4:6Hosea 4:6

God's people are destroyed for lack of knowledge because they reject knowledge and forget the law of God, and therefore He rejects them from serving as priests to Him and forgets their children.4SP 64.3+2 The lack is not mere ignorance but rejection or neglect of light already received, for truth understood and then refused brings condemnation and greater responsibility.PK 281.3+2 It includes ignorance of the special truths for the time, of gospel truth and of Christ, and of God's requirements and the binding claims of His law.ST Dec 8, 1887+4 Those who have received light and knowledge are responsible to warn and teach those who have not heard it, and neglecting that duty leaves souls to perish in darkness and brings their blood upon the negligent.ST Dec 8, 1887+3 It also includes ignorance of the laws of life and health, for willfully remaining ignorant of how to relieve and prevent disease and obey nature's laws weakens body, mind, and morals and brings physical death and spiritual loss.1T 552.2–3+4

God's people are destroyed for lack of knowledge because they rejected knowledge and forgot the law of God, so He rejects them from serving as priests to Him and forgets their children.4SP 64.3+4 The lack is not mere ignorance but deliberate turning away from what was given, and the rejection brings judgment, humiliation, and captivity upon those who persist in turning from His law.PK 297.1+2 In the surrounding judgment increasing sin brings shame in place of glory, with punishment for ways and repayment for doings.PK 281.3 This was fulfilled when banishing God's Word under Roman Catholic power produced ignorance of Scripture, lawlessness, and moral and intellectual decline, with the Scriptures almost unknown to people and priests, the light that would expose sin hated, and God's law as the standard of righteousness removed.4SP 64.3+2 Banishing the Word produced unlimited exercise of power, unrestrained vice, fraud, avarice, profligacy and debauchery among popes and prelates, unchecked crime for wealth and position, and centuries without progress in learning, arts, or civilization under moral and intellectual paralysis.GC 60.2–3

The word was spoken to the priests and teachers of ancient Israel and stands as a solemn warning to the church and its leaders today.COL 306.2–4 Warnings from God must not be passed by unheeded and opportunities for service must not be left unimproved.COL 306.2–4 Professed followers of Christ must not let the world's scorn, the pride of reason, and conformity to human customs and traditions keep them from service to Him, nor reject God's word as the Jewish leaders rejected Christ, for the result of Israel's sin shows what follows.COL 306.2–4

Forgetting the law means trampling upon God's law instituted in Eden when the foundations of the earth were laid and supposing it does not matter if it is not kept.Ms 163, 1897, par. 24–26 It means rejecting God's memorial given that man might honor the living God who made the world in six days and sanctified and blessed the day of His rest.Ms 163, 1897, par. 24–26 Blinded by error, men take their words from the lips of priests and human lawmakers who make human laws and force the people to accept them, saying the whole world keeps Sunday and asking why so few should not do according to the laws of the land.Ms 163, 1897, par. 24–26 Israel's refusal to heed the prophets' teaching about the value of God's law led to humiliation and captivity, and in trial and affliction they had to learn what they had refused to learn under more favorable conditions.RH Feb 26, 1914

Israel's destruction and captivity came because the people rejected the knowledge of God and persistently turned away from His law.PK 297.1+1 Forgetting His law brought divine rejection and the humiliation that followed.PK 297.1+1 That rejection cost them their standing to serve as priests to Him.PK 281.3+2 They had refused to heed the teaching of the prophets concerning the value of God's law, and therefore humiliation and captivity overtook them, so that in trial and affliction they had to learn what they had refused to learn under more favorable conditions.RH Feb 26, 1914

The lack was not mere ignorance, but rejection of knowledge given and forgetting the law of God.PK 281.3+1 Because they rejected what they had been given, He rejected them from serving as priests and declared He would forget their children.PK 281.3+1 In the surrounding judgment their increasing sin turned glory into shame, with punishment for their ways and repayment for their doings.PK 281.3+1 Priests fed upon the sin of the people and set their heart on iniquity, and people and priests alike were punished for their ways.Ms 60, 1900, par. 17–18

Rejecting the knowledge of God and forgetting His law brings ruin and divine rejection, with the rejecters cast off and their children left to suffer the consequences.4SP 64.3+1 That pattern was fulfilled in the condition of the world under Roman Catholic power, where banishing God's Word produced ignorance of Scripture and lawlessness.4SP 64.3+1 The near-absence of Scripture in that setting fulfilled the lack of knowledge, and its result was moral and intellectual decline.4SP 64.3+1

Under Romish power the Scriptures were almost unknown alike to people and to priests.GC 60.2–3 The light that would have exposed sin was hated, and God's law as the standard of righteousness was removed.GC 60.2–3 Banishing the word of God opened the way for unlimited exercise of power and unrestrained vice.GC 60.2–3 Fraud, avarice, profligacy and debauchery prevailed among popes and prelates, while crime committed for wealth and position went unchecked.GC 60.2–3 For centuries there was no progress in learning, arts or civilization, because moral and intellectual paralysis held Christendom fast.GC 60.2–3

