"My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge [gnosis]: because thou hast rejected [full knowledge] [epignoµsis], I will also reject thee."

Hosea 4:6 translated from The Septuagint (LXX)¹

The English word "knowledge" occurs 172 times in 169 verse in the King James Version of the Holy Bible.  The English word "understanding" occurs 160 times in 152 verses and the English word "wisdom" occurs 234 times in 222 verses, and the English word "faith" occurs 247 times in 231 verses of the King James Version of the Holy Bible.

Hosea records that God said that His people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge and because the Israelites rejected full knowledge of God, God rejected them.  The kind of knowledge that they lacked was the knowledge of God, the kind of full knowledge that they rejected was the full knowledge of God.  How would one obtain a knowledge of God?  The Bible is the place to find the knowledge of God because it is the direct revelation of God to us. In the Bible is found the covenants that God made with people from the very first.  We come to God as children, adolescents, or adults in our private moments in one way or another without knowing very much about Him.  We can know Who He Is.  As a Christian who has confessed Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior we received the Holy Spirit and Faith when we first believed.  When I first became a Christian I knew very little about the Bible above a vague familiarity with some of the stories.  I wanted to know the truth about God and knew that the Bible was the only place to find it.  In the kind of society that is present in the United States there are a lot of choices that we can make about what kind of church or group that we can join.  The easy answer to which church should someone join is one which conforms to the teaching of the whole Bible.  The dilemma that one could face is how would you know?  I chose to rely on the Holy Spirit to be my guide and my tutor and found anytime I was at variance with the Bible or the Holy Spirit in any way it led me into error or a blind alley.  If teachers or preachers of the Bible present something plus the witness of the Bible it is going to lead to error and a blind alley.  If the people we find ourselves with are lukewarm to the Bible and prefer to discuss something else when the subject of Jesus or the Prophets comes up that group is likely to not care about learning of God, seeking God, finding God, finding the things of God, or finding His Kingdom. Churches or groups of people that reject part of the Bible or teach something at odds with the witness of the Holy Spirit may be apostate or what people characterize as dead churches.  Legalism, an emphasis on Scripture used to twist the whole counsel of God or make a person or persons the point of gatherings rather than God are a few indications we are in the wrong place.  Churches or groups that stand in the way of understanding the Bible and applying the Bible in one way or another that is not consistent with the whole counsel of God are in error.  

The New Testament confirms the message of the Old Testament that we are first to seek understanding and knowledge of God, not men or the things of this world.

that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, would give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of him

Ephesians 1:17

The letter of Paul to the church at Colossae affirms that understanding, knowledge of God, wisdom and the full knowledge of God is important and essential to our walk in Faith.  He speaks of the full knowledge of the mystery of God and that we are to attain to it.  

For I would have you know what combat I have for you, and those in Laodicea, and as many as have not seen my face in flesh; to the end that their hearts may be encouraged, being united together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the full knowledge of the mystery of God; in which are hid all the treasures of wisdom and of knowledge.

And I say this to the end that no one may delude you by persuasive speech. For if indeed in the flesh I am absent, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing and seeing your order, and the firmness of your faith in Christ. As therefore ye have received the Christ, Jesus the Lord, walk in him, rooted and built up in him, and assured in the faith, even as ye have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving. See that there be no one who shall lead you away as a prey through philosophy and vain deceit, according to the teaching of men, according to the elements of the world, and not according to Christ. For in him dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily; and ye are complete in him, who is the head of all principality and authority, in whom also ye have been circumcised with circumcision not done by hand, in the putting off of the body of the flesh, in the circumcision of the Christ; buried with him in baptism, in which ye have been also raised with him through faith of the working of God who raised him from among the dead.

Colossians 2:1-12 (Darby)

The New Testament gives us the revelation of God the Son, the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets.  Error was already present by the time Paul ministered to the churches in Asia Minor and other churches in the Roman Empire.  Gnosticism had begun to be formulated and it encompassed doctrines at variance with the Old Testament.  By the second century Gnosticism was developed to the point that very little of its doctrines were recognizable as having anything to do with the Gospel of Jesus and stood in direct opposition to the teachings of the Old Testament, Jesus, and the Apostles.  It identified Jesus as someone that He is not and had elaborate explanations of the order of the world and the universe based on paganism. One thing that happened is that more attention was paid to the doctrines made up by people to the point that the Old Testament and the Gospel of Jesus and the witness of the Apostles was obscured and made irrelevant. Gnosticism is characterized by W. E. Vine as false knowledge.  Part of the reason that the Council of Nicea was called is that the literature accumulated in the known world about the Gospel of Jesus by then included fanciful legends and doctrines clearly from the imagination of the people who wrote them.  This is the spirit of anti-Christ at work as it is today. One such piece of literature that is called the Gospel of Thomas is a collection of sayings that are disjointed and confused.  The sayings are attributed to Jesus but do not have the familiar voice of the Good Shepherd to them.  

