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SRAELis an empty vine, he bringeth forth fruit unto himself: according to the multitude of his fruit he hath increased the altars; according to the goodness of his land they have made goodly images. 2 Their heart is divided; now shall they be found faulty: he shall break down their altars, he shall spoil their images. 3 For now they shall say, We have no king, because we feared not the LORD; what then should a king do to us? 4 They have spoken words, swearing falsely in making a covenant: thus judgment springeth up as hemlock in the furrows of the field. 5 The inhabitants of Samaria shall fear because of the calves of Bethaven: for the people thereof shall mourn over it, and the priests thereof that rejoiced on it, for the glory thereof, because it is departed from it. 6 It shall be also carried unto Assyria for a present to king Jareb: Ephraim shall receive shame, and Israel shall be ashamed of his own counsel. 7 As for Samaria, her king is cut off as the foam upon the water. 8 The high places also of Aven, the sin of Israel, shall be destroyed: the thorn and the thistle shall come up on their altars; and they shall say to the mountains, Cover us; and to the hills, Fall on us. 9 O Israel, thou hast sinned from the days of Gibeah: there they stood: the battle in Gibeah against the children of iniquity did not overtake them. 10 It is in my desire that I should chastise them; and the people shall be gathered against them, when they shall bind themselves in their two furrows. 11 And Ephraim is as an heifer that is taught, and loveth to tread out the corn; but I passed over upon her fair neck: I will make Ephraim to ride; Judah shall plow, and Jacob shall break his clods. 12 Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you. 13 Ye have plowed wickedness, ye have reaped iniquity; ye have eaten the fruit of lies: because thou didst trust in thy way, in the multitude of thy mighty men. 14 Therefore shall a tumult arise among thy people, and all thy fortresses shall be spoiled, as Shalman spoiled Betharbel in the day of battle: the mother was dashed in pieces upon her children. 15 So shall Bethel do unto you because of your great wickedness: in a morning shall the king of Israel utterly be cut off. (Hosea 10:1-15)
God is unchanging in His Will and actions. In whose eyes a vile person is contemned; but he honoureth them that fear the LORD. He that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not. Psalm 15:4 (KJV) His response to sin and apostasy has been consistent throughout history. When a nation who has known God and turned away is treated with greater wrath that that nation who has never known the Lord.. This is true of old Israel, and it is true of our own nation which has been so richly blessed by God’s benevolent Providence. Just as Israel has become an empty vine, they may appear lively and green, but produce no fruit. America today is living off the blessings of our Founding Fathers. America has become fat and wealthy so much so that she has built altars to other gods of gold, silver, humanism, perversions in sex and society, and rejected the moral code of the Holy Bible. The fruit America produces today is to themselves and not to the glory of God.
America today opened the floodgates of perversions and unholiness through the executive power of her government. As a result, like Israel, her heart is divided between a growing wickedness and a righteous faith. A house divided against itself cannot stand long. And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand:And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand? (Matthew 12:25-26)
Like Israel of old, the emerging idolatrous nature of American society has become directly proportional to the wealth with which god has blessed us.
For now they shall say, We have no king, because we feared not the LORD; what then should a king do to us?When there is no king in a nation, there are no laws to be enforced though the number of such laws may be multiplied by the despots of society. With the multitude of laws there is a loss of freedom, particularly of man’s law. You may recall that famine follows lawlessness. The last verse of Judges prior to the opening of the Book of Ruth, we read: In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes. (Judges 21:25)Now see the opening remarks of the Book of Ruth: Now it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehem-judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he, and his wife, and his two sons. (Ruth 1:1) America faces a growing condemnation that may lead to a hard and general famine of both crops and production.
It is true that far greater are the number of lies told in politics than that of truth. The moral social contract is being violated daily by elected officials who have violated the trust placed in them by the people. They have spoken words, swearing falsely in making a covenant: thus judgment springeth up as hemlock in the furrows of the field.There is a poison that is more than illegal drug use in our society. It is a poison affecting the spirit as much as the body. America today moves as a drunken man unaware of the direction he is traveling, or the purpose of his loss of sensibilities.
A nation that has held forth its example and counsel to the world shall be taken with same and humiliation before the world. Samaria was taken in captivity. The captivity of America is coming via the trojan horse of illegal immigration, but also by an insidious corruption of its values and indoctrinal education of its youth. . . . . the thorn and the thistle shall come up on their altars; and they shall say to the mountains, Cover us; and to the hills, Fall on us.Thorns and thistles arise on hedgerows that are not attended; and, certainly, the altars of America have gone unattended. When God is removed from the memorials and institutions of a nation, there is only an empty Inferno that remains in society. God has been dismissed from all of our public forums, schools, and institution. Such a void created begs a filler, and that filler is the wicked hearts of men.
It is in my desire that I should chastise them; and the people shall be gathered against them, when they shall bind themselves in their two furrows. And Ephraim is as an heifer that is taught, and loveth to tread out the corn; but I passed over upon her fair neck: I will make Ephraim to ride; Judah shall plow, and Jacob shall break his clods. (Hosea 10:10-11) At our national inception, it seemed God’s joy to always bless the nation after God’s own heart; but, now, His desire is to chasten us as an errant son whose heart has grown black and greedy. The two furrows to which the above passage refers is both Israel (the Ten Tribes of the north) and Judah (geographically the present State of Israel). It seems clearly that both Canada and America have been equally blessed by the Lord. Now, in their depravity, perhaps both will suffer a hard chastening.
All is not sorrow and despondency. It is never too late to turn again and repent of past sins and glorify the Lord who has made and blessed us. Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you. Ye have plowed wickedness, ye have reaped iniquity; ye have eaten the fruit of lies: because thou didst trust in thy way, in the multitude of thy mighty men.We have sewn the wind, and we shall certainly reap the whirlwind lest we repent of the evil. If we sow righteousness, time is needed for the crops to burst forth from our fallow ground. We pride ourselves on our many victories in war – victories for which we prayed to God to give us – but failed to glorify Him in the results, but declared the victories of our own doing.
Therefore shall a tumult arise among thy people, and all thy fortresses shall be spoiled, as Shalman spoiled Betharbel in the day of battle: the mother was dashed in pieces upon her children. So shall Bethel do unto you because of your great wickedness: in a morning shall the king of Israel utterly be cut off. The tumult among our people has already begun. We have a sorrowful diversity of culture and values in our nation. We are being balkanized by our politicians into races, sexes, and nationalities. The common cord of unity has been broken. We have given away the security of the Panama Canal, failed to defend our borders, and given over to licentious living. It will take much sowing of righteousness to overcome the spiritual deficit we have created with our own hands.
Remember the counsel of Chronicles: If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. (2 Chronicles 7:14)