Lack of knowledge comes when false shepherds turn men away from the laws of God's kingdom to exalt their own theories and suppositions in opposition to God's law.Ms 60, 1900, par. 17–18 That course produces prevailing impiety and growing wickedness, with increase only bringing increased sin against God.Ms 60, 1900, par. 17–18 Glory is then turned to shame, as priests feed upon the sin of the people and set their heart on iniquity, so that people and priests alike are punished for their ways and repaid for their doings.Ms 60, 1900, par. 17–18 The work of such shepherds reacts upon themselves when God's judgment falls upon mystic Babylon.Ms 60, 1900, par. 17–18

The destruction is not from simple ignorance but from rejecting knowledge and forgetting the law of God, and those who reject what they have been given are themselves rejected from serving as priests, with warning that their children will be forgotten.PK 281.3 God's people perish not merely because knowledge is missing but because the light they have received is rejected or neglected, and truth that has been understood and then refused brings condemnation and greater responsibility.PK 281.3+1 Religious knowledge increases obligation and will not save unless it is lived and shared, so the warning calls each person to confess and forsake sin and return to God.2T 123.2

Each person is judged according to the light presented, whether or not it is plain to them, and all are responsible to investigate truth as the Bereans searched the Scriptures.SLP 87.2 Those who never received that light are not condemned for rejecting it, but those who have received it are accountable for living by it, sharing it with others, confessing and forsaking sin, and returning to God.SLP 87.2+1 The lack that destroys includes ignorance of the special truths for the time, both at home and in other lands.ST Dec 8, 1887 It is lack of present truth for which those who have received its light are responsible to warn others of coming judgment, and lack of eternal truth that now leaves many perishing.5T 10.3+1

The lack is also want of knowledge of gospel truth and of Christ, while the world all around lies in darkness perishing for that lack.RH Mar 31, 1910+1 Therefore God's people must stand before the world as a holy, commandment-keeping people, forgiven and accepted as children of the Most High, revealing Christ in practical Christianity and bearing witness by sanctified lives to the message that calls men out of darkness into marvelous light.RH Mar 31, 1910 Those who would rescue the perishing must be faithful students with eyes, ears, and understanding open to receive wisdom from God, that they may know how to help souls, draw them to Christ, recover men from Satan's snare, and bind them to God through Jesus Christ whose throne is encircled with the rainbow of promise.CEv 63.2+2 The lack includes ignorance of God's requirements and the binding claims of His law, for which people need the Word of God and instruction, and God is waiting to give them light through His Word.Lt 84, 1907, par. 12 It includes ignorance of the harmony of biblical truth, which those who fear God will recognize and obey.Lt 16, 1879, par. 20–21

Those who have received light and knowledge from God are responsible to warn and teach those who have not heard it, including the special truths for the time both at home and in other lands and the present truth about coming judgment.ST Dec 8, 1887+4 God will call them to account in the judgment for how they use the knowledge entrusted to them, and neglecting that duty brings accountability.5T 10.3+2 The blood of those who perish rests upon the garments of the negligent.5T 10.3+1 Sinners remain in ignorance and darkness unless men carry to them the light of truth, for God will not send angels from heaven to do this work but has left it for man to do.3T 390.2–391.3+1 Souls around God's professed people are destroyed through the indifference, ease, and sense of irresponsibility of those who make a high profession, who come in contact with them yet never warn them, never pray with or for them, and never make earnest efforts to present the truth to them.MC 52.2

People perish when those responsible for teaching them fail to give proper instruction, as when neglectful ministers serve themselves instead of feeding and caring for the flock.ST Jan 1, 1894 In these last days there is a great work to be done in a short time, and souls are in danger and perish for lack of light and knowledge while they remain without it.3T 37.3+2 Delay in getting ready to act leaves them to perish, so the need to share light and knowledge is urgent.3T 37.3+1 Those who would rescue the perishing must be faithful students keeping eyes, ears, and understanding open to receive wisdom from God so they know how to help souls and draw them to Christ.CEv 63.2+2 They are to concentrate energies and powers for the highest of all service, to recover men from the snare of Satan and bind them to God by making the chain of dependence through Jesus Christ fast to the throne encircled with the rainbow of promise.CEv 63.2+1

That perishing condition calls for preaching the gospel as it should be preached, in disinterested love for souls without knowledge.RH Mar 6, 1900 It calls for stronger faith made firm by exercise, for an upward influence in every sanitarium and school for uplifting men and magnifying present truth, and for physicians and every worker to awake to real issues and individual responsibility.Lt 140, 1906, par. 25–28 They are to use speech, pen, and service to impress, convince, and convert minds, giving mind and soul and voice to proclaim the truth as it is in Christ Jesus and to show unbelievers strength in God.Lt 140, 1906, par. 25–28 They are to sow seeds of truth everywhere and wake the watchmen to bear the message with power, because the day of the Lord is upon us and increased experience comes in proportion to trust in God.Lt 140, 1906, par. 25–28 Want of knowledge leaves people suffering while God's workers are two-thirds asleep to duty.Lt 4a, 1879, par. 8

