Bible League: Living His Word My people are destroyed because they have no knowledge. You priests have refused to learn, so I will refuse to let you be priests for me. You have forgotten the law of your God, so I will forget your children.Hosea was a prophet who was called by God to symbolically illustrate the message he was called to give the people of the northern Kingdom of Israel. Since these people were living lives of spiritual adultery by worshipping other gods, Hosea was called to illustrate that fact by marrying a prostitute who subsequently committed adultery. The goal was to give the people some knowledge about their true spiritual state; the goal was to warn them that they were being destroyed (by the Assyrians) for lack of this knowledge. The knowledge Hosea references in his prophecy is not the everyday knowledge of ordinary life, or scientific knowledge, or aesthetic knowledge, or any other form of knowledge that is oriented to the things of this world. The knowledge Hosea is speaking of is the knowledge of the transcendent God and His Will. It is religious knowledge or spiritual knowledge. It is the kind of knowledge that can only come about by faith in something God has revealed. The people had this revelation in the form of Moses and the prophets, but they chose not to have faith in it. Hosea's job was to give them even more revelation---that they were being destroyed for their lack of the kind of knowledge that comes from true faith in God's revelation. Hosea's message is not limited to his time and place. It is a universal message for all time and all places. Lack of spiritual knowledge can destroy your life, both now and for all eternity. Ignoring God's revelation is to ignore the most important thing one could ever know. It is to ignore the most fundamental state of affairs in life---the fact that we stand in relationship to God, the fact that we are creatures of an Almighty God to whom we are subject and by whom we are held accountable. It is for good reason, therefore, that Proverbs says that "Knowledge begins with fear and respect for the LORD" (Proverbs 1:7). Every other form of knowledge is, in the final analysis, blind without the true Knowledge of God. Above all, then, get knowledge. In our day, that knowledge can be acquired primarily and authoritatively from the Bible. Bible in a Year Old Testament ReadingGenesis 41 Genesis 41 -- Pharaoh's Dream; Joseph's Interpretation and Reward NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading Matthew 13:1-32 Matthew 13 -- Parables of the Sower; Weeds among Wheat; Mustard Seed; Yeast; Treasure; Pearls; Net; Prophet without Honor NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. Tyndale Life Application Daily Devotion No one will be able to stand against you as long as you live. For I will be with you as I was with Moses. I will not fail you or abandon you.Insight Joshua's new job consisted of leading more than two million people into a strange new land and conquering it. Every new job is a challenge. Without God it can be frightening. With God it can be a great adventure. Just as God was with Joshua, he is with us as we face our new challenges. Challenge We may not conquer nations, but every day we face tough situations, difficult people, and temptations. God promises, however, that he will never abandon us nor fail to help us. By asking God to direct us we can conquer many of life's challenges. Morning and Evening by Spurgeon 2 Samuel 11:2 And it came to pass in an eveningtide, that David arose from off his bed, and walked upon the roof of the king's house.At that hour David saw Bathsheba. We are never out of the reach of temptation. Both at home and abroad we are liable to meet with allurements to evil; the morning opens with peril, and the shades of evening find us still in jeopardy. They are well kept whom God keeps, but woe unto those who go forth into the world, or even dare to walk their own house unarmed. Those who think themselves secure are more exposed to danger than any others. The armour-bearer of Sin is Self-confidence. David should have been engaged in fighting the Lord's battles, instead of which he tarried at Jerusalem, and gave himself up to luxurious repose, for he arose from his bed at eventide. Idleness and luxury are the devil's jackals, and find him abundant prey. In stagnant waters noxious creatures swarm, and neglected soil soon yields a dense tangle of weeds and briars. Oh for the constraining love of Jesus to keep us active and useful! When I see the King of Israel sluggishly leaving his couch at the close of the day, and falling at once into temptation, let me take warning, and set holy watchfulness to guard the door. Is it possible that the king had mounted his housetop for retirement and devotion? If so, what a caution is given us to count no place, however secret, a sanctuary from sin! While our hearts are so like a tinder-box, and sparks so plentiful, we had need use all diligence in all places to prevent a blaze. Satan can climb housetops, and enter closets, and even if we could shut out that foul fiend, our own corruptions are enough to work our ruin unless grace prevent. Reader, beware of evening temptations. Be not secure. The sun is down but sin is up. We need a watchman for the night as well as a guardian for the day. O blessed Spirit, keep us from all evil this night. Amen. Daily Light on the Daily Path Revelation 1:19 "Therefore write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after these things.1 Corinthians 13:12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known. Hebrews 2:8 YOU HAVE PUT ALL THINGS IN SUBJECTION UNDER HIS FEET." For in subjecting all things to him, He left nothing that is not subject to him. But now we do not yet see all things subjected to him. 2 Peter 1:19 So we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts. Psalm 119:105 Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path. Jude 1:17,18 But you, beloved, ought to remember the words that were spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, • that they were saying to you, "In the last time there will be mockers, following after their own ungodly lusts." 1 Timothy 4:1 But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, 1 John 2:18 Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared; from this we know that it is the last hour. Romans 13:12 The night is almost gone, and the day is near. Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org. |
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