Similar Times

by Terry Wane Benton

Hosea pointed out that the downfall of Israel was because Israel had lost their way. He said "there is no truth" (Hosea 4:1). When a nation does not recognize and teach "the truth" but perverts everything to each having their own "truth", it becomes lies competing for dominance.

Our country is in this stage. "There is no absolute truth" when God and His word are dismissed from consideration. When the lie of evolution replaces the truth that God created, there is no truth that will guide the people. The first lie leads to the next and the next. At one time we acknowledged that we "are endowed by our Creator" and "In God we Trust." Unless we return to the truth of God our Creator, we drift from the shores of safety without a paddle and with a leaking hole in the boat.

In Israel there was "no knowledge of God" (Hosea 4:1,6). That lack of knowledge destroyed the people. But no knowledge of God leads to "no restraint" (Hosea 4:2-3). What holds people back from riot, stealing, and murder is the "restraint" that the knowledge of God brings to the heart. Untie the knowledge of God from the heart, and nothing restrains the heart from self-indulgence and anarchy. Israel's fall to the Assyrians began because they loosened their grip on truth and the knowledge of God, and thus lost the restraining factor. When there was no restraint, they destroyed themselves so that it was easy for the Assyrians to come in and finish the process.

Like in the days of Belshazzar, we ought to be able to read the handwriting on the wall. Turning back to God and truth is our greatest need. Unless we repent, we will set ourselves up for self-destruction, but worse than losing our country is losing our own souls.