Most Twisted Bible Verses #1

“My People perish for lack of Knowledge.” Hosea 4:6

I have sat in many a church services, conferences and meetings and heard speakers encourage the audience to seek knowledge because without it, they won’t get ahead in life and will definitely be destroyed.  They used the above mentioned quote in their attempts to motivate the people to pursue education and knowledge. Is there anything wrong in using the above quote to spur people to seek knowledge? Of course not. 

A particular verse that comes to mind, still as I listened to motivational speakers talk their listeners into pursuing knowledge is 2 Peter 1:5-6.  I quote, “For this reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self control; and to self control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love.” And interestingly, the word knowledge is found in the verses. Hence they teach that if only one can get knowledge, your every dream would be within reach. 

Again I ask the question. Is getting knowledge a bad thing? Again I answer, no. there isn’t anything bad at all in getting knowledge. What is the problem with the view then you may ask? The problem is that these people teach that the knowledge you need to acquire in order to accomplish the feats they are selling is worldly knowledge. They use the verses above and many others to encourage people to acquire secular education which is not the type of education the biblical authors were encouraging God’s people to go after. Do not misunderstand me. There is nothing bad in pursuing secular knowledge. The problem is when verses of scripture are taken out of context to encourage a certain course of action from people, a wrong use of the Bible for purposes that were never intended. This makes people look at the scripture as an Ali Baba Tavern where people can go in and get whatever they want. This causes the word of God to lose its original purpose, context and meaning consequentially.

What knowledge did Hosea have in mind when he spoke? The answer is found in the lines that follow.  Hosea said, “My people perish for lack of Knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I have rejected you as my priests. Because you have rejected the law of your God, I will also ignore your children.” Hosea 4:6 The people perish for lack of what? God rejected them because they had rejected knowledge. What was the knowledge they rejected? That knowledge was the law of our God.  

God gave his knowledge to the people. He gave them his law. The people rejected it. They ignored it. Hence God pronounced judgment on them. They would be rejected too by God as a result. They would perish as a consequence. Their children would be ignored by God also. It is noteworthy to know that the lack of knowledge doesn’t mean the absence of it in this context. It is the ignorance and neglect of it by the people that God decries. It was there. It had been given by Moses and the prophets. The Israelites simply refused to obey it and let it impart their society. They became disobedient.

Prophet Hosea delivered a message of judgment to a people who had ignored his word. Destruction was underway. This message is not different from that proclaimed by numerous other prophets. This tells us that rejecting the truth of God would lead to eternal damnation for those of us who live in the New Testament.  Rejecting secular knowledge may not necessarily lead to unfortunate situations. But rejecting the knowledge of God is equivalent to rejecting God himself. Rejecting the knowledge and law of God is rejecting life itself. His words are spirit and life. “If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the good of the land. But if you are stubborn and disobedient, you shall be devoured by the sword

.” Isaiah 1:17-18