Mission Venture Ministries

“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge because you have rejected knowledge.” (Hosea 4:6)

This statement found in Hosea was written about two thousand seven hundred years ago; however, it reflects a principle that is just as applicable today as when it was written. People are destroyed for lack of knowledge because they have rejected the knowledge that God had made available to them through His Holy Scripture. 

Hosea 4:1-2 emphasize that Israel’s lack of knowledge was not mere ignorance, but active sin against God: “There is no faithfulness or steadfast love, and no knowledge of God in the land; there is swearing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery; they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed.” 

When we read the rest of verse 6 it helps us to better understand what Hosea is declaring: “Because you have rejected knowledge, I also reject you as my priests; because you have ignored the law of your God, I also will ignore your children.” It’s important to note the structure of the verse: “rejected knowledge” is parallel to “forgotten the law.” This fits the context of the opening verse of the chapter, which states that Israel failed to acknowledge the LORD as their God (Hosea 4:1). The people did not simply lack knowledge; they actively rejected it and ignored it. 

Another parallel offers a deeper understanding of the passage. Because Israel had “rejected” knowledge – God’s Law, God would “reject” them. Because Israel had “forgotten” God’s Law, He would “forget” their children; He would remove His future blessing from the nation. As a result of God “rejecting” and “forgetting” Israel, they would be destroyed. Hosea’s message is in line with Moses’ warning to the nation that God would remove His blessing from a disobedient people as Deuteronomy 28 declares. 

Since, Hosea’s warnings went unheeded; Israel was conquered by the Assyrians. 

When we read these verses, it brings to mind the very disturbing parallels that are going on in the world today. We have sunk to moral depths lower than could have been imagined only a generation ago. We murder babies that are socially inconvenient. Our entertainment industry celebrates adultery, fornication, violence, aberrant sex practices, and every imaginable form of evil; and this is just to name a few of our decaying moral standards in the world. 

Immorality and deceit have also come to characterize the highest offices of our nations as well. Our politics overlook and cover up more murders than we dare list. Our public enterprises have been prostituted to the convenience of the influential that rule the world. 

As we see, there is nothing new in the “new morality.” They practiced it in 700 B.C. and were ultimately destroyed as a result; and so it will be for us if we continue on the path we are going, it will result in catastrophic consequences. 

Israel had neglected the Word of God for two hundred years. So have we. We have become virtually ignorant of God’s Word. We have outlawed Him from our schools and exiled Him from our lives. Consequently, the minute we get away from the Word of God, we are doomed to failure in both our Christian life and our national life.  Therefore, we need to urgently give attention to history and consider how the Israelites turned their backs on God since at this moment we need to look no further than the mirror in front of us to see a reflection of those same Israelites. 

In the United States of America it is fashionable to refer to the blessing of God as the source of material prosperity. However we need to understand that not all affluence are blessings. We do well to observe the profound wisdom of Agur son of Jakeh, who wrote in Proverbs 30:7-9, “Two things I ask of you, Lord; do not refuse me before I die: Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.” 

Only by remembering how much God has done for each of us will we be able to avoid rejecting the One who can give us eternal life in glory instead of the hell we deserve. It is essential that we learn to respect our Creator. Hosea has shown us God’s heart of loving commitment. When we sin, if we have a sorrowful heart filled with repentance, God will bring us back to Himself and show His never-ending love to us; as stated in 1 John 1:9,  if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 

The problem is that when men and women lack the knowledge that would bring them to Christ for salvation, it is because they have already rejected knowledge that would have led them to the understanding that they need to be saved. Paul writes that “in the last days” men and women would be “always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth” (2 Timothy 3:7). And the next verse tells us why. It is because they “resist the truth” (v. 8). A chapter later we read in 2 Timothy 4:4, that people “will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths (or fables).” 

When people die without being saved, it is not that God did not want them to be saved, for He would “desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4). 

We need to understand that true knowledge is the knowledge of Biblical truth. True knowledge is a relationship with God, which Israel had lost and most of the world has also lost in the present day. The Word is the vehicle of God’s revelation of Himself as the book of Proverbs states: “Where there is no understanding of the Word of the Lord, the people do whatever they want to, but happy is he who keeps the law” (29:18). 

Therefore, a prudent person foresees danger and takes precautions. The foolish person goes blindly on and suffers the consequences (Proverbs 22:3). And, furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done (Romans 1:28).

Always remember that God has given obtainable knowledge, and He has also given us free will, so that what ever choice we make, that is the one that we will have to live with for eternity. 

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