A popular book that was written as a piece of fiction and advertised as such is the Da Vinci Codes.  In it there is a tapestry of conspiracy theory and intrigue designed to hold the attention of the reader based on some of the ideas that have some currency among those who are distrustful of the Roman Catholic Church.  There is the idea that the Roman Catholic Church has held back secret knowledge that would blow apart anyone's faith in God if we only had access to it.  In some ways the idea of a secret knowledge only held by a few has it roots going back a long way.  There was the idea that the Bible could not be translated into the common language of indigenous people or they would bolt from the churches.  Fifteen years ago I invited a friend to a Bible study and was rebuffed sharply because she held that only priests can read and know what the Bible means.  The idea that the will of God cannot be known by someone by learning from His Word directly is in part what fuels the fire of suspicion.  The priest or minister that purports to alone knowing what should and should not be believed about the Bible can conjure doubt in those who are being led in part blindly.  This is odd when there have been English translations of the Bible within the Roman Catholic Church for almost as long as there were ones produced by those involved in the Protestant Reformation. People who are used to thinking for themselves and relying on the Bible for answers with the Holy Spirit as superior to earthly ministers have difficulty understanding the attraction to secret knowledge.  The Bible plainly teaches that any believer is capable of understanding the revelation of God well enough to gain eternal life.  Part of the problem is the idea that man's doctrines and traditions are put on an equal footing with the direct revelation of God in the Bible.  This leaves open the possibility in the minds of some people that there may be one of several billion people that knows more than the whole of scripture by some secret revelation being held from the public view.  I have never found the Bible or God to let me down but people do so on a regular basis.  Those who thirst after things said in the dark and in secret chase after the same kinds of knowledge that led Israel into sin by chasing after idols and things that are not God. There have been denominations in the Protestant Reformation that have keyed in on some part of the Bible due to a cult leader misleading them who make this error in thought about the Bible, that the Bible is unknowable without some secret message no one knows except for a few.  It comes down to a matter of people getting the idea that God is not telling us what is right in the Bible plainly.  Those things of prophecy that are to be revealed at the proper times are revealed by God to us at the time God chooses.  

For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else. I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth: I said not unto the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me in vain: I the LORD speak righteousness, I declare things that are right.

Isaiah 45:18-19 (KJV)

Come ye near unto me, hear ye this; I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was, there am I: and now the Lord GOD, and his Spirit, hath sent me. Thus saith the LORD, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am the LORD thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go.

Isaiah 48:16-17 (KJV)

O generation, see ye the word of the LORD. Have I been a wilderness unto Israel? a land of darkness? wherefore say my people, We are lords; we will come no more unto thee? Can a maid forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? yet my people have forgotten me days without number. Why trimmest thou thy way to seek love? therefore hast thou also taught the wicked ones thy ways. Also in thy skirts is found the blood of the souls of the poor innocents: I have not found it by secret search, but upon all these. Yet thou sayest, Because I am innocent, surely his anger shall turn from me. Behold, I will plead with thee, because thou sayest, I have not sinned.

Jeremiah 2:31-35 (KJV)

I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied. But if they had stood in my counsel, and had caused my people to hear my words, then they should have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings. Am I a God at hand, saith the LORD, and not a God afar off? Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD. I have heard what the prophets said, that prophesy lies in my name, saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed. How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies? yea, they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart; Which think to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams which they tell every man to his neighbour, as their fathers have forgotten my name for Baal. The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the LORD.

Jeremiah 23:21-28 (KJV)

God reveals what is not commonly known to mankind and the false prophets, sorcerers, diviners, astrologers, and witches do not know that same knowledge.  Daniel proves the superior knowledge of God by his record of how God dealt with kings and their magi.  God alone is able to tell us the end from the beginning and that which we need to know.

Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven. Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his: And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding: He revealeth the deep and secret things: he knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him. I thank thee, and praise thee, O thou God of my fathers, who hast given me wisdom and might, and hast made known unto me now what we desired of thee: for thou hast now made known unto us the king’s matter. Therefore Daniel went in unto Arioch, whom the king had ordained to destroy the wise men of Babylon: he went and said thus unto him; Destroy not the wise men of Babylon: bring me in before the king, and I will shew unto the king the interpretation. Then Arioch brought in Daniel before the king in haste, and said thus unto him, I have found a man of the captives of Judah, that will make known unto the king the interpretation. The king answered and said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, Art thou able to make known unto me the dream which I have seen, and the interpretation thereof?

Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, The secret which the king hath demanded cannot the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, the soothsayers, shew unto the king; But there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days.

Daniel 2:19-28 (KJV)

One of the favorite accusations against the people of God is that it cannot be known which pieces of literature should have been accepted into the canon of Scripture.  Reading the apocryphal literature that is available it is clear to most people that it does not line up with the witness of the Law and the Prophets and presents a different Jesus than the One we know.  Jesus spoke to people from the Law and the Prophets to teach them and what He said did not violate the teaching found in the Law and the Prophets. The religious authorities of the time had trouble with the fact that He said that He is the Messiah and the fulfillment of the Law.  He said that He is equal with God and this caused the chief priests to hate Him and seek a way to get rid of Him.  The literature of the time of the third century that attempted to equate Him as anything other than Who He Is or was in opposition to the testimony about Him was rejected. The accepted texts that were decided upon included those that decidedly point to the witness of God, not the witness of people with a veneer of godliness.  Reading extra-Biblical literature reveals that a different voice is found there and it is not the voice of the True Shepherd.  

