The last thing anyone wants to hear is the passing of judgment being pronounced upon them.  Unfortunately, this is an inevitable event if circumstances call for it.  This is precisely what brought about the words of the prophet Hosea in chapter 4, verse 6.  The text of the verse opens with “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.”  If you read the context surrounding this grim statement you will discover the precise cause.  In verse 1 Hosea, writing by inspiration of God, that there is no faithfulness, no kindness or even knowledge of God in the land.  In the next verse we see specific sins of the people identified that include five of the Ten Commandments given by God to Israel on Mount Sinai.  As you review these sins you see clearly a violation of ‘the second greatest command’ given by Jesus… Love your neighbor as yourself. (Matthew 22:39)  Let’s now answer another question.  What brought about this ‘lack of knowledge’?  Verse 6, gives us the answer, in that they rejected knowledge, and as such they were rejecting God.  Even the priests, were caught up in this and were rejected from being God’s priests!

You might say to yourself, “Aw, that’s the Old Testament.  We are under a different type of covenant with God now and that He deals with us through love and His Son Jesus.”  Paul tells us that the ‘things written in earlier time were written for our instruction (Romans 15:4) in order to give us knowledge.  The Bible is where we get our faith (Romans 10:18) and when I hear people make claims about their beliefs that are inconsistent with scripture I have to ask myself, “Is this a result of rejecting the knowledge of the bible?”  We need to return to the scriptures and make discernments ourselves rather than take someone else’s word for it.  We also need those responsible for teaching God’s word to hold to it when teaching others for a ‘stricter judgment’ awaits them (James 3:1).

Many times it has been said that a certain belief is based upon one’s ‘interpretation of the Bible’ yet it only takes honest examination to see it clearly stated in texts written by inspired men of God  (2 Peter 1:20-21).  God is not an author of confusion, yet confusion has lead to hundreds of schisms, each seeking to find God in their own fashion. 

So what kind of ‘lack of knowledge’ will bring destruction upon people of God today?  We need to KNOW Jesus as the Son of God… We need to KNOW Jesus Christ crucified… We need to KNOW Jesus as Lord… And we need to KNOW what Jesus says, so that we can do them. (Luke 6:46)  Don’t be destroyed for lack of knowledge?

Copyright © 2010, Nolan P. Rutter