◄ Hosea 4:6 ►
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you as My priests. Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I will also forget your children.
Study Bible
My people
This phrase refers to the Israelites, God's chosen nation, whom He delivered from Egypt and established in the Promised Land. The term "My people" signifies a covenant relationship, highlighting God's ownership and care. In Hebrew, "ammi" (עַמִּי) is used, emphasizing a personal and collective identity. This relationship is foundational, as it underscores the responsibility and privilege of being God's people, which comes with the expectation of faithfulness and obedience.

are destroyed
The Hebrew word "nidmu" (נִדְמ֖וּ) conveys a sense of being cut off or perishing. This destruction is not merely physical but spiritual and moral, indicating a complete breakdown of the covenant relationship. The use of this term suggests a consequence of their actions, a divine judgment resulting from their failure to uphold God's standards.

for lack of knowledge
The term "knowledge" here is "da'at" (דַּעַת) in Hebrew, which implies more than intellectual understanding; it encompasses a deep, relational knowledge of God and His ways. This lack is not due to an absence of information but a willful ignorance and rejection of God's revealed truth. In the biblical context, knowledge is closely tied to wisdom and obedience, and its absence leads to moral and spiritual decay.

Because you have rejected knowledge
The word "rejected" is "ma'asta" (מָאַסְתָּ), indicating a deliberate refusal or disdain. This rejection is an active choice against God's revelation and instruction. Historically, the priests and leaders were responsible for teaching the law, and their failure to do so led to the people's ignorance. This phrase highlights the culpability of those in spiritual authority who neglected their duty to impart God's truth.

I also will reject you as My priests
God's response is a direct consequence of their actions. The role of a priest was to mediate between God and the people, offering sacrifices and teaching the law. By rejecting knowledge, they disqualified themselves from this sacred office. The Hebrew word for "reject" here is the same as before, "ma'asta," emphasizing the reciprocal nature of God's judgment. This rejection signifies a loss of privilege and position, reflecting the seriousness of their failure.

Since you have forgotten the law of your God
The word "forgotten" is "shakach" (שָׁכַחְתָּ), implying neglect and disregard. The "law" or "torah" (תּוֹרַת) is God's instruction, given to guide and govern His people. Forgetting the law indicates a departure from God's covenant, leading to moral and spiritual decline. This forgetfulness is not accidental but a result of persistent neglect and disobedience.

I also will forget your children
This phrase underscores the generational impact of disobedience. The Hebrew word for "forget" is "shakach," the same as used earlier, indicating a deliberate withdrawal of God's favor and protection. The consequences of rejecting God's law extend beyond the current generation, affecting their descendants. This serves as a sobering reminder of the long-term effects of spiritual neglect and the importance of faithfulness to God's covenant.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Hosea
A prophet in the Northern Kingdom of Israel, called by God to deliver messages of judgment and hope.

2. Israel
The Northern Kingdom, often depicted as unfaithful to God, leading to their eventual downfall.

3. Priests
Religious leaders responsible for teaching and upholding the law, criticized here for failing in their duties.

4. God
The sovereign Lord who holds His people accountable for their knowledge and adherence to His law.

5. Children of Israel
The descendants of the Israelites, who suffer consequences due to the previous generation's failures.
Teaching Points
The Importance of Knowledge
Understanding God's Word is crucial for spiritual health and avoiding destruction.

Consequences of Rejection
Rejecting God's knowledge leads to personal and communal consequences, including spiritual leadership failure.

Role of Spiritual Leaders
Priests and leaders are accountable for teaching and upholding God's law; failure impacts future generations.

Generational Impact
Our spiritual negligence can have lasting effects on our children and community.

Call to Remember
Actively remembering and applying God's law is essential for maintaining a relationship with Him.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does Hosea 4:6 challenge us to evaluate our own knowledge of God's Word?

2. In what ways can we ensure that we are not rejecting the knowledge of God in our daily lives?

3. How can spiritual leaders today learn from the failures of the priests in Hosea's time?

4. What practical steps can we take to pass on the knowledge of God to the next generation?

5. How do the consequences described in Hosea 4:6 relate to the warnings found in other scriptures like Romans 1:28?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Proverbs 1:7
Highlights the importance of the fear of the Lord as the beginning of knowledge, contrasting with Israel's lack of it.

Isaiah 5:13
Speaks of people going into exile due to lack of knowledge, similar to the warning in Hosea.

1 Peter 2:9
Describes believers as a royal priesthood, emphasizing the responsibility to know and proclaim God's truth.

Deuteronomy 6:6-9
Commands the Israelites to keep God's laws in their hearts and teach them to their children, underscoring the importance of knowledge.