The witness of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are in harmony and it is recognizable whether or not a Christian fully understands why.  Balance, maturity, and a continual seeking of the knowledge of God answers the why of things over time as one grows in understanding and wisdom.  The Bible has put a great emphasis upon knowledge and wisdom and states that people can come to know them both.  Those who heap scorn upon the people of God have a favorite accusation that we do not have reason, understanding, knowledge, or wisdom available to us and cannot think for ourselves.  The assumption is made that we only know what someone else has told us that was thought through for us.  Although that is not true it is a favorite deceit.  The Bible openly pleads, admonishes, and states that the believer is to seek understanding, knowledge, and wisdom as well as giving the way to them.  The following verses are examples that have a basic message predicated on the ability to attain knowledge and wisdom.  They are worth returning to and meditating upon many times.

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Proverbs 1:7 (KJV)

How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge? Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you. Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof: I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh; When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you. Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me: For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD: They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof. Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.

Proverbs 1:22-31 (KJV)

My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee; So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding; Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding; If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God. For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding. He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous: he is a buckler to them that walk uprightly. He keepeth the paths of judgment, and preserveth the way of his saints. Then shalt thou understand righteousness, and judgment, and equity; yea, every good path.

When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul; Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee: To deliver thee from the way of the evil man, from the man that speaketh froward things

Proverbs 2:1-11 (KJV)

Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding. For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold. She is more precious than rubies: and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her. Length of days is in her right hand; and in her left hand riches and honour. Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her: and happy is every one that retaineth her. The LORD by wisdom hath founded the earth; by understanding hath he established the heavens. By his knowledge the depths are broken up, and the clouds drop down the dew.

Proverbs 3:13-20 (KJV)

My son, attend unto my wisdom, and bow thine ear to my understanding: That thou mayest regard discretion, and that thy lips may keep knowledge.

Proverbs 5:1-2 (KJV)

Doth not wisdom cry? and understanding put forth her voice? She standeth in the top of high places, by the way in the places of the paths. She crieth at the gates, at the entry of the city, at the coming in at the doors. Unto you, O men, I call; and my voice is to the sons of man. O ye simple, understand wisdom: and, ye fools, be ye of an understanding heart. Hear; for I will speak of excellent things; and the opening of my lips shall be right things. For my mouth shall speak truth; and wickedness is an abomination to my lips. All the words of my mouth are in righteousness; there is nothing froward or perverse in them. They are all plain to him that understandeth, and right to them that find knowledge. Receive my instruction, and not silver; and knowledge rather than choice gold. For wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it.

I wisdom dwell with prudence, and find out knowledge of witty inventions. The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate. Counsel is mine, and sound wisdom: I am understanding; I have strength. By me kings reign, and princes decree justice. By me princes rule, and nobles, even all the judges of the earth. I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me. Riches and honour are with me; yea, durable riches and righteousness. My fruit is better than gold, yea, than fine gold; and my revenue than choice silver. I lead in the way of righteousness, in the midst of the paths of judgment: That I may cause those that love me to inherit substance; and I will fill their treasures.

The LORD possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old. I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was. When there were no depths, I was brought forth; when there were no fountains abounding with water. Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth: While as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust of the world. When he prepared the heavens, I was there: when he set a compass upon the face of the depth: When he established the clouds above: when he strengthened the fountains of the deep: When he gave to the sea his decree, that the waters should not pass his commandment: when he appointed the foundations of the earth: Then I was by him, as one brought up with him: and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him; Rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth; and my delights were with the sons of men.

Now therefore hearken unto me, O ye children: for blessed are they that keep my ways. Hear instruction, and be wise, and refuse it not. Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors. For whoso findeth me findeth life, and shall obtain favour of the LORD. But he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul: all they that hate me love death.

Proverbs 8:1-36 (KJV)

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.

Proverbs 9:10 (KJV)

Wise men lay up knowledge: but the mouth of the foolish is near destruction.

Proverbs 10:14 (KJV)

An hypocrite with his mouth destroyeth his neighbour: but through knowledge shall the just be delivered.

Proverbs 11:9 (KJV)

Whoso loveth instruction loveth knowledge: but he that hateth reproof is brutish.

Proverbs 12:1 (KJV)

A prudent man concealeth knowledge: but the heart of fools proclaimeth foolishness.

Proverbs 12:23 (KJV)

Every prudent man dealeth with knowledge: but a fool layeth open his folly.

Proverbs 13:16 (KJV)

A scorner seeketh wisdom, and findeth it not: but knowledge is easy unto him that understandeth.

Go from the presence of a foolish man, when thou perceivest not in him the lips of knowledge.

The wisdom of the prudent is to understand his way: but the folly of fools is deceit.

Fools make a mock at sin: but among the righteous there is favour.

Proverbs 14:6-9 (KJV)

The simple inherit folly: but the prudent are crowned with knowledge.

Proverbs 14:18 (KJV)

The tongue of the wise useth knowledge aright: but the mouth of fools poureth out foolishness.

