Lately the Lord has been laying upon my heart to pray for our country, really pray. The state of those who profess to be Christians in this nation must surely grieve the heart of God. I have been praying as I listen to God's word on DVD and as I read it. The other day I was praying as I read Hosea chapter 1. Here are the words to the first 9 verses of this chapter, and here are some thoughts the Lord brought to my mind while I was reading through it.
1The word of the LORD that came unto Hosea, the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel. 2The beginning of the word of the LORD by Hosea. And the LORD said to Hosea, Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms: for the land hath committed great whoredom, departing from the LORD. 3So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim; which conceived, and bare him a son. 4And the LORD said unto him, Call his name Jezreel; for yet a little while , and I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu, and will cause to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel. 5And it shall come to pass at that day, that I will break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel. 6And she conceived again, and bare a daughter. And God said unto him, Call her name Loruhamah: for I will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel; but I will utterly take them away. 7But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah, and will save them by the LORD their God, and will not save them by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, by horses, nor by horsemen. 8Now when she had weaned Loruhamah, she conceived, and bare a son. 9Then said God , Call his name Loammi: for ye are not my people, and I will not be your God. Hosea 1:1-9
The land of America is like the land of Israel. "The land hath committed great whoredom, departing from the LORD."
1. Will God cause America to cease as He did Israel? He did not destroy Israel but did cause her kingdom to cease. We are not God's chosen people. We do not have a promise in God's Word that we will never be destroyed as a nation.
If we continue in our rebellion, will God deal with us as He did with the nations that inhabited the land before Israel? Many of those nations were completely destroyed -- every man, woman, and child. (See verse 4)
2. Will God take away His mercy from us because we have departed from the Lord? (See verse 6)
3. All of our military prowess and weapons and might are useless if they are not backed by the power of Almighty God. (See verse 7)
4. If we continue in our rebellion, will God one day say to us, "I will not be your God"? (See verse 9)