You see, many Christians in their ignorance, in their blindness to truth caused by listening to the traditions of men, i.e. the doctrines and rituals of churchianity, believe that their "sacrifices" and their "offerings" are pleasing to God. The question is, "How would they know? How many Christians do think have ever read the Book of Hosea (salvation) where God calls His children a bunch of spiritual whores who worship in Beth-avens, houses of emptiness, where rituals and worship abound but the Word is not taught?"Yes, it is strong language! Certainly we are not condemning churches or judging our good hearted brothers and sisters, but the reality is that even if a person is blind or ignorant he will STILL reap what he sows! Make no mistake about it! "Be not deceived! God is not mocked!"The American Wisdom Series 
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Pamphlet 1457 Hos kc 14-2How many Christians do think have ever read the Book of Hosea (salvation) where God calls His children a bunch of spiritual whores who worship in Beth-avens, houses of emptiness, where rituals and worship abound but the Word is not taught?"
Galatians 6:7
Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
For example, you may be told by some likeable though misinformed preacher type and you may believe with all your heart that the corn seeds you are planting are watermelon seeds! Do you then think that just because you are expecting watermelons to grow that that is what you will get? Sorry! You plant corn seeds, even if you believe they are watermelon seeds, you get a corn crop! As the teenagers say, "Deal with it!" Seems to me a wise person would what to make certain he (or she) knows what he is planting, especially if his life depends on it!
Then too, we have the historical record of our forefathers who did some sowing of their own! Remember in our last study that they set up kings, but not according to God's counsel, and they worshipped, went to church, where the Golden Calves were set up rather than go down to Jerusalem as commanded by God. Hey, they were told it was OK, but not by God! On the contrary, we documented in our last study that they were WARNED against such idolatry!
Let's continue in the 8th chapter of Hosea and see what our Father has to say about their worship practices and their "own version" of sowing seeds of faith:
Even though Christ Himself said that many Christians will be deceived in the last days (Mat. 24, Mk. 24) and they will later come to Him claiming to have worshipped and done wonderful works in His name (Mat. 7), some Christians just do not see how a good church-goer could be said to be doing anything wrong because they are worshipping God and Jesus, are they not? I guess the question is, "Can you worship God and Jesus in vain, i.e. for nothing?" Well, it doesn't matter what I say, because you will check me out anyway, right? So let's cut out the middle man and let the Lord Himself answer that question. In Mark 7:5 Jesus had just been asked by the Scribes and Pharisees why His disciples eat bread with unwashen hands:Hosea 8:7
For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind: it hath no stalk: the bud shall yield no meal: if so be it yield, the strangers shall swallow it up.
Yes, you can worship God in vain by following the doctrines and traditions of men and the church systems they have set up on the hill! You may think that you are sowing good seeds but even in your ignorance if you are in fact sowing to the wind, you will reap a crop of wind, even a whirlwind! (Read Hosea 8:7 again) And of course without God's blessings, without pleasing Him by listening to Him, even if you did yield a crop of corn, God would chastise you, His child, and see to it that it was consumed by strangers!Mark 7:6
He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.[7] Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
And so it came to pass, in the past, even as it has once again come to pass this very day, that Israel has "forgotten his maker (vs. 14)", i.e. left off His Word, and "sowed to the wind" according to the traditions of men, all the while believing he was (and is) doing the right thing and worshipping God. Nevertheless, he did reap what he sowed and he was taken captive by the Assyrian as swiftly as an eagle swoops down and captures its prey and carries it away!
Israel was indeed swallowed up and his chastisement came to pass exactly as it was written. Remember 2 Kings 17:6? "In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away into Assyria, and placed them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes." Therefore the once great nation of Israel has become about as pleasing to God as a "broken pot" and are now scattered among the Gentiles; even believing they are Gentiles![8] Israel is swallowed up: now shall they be among the Gentiles as a vessel wherein is no pleasure.
Like a wild ass wandering astray in the wilderness all alone, so go the children of Israel who have forgotten their God by committing fornication and adultery (idolatry).Hosea 8:9
For they are gone up to Assyria, a wild ass alone by himself...
Here is how Isaiah describes them:
This is a hard reality check! God says that even a dumb ass knows his master's crib, but Israel (no, not the little nation in the middle east) is not even that smart! They are dumber than a dumb ass because they do not "consider" as is "discern" and "understand", i.e. they do not use their brains and study His Word! Why not? Because quite frankly, just as we notice many of our brother's and sister's attitudes when we look around us today, they just don't give two corn cobs.Isaiah 1:3
The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider.
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