BIBLE STUDIES
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In-Depth Study Of Hosea 4:6 Continued...
"My People Are Destroyed For Lack Of Knowledge"
"My People Are Destroyed For Lack Of Knowledge"
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy Elohim, I will also forget thy children. ~Hosea 4:6
LIFE APPLICATION STUDY BIBLE FOR:
(1) Hosea 4:4-9: "Yet let no man strive, nor reprove another: for thy people are as they that strive with the priest. Therefore shalt thou fall in the day, and the prophet also shall fall with thee in the night, and I will destroy thy mother. My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy Elohim, I will also forget thy children. As they were increased, so they sinned against me: therefore will I change their honour into shame. They eat up the sin of my people, and they set their heart on their iniquity. And there shall be, like people, like priest: and I will punish them for their ways, and reward them their doings."
Hosea leveled his charges against the religious leaders. Who were these religious leaders? When Jeroboam I rebelled against Solomon's son Rehoboam and set up a rival kingdom in the north, he also set up his own religious system (see 1st Kings 12:25-33 below).
(1) Hosea 4:4-9: "Yet let no man strive, nor reprove another: for thy people are as they that strive with the priest. Therefore shalt thou fall in the day, and the prophet also shall fall with thee in the night, and I will destroy thy mother. My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy Elohim, I will also forget thy children. As they were increased, so they sinned against me: therefore will I change their honour into shame. They eat up the sin of my people, and they set their heart on their iniquity. And there shall be, like people, like priest: and I will punish them for their ways, and reward them their doings."
Hosea leveled his charges against the religious leaders. Who were these religious leaders? When Jeroboam I rebelled against Solomon's son Rehoboam and set up a rival kingdom in the north, he also set up his own religious system (see 1st Kings 12:25-33 below).
1st Kings 12:25-33: (Word of YHVH - "WofY") 25 Then Jeroboam built Shechem in mount Ephraim, and dwelt therein; and went out from thence, and built Penuel.
26 And Jeroboam said in his heart, Now shall the kingdom return to the house of David:
27 If this people go up to do sacrifice in the house of Yahweh at Jerusalem, then shall the heart of this people turn again unto their master, even unto Rehoboam king of Judah, and they shall kill me, and go again to Rehoboam king of Judah.
28 Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy elohim, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
29 And he set the one in Bethel, and the other put he in Dan.
30 And this thing became a sin: for the people went to worship before the one, even unto Dan.
31 And he made an house of high places, and made priests of the lowest of the people, which were not of the sons of Levi.
32 And Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like unto the feast that is in Judah, and he offered upon the altar. So did he in Bethel, sacrificing unto the calves that he had made: and he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places which he had made.
33 So he offered upon the altar which he had made in Bethel the fifteenth day of the eighth month, even in the month which he had devised of his own heart; and ordained a feast unto the children of Israel: and he offered upon the altar, and burnt incense.
26 And Jeroboam said in his heart, Now shall the kingdom return to the house of David:
27 If this people go up to do sacrifice in the house of Yahweh at Jerusalem, then shall the heart of this people turn again unto their master, even unto Rehoboam king of Judah, and they shall kill me, and go again to Rehoboam king of Judah.
28 Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy elohim, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
29 And he set the one in Bethel, and the other put he in Dan.
30 And this thing became a sin: for the people went to worship before the one, even unto Dan.
31 And he made an house of high places, and made priests of the lowest of the people, which were not of the sons of Levi.
32 And Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like unto the feast that is in Judah, and he offered upon the altar. So did he in Bethel, sacrificing unto the calves that he had made: and he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places which he had made.
33 So he offered upon the altar which he had made in Bethel the fifteenth day of the eighth month, even in the month which he had devised of his own heart; and ordained a feast unto the children of Israel: and he offered upon the altar, and burnt incense.
In violation of God's law, he made two gold calves and told the people to worship them. He also appointed his own priests, who were not descendants of Aaron. At first the residents of the northern kingdom continued to worship God, even though they were doing it in the wrong way; but very soon they also began to worship Canaanite gods. Before long they had substituted Baal for God and no longer worshiped God at all. It is not surprising that Jeroboam's false priests were unable to preserve the true worship of God.
(2) Hosea 4:6-9: "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy Elohim, I will also forget thy children. As they were increased, so they sinned against me: therefore will I change their honour into shame. They eat up the sin of my people, and they set their heart on their iniquity. And there shall be, like people, like priest: and I will punish them for their ways, and reward them their doings."
