Step 6. – Turned from God

Step 6. – Turned from God

Though they call them to the One on high,
None at all exalts Him. (Hos. 11:7 NASB)

This is an amazing scripture. It is amazing because the book of Hosea shows Israel’s progressive march away from the Lord, but here in verse 7 of chapter 11, He still calls them “My people.” In the last step, I showed how Israel had fallen into corruption, and God was comparing that corruption to the corruption of Gibeah (see Step 5. – Became Corrupt) yet, He is still calling them “My people.” This just shows that we cannot escape the love of God. We may be the offender in a highly broken relationship, but we are still His!

Then it says, “So My people are bent on turning from Me.” To be “bent” on something, means to be determined to do something. It can also mean a tendency, a propensity, or habit. Other ways the first part of this verse have been translated:

My people are hell-bent on leaving me. (MSG)

My people are determined to turn away from me. (GW)

For my people are determined to desert me. (NLT)

My people are bent on backsliding from Me. (NKJV)

Israel was a nation that was to be set apart for God. Yet, through a series of steps that I have been outlining, they find themselves in this position, habitually sinning; turning away from God; backsliding. By this point, Israel did not care that they were sinning. The prophets were trying to call them back to God, but they just would not listen:

Though they call them to the One on high,
None at all exalts Him. (Hos. 11:7b NASB)

This is more than just struggling with sin. This is being ready to sin. This is trying to sin. This is Israel turning its back on God and doing whatever they want because it was pleasurable to them.

This is the state that I believe our nation sits in, today. This nation formed with the favor of God. Now, there are groups of people who not only deny the existence of God, but will do everything in their power to fight to keep Him out of anything public.

It is amazing to me how many people profess Christianity, yet do not want to submit to the Bible and its teachings, allowing it to be their moral compass. The morality of this country is looking more and more like the description in Judges 21:25:

In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes (NASB).