The Farmville herald. (Farmville, Va.) 1957-current, 1960-07-29
Road To Ruin
Lesson for July 81, 1860

Road To Ruin
Lesson for July 81. 1860
THE BIBLE often speaks OBJ
scurely. There is much in it
which is not clear even to men
who have spent a lifetime of
study in it. This is particularly
true Of the Old Testament pro-
phets. They are hard for us now
adays, for several reasons. One
is the translation, perhaps. But
even the original is difficult,
partly because many names of
places and persons are used. and
events are referred to, which
are now unknown to us. Then
the manuscripts were not always
kept carefully (of course tn e
original copies have been lost
long Since) nor copied accu-
rately. And sometimes. on top
of all that, the writer puts his
thought in a very jerky. back
and-forth fashion. That is what
we ha We in the prophecy of Ho-
sea. In fact most experts be-
lieve that we do not have con-
tinuous straight-away writing in
this book" but only what we
today would call sermon notes
instead of written-out sermons.
Then and Now
Frankly, there would be little
use in struggling to find out
what Hosea is driving at. if he
has nothing to say to our day
and time. The book would be
interesting as history, it would
give us an insight into far-off
times. But it would not speak
directly to US. The reason why
the church cherishes Hosea. and
the other prophetic books of the
Old Testament. is that we be-
lieve God still speaks through
these words to us. Wherever we
find a parallel case. wherever
we find conditions today much
like conditions in ancient Israel
whenever we find a prophet re-
vealing the will Of God regard
ing conditions which have paral-
lels in modern times, there we
hear the authentic voice of pro-
phecy across the years.
One way in which Hosea s
time and ours parallel, is that
his nation of Israel was under
going a period they would
have said enjoying period -
Of prosperity such as had never
been known before. Our level
of living rises and rises in
America. It may be true that
our poor people possess certain
Injuries unknown even to the
rich and great in ancient Israel.
But luxury is comparative
thing. The point is. as compar-
ed with a century ago the U.S.A.
is a land Of tremendous comfort
and luxury. the most lavishly
luxurious country in the world.
So, as compared with cen
fury before Hosea. his nation
was far "fatter" as he would
put it than it had ever been.
Luxury
Luxury is something nearly
everybody wants. But a flame
is something every moth wants.
And one is about as dangerous
as the other. There are invisible
dangers in the luxurious life.
One is that it makes towards out
Of people. An Indian poet put
his finger on it: When a man
thinks Of comfort first, he said,
he has given up his freedom. He
becomes such a slave to his
comforts that he will not fight
to preserve them. Not only so,
but luxury eats into a mans
moral strength. We have seen
in our time how men and women
cheated on the TV quiz pro
grams. They knew they were not
honest but they excused them
selves by the fact that they were
making their lives comfortable
on a scale their school-teacher
salary or whatever it was
could never reach.
Destruction
Whenever a great nation has
collapsed, the final catastrophe
has usually been preceded by a
period Of immense wealth and
luxury. It has been true of
ancient dynasties in China. It
was true of Hosea's Israel. It
was true of Greece and Rome
of Carthage and Spain. It can be
true Of ourselves. The nation
that runs to luxury has the
means to preserve itself, but it
has lost the will. Besides, a ma
ton that clings to luxury is fall
ing into idolatry. For an idol is,
essentially, something for tn e
sake Of which you will sacrifice
everything else. In times gone