Go! And Know The Lord: Reject Ignorance And Return To The Knowledge Of God Series

Go! And Know the Lord: Reject Ignorance and Return to the Knowledge of God

Hosea 4:6 (NLT) — “My people are being destroyed because they don’t know me. Since you priests refuse to know me, I refuse to recognise you as my priests. Since you have forgotten the laws of your God, I will forget to bless your children.”

Introduction: The Tragedy of Forgetting God

Imagine a nation once built on faith, now drowning in spiritual ignorance. Imagine a people who once worshipped the living God but now worship their own desires. Imagine priests — spiritual leaders — who have turned from proclaiming God’s Word to promoting their own opinions.

Friends, that is not just ancient Israel. That is our world today.

Hosea 4:6 is not just a verse from history — it is a mirror to our present age. God’s people were destroyed not by the strength of their enemies, not by political failure, but by spiritual ignorance: “My people are being destroyed because they don’t know me.”

This is God’s heartbreak. His people no longer knew Him. They had information about religion but no intimacy with their Redeemer.

The same danger faces the 21st-century Church. We have more access to Bibles, sermons, podcasts, and theology than ever before — and yet, many Christians do not truly know the Lord.

This morning, the Lord calls us: “Go! And Know the Lord. Reject Ignorance. Return to the Knowledge of God.”

Point 1: The Knowledge That Saves — Knowing About God Is Not the Same as Knowing God

The Hebrew word used here for “know” is yada‘ — it means intimate, experiential knowledge. It’s not academic awareness; it’s relational connection. The same word is used in Genesis 4:1: “Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived.”

God isn’t lamenting that His people failed a theology test. He’s lamenting that His people lost relationship with Him.

They had religion, rituals, and rules — but no relationship. They knew about God, but they did not know God.

Philippians 3:10 (NLT): “I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead.”

Paul uses the Greek word ginosko — experiential knowing — the same deep intimacy. The greatest apostle’s desire wasn’t just to serve Christ, but to know Him.

Charles Stanley once said, “You will never be satisfied with religion when what your heart truly craves is relationship.”

And that’s the heart of Hosea’s message. When we settle for religion without relationship, knowledge without obedience, truth without transformation — destruction follows.

In our modern context, many say, “I believe in God,” but live as if He doesn’t exist. We’ve become consumers of Christianity rather than disciples of Christ. We download sermons, but rarely open our Bibles. We attend services, but fail to seek His face.

If you want to truly know the Lord, you must spend time in His presence — in prayer, in His Word, in obedience.

The Forgotten Map

A traveller once set out on a long journey through mountains. He had a perfect map but left it folded in his pocket. When storms came, he became lost. Only later did he remember the map he had never opened.

Many believers live the same way. God’s Word — the map of life — sits unopened while we try to navigate storms on our own. Then we wonder why we feel lost.

The Lord says today: “Come back to Me. Open the map. Know Me.”

Point 2: The Danger of Rejecting God’s Knowledge

Hosea continues, “Since you priests refuse to know me, I refuse to recognise you as my priests. Since you have forgotten the laws of your God, I will forget to bless your children.”

The tragedy of ignorance becomes a cycle of rejection — when we reject God’s truth, we are rejected from the blessing of His presence.

The Hebrew word translated “refuse” is ma’as — it means “to despise, to reject with disdain.” Israel didn’t merely forget accidentally; they chose to ignore God.

Romans 1:28 (NLT): “Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done.”

When a society deliberately removes God from its thoughts, schools, and laws, destruction is inevitable.

Tim Keller once wrote, “If your god never disagrees with you, you might just be worshipping an idealised version of yourself.”

Israel’s priests redefined God to fit their desires — and today, many do the same. We reimagine truth to justify sin, redefine morality to suit comfort, and rebrand holiness as intolerance. But the Lord remains holy, righteous, and true.

We must not reshape God to suit our age — we must let His Word reshape us. Knowledge of God requires submission to God.

Proverbs 1:7 (NLT): “Fear of the Lord is the foundation of true knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.”