Perish From Lack of Knowledge?

Have you heard people say, “Hosea 4:6 people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.”? While I agree that is what is written, it is only half of it. Just like when people say “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;” it’s only half of it. The next part of Rm. 3:23 is verse 24. There is a semi-colon at the end of verse 23 meaning keep reading; I’m not done talking. Verse 24 says “Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:” Notice there is a colon, so he’s not done talking until the period. Verse 26 is the end which puts verse 23 in context “To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.” While all have sinned, Jesus is the justifier of those who believe in Jesus. 

Back to Hosea 4:6. What’s the rest of the story here? Hosea 4:6 “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 God, I will also forget thy children.” It’s not that they don’t know. They do know. They have rejected what they know. There are consequences for rejecting God. He will reject you.

What does it mean to be rejected by God? Webster says reject means to throw back, to refuse to accept. He won’t recognize the person who rejects His knowledge. He won’t use the person. He won’t consider the person. He won’t grant them anything. He will not feel affection for them. He will not give them any recognition. He will vomit them out. That sounds like what He said in Rev. 3:16 CSB “So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I am going to vomit you out of my mouth.”

The Hebrew definition of “reject” is similar. It means to spurn, to disappear, to cast away, to contemn, to despise, to disdain, to become loathsome, to melt away, to refuse, to be reprobate, a vile person. Yikes! All because someone rejects the knowledge that God gives them. There are severe consequences for rejecting His Word, His teaching, His statutes, His covenant, and His ordinances.