Daily Lesson for July 17, 2020

Today's Daily Lesson comes from Hosea chapter 4 verses 1 through 4:

1Hear the word of the Lord, O people of Israel;

for the Lord has an indictment against the inhabitants of the land.

There is no faithfulness or loyalty,

and no knowledge of God in the land.

2Swearing, lying, and murder,

and stealing and adultery break out;

bloodshed follows bloodshed.

3Therefore the land mourns,

and all who live in it languish;

together with the wild animals

and the birds of the air,

even the fish of the sea are perishing.

The prophets do not relent.  The times are too evil.  And the trial too serious.  The LORD has brought an indictment against the people; and the indictment are the works of their own hands:

Swearing false oaths; because false accusations against political opponents in the public square became a norm

Lying; because Truth telling was no longer seen as a vital virtue

Murder; because lives that mattered were taken again and again and again without justice or redress

Stealing; because swindling people and robbing the earth was seen as how you play the game

Adultery; because nobody really cared about vows any more

Therefore, the Prophet Hosea say, the whole land mourns.  All creation languishes.  And the whole ecology is defiled.

It is an indictment; and the counselor's advice is to plead guilty, to acknowledge and confess, and to repent -- which means to change.

But change is hard.  And humility has to come first.  And that's why we usually have to hit rock bottom before we find it.

And the people are still a long ways away from rock bottom.

NOTE: We are reading the whole Bible through this year.  What a year to be doing so.  Tomorrow we will read the rest of Hosea, chapters 8-14.