Destroyed for Ignorance

Transcript

Hello, my friend… so glad you're with me today. This is By God's Call — day 273, Destroyed for Ignorance.

"My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me. And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children." Hosea 4:6.

This verse aches. And it should ache, because God is speaking like someone who has lost something precious. Notice the first phrase: "my people." Not "this rebellious nation," not "these stubborn people." My people. Before any accusation, there is a lament. God grieves the loss before He ever declares the judgment.

But what exactly was lost? Knowledge. And here is the part that hits hardest: this lack of knowledge was not an accident, not a lack of opportunity. The text says they "rejected" knowledge. That's a choice. Israel had the law, had the priests, had God's testimony carried across generations — and still chose to turn its back on all of it. Their ignorance was voluntary.

And notice who this word lands on with the most weight: the priests. "I reject you from being a priest to me." Those entrusted with teaching the law, with guiding the people into the knowledge of God, are called to account with greater severity. That should make us think: if you teach, if you disciple, if you guide others — the responsibility you carry is bigger. Not because God loves the non-teacher less, but because whoever received more light answers for more light.

And look at the last line, because it's a hard one: "since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children." Spiritual neglect rarely stays contained in one generation. It spreads. When parents stop pursuing the knowledge of God, children grow up in a home where that knowledge simply isn't present to be passed down. It isn't an arbitrary punishment — it is the natural consequence of a broken chain.

But I don't want to leave you only with the weight of this. Because if destruction comes from rejecting the knowledge of God, the opposite path is just as clear: seek. Seek on purpose. Don't let life swallow up the time you set aside to truly know God — not just know about Him, but know Him. And that kind of knowledge is built in the Word, in prayer, in the daily discipline of coming back and back and back into His presence.

So today, I want to invite you to do something simple, but something that changes everything over time: set aside ten minutes, unhurried, and read God's Word with real attention. Not to check a box off your list. Ask Him: "Lord, grow my knowledge of You — not just my information about You."

Stay close to God. Pray — then act. I'll see you tomorrow, my friend.