Romans 1:28
Discusses the consequences of rejecting God’s knowledge, leading to a depraved mind.
Sermons
Getting At Parents Through Their ChildrenJoseph Parker, D. D.Hosea 4:6
Hindrances to KnowledgeC. J. Vaughan, D. D.Hosea 4:6
Ignorance and DestructionJ.R. Thomson Hosea 4:6
Ignorance DestructiveSkeletons of SermonsHosea 4:6
Ignorance DestructiveC. Simeon, M. A.Hosea 4:6
Ignorance ImpoverishesA. J. Gordon, D. D.Hosea 4:6
Ignorance of God Among Professing ChristiansW. J. Brodrick, M. A.Hosea 4:6
Lack of KnowledgeJeremiah Burroughs.Hosea 4:6
Lack of KnowledgeH. W. Bailey.Hosea 4:6
Lack of Knowledge the Destruction of a PeopleW. Nicholson, M. A.Hosea 4:6
Neglect of TeachingHosea 4:6
Rejecting KnowledgeJeremiah Burroughs.Hosea 4:6
Religious IgnoranceHomilistHosea 4:6
Religious IgnoranceD. Thomas Hosea 4:6
The Danger of a Lack of KnowledgeThomas Best, M. A.Hosea 4:6
The Evils of IgnoranceR. Watson.Hosea 4:6
The Importance of Religious KnowledgeJoseph Stennett, D. D.Hosea 4:6
The Lack of KnowledgeW. G. Barrett.Hosea 4:6
The Necessity of a Union Between Religion and EducationAbercromby L. Gordon.Hosea 4:6
The Perils of IgnoranceT. Rennell, D. D.Hosea 4:6
The Sin of Public TeachersGeorge Hutcheson.Hosea 4:6
True Knowledge for the PeopleF. T. Swinbourne.Hosea 4:6
Priests and PeopleJ. Orr Hosea 4:6-11
Israel's Guilt and PunishmentC. Jerdan Hosea 4:6-14
People
Hosea
Places
Beth-aven, Gilgal, Jezreel
Topics
Cut, Destroyed, Destruction, Forget, Forgettest, Forgotten, God's, Hast, Ignore, Ignored, Kept, Lack, Law, Memory, Mind, Overtaken, Priest, Priests, Reject, Rejected, Seeing, Sons
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Hosea 4:6

     5450   poverty, spiritual
     5493   retribution
     5818   contempt
     6183   ignorance, of God
     6231   rejection of God
     6232   rejection of God, results
     8366   wisdom, source of
     8412   decisions
     8707   apostasy, personal

Hosea 4:6-9

     7768   priests, OT function

Hosea 4:6-13

     7233   Israel, northern kingdom

Library
'Let Him Alone'
'Ephraim is joined to idols: let him alone.'--HOSEA iv. 17. The tribe of Ephraim was the most important member of the kingdom of Israel; consequently its name was not unnaturally sometimes used in a wider application for the whole of the kingdom, of which it was the principal part. Being the 'predominant partner,' its name was used alone for that of the whole firm, just as in our own empire, we often say 'England,' meaning thereby the three kingdoms: England, Scotland, and Ireland. So 'Ephraim' here …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Life, as Amplified by Mediaeval Biographers.
1. His Early Years.--Ephraim, according to this biography, was a Syrian of Mesopotamia, by birth, and by parentage on both sides. His mother was of Amid (now Diarbekr) a central city of that region; his father belonged to the older and more famous City of Nisibis, not far from Amid but near the Persian frontier, where he was priest of an idol named Abnil (or Abizal) in the days of Constantine the Great (306-337). This idol was afterwards destroyed by Jovian (who became Emperor in 363 after the …
Ephraim the Syrian—Hymns and Homilies of Ephraim the Syrian

Instruction for the Ignorant:
BEING A SALVE TO CURE THAT GREAT WANT OF KNOWLEDGE, WHICH SO MUCH REIGNS BOTH IN YOUNG AND OLD. PREPARED AND PRESENTED TO THEM IN A PLAIN AND EASY DIALOGUE, FITTED TO THE CAPACITY OF THE WEAKEST. 'My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.'--Hosea 4:6 ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. This little catechism is upon a plan perfectly new and unique. It was first published as a pocket volume in 1675, and has been republished in every collection of the author's works; and recently in a separate tract. …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

Beth-El. Beth-Aven.
Josephus thus describes the land of Benjamin; "The Benjamites' portion of land was from the river Jordan to the sea, in length: in breadth, it was bounded by Jerusalem and Beth-el." Let these last words be marked, "The breadth of the land of Benjamin was bounded by Jerusalem and Beth-el." May we not justly conclude, from these words, that Jerusalem and Beth-el were opposite, as it were, in a right line? But if you look upon the maps, there are some that separate these by a very large tract of land, …
John Lightfoot—From the Talmud and Hebraica

Of Orders.
Of this sacrament the Church of Christ knows nothing; it was invented by the church of the Pope. It not only has no promise of grace, anywhere declared, but not a word is said about it in the whole of the New Testament. Now it is ridiculous to set up as a sacrament of God that which can nowhere be proved to have been instituted by God. Not that I consider that a rite practised for so many ages is to be condemned; but I would not have human inventions established in sacred things, nor should it be …
Martin Luther—First Principles of the Reformation

