Knowledge Rejected

Hosea 4: 1 – 19

Knowledge Rejected

1 Hear the word of the LORD, you children of Israel, for the LORD brings a charge against the inhabitants of the land: “There is no truth or mercy or knowledge of God in the land. 2 By swearing and lying, killing and stealing and committing adultery, they break all restraint, with bloodshed upon bloodshed. 3 Therefore the land will mourn; And everyone who dwells there will waste away with the beasts of the field and the birds of the air; Even the fish of the sea will be taken away. 4 “Now let no man contend, or rebuke another; For your people are like those who contend with the priest. 5 Therefore you shall stumble in the day; The prophet also shall stumble with you in the night; and I will destroy your mother. 6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me; Because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children. 7 “The more they increased, the more they sinned against Me; I will change their glory into shame. 8 They eat up the sin of My people; They set their heart on their iniquity. 9 And it shall be: like people, like priest. So, I will punish them for their ways, and reward them for their deeds. 10 For they shall eat, but not have enough; They shall commit harlotry, but not increase; Because they have ceased obeying the LORD. 11 “Harlotry, wine, and new wine enslave the heart. 12 My people ask counsel from their wooden idols, and their staff informs them. For the spirit of harlotry has caused them to stray, and they have played the harlot against their God. 13 They offer sacrifices on the mountaintops, and burn incense on the hills, under oaks, poplars, and terebinths, because their shade is good. Therefore, your daughters commit harlotry, and your brides commit adultery. 14 “I will not punish your daughters when they commit harlotry, nor your brides when they commit adultery; For the men themselves go apart with harlots, and offer sacrifices with a ritual harlot. Therefore, people who do not understand will be trampled. 15 “Though you, Israel, play the harlot, let not Judah offend. Do not come up to Gilgal, nor go up to Beth Aven, nor swear an oath, saying, ‘As the LORD lives’—16 “For Israel is stubborn like a stubborn calf; Now the LORD will let them forage like a lamb in open country. 17 “Ephraim is joined to idols, let him alone. 18 Their drink is rebellion, they commit harlotry continually. Her rulers dearly love dishonor. 19 The wind has wrapped her up in its wings, and they shall be ashamed because of their sacrifices.

The words ‘Rejected knowledge’ signifies to reject with despite and contempt.

I have learned that knowledge is rejected in two ways.

1. When the means of knowledge are rejected, then knowledge is rejected.

2. When the directions of our knowledge are rejected, when we refuse to be guided by it, upon this our knowledge decays, and eventually is contemned.

Rejected knowledge is the precise equivalent of religious heresy in today’s secular scientific culture, the field of rejected knowledge consists of all those beliefs, ideas, and systems of thought about nature, history, and the universe that have been condemned by accepted scientific authorities. While many of the elements of today’s rejected-knowledge scene date back centuries, or even millennia, a hard and fast distinction between accepted ideas and rejected ones did not begin to take shape until the second half of the nineteenth century, when scientists won the struggle with Christian religious authorities over the age of the earth and the origins of humanity.

Why do some people reject knowledge?

Fear: Likely the most common reason. The challenge some knowledge poses to our individual or collective sense of reality is traumatic.

Unreasonable Doubt: Some people will doubt with the force of "why? Why? WHY?" expecting that every digression of questioning is equally valid to the main idea at hand. This is not the same as stupidity. Often, these folks are merely untrained or resistant to the rigorous methods of debate and scientific methodology.

Stupidity: As insulting as this term is, grant that I refer to 'lack of mental processing power.' Rather than merely mocking one to whom I feel superior, some people simply can't process or incorporate new information.

In today’s study we will hear firsthand our Holy Spirit’s conviction of how our sinful ways draw us downward.

The God of Israel, YHWH now charges ‘the people (children) of Israel’ with being deprived of all truth and compassion because of their lack of the knowledge of YHWH. In consequence they are breaching all the commandments, and engaging in widespread bloodshed, and the result is that the whole land is suffering through severe drought. But they are in no position to lay charges against YHWH with respect to this, for they are disqualified as being like ‘strivers with the priests’, that is, as being like anarchists, those who reject and despise the verdicts of their own supreme court. In other words, they are lawless. That is why they and the prophets to whom they listen will stumble by day and night, and Israel itself (their mother) will be destroyed.