God accused the religious leaders of keeping the people from knowing Him. They were supposed to be spiritual leaders, but they had become leaders in wrongdoing. The people may have said to one another, "It must be OK if the priests do it." Spiritual leadership is a heavy responsibility. Whether you teach a church school class, hold a church office, or lead a Bible study, don't take your leadership responsibilities lightly. B e a leader who leads others to God. (Life Application Study Bible)
We see the very same thing happening in many of today's Christian churches. People have been receiving the wrong teachings and traditions for so long now that the only people who actually question those teachings and recognize them as wrong are the people who actually study the Bible on an in-depth basis for themselves and don't let their own preconceived notions get in the way of what the Bible is really teaching us. As for myself, I had to change my mind in many different areas of belief simply because I discovered that what I believed WASN'T what the Bible actually teaches us! What a shock this was to me when I started realizing just how many teachings I'd received were completely wrong and not even close to Biblical. The more I studied, the more I realized that NOBODY had ever taught me the things that I believe are ESSENTIAL to our faith in Yahshua. It wasn't until about 3 years ago that YHVH brought me to a pastor who actually taught Biblical TRUTH EXACTLY as the Bible teaches! There was so much I didn't know as I continued to study not only the Bible, but Biblical history and our Hebraic roots, that I literally felt like I was in kindergarten again when it came to the Bible!
Needless to say, I've spent every day since then re-learning my Bible in the context within which it was written. I'm by no means an expert, but I did find that the more I studied for myself, asking the Holy Spirit to teach me, instead of just listening to what Bible teachers and pastors taught in Church; the more the Bible opened up an entire new world for me. I found that it's not the two parts of the Book that I used to view the Bible as with the Old and New Testaments, but that's it's literally ONE BOOK that gives the same message and teachings from Genesis to Revelation. I've learned that by studying the Old Testament on a much more in-depth basis, that I'm understanding the New Testament in a whole new light wherein EVERYTHING makes sense. It used to seem to me that there were some contradictions in the Bible but as I studied more and more, I discovered that there are NO contradictions in the Bible at all and that what seemed to be contradictions weren't contradictions at all. I found that there were basically 2 reasons for the errors and misunderstandings I had for any questions I did have.
The first reason was my own ignorance of Scripture within the context of it's history and facts. In fact, the more I learn, the more I realize how much more I still NEED to learn! The Bible has so many integrated layers of understanding that I'm sure it will take us at least an eternity to learn it all. : )
The second was due to a translation error that either wasn't translated into English correctly or fully (depending on the version of the Bible being looked at); or in some cases, things not translated at all because they couldn't be translated into English. Luckily for all of us, none of these areas actually affect the core message of the Bible. However, when these same areas are studied within the Hebrew language itself, it opens up a much fuller meaning of the Bible in it's entirety! Things that I never noticed before or just plain gazed over because I didn't really understand it, I'm now finding to be FULL of meaning! My point in telling you all this is for one reason and one reason only however:
DON'T JUST TRUST WHAT YOU READ OR SEE OR HEAR JUST BECAUSE YOU THINK SOMEONE ELSE IS BETTER QUALIFIED TO UNDERSTAND IT THAN YOU ARE YOURSELF & "ALWAYS" CHECK THE TEACHINGS YOUR RECEIVING AGAINST THE BIBLE ITSELF REGARDLESS OF WHETHER OR NOT YOU AGREE WITH THE TEACHING. Only in this way, can you make sure that your receiving YHVH's TRUTH for yourself. I say this only because I used to be the person who believed the supposed "scholars" because they went to school for it. Since then, I've learned that many times, those very same scholars were wrong simply because they themselves were taught wrong. So be your own Bible scholar! : ) The Holy Spirit will teach you all truth if you simply take the time to search it out for yourself. This is the single most important thing you could ever do for yourself in this entire life because as Hosea 4:6 teaches us, YHVH says that "HIS" people are DESTROYED for their own lack of knowledge when it comes to His Word. People who love Yahshua (Jesus) are being destroyed each and every day because they don't study God's Word for themselves and will, like I used to, believe the lie of what the majority of Christianity is teaching people today. We're now witnessing the apostasy of the church just as the Bible prophesied would happen in the last days. Don't be caught unawares because you don't understand YHVH's Word for yourself, please. He gave us His Word to protect us from many evil things in this world, but it's only when we study and know His Word that we can be prepared, informed, and thereby protected. You've heard it said that "knowledge is power"; but I tell you that "knowledge of YHVH's Word is NECESSARY to get through this life and into eternity WITH our awesome Creator successfully"!
(2) Hosea 4:6-9: "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy Elohim, I will also forget thy children. As they were increased, so they sinned against me: therefore will I change their honour into shame. They eat up the sin of my people, and they set their heart on their iniquity. And there shall be, like people, like priest: and I will punish them for their ways, and reward them their doings."
