by Terry Wane Benton<\/p>\n
Hosea pointed out that the downfall of Israel was because Israel had lost their way. He said “there is no truth<\/em>” (Hosea 4:1). When a nation does not recognize and teach “the truth<\/em>” but perverts everything to each having their own “truth”, it becomes lies competing for dominance.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n In Israel there was “no knowledge of God<\/em>” (Hosea 4:1,6). That lack of knowledge destroyed the people. But no knowledge of God leads to “no restraint<\/em>” (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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 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…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[80,310],"class_list":["post-98184","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-evolution","tag-government"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":38986,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/fired-up-but-only-half-baked\/","url_meta":{"origin":98184,"position":0},"title":"Fired Up, But Only Half-Baked","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 26, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Hosea 7:1-10 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0We admire those driven by a passion for the things that they do. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Radio and TV shows that feature people passionately defending their views are popular. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In religion as well, people are drawn to groups that display rich emotions. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0C.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Passion is wonderful\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":33706,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/was-gomer-the-same-woman-mentioned-in-hosea-3\/","url_meta":{"origin":98184,"position":1},"title":"Was Gomer the same woman mentioned in Hosea 3?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 9, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Was Gomer the same wife of Hosea mentioned in Hosea 3 or did Hosea take another wife? Also is Romans 9:25 quoting Hosea 2:23? Answer: To keep what happens in Hosea clear, we have to follow both the story of Hosea and the illustration God makes using Hosea's life.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":80849,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/jesus-the-truth\/","url_meta":{"origin":98184,"position":2},"title":"Jesus, the Truth","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 3, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton \"Jesus said to him, \"I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me\" (John 14:6). Jesus is the truth about everything. Do you want to know how this world began and how life, moral conscience, and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":55172,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/believing-the-bibles-creation-account-is-called-pagan-superstition\/","url_meta":{"origin":98184,"position":3},"title":"Believing the Bible’s Creation Account is Called “Pagan Superstition”","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 12, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton \"For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day\" (Exodus 20:11). WorldNetDaily released an article on May 6, 2006, titled \"Bible literalism 'pagan superstition'?\" In it are quotes from a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":56758,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/a-lack-of-knowledge-brings-destruction\/","url_meta":{"origin":98184,"position":4},"title":"A Lack of Knowledge Brings Destruction","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 9, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"by Andy Sochor Through the prophet Hosea, God made known His \"case against\" His people (Hosea 4:1). The Lord's complaint was that there was \"no faithfulness or kindness or knowledge of God in the land\" (Hosea 4:1). Because of their unfaithfulness, God was going to destroy them. The people, priests,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":92185,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/out-of-egypt-i-have-called-my-son\/","url_meta":{"origin":98184,"position":5},"title":"Out of Egypt I Have Called My Son","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 17, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton There are different kinds of prophecies. Some are direct and some are indirect. Some are in the form of typology, and therefore, when Jesus fulfills them, it is not always obvious how it is a shadow, and then Jesus fills in the form. I want to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98184","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98184"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98184\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":98187,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98184\/revisions\/98187"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98184"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98184"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98184"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}