Proverbs 15:2 (KJV)

The lips of the wise disperse knowledge: but the heart of the foolish doeth not so.

Proverbs 15:7 (KJV)

The heart of him that hath understanding seeketh knowledge: but the mouth of fools feedeth on foolishness.

Proverbs 15:14 (KJV)

He that hath knowledge spareth his words: and a man of understanding is of an excellent spirit. Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise: and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding.

Proverbs 17:27-28 (KJV)

The heart of the prudent getteth knowledge; and the ear of the wise seeketh knowledge.

Proverbs 18:15 (KJV)

Also, that the soul be without knowledge, it is not good; and he that hasteth with his feet sinneth.

Proverbs 19:2 (KJV)

Smite a scorner, and the simple will beware: and reprove one that hath understanding, and he will understand knowledge.

Proverbs 19:25 (KJV)

Cease, my son, to hear the instruction that causeth to err from the words of knowledge.

Proverbs 19:27 (KJV)

There is gold, and a multitude of rubies: but the lips of knowledge are a precious jewel.

Proverbs 20:15 (KJV)

When the scorner is punished, the simple is made wise: and when the wise is instructed, he receiveth knowledge.

Proverbs 21:11 (KJV)

The eyes of the LORD preserve knowledge, and he overthroweth the words of the transgressor.

Proverbs 22:12 (KJV)

Bow down thine ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply thine heart unto my knowledge. For it is a pleasant thing if thou keep them within thee; they shall withal be fitted in thy lips. That thy trust may be in the LORD, I have made known to thee this day, even to thee. Have not I written to thee excellent things in counsels and knowledge, That I might make thee know the certainty of the words of truth; that thou mightest answer the words of truth to them that send unto thee?

Proverbs 22:17-21 (KJV)

Apply thine heart unto instruction, and thine ears to the words of knowledge.

Proverbs 23:12 (KJV)

Through wisdom is an house builded; and by understanding it is established: And by knowledge shall the chambers be filled with all precious and pleasant riches. A wise man is strong; yea, a man of knowledge increaseth strength. For by wise counsel thou shalt make thy war: and in multitude of counsellors there is safety.

Wisdom is too high for a fool: he openeth not his mouth in the gate. He that deviseth to do evil shall be called a mischievous person. The thought of foolishness is sin: and the scorner is an abomination to men.

Proverbs 24:3-9 (KJV)

My son, eat thou honey, because it is good; and the honeycomb, which is sweet to thy taste: So shall the knowledge of wisdom be unto thy soul: when thou hast found it, then there shall be a reward, and thy expectation shall not be cut off.

Proverbs 24:13-14 (KJV)

For the transgression of a land many are the princes thereof: but by a man of understanding and knowledge the state thereof shall be prolonged.

Proverbs 28:2 (KJV)

As new believers we want to tell everyone what we have found to be true and tell people about Jesus out of the joy and the knowledge of the great gift that we have been given.  We want to share with others the life that we know is available to all.  We want to find ways to bring love, peace, and joy to others and see the captives to this world system set free as we were so that they might find the things that are good that come from God.  It is usually a surprise and a disappointment to find that the witness of what God has done in our lives is often met with fear, anger, coldness or rejection.  Trials of a personal nature can take a lot of time to resolve and present a problem as to how to continue in Faith finding others to share our gift with at times.  That Faith and the gift of the Holy Spirit being our comfort and tutor is sometimes all that we find other than the Bible and God that we feel we have and we can feel alone.  Sooner or later we realize that we are to be continually reconciled to God through His Son Jesus Christ and our walk in Faith is not always easy or exhilarating.  It is Jesus Who is Arbiter in our hearts and it is His Holy Spirit that we are to listen to and the Bible is the source of our knowledge by which we can discern the way to go.  

The assemblage of knowledge, learning, and the teachings that are available to us are subject to the will of God and discernment as how to order it is also subject to His will.  Our reason, knowledge, understanding, wisdom, and actions are subject to His will.  Spiritual discernment is real and it is a gift if we will accept it.  We are to have our minds renewed to the mind of Jesus Christ.  Having a change of mind is called repentance in the Bible and the first thing that John the Baptist said to people was that they were to repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand, in our midst.  When John was beheaded Jesus began to tell people to repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand, in our midst.  John the Baptist was the forerunner, the heraldic messenger announcing the coming of the Messiah and the Messiah, Jesus is the Kingdom of Heaven Who was in our midst.  It is made clear in the witness of the New Testament that we are not to follow one and then another person, but to hold fast to following God the Son as revealed in the person Jesus Christ.  We learn to pray to God the Father through Jesus Christ, by His Holy Spirit.  It is the Holy Spirit Who Is the Tutor and the Comforter coming alongside us to guide us on the path of life that leads to Life.  Jesus said that He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life and that no one comes to the Father but by Him.  It is God Himself that resolves these things for us and in us continually.  Even when we are not faithful, God is faithful.  We are limited and begin life as finite beings and our limitations remain with us to a greater or lesser extent as we choose for or against God.  We are to learn how to choose for God, for Life, and for Eternity from our place in time which is limited.