God accused the religious leaders of keeping the people from knowing Him. They were supposed to be spiritual leaders, but they had become leaders in wrongdoing. The people may have said to one another, "It must be OK if the priests do it." Spiritual leadership is a heavy responsibility. Whether you teach a church school class, hold a church office, or lead a Bible study, don't take your leadership responsibilities lightly. B e a leader who leads others to God. (Life Application Study Bible)
We see the very same thing happening in many of today's Christian churches. People have been receiving the wrong teachings and traditions for so long now that the only people who actually question those teachings and recognize them as wrong are the people who actually study the Bible on an in-depth basis for themselves and don't let their own preconceived notions get in the way of what the Bible is really teaching us. As for myself, I had to change my mind in many different areas of belief simply because I discovered that what I believed WASN'T what the Bible actually teaches us! What a shock this was to me when I started realizing just how many teachings I'd received were completely wrong and not even close to Biblical. The more I studied, the more I realized that NOBODY had ever taught me the things that I believe are ESSENTIAL to our faith in Yahshua. It wasn't until about 3 years ago that YHVH brought me to a pastor who actually taught Biblical TRUTH EXACTLY as the Bible teaches! There was so much I didn't know as I continued to study not only the Bible, but Biblical history and our Hebraic roots, that I literally felt like I was in kindergarten again when it came to the Bible!
Needless to say, I've spent every day since then re-learning my Bible in the context within which it was written. I'm by no means an expert, but I did find that the more I studied for myself, asking the Holy Spirit to teach me, instead of just listening to what Bible teachers and pastors taught in Church; the more the Bible opened up an entire new world for me. I found that it's not the two parts of the Book that I used to view the Bible as with the Old and New Testaments, but that's it's literally ONE BOOK that gives the same message and teachings from Genesis to Revelation. I've learned that by studying the Old Testament on a much more in-depth basis, that I'm understanding the New Testament in a whole new light wherein EVERYTHING makes sense. It used to seem to me that there were some contradictions in the Bible but as I studied more and more, I discovered that there are NO contradictions in the Bible at all and that what seemed to be contradictions weren't contradictions at all. I found that there were basically 2 reasons for the errors and misunderstandings I had for any questions I did have.
The first reason was my own ignorance of Scripture within the context of it's history and facts. In fact, the more I learn, the more I realize how much more I still NEED to learn! The Bible has so many integrated layers of understanding that I'm sure it will take us at least an eternity to learn it all. : )
The second was due to a translation error that either wasn't translated into English correctly or fully (depending on the version of the Bible being looked at); or in some cases, things not translated at all because they couldn't be translated into English. Luckily for all of us, none of these areas actually affect the core message of the Bible. However, when these same areas are studied within the Hebrew language itself, it opens up a much fuller meaning of the Bible in it's entirety! Things that I never noticed before or just plain gazed over because I didn't really understand it, I'm now finding to be FULL of meaning! My point in telling you all this is for one reason and one reason only however:
DON'T JUST TRUST WHAT YOU READ OR SEE OR HEAR JUST BECAUSE YOU THINK SOMEONE ELSE IS BETTER QUALIFIED TO UNDERSTAND IT THAN YOU ARE YOURSELF & "ALWAYS" CHECK THE TEACHINGS YOUR RECEIVING AGAINST THE BIBLE ITSELF REGARDLESS OF WHETHER OR NOT YOU AGREE WITH THE TEACHING. Only in this way, can you make sure that your receiving YHVH's TRUTH for yourself. I say this only because I used to be the person who believed the supposed "scholars" because they went to school for it. Since then, I've learned that many times, those very same scholars were wrong simply because they themselves were taught wrong. So be your own Bible scholar! : ) The Holy Spirit will teach you all truth if you simply take the time to search it out for yourself. This is the single most important thing you could ever do for yourself in this entire life because as Hosea 4:6 teaches us, YHVH says that "HIS" people are DESTROYED for their own lack of knowledge when it comes to His Word. People who love Yahshua (Jesus) are being destroyed each and every day because they don't study God's Word for themselves and will, like I used to, believe the lie of what the majority of Christianity is teaching people today. We're now witnessing the apostasy of the church just as the Bible prophesied would happen in the last days. Don't be caught unawares because you don't understand YHVH's Word for yourself, please. He gave us His Word to protect us from many evil things in this world, but it's only when we study and know His Word that we can be prepared, informed, and thereby protected. You've heard it said that "knowledge is power"; but I tell you that "knowledge of YHVH's Word is NECESSARY to get through this life and into eternity WITH our awesome Creator successfully"!
MATTHEW HENRY'S CONCISE COMMENTARY ON HOSEA 4:6-11
Both priests and people rejected knowledge; God will justly reject them. They forgot the law of God, neither desired nor endeavoured to retain it in mind, and to transmit the remembrance to their posterity; therefore God will justly forget them and their children. If we dishonour God with that which is our honour, it will, sooner or later, be turned into shame to us. Instead of warning the people against sin, from the consideration of the sacrifices, which showed what an offence sin was to God, since it needed an atonement, the priests encouraged the people to sin, since atonement might be made at so small an expense. It is very wicked to be pleased with the sins of others, because they may turn to our advantage. What is unlawfully gained, cannot be comfortably used. The people and the priests hardened one another in sin; therefore justly shall they share in the punishment. Sharers in sin must expect to share in ruin. Any lust harboured in the heart, in time will eat out all its strength and vigour. That is the reason why many professors grow so heavy, so dull, so dead in the way of religion. They have a liking for some secret lust, which takes away their hearts.
