As we began our study of the book of the prophet Hosea last week, we read one of the saddest stories in the Scriptures. Hosea was instructed to marry a prostitute who continued in her profession after the wedding. God was using this sad story to illustrate how the nation of Israel had treated Him. Israel was supposed to be the wife of Yahweh, yet she continued in spiritual harlotry, going after other pleasures and worshipping other gods.

Today we pick up in chapter 4, as the Lord continues to speak to the nation through Hosea. The Lord now leaves the marriage analogy and speaks directly regarding the sin of the people of Israel. The phrase "brings a charge" is legal language - God is indicting them for their sins. He is building a case against Israel by clearly demonstrating their guilt.

Hosea 4:1-3 (NKJV)
¹ Hear the word of the LORD,
        You children of Israel,
        For the LORD brings a charge against the inhabitants of the land:

        "There is no truth or mercy
        Or knowledge of God in the land.
        ²By swearing and lying,
        Killing and stealing and committing adultery,
        They break all restraint,
        With bloodshed upon bloodshed.
        ³Therefore the land will mourn;
        And everyone who dwells there will waste away
        With the beasts of the field
        And the birds of the air;
        Even the fish of the sea will be taken away.
(AMP) | (NIV) | (NLT) | (KJV) | (NASB)

I. THE BASIC PROBLEM: NO KNOWLEDGE OF GOD
How did Israel get in this condition - "no knowledge of God in the land"?

Hosea 4:6 (NKJV)
        ⁶My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.
        Because you have rejected knowledge,
        I also will reject you from being priest for Me;
        Because you have forgotten the law of your God,
        I also will forget your children.
(AMP) | (NIV) | (NLT) | (KJV) | (NASB)

Unfortunately, the same situation exists in the world today. Many ministers do not believe in such truths as the inspiration of the Scriptures, the deity of Christ, the virgin birth, or the reality of hell. Thus, they neglect to teach the people in their churches the truth. Truth that is neglected will ultimately be rejected.

One slick ploy that is used by these teachers is to say: 

• Bible contains the truths of God but it is not the truth of God.
• Some parts of the Bible are inspired, while others are not.
• You have to pick and chose what is from God and what is not.
• What gets edited out is the judgments of God. And what is kept in is the love of God, how we are to treat others.

"All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work."

It should not surprise us that there is a connection between knowing God and knowing His Word. Some people think that Bible knowledge is boring and brainy and not necessary for a real walk with God. But God and His Word are vitally connected. When God sought for a term to express His nature, He calls Himself "The Word" (John 1:1, NKJV): "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."

God puts a major part of the blame for their being a lack of knowledge on the priests, but that does not excuse everyone else. He says in verse 6, "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge." There is some responsibility for the individual for this lack of knowledge as well.

You know, as a minister of the Word of God, I feel personally responsible to equip you with the truth. However, even should I fail to do my job, or if you should move to a place where the Word of God is not taught, you are still accountable for knowledge. This is why your own personal daily Bible study is essential. You have to know how to feed yourself with the Word. The priests will be accountable for doing their job, but the command to grow in the knowledge of God is given to each of us individually.

II. THE IMMEDIATE RESULT
What happens to a people or a nation who has departed from the knowledge of God? That is given to us in verse 2:

        ^2"By swearing and lying,
        Killing and stealing and committing adultery,
        They break all restraint,
        With bloodshed upon bloodshed."

The people were swearing, lying and killing.
People would swear to a lie.
Their word meant nothing.
They would make contracts that they had no intention of keeping.

They had a very low value on life.
They thought little of taking another man's life.
They thought nothing of throwing their babies into the bonfires to sacrifice them to false gods whose worship
centered on pleasure.

They were stealing from each other.
Nothing was safe, and nothing was sacred.
They had no restraints of conscience. 
No remorse for their evil - the only remorse was that they were caught.

Adultery had become a common practice.
A man was ruled by his passions.
They had become like animals in their selection of their sexual partners.

The home was broken down and family values trashed.
Children had become an inconvenience, rather than a blessing.

"They break all" - that is, they had burst through every restraint.
The laws had become permissive and lenient.

Hos. 4:12-13 (NKJV)
        ¹²My people ask counsel from their wooden idols,
        And their staff informs them.
        For the spirit of harlotry has caused them to stray,
        And they have played the harlot against their God.
        ¹³They offer sacrifices on the mountaintops,
        And burn incense on the hills,
        Under oaks, poplars, and terebinths,
        Because their shade is good.
        Therefore your daughters commit harlotry,
        And your brides commit adultery.
(AMP) | (NIV) | (NLT) | (KJV) | (NASB)

Today, people are no different in the foolishness of their beliefs. While someone may be unwilling to believe in a loving, all-knowing, and all-powerful God, this will not prevent them from believing that tea leaves, tarot cards, or wrinkles in their hands will tell them their future. They will still believe that the position of the stars directs the path of their lives. And they will believe that when they die, they will be recycled into a new body to live life again. They will believe in anything except God. Ridiculous.

