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Daily Devotions

Hosea

Hosea 
Day 
Day 41

"My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge"

Text: Hosea 4:6

THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD

Few appreciated the worth of the true knowledge of God. That knowledge was available to the nation. But it was neglected over time, and soon that knowledge of the LORD was all but gone totally.

“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

1. “My people”

a) Israel, in the North.
b) Judah, in the South.

2. “Destroyed for lack of knowledge”

a) The charge of no knowledge had already been made (Hosea 4:1).
b) It is stated again for emphasis (Hosea 4:6).

3. “Because you have rejected knowledge”

a) This charge was directed to the priests in Jerusalem.
b) How had they rejected knowledge?
i) They had failed to master what they had been taught.
ii) They had failed to instruct the nation effectively.
iii) They had failed as messengers of the LORD (Malachi 2:7-8).
iv) They had failed to love the law of the LORD.

4. “I also will reject you from being priest for Me”

a) The priests felt that their jobs were secure for life.
b) They were wrong! God could dismiss them as His priests.
c) They had nothing to offer to the people who came to them.
d) Thus, the people turned to idolatrous priests instead (but they were no better).

5. “Because you have forgotten the law of your God”

a) A great part of the priestly work would demand vast knowledge of the Law.
b) Their regard for the Law would be expressed by the way they remembered the Law but they had failed to do that.

6. “I also will forget your children”

This was God’s response. Their failure would have serious consequences. Their children would suffer!