God's Word-- The Lifeblood of a Nation The reign of Jeroboam 11 was an era of peace, plenty, prosperity, and luxury. When Amos came to preach to the people, his message made little impact on them for he was not one of them. He came from Judah and they were the northern kingdom (Amos 1:1)   As long as no nation threatened them and they were prosperous, they could not see any serious consequence  that Amos predicted. In spite of their wealth and might, a true prophet of God, as was Amos, could see signs of decay and poison in the bloodstream to be followed by calamity. After the reign of Jeroboam, his son Zechariah died within six months of becoming king. Anarchy was the result. The Assyrians forced them to pay tribute. Their leaders stumbled time and time again. It was in these years of bloodshed, revolt, and the breakup of a nation that the prophet Hosea preached. He faced a nation of people who had little concern for spiritual matters. The had not listened to Amos and had little disposition to listen to Hosea. But he had one advantage over Amos, he was one of them. The young prophet faced social conditions that would sicken a young man's heart. The ruler set poor examples. Property had little value, for no man was sure he could keep it. The judges took bribes and exacted excessive fees. Amos had seen a people living in luxury , and now Hosea saw those same people, hardened and even turning to crime. When moral and ethical requirements were eliminated, sinning became attractive. Many had turned to idolatry and made images of silver (Hosea 13:2) A covenant they had made to God had now been broken. VERSE 1: Hosea sounded out to the people as God's spokesman to them. He brought God's charges against them. They had lost their faith and no longer loved God or man. Righteousness had been replaced by a denial of God (Jer 4:22) VERSE 2: A list of their sins included their language along with lying, stealing, murder, and adultery. They had gone beyond even the common bonds that direct any civilized people. They won't be restrained by anything. Blood touching blood, murders are one after another. VERSE 3: The result of their sins caused the earth to mourn and the beasts, birds, and fish were dying. There were no crops to grow, no food for them to enjoy (Zep. 1:3) Zephaniah is pronouncing basically the same judgement against Judah as Hosea is pronouncing against Israel. VERSE 4: They had reached a stage in their human relationships where each was blaming another for his misfortune. The people and the priest are like--rebels against the Lord. The priests have become idolaters as well as the people.(note the penalty for those who contend with the priest Deu. 17:12) VERSE 5: They would fall in the day indicating that the fall would be in the most open and public manner. The false prophet will be destroyed in the night probably while taking signs from the stars. God said He would destroy their mother because of their sins. Their "mother" was the center of worship, Jerusalem. Their sins had reached a point where God had enough and now they were going to pay the price. The apostle Paul wrote to warn the Christians of his day, and also ours, speaking of what had happened to Israel. "Now these things occurred to them as examples to us" (1 Cor. 10:11) Rom. 15:3) Therefore , we need to understand how those who for generations had served God could turn almost completely away from Him. Hosea gives us the reason for their turning away and why God punished them. "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge" (Hosea 4:6) I think we can safely add they lost any desire to know what God wanted them to be and do. Time and again God through the prophets and His leaders, said that His Word was to be their guide. He warned them not to drift from his Word. It was to taught continually (Joshua 1:7,8) When a people refuse to use His Word as the basic guiding star of their way of life, what can and does replace it? There are normally two alternatives. One is to become their own guide and the other is to look around at others they deem successful. We know that the people in Israel became like the nations around them. Our lesson and warning is from the lesson Hosea is trying to teach Israel. We are American and proud of it. We pray to God for Him to bless the United States. However, as a people , we never tell the Unites States to listen to God. Ask yourself if His Word is known by the people of this age in which we now live. God is no respecter of persons or nations. Those who do not know and do not do His Word are heading for tragedy. What about the church we see today? We have built beautiful places for worship, we have eloquent speakers and monetary resources. Now the real question is how knowledge  of God's Word are we? Most congregation have far less who attend Bible class than attend the hour of worship. Is it possible that we have mad the same mistake that the Israelites in our test made by adopting the ways of others who seem to prosper more than we do in numbers and ability to be more attractive to those whom we are trying to reach? Ask yourself these questions. Does prosperity have a negative effect on our study of God's Word?  Do we see any trend in today's churches that are strongly influenced by this century's decline in morality? -------------Baxter Deadmon