Look at America today and see if we are not following in the footsteps of Israel! The parallels are too obvious to be ignored.

• A man’s word means nothing. What is valued is being "legal."
• Life is being devalued.
• Only a pagan nation could permit the carnage of abortion that is going on.
• Family values are being trashed or redefined.
• People are seeking spiritual truth everywhere but from the source of truth.
• There is no control, there is no restraint.
• Our modern age is completely set against the idea of restraint.
• You see it in modern advertising slogans: "To know no boundaries" "No rules, just right" "Break all the rules" "Living without boundaries" "Just do it."
• The message is the same:
• You make your own rules.
• You answer to no one.
• You are the one that matters.
• Your universe revolves around you.
• You should only restrain yourself if you want to.

Don’t go after the symptoms, go to the root of the problem! If you had a brain tumor and developed a headache from it, you would not take pain medicine to take care of the headache, but you would have the tumor removed because that is the root of the problem. Once the tumor is gone, the headache is gone.

This nation needs the Lord, and many of these symptomatic problems will be dealt with by the Lord in their lives!

III. THE ULTIMATE RESULT

^3"Therefore the land will mourn;
And everyone who dwells there will waste away
With the beasts of the field
And the birds of the air;
Even the fish of the sea will be taken away."

Our earth - the entire creation - suffers over man's rejection of God:

Rom. 8:19-22 (NKJV): "For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now."

"Everyone who dwells there will waste away:" 
This is the tragic fruit of forsaking the knowledge of God, truth, mercy, and restraint. Satan sings sweetly to us, making us think or hope that casting these things away is a doorway to freedom - but it is only a path to destruction.

Hos. 4:16-19 (NKJV)
        ¹⁶"For Israel is stubborn
        Like a stubborn calf;
        Now the LORD will let them forage
        Like a lamb in open country.

        ¹⁷"Ephraim is joined to idols,
        Let him alone.
        ¹⁸Their drink is rebellion,
        They commit harlotry continually.
        Her rulers dearly love dishonor.
        ¹⁹The wind has wrapped her up in its wings,
        And they shall be ashamed because of their sacrifices.
(AMP) | (NIV) | (NLT) | (KJV) | (NASB)

There are those who think they can make it on their own. They don't have to follow the ways of God.

"Ephraim is joined to idols, let him alone:"
This is one way to express the judgment that is coming against Israel. God will simply leave Ephraim alone. When the mighty Assyrian army comes against them, they may fight for themselves: God will let him alone.

But understand this: You really have to push God to the limit before He will leave you alone, before He writes you off. (Parable of Lost Sheep, Luke 15:1-17, NKJV) And the reality is, then He is only giving you what you want. Israel had gone that far; they pushed God, and they got what they desired -- life without God!

We don’t want God to leave us alone because we need Him to protect us against our spiritual enemies.
We don’t want God to leave us alone because we need Him to protect us against ourselves.
Left to ourselves, with our own sinful hearts, we will surely drift away from the Lord.
All God must do to make certain a man goes to hell is simply to let him alone.
Our prayer should always be, "Lord, don’t leave me alone. Keep working on me."

• In the beginning they framed their laws by God's decrees.
• They sought the Lord and God made them strong, prosperous, and mighty among the nations.
• Now there was no knowledge of God in the land.
• The children were growing up in a pagan environment.

• It started out honoring and trusting in God.
• Became strong and great among the nations of the world.
• In their prosperity turned from God, the One who had made them strong and prosperous.
• The next step is given over to their enemies, because there was no truth, mercy or knowledge of God in the land.

Understand this: Any time the spiritual leaders of a nation are corrupt, there is no teaching of the truths of God -- the knowledge of God begins to depart. It is the final stage of any nation before it crumbles!

America, today is very religious, but, for the most part, its people are not being taught the truths of God from the Word of God. We need to intercede for our nation, that our spiritual eyes would be open once again, and the religious leaders would return to the Lord! 

Isaiah 55:6-7 (NKJV)
^6"Seek the LORD while He may be found, 
Call upon Him while He is near. 
⁷Let the wicked forsake his way, 
And the unrighteous man his thoughts; 
Let him return to the LORD, 
And He will have mercy on him; 
And to our God, 
For He will abundantly pardon."