Hosea 4:6a - Destroyed for Lack of Knowledge.
Hos.4:6a; Destroyed for Lack of Knowledge.
CONTENT; What's in the verse; Translations; Paraphrase; Word
Study:
Hosea 4:6 (KJV) My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge:
because thou hast rejected knowledge,
Hosea 4:6 (NLT) My people are being destroyed because they
don't know me.
CONTEXT; What's around the verse; Overview; Topic:
Overview
After preliminary charges (4:1-4), Hosea detailed the sins of
priests (vv. 5-11) and people (vv. 12-19). He warned individuals (5:1-7)
and the nation (vv. 8-15), but there was only superficial repentance
(6:1-3). Thus God's indictment of His people goes on (vv. 4-11). [The
365-Day Devotional Commentary]
SECTION HEADINGS
The LORD'S Legal Case Against Israel (4:1-19)
The charge against Israel (4:1-19)
No One Is Faithful (4:1-10)
CROSS REFERENCES; What's in verses elsewhere.
Proverbs 1:30-31 (KJV) They would none of my counsel: they
despised all my reproof. [31] Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of
their own way, and be filled with their own devices.
Proverbs 19:2 (KJV) Also, that the soul be without knowledge,
it is not good; and he that hasteth with his feet sinneth.
Isaiah 5:13 (KJV) Therefore my people are gone into captivity,
because they have no knowledge: and their honourable men are famished,
and their multitude dried up with thirst.
Jeremiah 4:22 (KJV) For my people is foolish, they have not
known me; they are sottish children, and they have none understanding:
they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.
Jeremiah 5:3 (KJV) O Lord, are not thine eyes upon the truth?
thou hast stricken them, but they have not grieved; thou hast
consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction: they have
made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return.
Jeremiah 5:21 (KJV) Hear now this, O foolish people, and
without understanding; which have eyes, and see not; which have ears,
and hear not:
Hosea 4:1 (KJV) Hear the word of the Lord, ye children of
Israel: for the Lord hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the
land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in
the land.
Hosea 4:12 (KJV) My people ask counsel at their stocks, and
their staff declareth unto them: for the spirit of whoredoms hath
caused them to err, and they have gone a whoring from under their God.
Hosea 6:6 (KJV) For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the
knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.
Hosea 13:6 (KJV) According to their pasture, so were they
filled; they were filled, and their heart was exalted; therefore have
they forgotten me.
Matthew 21:44 (KJV) And whosoever shall fall on this stone
shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to
powder
COMMENTARY / APPLICATION: Moving From The Head To The Heart
What is God teaching here? What does it teach about Jesus?
This is one of the best known and most frequently quoted
passages in Hosea. [Scofield SB]
The particular knowledge that is missing is the knowledge of
God, the most essential of all knowledge. .... Though God may overlook
certain forms of ignorance (see Acts 17:30), He cannot deliberate
ignorance of spiritual things (see on Ex. 4:21). ..... Men are held
responsible not only for what they know (John 9:41; 15:22, 24; James 4:17),
but also for what they might have known had they put forth the
effort to obtain essential knowledge (cf. 2 Peter 3:5). There are many
who fear that a further investigation of truth will reveal that a
change in conduct may be required of them, a change that their
sin-loving hearts are unwilling to undertake, and so they deliberately
desist from further inquiry. Such willful ignorance God cannot excuse.
[SDA Commentary]
"Knowledge" is not just a bookish collection of information. It
is experiential knowledge of the living God. Knowledge of His
written Word cannot be separated from personal knowledge of God. To know
God is to live in harmony with His will, and to live in harmony with
His will we must know His will. [Disciple SB]
This text says that people are destroyed for lack of knowledge
and the text goes on to say that it was not that they didn't have
access to the knowledge but it was because they rejected it. [SS
teacher at Sacramento Central]
Rejecting knowledge will destroy us. If we know what is right
but refuse to do it we are on a self-destructive course. [The Bible
Notebook]
Those that rebel against the light can expect no other than to
perish in the dark. (Matthew Henry's Commentary)
In every age, transgression of God's law has been followed by
the same result. In the days of Noah, when every principle of
rightdoing was violated, and iniquity became so deep and widespread that
God could no longer bear with it, the decree went forth, "I will
destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth." Genesis
6:7. In Abraham's day the people of Sodom openly defied God and His
law; and there followed the same wickedness, the same corruption, the
same unbridled indulgence, that had marked the antediluvian world.
The inhabitants of Sodom passed the limits of divine forbearance,
and there was kindled against them the fire of God's vengeance.
