20151227 Sunday, December 27 2015
Hosea 04: What Happens To A Nation When God's Law Is Forsaken?

by Wayne Blank
See also 1 Year Holy Bible Reading Plan

"There is no faithfulness or steadfast love, and no knowledge of God in the land; there is swearing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery; they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed"

The English-language word "forsaken" originated from a compounded Anglo-Saxon word, for, meaning to intend, or deliberate, and sacan, meaning to contend, or oppose. To forsake means to deliberately abandon something or someone.

To forsake can be very good and righteous, if it's a matter of forsaking what is wrong and evil (see Strait And Straight and Which Way Is Right And Left?). As we will read, it's what repentant people do that makes them repentant people, but it's also what the LORD (see The Identity Of The LORD God and The LORD God Our Saviour) does to those who make themselves wrong and evil if they thereafter forsake Him.

"55:6 Seek the LORD while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; 55:7 let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon." (Isaiah 55:6-7 KJV)

"8:57 The LORD our God be with us, as he was with our fathers. May he not leave us or forsake us, 8:58 that he may incline our hearts to him, to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments, his statutes, and his rules, which he commanded our fathers." (1 Kings 8:57-58 KJV)

While forsaking is good, when it's a rejection of evil for good, forsaking can be evil when it's a rejection of good for evil - as defined, not by self-righteous humans (see Iniquity In History And Prophecy), but the true and pure Law of the LORD.

"7:19 But if you turn aside and forsake my statutes and my commandments that I have set before you, and go and serve other gods and worship them, 7:20 then I will pluck you up from my land that I have given you, and this house that I have consecrated for my name, I will cast out of my sight, and I will make it a proverb and a byword among all peoples." (2 Chronicles 7:19-20 KJV)

"31:17 Then my anger will be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them and hide my face from them, and they will be devoured. And many evils and troubles will come upon them, so that they will say in that day, 'Have not these evils come upon us because our God is not among us?' 31:18 And I will surely hide my face in that day because of all the evil that they have done, because they have turned to other gods." (Deuteronomy 31:17-18 KJV)

The Israelites had a long history of forsaking the LORD (see the complete series of studies for Israel and Judah, beginning with Israel In History and Prophecy: Roots and Branches), from which the LORD left them to reap the destruction of their nation from the violence and corruption that inevitably results when the Law of the LORD is forsaken (see Reap What You Sow).

"4:1 Hear the word of the LORD, O children of Israel, for the LORD has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land. There is no faithfulness or steadfast love, and no knowledge of God in the land; 4:2 there is swearing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery; they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed. 4:3 Therefore the land mourns, and all who dwell in it languish, and also the beasts of the field and the birds of the heavens, and even the fish of the sea are taken away.

4:4 Yet let no one contend, and let none accuse, for with you is my contention, O priest. 4:5 You shall stumble by day; the prophet also shall stumble with you by night; and I will destroy your mother. 4:6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me. And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.

4:7 The more they increased, the more they sinned against me; I will change their glory into shame. 4:8 They feed on the sin of my people; they are greedy for their iniquity. 4:9 And it shall be like people, like priest; I will punish them for their ways and repay them for their deeds.

4:10 They shall eat, but not be satisfied; they shall play the whore, but not multiply, because they have forsaken the LORD to cherish 4:11 whoredom, wine, and new wine, which take away the understanding. 4:12 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. 4:13 They sacrifice on the tops of the mountains and burn offerings on the hills, under oak, poplar, and terebinth, because their shade is good. Therefore your daughters play the whore, and your brides commit adultery.

4:14 I will not punish your daughters when they play the whore, nor your brides when they commit adultery; for the men themselves go aside with prostitutes and sacrifice with cult prostitutes, and a people without understanding shall come to ruin.

4:15 Though you play the whore, O Israel, let not Judah become guilty. Enter not into Gilgal, nor go up to Beth-aven, and swear not, "As the LORD lives."

4:16 Like a stubborn heifer, Israel is stubborn; can the LORD now feed them like a lamb in a broad pasture? 4:17 Ephraim is joined to idols; leave him alone. 4:18 When their drink is gone, they give themselves to whoring; their rulers dearly love shame. 4:19 A wind has wrapped them in its wings, and they shall be ashamed because of their sacrifices." (Hosea 4:1-19 KJV)

Fact Finder: What is the coming cure for the confusion that plagues the present world?
See The Cure For Confusion