“Hear the word of the Lord, you children of Israel, for the Lord brings a charge against the inhabitants of the land: ‘There is no truth or mercy or knowledge of God in the land. By swearing and lying, killing and stealing and committing adultery, they break all restraint, with bloodshed after bloodshed.’” Hosea 4:1-2.
“Come now, and let us reason together,” says the Lord, “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” Isaiah 1:18.
“For [Jesus] the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost [you and me].” Luke 19:10.
“Lord thy love has sought and found us wandering in this desert wide, thou hast thrown thine arms around us, for us suffered, bled, and died: Sing, my soul, He loved thee, Jesus gave Himself for me.
Then that closing scene of anguish; all Gods waves and billows roll over Him; there left to languish on the cross, to save my soul. Matchless love! How vast! How free! Jesus gave Himself for me.
Hark again! His cries are waking echoes on dark Calvary’s hill; God, my God, art thou forsaking Him who always did thy will? Ah, my soul, it was for thee; Yes, He gave Himself for me.”
“Jesus Gave Himself for Me” by J. J. Hopkins.
“Harlotry, wine, and new wine enslave the heart. My people ask counsel from their wooden idols, and their staff informs [Diviner’s rod] them. For the spirit of harlotry has caused them to stray, and they have played the harlot against their God. They offer sacrifices on the mountaintops, and burn incense on the hills, under oaks, poplars, and terebinths, because their shade is good. Therefore your daughters commit harlotry, and your brides commit adultery. I will not punish your daughters when they commit harlotry, nor your brides when they commit adultery; for the men themselves go apart with harlots, and offer sacrifices with a ritual harlot. Therefore people who do not understand will be trampled.” Hosea 4:11-14.
According to the dictionary, a harlot can be a lewd or promiscuous woman or a prostitute. So words like harlotry, prostitution, or whoredom, can refer to prostitution or prostituting oneself.
At the end of the above verses the harlots referred to are cult prostitutes (ritual harlots) who took part in the idolatrous rituals. A whoremonger is a man who consorts with whores, a lecher or a pander (pimp).
In the case of verse 11 above “Harlotry, wine, and new wine enslave the heart.” these things enslave the heart, they are addictive.
This is something worthy of your careful consideration; drinking in moderation is not forbidden, but yes or no is something you have to decide in your own heart. Alcohol is addictive, if you have an addictive personality, avoid it.
Alcohol can and does produce alcoholics, this is a given, but this verse says that harlotry also enslaves the heart, it is also addictive.
The world today turns on sex; as a result it is in advertising, books, magazines, television, the internet, the rest of the media, and often the topic at work.
Harlotry, promiscuity, and a constant push from the homosexual community to bring the perverse things they do out into the open puts the future generation in jeopardy because they learn and see things that they are too young to know about.
Children are not sexual beings; they are not designed that way.
All of us are at risk because these things are in front of us daily. It is important not to focus on the things we see and hear, because it is a fantasy world, I repeat, it is a fantasy world that exists only in the minds of those entrapped by it.
Thoughts are unavoidable but we do not have to dwell on them, nor associate with other folks who are continually doing or speaking of sexual things, nor do we have to go places where they are displayed.
Trust me my friends, I am not speaking to you from some high pulpit pointing at you and shaking my finger, I struggle as much as anyone. We have only one judge, and He judges rightly. When in distress we must always call upon Jesus who will always come to our aid.
It is your mind, you are responsible for what goes into it, and remember there is no eraser, what goes in stays in. And when it is in, it does not just lie quietly in a corner, it has an effect on you, always to enslave you.
“Be very, very careful what you put into that head, because you will never, ever get it out.” Thomas Cardinal Wolsey, 1471-1530.
“To the pure all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; but even their mind and conscience are defiled.” Titus 1:15.
“Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy – meditate on these things.” Philippians 4:8.
“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” Romans 12:1-2.
Harlotry and adultery also have another meaning in Scripture; often God uses these words to describe spiritual harlotry. This sort of harlotry is one of playing the whore with other gods. Most often this is literal harlotry as well as a spiritual harlotry as seen in the verses above.
God uses the word adultery to describe how He feels when Israel, His wife, commits spiritual adultery with other gods, which are not gods at all but demons masquerading as gods.
Men and women should be able to feel how God actually feels when they commit this form of adultery because they have been the victims of it, or know someone who has been betrayed in this way. It is a very visceral term which should rend the heart when they think of God feeling this way.