God's people had the Law of Moses and the accounts of the people from Adam and Eve to the time before the Captivity.  They rejected the light that was given to them.  Ecclesiastes sums up how people can avoid the situation that the Israelites faced.

Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:

Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.

For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing,

whether it be good, or whether it be evil.

Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 (KJV)

As Christians we have the direct revelation of God handed down to us in the Bible.  In the Bible we find the way to seek and find God, the things of God and His Kingdom.  J. Vernon McGee put it this way:

"My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge." The background of their sin was a lack of knowledge of the Word of God. My friend, if you are a Christian, the minute you get away from the Word of God, you are doomed to failure in the Christian life. Regardless of the number of conferences or seminars you attend that tell you how to be a success in your home, in your business, and in your social life, you will be a failure. This book makes it crystal-clear that we do not live the Christian life by these little gimmicks and methods, but by a personal knowledge of the Word of God. This is the reason I am concerned with teaching the Word of God—and the reason I teach even the Book of Hosea. People are destroyed for lack of knowledge.

"Because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me." God intended that the whole nation of Israel be priests unto Him; in the Millennium they will be that. But at this time, God says, "You are not even going to have priests."

"Seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children." God says to the people of this nation, "I will forget you, because you have forgotten Me." Because they have gone through a long, sordid history of departing from the Lord, they have now come to the time of judgment. God has proved His case against these people; in the beginning of the chapter He enumerated their sins—they have broken the Ten Commandments. Therefore He hands down His decision that He is going to judge them.²

The Children of Israel had broken the Ten Commandments, but there is more to it than that alone.  They no longer sought after God and the knowledge of Him and as a consequence had rejected Him by rejecting the full knowledge of Him.  This implies that we can reject God by rejecting His full revelation of Him to us.  They chose to follow after gods that they had not known and worshipped gods that are not God.  They replaced the knowledge of God with ritual and sacrifices to idols that they made and trusted that an idol placed in their home would ward off any ill befalling them.  Aside from the ritual and idols, the sacrifice of people and the sacrifices of children by making them walk through fire, cult prostitution, and observing times there was something else that replaced the knowledge of God and rejection of the full knowledge of God.  They took to themselves familiar spirits and consulted diviners to know what to do next, predict the future for them and see into realms of darkness that they thought were spiritual.  Some of the disciplines and rites had secrecy and mystery attached to their practices.  The way one lives in seeking after the knowledge of God and His full revelation to us is completely different than the formalistic practices of the pagans.  Pagan religion puts a premium on animist practices and belief in the power of the created universe, God's creation.  God the Father is known only remotely and gods such as Bel or Anath were felt to be closer and more accessible to them.  The dung beetle that rolls dung into balls was elevated to a sacred being known as the Scarab from Egypt to Syria and it was worshipped as a sacred object or functioned as a charm or talisman.  Squeezing out wisdom and knowledge from a dung beetle seems hard work for no reward.  The animistic practices of the pagans included insects and other animals that were credited with significance that recognized the creation as the source of power.  The sun was worshipped along with other astronomical aspects of the solar system and universe.  The observance of new moons and seasons had a different meaning for pagans than it did for the people of God.  Over time, the worship of pagan gods and idols replaced the commandments of God and the meaning of the creation was understood in a radically different way.  Matters of life and death were forgotten as understood in the context of God.

Whoso despiseth the word shall be destroyed: but he that feareth the commandment shall be rewarded.

The law of the wise is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death.

Good understanding giveth favour: but the way of transgressors is hard.

Every prudent man dealeth with knowledge: but a fool layeth open his folly.

A wicked messenger falleth into mischief: but a faithful ambassador is health.

Poverty and shame shall be to him that refuseth instruction: but he that regardeth reproof shall be honoured.

The desire accomplished is sweet to the soul: but it is abomination to fools to depart from evil.

He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.

Evil pursueth sinners: but to the righteous good shall be repayed.

A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children’s children: and the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just.

Much food is in the tillage of the poor: but there is that is destroyed for want of judgment.

He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes.

The righteous eateth to the satisfying of his soul: but the belly of the wicked shall want.

Proverbs 13:13-25 (KJV)

Strangers have devoured his strength, and he knoweth it not: yea, gray hairs are here and there upon him, yet he knoweth not.

Hosea 7:9 (KJV)

—he knoweth it not This repeated phrase stresses Israel’s ignorance of how politically weak and drained she had become. Lack of knowledge of God is here followed by lack of self-knowledge.³

Some have simply divided life into two divisions, the one part composed of those that let things happen to them and the other part is composed of those who make things happen for them.  If one rejects the pursuit of the knowledge of God, sooner or later things begin to happen to us.  The gracious gift of the self-knowledge that we possess can be stolen from us by circumstance in the absence of God or we may give it away by the dissipation of idleness or idle and vain pursuits.  At the root of the loss of self-knowledge is forgetting God and no longer seeking Him, an understanding of Him, His knowledge, and His wisdom.  Like the Israelites one day we wake to find that we no longer know even the little that we once knew of who it is that we are.  That gossamer figure who once was is gone and we are confronted with someone that we no longer know, at loose ends and drained of strength.  Turning to God and reclaiming the person that was possible seems impossible.  It is never too late to find God and through Him find ourselves as we are.  A lack of self-knowledge and estrangement from ourselves and the universe leaves us to find God and if we should not, we are lost to ourselves.  We were made in the image of God and made to live in His presence for eternity.  Should we lose ourselves our only hope in finding ourselves is in Him and once we realize the loss we must turn to God so that we are not lost forever.  We see that rejecting the full knowledge of God causes Him to reject us, then we lose what knowledge that we once had of Him, and finally we lose self-knowledge. This loss of self-knowledge leads to the loss of self and pitch darkness floods our view.

Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge

Isaiah 5:13 (KJV)

Once the Children of Israel had no knowledge, they were sent into captivity.  They were given over to weeping for Tammuz, believing that he had gone into the underworld.  They thought that chasing after false gods and the emptiness of ritual that they had some knowledge of how to live.  Worshipping animals and going against the Law, ignoring the Prophets and rejecting God resulted in God rejecting them.  While Ezekiel was in exile he was shown the end of those left in Jerusalem. He is taken in the spirit by the Holy Spirit and first sees the statue of jealousy which stirs up jealousy.  The New American Bible notes that it is likely the statue of Asherah that is referred to at the beginning of the things shown to him.  He also encounters Jesus as recorded in this narrative.

Spirit lifted me up in the air and brought me in divine visions to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the north gate, where stood the statue of jealousy which stirs up jealousy.

He said to me: Son of man, look toward the north! I looked toward the north and saw northward of the gate the altar of the statue of jealousy.

Son of man, he asked me, do you see what they are doing? Do you see the great abominations that the house of Israel is practicing here, so that I must depart from my sanctuary? But you shall see still greater abominations!

Then he brought me to the entrance of the court, where I saw there was a hole in the wall.

Son of man, he ordered, dig through the wall. I dug through the wall and saw a door.

Enter, he said to me, and see the abominable evils which they are doing here.

I entered and saw that all around upon the wall were pictured the figures of all kinds of creeping things and loathsome beasts (all the idols of the house of Israel).

Before these stood seventy of the elders of the house of Israel, among whom stood Jaazaniah, son of Shaphan, each of them with his censer in his hand, and the fragrance of the incense was rising upward.

Then he said to me: Do you see, son of man, what each of these elders of the house of Israel is doing in his idol room? They think: "The LORD cannot see us; the LORD has forsaken the land."

He continued: You shall see still greater abominations that they are practicing.

Then he brought me to the entrance of the north gate of the temple, and I saw sitting there the women who were weeping for Tammuz.

Then he said to me: Do you see this, son of man? You shall see other abominations, greater than these!

Then he brought me into the inner court of the LORD’S house, and there at the door of the LORD’S temple, between the vestibule and the altar, were about twenty-five men with their backs to the LORD’S temple and their faces toward the east; they were bowing down to the sun.

Do you see, son of man? he asked me. Is it such a trivial matter for the house of Judah to do the abominable things they have done here—for they have filled the land with violence, and again and again they have provoked me—that now they must also put the branch to my nose?

Therefore I in turn will act furiously: I will not look upon them with pity nor will I show mercy.

Then he cried loud for me to hear: Come, you scourges of the city!

With that I saw six men coming from the direction of the upper gate which faces the north, each with a destroying weapon in his hand. In their midst was a man dressed in linen, with a writer’s case at his waist. They entered and stood beside the bronze altar.

Then he called to the man dressed in linen with the writer’s case at his waist,

saying to him: Pass through the city (through Jerusalem) and mark an X on the foreheads of those who moan and groan over all the abominations that are practiced within it.

To the others I heard him say: Pass through the city after him and strike! Do not look on them with pity nor show any mercy!

Old men, youths and maidens, women and children—wipe them out! But do not touch any marked with the X; begin at my sanctuary. So they began with the men (the elders) who were in front of the temple.

Defile the temple, he said to them, and fill the courts with the slain; then go out and strike in the city.

As they began to strike, I was left alone. I fell prone, crying out, Alas, Lord GOD! Will you destroy all that is left of Israel when you pour out your fury on Jerusalem?"

He answered me: The sins of the house of Israel are great beyond measure; the land is filled with bloodshed, the city with lawlessness. They think that the LORD has forsaken the land, that he does not see them.

I, however, will not look upon them with pity, nor show any mercy. I will bring down their conduct upon their heads.

Then I saw the man dressed in linen with the writing case at his waist make his report: "I have done as you ordered."

Spirit lifted me up and brought me back to the exiles

in Chaldea (in a vision, by God’s spirit). Then the vision

I had seen left me,

and I told the exiles everything the LORD had shown me.