"For the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus Hath Made Me Free from the Law of Sin and Death. "
Rom. viii. 2.--"For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death." You know there are two principal things in the preceding verse,--the privilege of a Christian, and the property or character of a Christian. He is one that never enters into condemnation; He that believeth shall not perish, John iii. 15. And then he is one that walks not after the flesh, though he be in the flesh, but in a more elevate way above men, after the guiding and leading …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

Epistle cxxi. To Leander, Bishop of Hispalis (Seville).
To Leander, Bishop of Hispalis (Seville). Gregory to Leander, Bishop of Spain. I have the epistle of thy Holiness, written with the pen of charity alone. For what the tongue transferred to the paper had got its tincture from the heart. Good and wise men were present when it was read, and at once their bowels were stirred with emotion. Everyone began to seize thee in his heart with the hand of love, for that in that epistle the sweetness of thy disposition was not to be heard, but seen. All severally …
Saint Gregory the Great—the Epistles of Saint Gregory the Great

That the Ruler Relax not his Care for the Things that are Within in his Occupation among the Things that are Without, nor Neglect to Provide
The ruler should not relax his care for the things that are within in his occupation among the things that are without, nor neglect to provide for the things that are without in his solicitude for the things that are within; lest either, given up to the things that are without, he fall away from his inmost concerns, or, occupied only with the things that are within bestow not on his neighbours outside himself what he owes them. For it is often the case that some, as if forgetting that they have …
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great

The Prophet Amos.
GENERAL PRELIMINARY REMARKS. It will not be necessary to extend our preliminary remarks on the prophet Amos, since on the main point--viz., the circumstances under which he appeared as a prophet--the introduction to the prophecies of Hosea may be regarded as having been written for those of Amos also. For, according to the inscription, they belong to the same period at which Hosea's prophetic ministry began, viz., the latter part of the reign of Jeroboam II., and after Uzziah had ascended the …
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament

Seasonable Counsel: Or, Advice to Sufferers.
BY JOHN BUNYAN. London: Printed for Benjamin Alsop, at the Angel and Bible in the Poultry, 1684. ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. THIS valuable treatise was first published in a pocket volume in 1684, and has only been reprinted in Whitfield's edition of Bunyan's works, 2 vols. folio, 1767. No man could have been better qualified to give advice to sufferers for righteousness' sake, than John Bunyan: and this work is exclusively devoted to that object. Shut up in a noisome jail, under the iron hand of …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

Joy
'The fruit of the Spirit is joy.' Gal 5:52. The third fruit of justification, adoption, and sanctification, is joy in the Holy Ghost. Joy is setting the soul upon the top of a pinnacle - it is the cream of the sincere milk of the word. Spiritual joy is a sweet and delightful passion, arising from the apprehension and feeling of some good, whereby the soul is supported under present troubles, and fenced against future fear. I. It is a delightful passion. It is contrary to sorrow, which is a perturbation …
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

The Third Commandment
Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain: For the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.' Exod 20: 7. This commandment has two parts: 1. A negative expressed, that we must not take God's name in vain; that is, cast any reflections and dishonour on his name. 2. An affirmative implied. That we should take care to reverence and honour his name. Of this latter I shall speak more fully, under the first petition in the Lord's Prayer, Hallowed be thy name.' I shall …
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments

The Doctrine
OF THE LAW AND GRACE UNFOLDED; OR, A DISCOURSE TOUCHING THE LAW AND GRACE; THE NATURE OF THE ONE, AND THE NATURE OF THE OTHER; SHOWING WHAT THEY ARE, AS THEY ARE THE TWO COVENANTS; AND LIKEWISE, WHO THEY BE, AND WHAT THEIR CONDITIONS ARE, THAT BE UNDER EITHER OF THESE TWO COVENANTS: Wherein, for the better understanding of the reader, there are several questions answered touching the law and grace, very easy to be read, and as easy to be understood, by those that are the sons of wisdom, the children …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

The Prophet Hosea.
GENERAL PRELIMINARY REMARKS. That the kingdom of Israel was the object of the prophet's ministry is so evident, that upon this point all are, and cannot but be, agreed. But there is a difference of opinion as to whether the prophet was a fellow-countryman of those to whom he preached, or was called by God out of the kingdom of Judah. The latter has been asserted with great confidence by Maurer, among others, in his Observ. in Hos., in the Commentat. Theol. ii. i. p. 293. But the arguments …
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament

Hosea
The book of Hosea divides naturally into two parts: i.-iii. and iv.-xiv., the former relatively clear and connected, the latter unusually disjointed and obscure. The difference is so unmistakable that i.-iii. have usually been assigned to the period before the death of Jeroboam II, and iv.-xiv. to the anarchic period which succeeded. Certainly Hosea's prophetic career began before the end of Jeroboam's reign, as he predicts the fall of the reigning dynasty, i. 4, which practically ended with Jeroboam's …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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