This country is guilty of spiritual harlotry when it embraces every Hindu, spiritist, Muslim, Satanic, pagan, witchcraft, new age, or Humanistic religion that they find. If not these, we are caught up with idols like, stars, sports heroes, games, and things like boats, cars, and planes.
There is nothing wrong with these latter things if they are done in moderation, but when we are consumed by them every waking moment and forget God entirely, they become idols. As for the cults mentioned and others, they are to be avoided at all costs.
“Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.” 1 John 5:21.
The Old Testament is filled with accounts of God warning Israel and Israel disobeying, judgment falls, they repent, then return to their old idolatrous patterns, so these are just a few of the things God dealt with.
The warning is to us also and should be heeded or at least given some serious research both in the Bible and in the world around us.
Each of us is responsible for our own soul.
No one will stand before God on judgment day and point to someone else and say, “He did awful things to me; he is the reason I rejected Christ as my Savior!” Alas, that will not work and by that time it will be too late to change your mind.
“We then, as workers together with Him also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain. For He says: ‘In an acceptable time I have heard you, and in the day of salvation I have helped you.’ Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” 2 Corinthians 6:1-2.
Let us conclude with the following passage on divorce. Depending on whom you read the divorce rate in the United States is about 40 to 50%. So based on various demographics, about half of all marriages end in divorce.
“…the Lord has been witness between you and the wife of your youth, with whom you have dealt treacherously; yet she is your companion and your wife by covenant. But did He not make them one, having a remnant of the Spirit? And why one? He seeks godly offspring. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously with the wife of his youth. ‘For the Lord God of Israel says that He hates divorce, for it covers one’s garment with violence,’ says the Lord of hosts. ‘Therefore take heed to your spirit, that you do not deal treacherously.’” Malachi 2:14b-16.
The Scriptures quoted herein show us what brings judgment from God.
Throughout the book of Judges the cycle of warning, disobedience, and punishment is recorded over and over; punishment always followed many unheeded warnings.
The same thing occurred under the kings of Israel, until things became so bad God just removed them from the land.
First the Assyrians carried off the Northern Kingdom, and then the Babylonians under King Nebuchadnezzar carried off the Southern Kingdom.
Things remained this way for a while then the Israelites were allowed to return to the land. But after about 500 years they again fell corrupt and rejected their Messiah and had Him crucified.
About forty years later Titus and the Roman legions came and sacked Jerusalem, killing an estimated million Jews and dispersed them out of their land.
Israel has not been a nation from 70 A.D. until their return in 1948. Again they are in peril and unbelief. God is going to remove the Christians from the earth and resume dealing with His chosen people, and use many of them to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ.
How soon are all these things going to happen? No one knows for sure but there are strong indicators like the decline of civilization as described in this article.
The rest is up to you, do you believe all of this or am I just a bit paranoid, seeing the bogeyman behind every curtain. You do not have to check the news to see if the condition of this country is as bad as I have made it sound.
Watch some movies; check out a violent video game, read the covers of the magazines in the checkout lane in the supermarket.
The vilest porn on the internet can be found just by typing in three letters, though I suspect you may have already stumbled on it since it pops up everywhere. That is how easily your children can do it and get an education like you never did in high school.
Listen; really listen to what your co-workers or associates say, ask them what they believe about certain subjects, do not argue, just listen, what do politicians say, what do your children say.
Observe how people dress, look at the magazine ads, what are they appealing to? One commercial shows a woman sitting on a toilet in various settings including work, granted, she is dressed but what is the point?
Did you know that there is a chef who has managed to make a burger that tastes like human flesh?
I saw this video at a news site mixed among legitimate videos by chefs who were showing how to cook other things like soufflé or the like. I did not watch the video, so it may have been a teaser, but do you find the subject funny?
When Halloween comes around, if this is real, you will find these hamburgers served up at parties as a lark. Answer honestly, if you are old enough, what would have happened if this showed up 20 or 30 years ago?
So many things you can learn by just observing with your eyes and ears, you do not need to rely on news media to give you their version.
If time is running out before all Christians are taken off of the earth; can you answer, will you be with them, or will you be left behind.
“And what I say to you, I say to all: Watch!” Mark 13:37.
Death of Today, Part 3 of 3 taken from godisrevealed.com posted on 10-1-14, updated on 12-14-21.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version, copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission, all rights reserved.