Hos 4:1    Hear the word of the LORD, you Israelites, because the LORD has a charge to bring against you who live in the land: "There is no faithfulness, no love, no acknowledgment of God in the land.

    

What a terrible indictment! This is the people of God being spoken to, the nation that God had raised up to be a holy people, and now look where they are! Let's observe the three charges brought against them.

 

First, that there is no faithfulness. In this context a faithful people would have been a people who were faithful to their calling as the people of God, loyal to the life they had been given, a holy people, a special people, a people guided and directed by God and provided for and protected by God. But they had foolishly abandoned this calling.

 

Second, there is no love. Now that is terrible. As I have examined the Law of God through Moses and considered the life that God called Israel to, I believe it would have been one where, if they obeyed, if would have been characterised by love and security – love for God and for each other (Deut 6:4,5, Lev 19:18). In abandoning their calling they abandon all of this.

 

Finally, there is no acknowledgement of God. He was at the heart of their existence from the time of their formation at Mount Sinai (Ex 19). Now they have abandoned their very source of life. How easy is it to drift away from the Lord! Make sure you don't let it happen!