TREASURY OF SCRIPTURE KNOWLEDGE FOR HOSEA 4:6
My people: Hos_4:12; Isa_1:3, Isa_3:12, Isa_5:13; Jer_4:22, Jer_8:7
destroyed: Heb. cut off
for: Hos_4:1, Hos_6:6; 2Ch_15:3; Job_36:12; Pro_19:2; Isa_27:11, Isa_45:20; Jer_5:3-4, Jer_5:21; Mat_15:14; 2Co_4:3-6
because: 1Sa_2:12; Pro_1:30-32; Isa_28:7, Isa_56:10-12; Jer_2:8, Jer_8:8-9; Mal_2:7-8; Mat_23:16-26
I will also reject: Zec_11:8-9, Zec_11:15-17; Mal_2:1-3, Mal_2:9; Mat_21:41-45; Mar_12:8-9; Luk_20:16-18
seeing: Hos_8:14, Hos_13:6; 2Ki_17:16-20; Psa_119:61, Psa_119:139; Isa_17:10; Mat_15:3-6
I will also: Hos_1:6; 1Sa_2:28-36, 1Sa_3:12-15
JOHN WESLEY'S EXPLANATORY NOTES ON HOSEA 4:6
Destroyed - Many were already cut off by Pul king of Assyria, and many destroyed by the bloody tyranny of Menahem. Of knowledge - Of God, His law, His providence, His holy nature, His hatred of sin and power to punish it. Because thou - The prophet now turns from the people to the priests, to whom he speaks as to one person. Rejected knowledge - Art and wilt be ignorant. Seeing thou - O Israel, and you O priests, you have broken all the precepts of it. Thy children - The people of Israel, the whole kingdom of the ten tribes.
Both priests and people rejected knowledge; God will justly reject them. They forgot the law of God, neither desired nor endeavoured to retain it in mind, and to transmit the remembrance to their posterity; therefore God will justly forget them and their children. If we dishonour God with that which is our honour, it will, sooner or later, be turned into shame to us. Instead of warning the people against sin, from the consideration of the sacrifices, which showed what an offence sin was to God, since it needed an atonement, the priests encouraged the people to sin, since atonement might be made at so small an expense. It is very wicked to be pleased with the sins of others, because they may turn to our advantage. What is unlawfully gained, cannot be comfortably used. The people and the priests hardened one another in sin; therefore justly shall they share in the punishment. Sharers in sin must expect to share in ruin. Any lust harboured in the heart, in time will eat out all its strength and vigour. That is the reason why many professors grow so heavy, so dull, so dead in the way of religion. They have a liking for some secret lust, which takes away their hearts.
TREASURY OF SCRIPTURE KNOWLEDGE FOR HOSEA 4:6
My people: Hos_4:12; Isa_1:3, Isa_3:12, Isa_5:13; Jer_4:22, Jer_8:7
destroyed: Heb. cut off
for: Hos_4:1, Hos_6:6; 2Ch_15:3; Job_36:12; Pro_19:2; Isa_27:11, Isa_45:20; Jer_5:3-4, Jer_5:21; Mat_15:14; 2Co_4:3-6
because: 1Sa_2:12; Pro_1:30-32; Isa_28:7, Isa_56:10-12; Jer_2:8, Jer_8:8-9; Mal_2:7-8; Mat_23:16-26
I will also reject: Zec_11:8-9, Zec_11:15-17; Mal_2:1-3, Mal_2:9; Mat_21:41-45; Mar_12:8-9; Luk_20:16-18
seeing: Hos_8:14, Hos_13:6; 2Ki_17:16-20; Psa_119:61, Psa_119:139; Isa_17:10; Mat_15:3-6
I will also: Hos_1:6; 1Sa_2:28-36, 1Sa_3:12-15
JOHN WESLEY'S EXPLANATORY NOTES ON HOSEA 4:6
Destroyed - Many were already cut off by Pul king of Assyria, and many destroyed by the bloody tyranny of Menahem. Of knowledge - Of God, His law, His providence, His holy nature, His hatred of sin and power to punish it. Because thou - The prophet now turns from the people to the priests, to whom he speaks as to one person. Rejected knowledge - Art and wilt be ignorant. Seeing thou - O Israel, and you O priests, you have broken all the precepts of it. Thy children - The people of Israel, the whole kingdom of the ten tribes.