For those not familiar with the book of Hosea, it may surprise you that in such a short book is found one of the most profound statements in the Bible. "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge." (Hosea 4:6 a) Elsewhere in the Bible, specifically in Proverbs, another companion verse is found concerning the idea of a lack of knowledge. "Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; But happy is he who keeps the law." (Proverbs 29:18 NKJV) The New American Standard translation renders Proverbs 29:18 as, "Where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained, But happy is he who keeps the law." The King James Version translates it: "Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he."

There is a high price to pay for knowledge, for either those who want it or those who have it. The commodity of knowledge is traded frequently and those who have knowledge have power over those who do not. The southern whites did not want the black slaves to become educated in fear that they may revolt when the truth of their crime came to light, the southern white's crime that is. When someone is enslaved to someone else often the freedom that they so desire is only won by having knowledge and that knowledge is only found to those who really want it. That is not to say that the black slaves didn?t want freedom. I am sure they all wanted their freedom, but they didn't all act as one. They didn't know that if they all got together they could defeat the enemy. The southern whites also used the Bible to teach racial segregation. There are still Christians who, held under the sway of Satan, still believe racial segregation is biblical. May God show His goodness to those people so that they can repent.

Israel and Judea had the embodiment of truth in the Torah, but it never got into their souls and hearts. They rejected God from being their King and as a result were destroyed. God says that His people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge. It could be say that they may have known a lot, but didn't have understanding. They didn't really know anything. If you don't know what God says, what do you really know? Proverbs says that when there is a lack of revelation or vision people perish. The user friendly churches may seem friendly, but if they do not preach the entire full gospel of Jesus Christ, what do they have? Many churches have activity and programs but do not have knowledge. To have a vision is not just knowing where you are going, but going the right way. Later in Hosea we learn that God's charge against Ephraim was that they walked according to the judgment and opinion of man rather than on the Bible.

"Ephraim is oppressed and broken in judgment, Because he willingly walked by human precept." (Hosea 5:11) Considering that the leaders, priests and prophets all claimed to be speaking on God's behalf, it is no wonder that the people were led astray and why they perished. But don't lay all the blame on the "pastors," since none of the people really wanted to know the truth. They were too interested in how they felt rather than on what the Bible said. Don't let that be true of you. Don't let Satan fool you and keep the truth from and keep you enslaved to sin or false teaching. Jesus said that the truth would set us free!

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Published on: 2006-01-12 (9220 reads)