Today's Reading: Hosea 4-6; Psalm 58
Our reading today is filled with more of the coming destruction, particularly for Israel. They were being judged by God, and that judgment was fierce.
But in the midst of that, we see the underlying reason the people had forsaken God. "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge" (4:6).
They had forsaken God because they had failed to learn about Him. Not understanding Him and His ways, they went away and served idols. But this is the God who brought them out of Egypt, who gave them the land where they now lived. How could they have forgotten Him? Look at all that is said in this passage.
"Yet let no one contend,
and let none accuse,
for with you is my contention, O priest.
You shall stumble by day;
the prophet also shall stumble with you by night;
and I will destroy your mother.
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" (4:4-6, emphasis added).
Their leaders, the ones who were assigned the task of teaching the people, had utterly failed them. The people lacked knowledge of God because their leaders had rejected Him. When leaders are abject failures, often the people they lead will be lost. This doesn't excuse the people; they should have been learning on their own. But certainly their leaders hold a higher share of the blame.
When leaders refuse the plain teaching of God, the people need to refuse those leaders and find leaders who are willing to follow God. That is as true of the church as it was of Israel.
Our reading today is filled with more of the coming destruction, particularly for Israel. They were being judged by God, and that judgment was fierce.
But in the midst of that, we see the underlying reason the people had forsaken God. "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge" (4:6).
They had forsaken God because they had failed to learn about Him. Not understanding Him and His ways, they went away and served idols. But this is the God who brought them out of Egypt, who gave them the land where they now lived. How could they have forgotten Him? Look at all that is said in this passage.
"Yet let no one contend,
and let none accuse,
for with you is my contention, O priest.
You shall stumble by day;
the prophet also shall stumble with you by night;
and I will destroy your mother.
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" (4:4-6, emphasis added).
Their leaders, the ones who were assigned the task of teaching the people, had utterly failed them. The people lacked knowledge of God because their leaders had rejected Him. When leaders are abject failures, often the people they lead will be lost. This doesn't excuse the people; they should have been learning on their own. But certainly their leaders hold a higher share of the blame.
When leaders refuse the plain teaching of God, the people need to refuse those leaders and find leaders who are willing to follow God. That is as true of the church as it was of Israel.