Ezekiel 8, 9 and 11:24-25 (NAB)

Judgment came upon Israel and destruction came along with the carrying away of the exiles to Babylon.  The LORD Jesus showed Himself to the Prophets and it is seen that He is the LORD Sabaoth.  The people of Israel had fallen into error that eventuated the end of them for a time.  People will be destroyed for the lack of knowledge of the LORD again.  The people of God will once again turn a deaf ear to instruction and have a lack of knowledge leading them to reject the full knowledge of God, losing self-knowledge.  Even today people that may have little interest in seeking the knowledge of God are interested in knowing about the end times.  Jesus clearly told people that it is not for us to know the times or the seasons and it is because it is in the power of the Father.  Some things are not for us to know.  We can know that if we are saved, then we will be saved should the Great Destruction come in our time.  We do know that Jesus will touch His feet on the Mount of Olives when He returns.  We are not to know when He is coming back and we will not know.  It is interesting that there have been many claiming to know the end of the age, predicting dates.  If anyone wants a sure sign of a false teacher, false prophet, or a cult, this would be one.  It is safe to say that we will know after it has happened and that is all.

When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? 

And he said unto them, 

It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.

Acts 1:6-7 (KJV)

But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.

Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.

Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.

I Thessalonians 5:1-11 (KJV)

Those who are appointed to wrath follow the same pattern of rejecting the full knowledge of God and it is interesting that the full knowledge of God includes knowing we cannot know when the end of the age is coming.

And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.

Romans 1:28-32 (KJV)

Seek God, the knowledge of God, the full knowledge of God, and accept that which is given.

The LORD is exalted; for he dwelleth on high: he hath filled Zion with judgment and righteousness. And wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of thy times, and strength of salvation: the fear of the LORD is his treasure.

Isaiah 33:5-6

But if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant.

I Corinthians 14:38 (KJV)

—persistent ignorance is culpable ignorance. If anyone refused to acknowledge the divine authority of Paul’s teachings, through professed lack of knowledge of the facts, his deplorable condition, with its abiding spiritual loss, must continue. The facts remain, however. Unwillingness to submit prevents the possibility of being instructed.⁴

"Remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ." All the way through the Word of God, you will find that we are told to remember. In other words, we are to remember the Word of God. You and I should know the Word of God so that our memories can call it up when we need to have these great truths brought to our attention.

"But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ." This is evidence that Jude was not the apostle by that name. He is, as we have indicated, Jude, the half-brother of the Lord Jesus. In spite of his blood relationship to Jesus, he takes a very humble attitude. He will use the apostles to corroborate what he is going to say, as he has done before in this epistle. He said earlier, "What I am going to write to you about the apostasy is not new with me. I’m not the only one who has written on it. Others have written of it beforehand." Now he says here, "You are to remember the words that were spoken to you by the apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ." We will see before we finish this epistle that it is all-essential to know what the Word of God has to say. I do not believe that you can stand for God in this world without tripping up unless you have a knowledge of the Word of God—it is essential. I have seen individual after individual, both men and women, trip up and fall in their Christian walk. I can attribute every such instance that I know of to a lack of knowledge of the Word of God. How important it is for us to know what the Word of God has to say.

We come now to a very important passage of Scripture where I feel that I need a special anointing of the Holy Spirit as I write because it deals with a distinction that is not always made today.

I will begin by giving you Dr. Wuest’s translation of verses 17–19:

But, as for you, divinely-loved ones, remember the words which were spoken previously by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, that they were saying to you, In the last time there shall be mockers ordering their course of conduct in accordance with their own passionate cravings which are destitute of reverential awe towards God. These are those who cause divisions, egocentric, not holding the spirit.

In verses 17–18, Jude says in effect, "Remember what the apostles said to you. They told you that there would come mockers in the last time and that they would walk after their own ungodly lusts." That is, the desires of the apostates are totally apart from God and from the will of God.

In verse 19 Jude defines the apostates: "These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit." He has given us so many descriptions of the apostate that there is no reason for us to miss him at all. I believe that you can test an unregenerate person, even an unregenerate minister, by the Word of God. I like to say that I use the Word of God as a Geiger counter. When I give out the Word of God, the Geiger counter registers, and I get a response from the folk who have heard it. Many tell us how the Word of God has actually revolutionized their lives and their homes. It has made everything different, even for those who are believers. But there is another group of people who think that I am a loony bird, that I’m way out in left field, and that teaching the Word of God is a very foolish sort of thing. So you can see that the Geiger counter of the Word of God works, and by it you can test the unregenerate person.

"These be they who separate themselves." First of all, Jude says that the apostates cause divisions in the church. Vincent says that Jude is speaking of those who "cause divisions in the church…. Of those who draw a line through the church and set off one part from another." Liberalism was responsible for splitting the great denominations of the church. The liberals took over the church and then said that the fundamentalists were the ones dividing it. Of course, it was not the fundamentalists who divided the church. They were the ones who were holding to the great doctrines upon which the denominations were founded. The original creeds of all the denominations are sound creeds. Although they differ a little at some points, there are no differences at all on the great basics.

The liberals were first called modernists because they wanted to change things. They never liked that name, but they like the name of liberal today. However, the liberal, instead of being broad-minded, whether he is in theology or politics, is to my judgment the most narrow-minded person in the world. Frankly, he is a dangerous man to deal with, because he will deal with you in a vitriolic manner, with bitterness and hatred, and he will not mind hurting you.

The natural man, the sensual man, is a selfish man who lives like an animal. He wants to get all he can. He wants to eat all he can. He wants to get all the money and favor he can. He lives entirely for himself. All this has to do with a man in his natural makeup today.

