What does the Bible say to the USA?

The words of the prophet Hosea seemed to reach out to me from the pages of his book. It was a remarkable experience because in previous readings I had not paid much attention to what Hosea wrote. It was, after all, just about Israel and nothing but Israel.

Or was it?

This time through, as I read, I began to see in every chapter of Hosea's work examples of Israel's sinfulness that were, according to my understanding, precisely the same sins that are now plaguing the United States of America.

The Lord punished the Israelites severely for their infidelity to Him. What, I began to wonder as I read through the book of Hosea, would become of the USA?

Will we be punished as severely as were the Israelites during their Assyrian exile? Or will He let us get away with evils that have become nationwide in severity?

Here is an outline of the fourteen chapters of Hosea's book showing eleven cultural characteristics held in common by the two nations during their periods of decline, centuries after the initial settlements

• Money v Morality (Hosea 1-3).
• Lawlessness (Hosea 4-5).
• Humanism (Hosea 6)
• Political corruption (Hosea 7)
• Globalism (Hosea 8)
• Life v convenience (Hosea 9)
• New age antagonism to God (Hosea 10)
• God's love (Hosea 11)
• Cunning commerce (Hosea 12)
• Sexual license (Hosea 13)
• Environmentalism (Hosea 14)

This is not a perfect outline. Subject matter about some of the themes, particularly sexual license, runs throughout Hosea's prophecy. Not all of the themes break precisely between chapters of Hosea's book as they are divided in the Bible.

And, of course, a universal theme such as God's love is applicable to any culture. God loves human beings, even those who rebel against His authority. The theme of God's love falls where we should expect the climactic chapter to be placed, about two-thirds of the way through this book. But there are other examples of God's love scattered through Hosea's prophecies.

The other ten topics have to do with degradation. The immoral conditions described by Hosea apply to the United States of today, but also seem applicable to other nations. It's a worldwide problem.

A Russian citizen alive during the latter days of the tsars, or a German living in the aftermath of World War I, probably could have recognized similar cultural disintegration. The Communist and Nazi regimes, guilty of torturing and murdering millions, and of fomenting wars and terrorism, arose from the moral ash piles of those two nations.

Was it God's intention to include nations other than Israel in Hosea's prophecy? Who can read the mind of God? But the likelihood is that God did so Intend. While serving as associate pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Fort Lauderdale, Rob Allen used the word transcultural to describe the Bible. During a study of the book of Joshua, Allen said: "Whatever culture you live in, the Bible applies to you."