Hosea 4:1

Hosea 4:1 says, 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. Hosea begins to tell the people more directly what awaits them due to their disobedience to God.  God had a controversy with them.  We can be certain today that if God has a controversy with us that it is not due to His being wrong.  Hosea listed some things that caused God to have a controversy with His people.  God said there was no truth, mercy or knowledge of God in the land.  We need to remember that this was Israel, the ones that called themselves God's people, that God was speaking to through the prophet Hosea.  There was no truth, mercy or knowledge of God in the nation of Israel as a group at that time.  As a nation that calls itself a Christian nation, are we becoming guilty of the same thing?  We continue to try and remove the name of God from as many places as we can.  We seem to too often seek revenge against instead of showing mercy to those who harm or even just offend us.  We often attempt to change the truth, that which is based on God's word, to a lie based on the knowledge of man.  Verse two adds, By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth blood.  As the sins increased, so would the murders, or blood touching blood as Hosea stated it.  These do not sound like the actions expected of God's people, but the are what was happening in those days.  Unfortunately, they still occur today with some who call themselves followers of Christ. God was sending a warning to Israel through Hosea, and He will send a warning to us today when we fail to follow His will.  Verse three continues, Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth therein shall languish, with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven; yea, the fishes of the sea also shall be taken away.  God was warning the people of Israel, His chosen people, that their rebellion against Him would have consequences.  The same is true for His followers today.  If we are truly followers of Christ, we are forever saved, but we may lose all the joy of that salvation if we begin to allow the things of this world to creep back into our lives.  No matter how successful we may become in the view of the world, we will never be successful in God's view.  The nation of Israel at this time were relying on their own abilities and not the mercy of God.  God warned that He was going to remove His mercy and protection from them until they once again trusted in Him.  Verse four concludes, Yet let no man strive, nor reprove another: for thy people are as they that strive with the priest.  People today, like those in Israel in the time of Hosea, do not want anyone to tell them that what they are doing is wrong, especially from a priest, which means a representative of God to the people.  So much of the world today denies the very existence of God, so we as His followers must stand firmly in His truth.