"Having not the Spirit." The apostates do not have the Holy Spirit of God; they are not indwelt by the Spirit of God. You will remember that when Paul got to Ephesus, this was the question he directed to those people who were passing as believers but who were not believers. They had heard only of the baptism of John, and Paul asked them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you first believed?" They knew nothing about it. They had heard about the ministry of John but had not been taught about the Lord Jesus’ death and resurrection. When Paul explained these things to them, they accepted Christ and received the Holy Spirit (see Acts 19:1–7).

We need to understand that man is a tripartite being; that is, he has a threefold nature. In 1 Thessalonians 5:23 we read: "And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." Man has a body, a soul, and a spirit.

If you read very carefully the account of the creation of man in the Book of Genesis, you will find that physically, man was taken from the ground. There are about fifteen elements in the dirt which are made into our bodies. When we get through with our bodies, at the time of death, we will be moving out of them, and these bodies will return back to the earth. At the resurrection of the believer, the body will be raised a spiritual body. It is sown in corruption, and it is going to be raised in incorruption.

What happened to this physical man that God created? He was given what we would call a soul—but that word is often misunderstood. He was given the psychological part of himself; that is, that part which directs him in his approach to the physical universe. He gets hungry; so he goes and eats. He desires entertainment, and he provides that for himself. He may be a very generous individual, very amiable, very attractive, and he may have what we call charisma. Many unsaved people are like that. They are likable folk, and I sometimes wish that all believers were as gracious as some unsaved people whom I meet. Although unsaved folk can be very attractive on the surface, they are very different underneath, of course. This is man’s psychological nature.

But God also breathed into man’s breathing places the breath of life, or the wind, the pneuma, the spirit. This is man’s human spirit, and it is above the psychological. It is that which looks to God, that which longs for God, that which wants to worship.

Man, therefore, has a tripartite nature. He is a trinity: the body or the physical side, the soul or the psychological side, and the spirit or the pneumatic side. The psychological side is what Jude calls "sensual" here in verse 19.⁵

And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ; Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.

Philippians 1:9-11 (KJV)

⁶

Even falling short of the LORD through ignorance is not an excuse to continue rejecting the full knowledge of God and the Law of Moses provides for sin due to ignorance.

And if a soul sin, and commit any of these things which are forbidden to be done by the commandments of the Lord; though he wist it not, yet is he guilty, and shall bear his iniquity.

And he shall bring a ram without blemish out of the flock, with thy estimation, for a trespass offering, unto the priest: and the priest shall make an atonement for him concerning his ignorance wherein he erred and wist it not, and it shall be forgiven him.

It is a trespass offering: he hath certainly trespassed against the Lord.

Leviticus 5:17–19 (KJV)

This apparently had to do with breaking any of the commandments of God in ignorance. Ignorance of the law is no excuse. This is also true in civil law. In spite of the lack of knowledge of the commandment, the offender was guilty and was held liable.⁷

⁸

Oddly there is the idea that anyone who is a Christian has straight teeth, is never sick, and is always amply supplied with money and the best things in life.  If anyone is poor or has personal problems it is accepted that this is due to them being spiritually inferior and most likely not a Christian and incapable of becoming one.  Some take the opposite view and attach a certain holiness to those who are poor and continually falling into error and they alone possess the true mark of a Christian, always failing at anything they attempt to do.  These ideas are conveniences in many cases designed to limit the focus of people to manageable proportion based on commonly shared experience.  While the people who are weak or poor may have pitfalls and trials that some do not share, making judgments based on superficial circumstances that say nothing of the state of the soul, heart, and spirit of the believer is a mistake.  As W. E. Vine says, they need the help of Christians who are more mature and who are stronger.  A minister of God can help people find their bearings and facilitate the kind of decisions that may restore a person to mental, physical, and spiritual health.  Of course balance is needed and some have been taken advantage of by being naive about the kinds of people that set out to steal from the church or even rob the minister or members of a congregation.   Knowledge is still of paramount importance and seeking the full knowledge of God imperative.

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(Darby)  The Holy Bible, Darby, J. N., 1890 Darby Bible, (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.) 1995.

(NAB) The Holy Bible, The New American Bible, (Nashville, Tennessee: Confraternity of Christian Doctrine) 1997.

(KJV) The Holy Bible, The King James Authorized Version, Cambridge, Cambridge, 1769.

^{1, 4, 6, 7, 8}W. E. Vine, Collected Writings of W. E. Vine [computer file], electronic ed., Logos Library System, (Nashville: Thomas Nelson) 1997, ^©1996 by W. E. Vine Copyright Ltd. of Bath, England.

^{2, 5}J. Vernon McGee, Thru the Bible Commentary [computer file], electronic ed., Logos Library System, (Nashville: Thomas Nelson) 1997, ^©1981 by J. Vernon McGee.

³Luder Whitlock, Jr., executive director; R. C. Sproul, general editor, New Geneva Study Bible [computer file], electronic ed., Logos Library System, (Nashville: Thomas Nelson) 1997, ^©1995 by Foundation for Reformation.