Those who see this must cry to God in faith for Him to pour out His light and grace through the channels He has appointed for good to those suffering for want of knowledge.Lt 4a, 1879, par. 8 They must pray and watch with earnest diligence to suppress wrong and stand guard against dissipation and fashionable errors, and lay hold by living faith of the strength that can bless all their labors.Lt 4a, 1879, par. 8 In this way they may gather light, knowledge, and power, and their influence for God will become diffusive beyond any boundary they can set.Lt 4a, 1879, par. 8 The verse lays responsibility on young men who have every facility for gaining an education in both science and religion, though Jesus died for the world and souls are perishing for want of knowledge.Ms 134, 1898, par. 17–18 Blood-bought time and privileges must not be spent in careless, unconcerned, indifferent self-gratification while churches hold unsanctified talent and the work is crippled in all its branches for want of men to teach the truth to others.Ms 134, 1898, par. 17–18

What is needed is cultivated youth, sanctified, refined, and ennobled by truth brought into the inmost recesses of the soul, as daily learners in the school of Christ.Ms 134, 1898, par. 17–18 With hearts subdued by grace, ability refined and purified to do God's will, and lips touched with holy fire that burns its way to hearts, they are to consecrate to God time, talents, and every jot of ability to carry the already-begun work forward and upward.Ms 134, 1898, par. 17–18 Many in towns, cities, unworked cities, and fields near at hand are perishing in awful peril because they lack knowledge of the truth they never received.Ms 4, 1913, par. 6+2 Thousands who do not know the truth are in danger and can be helped by those who teach them from the Bible, especially by working for one's own people, as with thousands among the oppressed, discouraged people in the colored States perishing for lack of knowledge of Bible truth and the message of truth.9T 199.3+2

The knowledge God has been pleased to give, with opportunities and advantages granted, creates a debt to the Lord to be paid by glorifying Him and promoting the interests of those people by opening the Bible and teaching them the truth.Lt 4, 1901, par. 8–11 One who submits himself to God so that God can use him as His instrument can help and save them, and this is his work to do for his fellows.Lt 4, 1901, par. 8–11 Those who know must not sleep in indifference but feel a burden, use God-given ability with purpose, go out into new fields, gain experimental knowledge in seeking to save, and by example lead others to unite in labor, opening the Bible, lifting the message where never lifted, and connecting medical missionary work with ministry.9T 199.3+4

The lack of knowledge that destroys is ignorance of how to relieve and prevent disease, of the laws of life and how to obey them, especially for those too poor to seek instruction at a health institute.1T 552.2–3 It includes ignorance of the effects of disregarding nature's laws, about which light is compassionately given with the blessings of obedience and the punishment following transgression.RH Nov 12, 1901 It includes ignorance of how bodily habits affect health, character, usefulness, and eternal destiny, since wrong habits weaken physical, mental, and moral powers and cloud the ability to weigh truth, understand God's requirements, value the atonement, and study His Word, so that those who have received light about health reform are responsible to share it with those still suffering for lack of it.RH Apr 30, 1914

Destruction for lack of knowledge includes physical death from willfully staying ignorant of the laws of the body and of the health-reform light given for human benefit.Lt 136, 1902, par. 16+1 Those who remain willfully ignorant of the health principles given may die because they fail to learn and follow the laws of their bodies.16MR 343.4+1 Many now in their graves would still be alive if they had used precious time to seek and obtain that light, and those who know the truth are to study health reform so they can teach it and help the sick.16MR 343.4+1

People everywhere are perishing in physical and spiritual disease for lack of the truths committed to God's people.RH Jul 29, 1902 The church has been enlightened by that truth and must awaken to impart it through medical missionary work, walking in the light as reformers and light bearers to the world, for to hide that light is a terrible mistake.RH Jul 29, 1902 Those who have received light on health reform have a duty to show concern for people who suffer because they lack that knowledge and to help them.CH 50.3

Multitudes are perishing for lack of knowledge as the fruit of nearly six thousand years of continual transgression that has brought sickness, pain, and death.CT 467.2–3 The world is full of weak, helpless, ignorant, degraded people who need to be ministered to, and the need for teaching and healing was never greater.CT 467.2–3 God's ministers, touched by the awful results of long-continued sin, must labor as Christ and His disciples labored, connected with the divine Healer to teach and heal in the power of His might.CT 467.2–3 The gospel is the only antidote for sin, and pointing the afflicted to the Lamb of God brings transforming grace, miracle-working power, and revealed salvation.CT 467.2–3