Your Plans vs His Plan - Hosea 1-7

 Hosea 4:1-3 (ESV)

Hear the word of the LORD, O children of Israel,

for the LORD has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land.

There is no faithfulness or steadfast love,

and no knowledge of God in the land;

there is swearing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery;

they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed.

Therefore the land mourns,

and all who dwell in it languish,

and also the beasts of the field

and the birds of the heavens,

and even the fish of the sea are taken away.

The book of Hosea is the last prophet to speak to the Northern tribe of Israel, before the Assyrians destroyed it and took the people captive.   God sent Hosea to give them a warning about their behavior, direction and potential outcomes.   In the above text Hosea is telling them what God believes is the problem with them.  He tells them that the root cause of their issues is no faithfulness toward Him, no love for Him and no knowledge of Him.   When we lack knowledge of God then our behavior is unchecked.   We do not adjust our conduct unless we have a standard to compare and measure our conduct against.    Later in this same chapter Hosea states:

Hosea 4:6 (ESV)

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge;

because you have rejected knowledge,

I reject you from being a priest to me.

And since you have forgotten the law of your God,

I also will forget your children.

Israel was supposed to be the example of God’s love and grace for surrounding nations. Instead they became a shame and a sham.  Their conduct ranged from swearing and lying to murder and adultery.   As a result of their conduct even the land revolted against them.  From the birds in the sky to the fish in the sea, the entire creation was impacted by their conduct.  Their conduct (behavioralism) was produced due there mindset (cognitive thinking).    They no longer had a belief system which meant anything goes.   When Aaron and the people thought that Moses (and Joshua) dies in the mountain, they thought they could do anything they wanted.  Failure to believe in God and/or see a representative of God and godliness, produces unchained hedonism.    We need to know God in order to change our own behavior and that of others.  

Proverbs 14:27 (ESV)

The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life,

that one may turn away from the snares of death.