PK297
So Isaiah mourns in the same words, "therefore my people are
gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge" .
They are destroyed for lack of it, for the true knowledge of God is
the life of the soul, true life, eternal life, as our Saviour saith,
"This is life eternal, that they should know Thee, the only true God,
and Jesus Christ whom Thou has sent." (Barnes' Notes)
Light, precious light, shines upon God's people; but it will not
save them unless they consent to be saved by it, fully live up to it,
and transmit it to others in darkness. God calls upon His people to
act. It is an individual work of confessing and forsaking sins and
returning unto the Lord that is needed.... Many have for years made no
advancement in knowledge and true holiness. They are spiritual dwarfs.
Instead of going forward to perfection, they are going back to the
darkness and bondage of Egypt. Their minds are not exercised unto
godliness and true holiness. 2T123,4
God will judge all according to the light which has been
presented to them, whether it is plain to them or not. It is their duty to
investigate as did the Bereans. 3SG393,4
The doctor carefully examines his patient but can find no
explanation for the young boy's unusual and persistent abdominal pains.
Suddenly the child blurts out, "I know what the problem is - green
apples!" "But how can you know for sure?" the doctor inquires. The boy
replies, "I have inside information."
Truth is transforming - but only when it is internalized. God's
Word brings conviction - but only when you expose your life to its
convicting truths. God's Word is likened to milk (1 Peter 2:2), meat
(Hebrews 5:12, 14), and honey (Psalm 19:10) - but it is only nourishing
when you feed upon it. An untouched pantry full of food is as useless
physically as an unopened Bible is spiritually.
Israel's spiritual bankruptcy could be traced to her vast
treasure of untouched truth. It wasn't that the people didn't know about
God. In fact, their very existence as a nation was based on that
knowledge. Rather, they had failed to live by that knowledge - to embrace
its implications in their individual and national lives.
How about you? Do you have "inside information" based on a
living relationship with Jesus Christ? If you have never done so
before, invite your loving Savior to come into your life. You'll
discover that to know him is to love him! [Daily Walk Bible]
To be a Christian is, in a sense, to be a man without a country.
If you truly are obedient to Christ - if you take the Scriptures to
heart and attempt to live them - you will inevitably come into
conflict with the world. You belong to no one but Christ, while those in
the world give themselves to people, possessions, institutions, and
idols other than to Christ. To be a Christian is to stand apart and
yet to remain within - to dare to be different. You look at
everything through the prism of Scripture, and things look different when
viewed biblically.
Success in the world means power, influence, money, prestige.
But in the Christian world, it means pleasing God. This quest for
obedience may lead you to do things that are wholly contrary to what the
world wants and rewards....
Obeying his commandments means reading and understanding
Scripture, then determining that you are going to live exactly as Scripture
teaches. I don't believe anybody can do that, because it is almost
impossible not to be caught up every day in the ways of the world. But you
can make an effort to live biblically. That is how the process of
sanctification works - learning how to obey God, how to listen for his commands
in your life. It is reading the Scripture and allowing it to soak
into you. It is understanding the requirements of God's commandments
and then gradually, day by day, in large ways and small, allowing
that understanding to control the actions of your life....
If I had to pick the one thing ... that has caused the most
failure in obeying God, it would be that we figure God's time is our
Bible study, our prayer time, the meeting with our prayer group, and
Sunday morning church service. That's just not true. God's time is
every moment of our lives. Bible study and church simply prepare us
for the rest of the moments of our lives.... We don't put him on and
take him off like a suit of clothes.... If we would "wear" him all
day long, we would discover obedience becoming a reflex reaction.
(From "The Quest for Obedience" by Charles Colson in Practical
Christianity) [Inspirational SB]
SUBSCRIBER CONTRIBUTIONS
Our salvation is based upon "WORKS,"
upon "HIS" works
the one who was tempted in every way
the one without sin
the one our faith is in
without Jesus works
there would be no remission of sin
then you and I would still be in our sin
and if He is in us
we carry on his works
that is the fruit of our faith in HIM. William W Taylor
bill.taylor@juno.com
If we are in Christ 'works' will surface just like all the
fruits of the Spirit (peace, joy, love).. But many false teachers will
try to make many believe that they are saved by works, leading them
into condemnation - thinking that they can 'earn' their way into
salvation. But we know that to know Christ is salvation. A work inside of
us by the Holy Spirit and the renewing of our minds through the
Word of God only. "Smith, James S" JSS4@pge.com
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