Hosea 8:14 For Israel has forgotten his Maker, and builds temples; and Judah has multiplied fenced cities: but I will send a fire on his cities… Prosperous men become dangerously independent, and in their pride they forget God, and exclaim with Nebuchadnezzar, "Is not this great Babylon that I have built?" As Daniel Quorm quaintly says, "The devil is called in the Bible 'Beelzebub' — that do mean, the 'god o' flies' — and you're sure to find 'em a-buzzin' about the honey-pots o' prosperity." Nothing so completely blinds a man as gold-dust, for he cannot even see God — he is a practical atheist. Affluence leads first to indifference, then to coldness, then to unbelief, then to cynicism, and then to godlessness! Henry IV. once asked the Duke of Alva if he had observed certain eclipses which had occurred that year. "No," was the reply, "I have had so much business to attend to upon earth, that I have had no time even to look up to heaven." This is one of the perils of prosperity — to forget God, and leave heaven out of account. (Helping Words.). Parallel Verses KJV: For Israel hath forgotten his Maker, and buildeth temples; and Judah hath multiplied fenced cities: but I will send a fire upon his cities, and it shall devour the palaces thereof. |
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