedness of Samaria: For they commit falsehood; and the thief cometh in, And the troop of robbers spoileth without” (Hosea 7:1).
Ephraim, the principal tribe of the northern ten tribes, and Samaria, the capital city, were guilty: They were liars (having committed “falsehood”), thieves, and robbers (Hosea 7:1). Though the LORD declared He knew “all their wickedness” (Hosea 7:2), they continued in their sins.
The Leaders Had Failed the People (Hosea 7:3-7)
Israel’s leaders celebrated the people’s wickedness (Hosea 7:3), for they burned with lust like an “oven heated by the baker” (7:4). The king, drunk with wine, demeaned himself with those who scorned and mocked Hosea and the LORD (Hosea 7:5). As the leaders faltered, the nation failed, and none called on the LORD (Hosea 7:7).
Israel’s Compromise with People of Other Nations (Hosea 7:8-12)
Rather than embrace their national identity as the LORD’s chosen people, Ephraim (Israel’s principal tribe) compromised its sanctity and “mixed himself among the people” (Hosea 7:8). Like cancer that goes unchecked, Israel allowed the influence of the heathen (i.e., “the people,” non-Hebrew) to eat away at their identity and destroy their national sovereignty (Hosea 7:8).
Yet, the people were desensitized to the evidence that “strangers have devoured his [Israel’s] strength” (Hosea 7:9). The nation’s wealth was wasted, and its power and influence were ruined. Yet, the people were proud. They refused to humble themselves (Hosea 7:10).
Rather than turn to the LORD, Israel became “a silly dove without heart” (common, simple, and foolish, Hosea 7:11). Rather than cry to the LORD in their affliction, the nation turned to diplomacy appealing to Egypt and Assyria (Hosea 7:11). Hosea warned that Israel would be brought down and become like a bird ensnared in a net, the LORD would “chastise them” (Hosea 7:12).
God’s Lamentation for Israel (Hosea 7:13-16)
Nevertheless, Israel fled from the presence of the LORD, and He declared, “Destruction unto them! because they have transgressed against me” (Hosea 7:13). Though the LORD had redeemed and chosen Israel, the people rejected Him and turned to lies. They cried pitifully in their afflictions but continued in their drunkenness (Hosea 7:14). For all the LORD did to turn Israel back, they set their hearts to do evil (Hosea 7:15-16).
Closing Thoughts from Hosea 7 –
Consider the news headlines of our nation and world today. A mass of humanity is moving through Western Europe and crossing the Southern border of the United States, greater than any movement in human history. We are witnessing the dilution and destruction of Western culture that, a century ago, was the heartbeat of biblical Christianity and the womb of Gospel missions.
Surely, Hosea’s warning to Israel (Hosea 7:8-10) should stir the citizens of the 21st century to recognize the dangers. We are being invaded by people who do not share our faith and despise our values and patriotic pride. We are governed by a godless, immoral, drunken lot who loathe the Bible and scorn our faith and constitutional liberties. Tragically, “We the People” are under attack, but our response is “like a silly dove without a heart” (Hosea 7:11).
Copyright © 2024 – Travis D. Smith
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