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stumble with you. So I will destroy your mother—my people are destroyed
from lack of knowledge.’”
“‘Because you have rejected knowledge, I also reject you as my priests;
because you have ignored the law of your God, I also will ignore your
children. The more the priests increased, the more they sinned against me;
they exchanged their Glory for something disgraceful. They feed on the sins
of my people and relish their wickedness. And it will be like people, like
priests. I will punish both of them for their ways and repay them for their
deeds. They will eat but not have enough; they will engage in prostitution
but not increase, because they have deserted the LORD to give themselves
to prostitution, to old wine and new, which take away the understanding of
my people. They consult a wooden idol and are answered by a stick of
wood. A spirit of prostitution leads them astray; they are unfaithful to their
God. They sacrifice on the mountaintop and burn offerings on the hills,
under oak, poplar and elms, where the shade is pleasant. Therefore, your
daughters turn to prostitution and your daughters-in-law to adultery. I will
not punish your daughters when they turn to prostitution, nor your
daughters-in-law when they commit adultery, because the men themselves
consort with harlots and sacrifice with shrine prostitutes—a people without
understanding will come to ruin!’”
(Hosea 4:1–14)
Sound familiar? Are you looking the other way, condoning the weak human
condition, thinking all is well? When “knowledge” is said to be lacking, it
really means that wisdom is not present to the extent that it could be, for
certainly mankind today does not lack knowledge. However, such
knowledge is just human knowledge that denies and/or causes man to deny
or test God. Remember, the only fruit in the garden that was forbidden
came from the Tree of Knowledge. So, true wisdom honors a Divine
source of wisdom.
If we are truly honest with ourselves, we can know exactly what Hosea
understood, which is the whole purpose of prophecy. However, the
conditions today are a million or billion times worse. Technology is more
advanced, and human populations are much larger. Evil’s presence is not
less—evil’s presence is greater! God knows the weaknesses of human
beings, and He desires repentance for our good!
When the will of an individual is influenced or impacted by evil, and when
an individual follows evil even with good intentions, only destruction will
purify what is detestable in the eyes of God. The evil influence—not the