Passage Read: Hosea 4-7
Meditation Verses: 5:11-15
Thought
Trusting in men and following their commands rather than the Lord's is a dangerous thing. It's bad not just because men know little and are more often slaves to their flesh than to righteousness, but more because God is offended that we would trust our own wisdom over His. He brings discipline and punishment, and the more we resist, the heavier it gets, to the point of being oppressed and even "crushed in judgment." He goes from being a moth and rottenness that weakens us to a lion that tears us to shreds and goes away. He has to go away before He destroys us. The saddest statement here is that it is in affliction that they will seek Him. As if the only hope for restoration is for God's people to suffer long and hard before they think to acknowledge their guilt and turn away from their sin and return to their only true God, who only ever wanted good for them.
Application
Men have many ideas about what is good and true and right, but far too often, their ideas justify sinful behavior rather than rebuke it. Men are not all that wise, unless they are determined to justify God rather than themselves. There is a constant stream of argument and debate critical of God's Word and ways. Being well read, reading widely the many ideas and "insights" of men and women is wearisome, and dilutes the clarity of God's own Word and the voice of His Spirit. It is not of wisdom to depend on the intellect and wisdom of men to discern what is the true meaning of God's Word. That idea insults God and His Spirit, as if God could not speak plainly and clearly to men, and His Spirit was incapable of revealing God's thoughts to us. It is far safer to read God's Word much and listen to the explanations of men little, so that I can know God personally and discern which teachers affirm God's truth.