Destroyed for Lack of Knowledge: Hosea 4:6

Hosea 4:1-6 speaks of God judging His people, and them being ‘destroyed for a lack of knowledge.’ So what does this mean? It gets used in a plethora of contexts in today’s church…but what was the original meaning to the original audience?

The Background

To begin, it helps to understand the context of this passage. Additionally, it is imperative to understand the job of God’s prophets.

Context:
The Book of Hosea is in the section of the Bible referred to as the ‘Minor Prophets.’ They are not ‘Minor’ because of their relative importance; instead, it is because of the size of the volumes. Hosea served God as a prophet to the Northern Kingdom of Israel (the 10 tribes after the Kingdom split). The Book begins with God actually commanding Hosea :

“When the LORD began to speak by Hosea, the LORD said to Hosea:
‘Go, take yourself a wife of harlotry, And children of harlotry,
For the land has committed great harlotry by departing from the LORD.'”

Hosea 1:2, NKJV ¹

There is a whole different lesson in why God would do this, but the short version is that God would often have His people (not just prophets) live through something that would give them the personal experience to gain perspective before they preached a message. ² So here, the closest human example to help Hosea understand what God’s people had done to Him and how they had treated Him, was for Hosea to go out and marry a harlot with illegitimate children, and then to have her continue in her adulterous ways. This way, he would be able to feel the message before giving the message to God’s covenant people.

What was the Job of a Prophet?

Essentially, the job of a prophet was to be a Covenant Police Officer of sorts. The covenant was the formalized relationship between God and His chosen people. It spelled out each party’s responsibility and promises under the covenant. Practically speaking, the prophet’s task was to hear from the Lord regarding the sin (breaking of their covenant) and then warn the people. In general terms, the flow would be as follows:

• God’s people would sin and fall away from the Lord
• God raised up prophets to deliver charges against and warnings to them
• After hearing from the Lord, the prophet would usually proclaim 3 things:
  1) he would tell the people what their sin was
  2) he would tell them the consequences if they did not repent and return to the Lord
  3) he would give them hope if they did repent and return

The Meaning of Hosea 4:6

In Hosea chapter 4 we find God’s charge against His people. It reads like a court document from the prosecution. It states,

“Hear the word of the LORD, You children of Israel, For the LORD brings a charge against the inhabitants of the land:
‘There is no truth or mercy or knowledge of God in the land.'”

Hosea 4:1

This verse details the basic things that His people have omitted–things that they have not done. They do not practice the truth. They are not a merciful people. And the root of it all, they have forgotten God. God’s Word is not being taught or lived out.

Verse 2 expands on the charge with specific examples of commission – things that the people have been doing. It reads, “By swearing and lying, killing and stealing and committing adultery, They break all restraint, with bloodshed upon bloodshed.”

After several more verses out of the scope of this study, we come to the reason for judgment. Here the Lord states,

“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me; Because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.”

Hosea 4:6

So the lack of knowledge that is causing the people to be destroyed, was not some secret knowledge that they had not decoded yet. Neither was it some revelation or realization not yet apprehended. Instead, it means that His people were essentially destroying themselves because of their choice to reject God, reject his Law, and reject His covenant. They had forgotten their God. It was not that He had been out of their lives for so long that they forgot, rather they simply made idols of other people, places and things and purposely chose to love and serve selfish pursuits. Does that sound familiar?

Take-Aways

• First and foremost, this is a warning to us all…all who profess to call Jesus Lord. It is so tempting to read the Old Testament and see all that God had done for His chosen people and then mock, judge and ridicule them for being so…what’s a nice word?…forgetful. With all the miracles they saw, all the divine interventions of God on behalf of His people…and yet they still forgot Him so easily. Yet I believe we New Testament Saints have even more reasons not to forget God and reject Him by our lifestyles and choices. In our favor, we have the very Spirit of God dwelling in us and around us in the world. We also have the complete canon of Scriptures so that we can learn from their mistakes (and others). Additionally, we also the Church and each individual member that God has specifically gifted and equipped to make us all complete.
  
• Today, if we perish for a lack of knowledge, it will be because we lack the personal, intimate, and relational knowledge of the Father and Jesus whom He sent. John 17:3 reads, “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”
  
• Finally, our ‘rejection’ of God may not be in the form of a public declaration of renouncing our faith, but rather through the testimony of our life and words. If we truly know God, love Him, and have a real relationship with Him, our life will give evidence of it. Likewise, if what habitually comes out of our mouth, and out or our behavior is evident of flesh…we are practically denying God and Christ.

Article Footnotes

1. unless otherwise stated, all Scripture references come from the NKJV[↩]
2. See Devotional on Similitudes – coming soon[↩]