Knowledge is a kind of relationship with the truth. To have knowledge means to know or be aware of things. Knowledge is understanding gained through learning or experience. Take any given person, there will be some things that they know, and some things that they don't know. It is the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject.
We are living in a time when the explosion of knowledge is all around us. Who would have believed that the internet would transform the way business is done. We are truly living in a technological age. The explosion of knowledge affects our lives in every way possible. People around the world are busy churning out new ways and ideas daily. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is everywhere. We can expect to see more sophisticated AI applications and algorithms becoming real in organizations. According to Forbes, parts of the metaverse will become real. In fact, Microsoft and Nvidia are already developing metaverse platforms for collaborating on digital projects. Also according to Forbes, there is an emerging bridge between the digital and physical worlds, and this trend will continue. There are two components of this merger: digital twin technology and 3D printing,
The point here is, knowledge is powerful when you apply it. To have knowledge and sit on it is useless. Bill Gates and Steve Jobs dropped out of college, yet they clung to knowledge, rather than allow their knowledge to fall to the waste side, they applied it meaningfully and today we have the two companies, Microsoft and Apple. Their inventions have changed and revolutionized the way we work and live.
People around the world are seeking knowledge to improve lives and new ways of doing things. As Christians, we must have the same zeal as we seek to understand God's Word. How do we do this? By attending church on a regular basis, as well as attending Sunday School and Bible Study. Of course we must study Scripture and seek to understand what the holy book of God means. As we read the Word and hear the Word, we gain the knowledge of what it is that God expects of us.
The Israelites did not have to go to school or college to acquire God's revealed knowledge. God made available to them the civil law, moral law, and the ecclesiastical law. God called prophets, who received God's Word and delivered it to the people. Also, God had the priesthood from the line of Aaron. The priests ministered to the people and made intercession unto God on their behalf.
The Hebrew people had a historical perspective of God with the Old Testament writings, and like people today, they had an experiential knowledge pertaining to their God and what He expected of them. Proverbs 9:10 states, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding." Therefore, once you acquired knowledge of God, your understanding of Him becomes more clearer.
Historically, all of us are familiar with the call of Moses and him delivering the people from the hand of Pharaoh, and their wandering in the wilderness for 40 years, because of their disobedience. Let's not forget that God fought their battles, gave them a homeland, watched over them as a cloud by day and a fire by night, and through it all, as one generation died, their history was passed on to the next generation. They sinned and God allowed other nations to chastised them, but He did not forsake them. According to the Abrahamic Covenant, God said "I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all people on earth will be blessed through you" (Genesis 4:2-3).
But something happened to Israel, the Bible states, "After that generation died, another generation grew up who did not acknowledge the Lord or remember the mighty things he had done for Israel. They abandoned the Lord, the God of their ancestors, who had brought them out of Egypt" (Judges 2:10,12). There are consequences for disobedience. The consequences were death, destruction, and degradation.
In the Book of Hosea, beginning in the fourth chapter, Hosea points out the moral and spiritual decay of the nation of Israel. He describes the punishment awaiting them and pleads with them to return to God. Listen to the word of the Lord:
"Hear the word of the Lord, ye children of Israel: for the Lord hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land. By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth blood. Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth therein shall languish, with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven; yea, the fishes of the sea also shall be taken away. Yet let no man strive, nor reprove another: for thy people are as they that strive with the priest. Therefore shalt thou fall in the day, and the prophet also shall fall with thee in the night, and I will destroy thy mother. My 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: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children" (Hosea 4:1-6).
The kingdom of Israel was divided, the ten tribes in the Northern kingdom had their king and they were called Israel. The two tribes in the Southern kingdom had their king and they were called Judah. The Northern Kingdom rebelled against the house of David under Jeroboam (1 Kings 12,13). At that time, they reverted back to the worship of idols. God sent Hosea to reprove the people for their immorality, as well as idolatry. If the people refused to hear the words of the prophets, then God's judgment against the people would be forth coming. God had a controversy with the people and if they persisted, God's consequences would be their captivity by the Assyrians.
Hosea called the people to silence as though they were in a courtroom. Hosea begins to read the indictment, "Hear the word of the Lord, ye children of Israel; the Lord hath controversy with the inhabitant of the land." Now, Hosea read forth the charges, "There is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land." The people had sunk to an all time low. The Prophet Micah states, "He hath shown thee, O man what is good and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God" (Micah 6:8).
The people had gone contrary to what their God required of them. They had become very sinful, swearing, lying, killing, stealing, adultery, and so on. The commandments of God meant nothing to them. Because of their continued sin, the land mourn, the ecosystem was suffering. The prophets and priests were all about personal gain. Therefore the people were not being lead to God, but away from God. Scripture states, "My people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge; because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me, seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children."
Both priests and prophets were blamed because of their willful lack of knowledge. You can only do better when you know better. Those who were responsible for giving out the Word was only concern about getting richer. They had forgotten the Law of God and went about doing their own thing. The more the people sinned, the more sin offerings the priest greedily received. So like people, like priest, they were both corrupt.
The children of Israel was accused of having a "lack of knowledge of God." When we sin, we sense that separation from God. As we continue in sin, a gap between you and God is developed. The Bible clearly tells us that the penalty for sin is death. Israel was accused of not only having a "lack of knowledge of God," and there was no truth, no mercy in them. So they lied, killed, stole, and committed adultery.
Those that desire to know God, will, "In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight" (Proverbs 3:6). Knowledge is not enough to please God, it is when we respond to knowledge and do God's will, that knowledge is beneficial. Knowledge is not just knowing God, but doing the will of God. Knowledge about God should bring about obedience to God. It should be about, "Your will Lord, not mine." Knowledge about God should bring us closer to Him, understanding the bond between the Creator and the creature. Knowledge of God brings with it responsibility and an accountability. You have no excuse for falling short of His expectations.
In short, God still require of us, truth, mercy, and knowledge. The Word is God's truth. We are to seek Him daily in our lives. He is the truth, the way, and the life. If you don't show mercy then don't seek mercy. We are who we are today because of God's mercy, His unmerited love toward us. God is a merciful God and His truth will endure through all generations. Proverbs 1:7 states, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction." Timothy 2:15 states, "Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that neededth not to be ashamed rightly dividing the word of truth." So remember a lack of knowledge destroys, it does not build up. God's Word is not hidden today. He is revealed in His Word. He is coming back to received those who honored His Word through their obedience to His Word.