My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.

.... Sexual immorality, wine, and new wine enslave the heart. My people seek counsel from their piece of wood, and their diviner's rod speaks to them. For a spirit of promiscuity leads them astray; in their immorality they desert their God (Hosea 4:6a, 11, 12). There is an interesting book entitled “None of these diseases.”  It is about the  “Extraordinary medical benefits are available to those who follow the Bible's teachings.” The authors deal with stress, sex, anger, circumcision, tobacco, and more!  The thing that stands out to me are the cleanliness regulations given thousands of years before we understood about bacteria. Apparently in the ancient world well meaning doctors killed millions by deliberately infecting their wounds.  The  book is inspired by Exodus 15:26 "If you .... keep all My statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have put on the Egyptians.”

The Bible is a remarkable book, and it's things like the above that give me confidence that it is indeed the Word of God.  And we are indeed destroyed if we do not know and obey it. Having said that,  we also need wisdom to know what Old Covenant regulations are required under the New Covenant dispensation, for not all of them are (see for example Acts 15:19, 20).  But coming back to this morning's verses, and leaving aside the multi billion dollar annual cost of sexually transmitted diseases and the abortion industry, our sexual immorality messes up our minds and our hearts. Paul puts it this way “Even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting” (Romans 1:28).   And that was me, but I am now washed, sanctified and justified (1 Corinthians 6:11).

You might be saying surely the bit about idols is not relevant. But we have many modern idols that are just as foolish as wooden ones. It seems that if we do not believe the truth, we will believe anything! A man can be a woman,  and we can jump in and out of bed with this one or that one without emotional, relational or spiritual consequences. But He made us male and female, we reap what we sow,  and “sexual immorality, wine, and new wine enslave the heart” (Genesis 1:27; Galatians 6:7; John 8:34).

 As regards to deserting our God, the Lord illustrated this to me years ago. I was sitting in the caff talking to this young woman and she told me “I don't think adultery is wrong.” I looked her in the eye and said (not unkindly) “That's because you want to do it!”  She was hitting on me of course. But the point is that if God says “no adultery” (Exodus 20:14), and you want to do adultery, you do just one of two things, you either desert your adultery, or you desert God.

Lord Jesus, I want to thank You this morning, for the wisdom of Your Word. If all else fails read the instructions (2 Timothy 3:16). Thank You for Your promise that if we abide in Your  word [continually obeying Your  teachings and living in accordance with them, then]  we are truly Your disciples. And
we will know the Truth, and the Truth will set us free (John 8:31, 32 AMPC).  Help us to do our part Lord, knowing that You will then do Yours, and we will give You the glory in Your precious Name Amen