I Am Warning You
“…there is none among them that calleth unto me… And the pride of Israel testifieth to his face: and they do not return to the LORD their God, nor seek him for all this…When they shall go, I will spread my net upon them; I will bring them down as the fowls of the heaven; I will chastise them, as their congregation hath heard. Woe unto them! for they have fled from me: destruction unto them! because they have transgressed against me: though I have redeemed them, yet they have spoken lies against me. And they have not cried unto me with their heart, when they howled upon their beds: they assemble themselves for corn and wine, and they rebel against me.” Hosea 7:7-14 underlining and bold added
I am warning you. The verses above from long ago are for us today. The congregation then HEARD God’s warning. Many of today’s pastors and churches are not issuing this warning. The children of Israel were turned away from God. They had run from Him. They were sinning against Him. They lived for themselves, not for God. They didn’t call on Him. They didn’t seek His face and presence. They didn’t seek His forgiveness. Their backs were turned to Him. They would not return to God. He had redeemed them. He had offered His mercy. They would not repent. God WARNED THEM of DESTRUCTION because of their refusal to repent and turn to Him and LIVE FOR HIM according to HIS WAYS.
Hear this. “And they have not cried unto me with their heart, when they howled upon their beds (bold added).” This world is dying. Every human is dying and going to hell and the lake of fire forever apart from God UNLESS we repent and believe in Christ as Lord who died to pay our sin, death, and hell penalty we all deserve because we are all sinners, and WE MUST TURN TO God and His ways to receive God’s mercy and everlasting life. Countless people worldwide are “HOWLING UPON THEIR BEDS” like the people in the verses above. Howling over their troubles, hurts, hardships, trials, circumstances, challenges, broken lives, losses, diseases, poverty, bad relationships, etc. If they are howling out to God at all, these people are howling out to Him to heal their bodies, end their troubles, give them prosperity, make their lives better, fix their marriages, etc., like His only purpose is to answer our prayers rather than that He is God almighty we are commanded to love, praise, worship, honor, revere, and live for. There is NOTHING more important to HOWL OVER than in grief over our sins that we are sinning against a holy God, that we are NOTHING without Him, that we NEED Christ to save us, that we are desperate to turn away from our sins, believe in Jesus Christ, and live for God almighty! We need to CRY WITH OUR HEARTS that God would forgive and save us and teach us to walk in His ways!
We SHOULD cry out to God with all our needs, but NOTHING is more important than crying out to Him in repentance and living our lives for Christ!