WILL KNOWLEDGE SAVE?

In chapter four of Hosea, God condemns Israel for her refusal to obey His Word. In verse 1 we note, “Hear the word of the Lord, ye children of Israel: for the Lord hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land.” What a desolate condition!

This was a time when there is no truth. A time where the mercy of God is not accepted nor is the knowledge of His goodness respected. God says that the people have separated themselves by “swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery…” (cf. Hosea.4:2). In verse 6 the ancient prophet penned words of destruction due to the malady of the time, hear him, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.”

It is the case that the people of Hosea’s day had refused to acquire and live by knowledge of the Word of God. They never thought of the penalty for their neglect in all likelihood. They were going along to get along and practicing the same sins as the people about them while God had commanded them to be separate or different from those nations around them, but this seems to have never entered their thought process. They wanted to be like the nations about them when they desired a king. God granted them their wish, but their desire led to great suffering and turmoil.

As Hosea writes God is rejecting His priests and His people. He even forgets their children. A calamity exists in the land that does not respect and know God. We are taught in the Scriptures that eternal life is to “know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent” (John 17:3). It is rather obvious that there is trouble in our land this day in the year of our Lord, 2015.

Unless we come to a knowledge of God, man will be lost. We remember a classic passage in Judges 2:10 that address situations like this. “And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the LORD, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel.” The first generation out of Egyptian bondage perished in the wilderness.

The second generation is the one that Judges is addressing who were faithful. The third generation was lost because they did not know the Lord. They served Balaam while forsaking the Lord.

Are we talking about an antiquated condition? No! A thousand times NO! We are describing present day America. We are talking about a time when God is respected less and less. There is lying, swearing, killing, stealing, adultery and the list goes on and on. Filth and turmoil fill our news programs while the Bible is closed on the shelf and most of all closed to our hearts. Jesus said, “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me” (John 5:39). Knowledge alone will not save. It must be applied to the heart of man. The condition of our time is such that we had better WAKE UP, OPEN UP and READ UP if we want to GO UP to heaven some day. All one has to do is read the front page of the newspaper and we see Hosea all over again.

Harrell Davidson

WILL KNOWLEDGE SAVE?

In chapter four of Hosea, God condemns Israel for her refusal to obey His Word. In verse 1 we note, “Hear the word of the Lord, ye children of Israel: for the Lord hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land.” What a desolate condition!

This was a time when there is no truth. A time where the mercy of God is not accepted nor is the knowledge of His goodness respected. God says  that the people have separated themselves by “swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery…” (cf. Hosea.4:2). In verse 6 the ancient prophet penned words of destruction due to the malady of the time, hear him, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.”

It is the case that the people of Hosea’s day had refused to acquire and live by knowledge of the Word of God. They never thought of the penalty for their neglect in all likelihood. They were going along to get along and practicing the same sins as the people about them while God had commanded them to be separate or different from those nations around them, but this seems to have never entered their thought process. They wanted to be like the nations about them when they desired a king. God granted them their wish, but their desire led to great suffering and turmoil.

As Hosea writes God is rejecting His priests and His people. He even forgets their children. A calamity exists in the land that does not respect and know God. We are taught in the Scriptures that eternal life is to “know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent” (John 17:3). It is rather obvious that there is trouble in our land this day in the year of our Lord, 2014.

Unless we come to a knowledge of God, man will be lost. We remember a classic passage in Judges 2:10 that address situations like this. “And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the LORD, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel.” The first generation out of Egyptian bondage perished in the wilderness.

The second generation is the one that Judges is addressing who were faithful. The third generation was lost because they did not know the Lord. They served Balaam while forsaking the Lord.

Are we talking about an antiquated condition? No! A thousand times NO! We are describing present day America. We are talking about a time when God is respected less and less. There is lying, swearing, killing, stealing, adultery and the list goes on and on. Filth and turmoil fill our news programs while the Bible is closed on the shelf and most of all closed to our hearts. Jesus said, “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me” (John 5:39). Knowledge alone will not save. It must be applied to the heart of man. The condition of our time is such that we had better WAKE UP, OPEN UP and READ UP if we want to GO UP to heaven some day. All one has to do is read the front page of the newspaper and we see Hosea all over again.

Harrell Davidson

IN ONE GENERATION

Joshua’s days were glorious ones. He was a minister to Moses, servant to God, captain of the host of Israel and conqueror of Canaan. The people were faithful during his time (Judges. 2:7).  Then there arose an unfaithful generation (Judges. 2:10).  Things can change very quickly.  If children are allowed to grow up without God's word, the same thing will occur in the Twentieth Century.   Apostasy can and does happen.  It happened to the church at Ephesus (Ephesians 2:1; Revelation 2:4) Also see Galatians 5.4 and I Timothy 5:12.  But in Judges 2 we find certain things which brought about apostasy.

From our text we see that the first step to apostasy was their SPIRITUAL ILLITERACY (vs. 10).  This ignorance of God's word has and will bring a great fall to many people.  It is said that the Bible is the best selling book of all time.  The American Bible Society sold 70 million Bibles last year.  I wonder just how many are read and studied.  Of course we know that there is no way to know God without the word, and one cannot please God without knowing Him (Hebrews 11:6; II Thessalonians 1:8).  Someone has said, and rightfully so, “We have never before gone to worship so often and studied so little.”  Spiritual illiteracy is rampant today.  The word must be studied so as to be “furnished unto every good work” (II Timothy 3:15-17).  If we are not really careful, we, too, will raise a generation which know not the Lord and His word.  Keep your Bibles open and we will not find the doors of heaven closed.

From Judges 2 we also find that apostasy came because they ABANDONED GOD.  They “forsook the God of their fathers” (vs. 12).  When we raise a generation of children without the word we have serious problems because they will abandon the God made known therein.  Safety is found when we stay near to God.  James 4:8 states that we are to “Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.”  God never abandons us; it is our decision to move away from Him (Isaiah 59:1-2).  We can help save a generation by teaching and showing our allegiance to our Father in heaven.

The people went into apostasy also because they DEGENERATED INTO IDOLATRY (vs. 12-13).  Notice that they “followed other gods, of the gods of the people that were round about them” (vs. 12).  Sin is progressive.  It begins with thought and progresses into action.  As Israel began to fellowship the people around them, they began to act like those idolatrous nations.  We are warned against such (Romans 12:1-2; I Thessalonians 5:22; I Peter 2:11).  A generation can be saved if we will practice the age old principle of running from all evil circumstances (Proverbs 4:27; 14:16).

Apostasy brings about the anger of the Lord (vs. 14-15).  It happened to Israel when there arose a generation that knew not God.  We face the same problem today.  We must not raise a generation that rebels against God and His word.  It can be overcome with the disposition of Joshua when he said, “As for me and my house we will serve God” (Joshua 24:15).  Apostasy must be avoided because there is a heaven to gain and a hell to avoid.  May God be our guide as we raise our families.  If we will allow Him to rule in our lives, generations will be saved.

Author Unknown