Hosea prophetically makes this declaration in 4:6: “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” He identifies what he means by this in vs.6. “They have rejected knowledge; They have forgotten the law of their God.”
The resulting behaviour from this is found in vs. 7-8. “They have sinned against Me; They have set their heart on iniquity.”
Notice the correlation: The lack of Biblical knowledge creates a dirth in understanding, which leads to behaviour that is contrary to God’s word. Now before we are too hard on them, do we see similar patterns in the day we live in?
Think of the stats in our day: “16% of Americans say that they read the Bible every day, 21% say they read it weekly, 12% say they read the Bible monthly, 10% say less than monthly and 41% say that they rarely or never read the Bible.” (Gallop)
How Much Time Do People Spend on Social Media Per Day? According to the latest available data, people spend an average of 2 hours and 24 minutes on social media every day. Americans clocked in about 2 hours and 14 minutes per day, or 10 minutes less per day than the average global user.” (Exploding Topics)
So how did those in Hosea’s day get to where they not only neglected God’s word but no longer knew what it said. Can we get to the same place in our day?
Romans 10:17 – “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
Hebrews 2:1 – “We must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away.”
“The habit of not having a disciplined daily bible reading but reading books about the bible is growing.”
We may wonder how we ever got to where we are in our spiritual life, let alone the society we live in. It begins with the neglect of the systematic reading of the Word of God and secondly, neglecting to apply God’s Word to our everyday lives.
Psalm 119:97–112 – “Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long. Your commands are always with me and make me wiser than my enemies. I have more insight than all my teachers, for I meditate on your statutes. I have more understanding than the elders, for I obey your precepts. I have kept my feet from every evil path so that I might obey your word … How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” (Psalm 119:97-105)
“Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.”
Have a blessed week serving Jesus!
https://explodingtopics.com/blog/social-media-usage; https://news.gallup.com/poll/; David Latham
I think we are in much the same frame of mind today as was in Hosea’s day. We have little desire to learn about God and especially the OT teachings. The passage quoted says it all “They have rejected knowledge; They have forgotten the law of their God.”” Might I add that we tend to forget that God is our Creator, and has the perfect plan for our lives… if only we would read and find out His truths.