God is educating a nation that does not know Him, and the first step of that education will be painful. Ancient Israel in the wilderness forgot His wonders, lacked faith (which comes by hearing His word), and died without reaching the destination. Modern Israel follows the same pattern, and Hosea 4 charges that a lack of knowledge of Him brings failure. Many Americans have no church affiliation, attend only on special occasions, or attend regularly without truly knowing the God of the Bible, and one cannot have faith in someone one does not know. Disasters such as the Moore, Oklahoma tornado are reported as merely natural events rather than the acts of a sovereign God who rules and punishes, and ridicule meets anyone who says otherwise. Amos 4:6-11 shows God using famine, drought, blight, plague, and overthrow to bring Israel back, yet repeating "you have not returned to Me" and ending with "prepare to meet your God." A people so ethically deficient that its morality rises no higher than the common culture will likely see His instruction through disasters continue unabated. This serves as a kind of kindergarten readying them for Christ's return, when they will truly come to know the Lord.