“My people perish…”
If you are just now ‘tuning in’, please find a copy of the email I sent to the worship community at my blog
link: https://mycuprunnethover14.blogspot.com/2023/06/my-people-perish-can-you-complete-bible.html
Hosea 4:6 is the passage that was partially quoted: “My people are perishing/destroyed for lack
of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being
a priest to me. And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also
will forget your children.” A simple Google
search of what scripture passage tells us that God said His people will perish
could have helped an interested person find the answer quickly. Ancient words, yes, but eternally true! Don’t make the same
mistake that God’s people made in the past, but, rather, allow those ancient
words from God’s eternal Word to change you, your children and your children's children. You see, God is serious about, protective
of us, and has radical love for those who are called by His name to know Him
and His ways and Word. This past Sunday, the Pastor preached on that relationship
factor in our lives.
In the true story about Camp Lejeune, the people died from
lack of knowledge. They did not know that their water supply was poisoned by
toxic chemicals that activated dormant cancer cells or caused new cancers
within individuals. Back then, as now,
even the best water filters cannot filter out all toxic substances. They did not know the real reason why they were getting sick and dying. Back then, the fight against cancer was ongoing like it is now; new cancers and their causes took longer to identify and to source. In some cases, that is still very true. The people who
lived at, worked at, visited regularly, or otherwise had constant contact with
the base at Camp Lejeune and drank its coffee, tea, used ice cubes, or ate food from there that
was cooked with the contaminated water had no idea what they were consuming.
They lacked the knowledge about why they were becoming ill and dying. They did
not know. And, sadly, it is suspected that the knowledge of how the water was
being contaminated was not told to the people and the public immediately. Those
who had the knowledge or were given the information did not respond to the
urgency of what that knowledge and information implied. Thus, thousands of
lives were ruined, people died because of the lack of knowledge. The excruciating
suffering of thousands and their deaths were the horrific consequences of the
lack of knowledge.
Here is a brief background to the quotation from Hosea 4,
verse 6: God’s prophet Hosea had one of the most challenging assignments as a
prophet. Because the majority of God’s people in the nations of Israel and
Judah had turned to idol worship, had rejected God’s law for generations, God called
Hosea to marry an unfaithful wife to illustrate the unfaithfulness of His
people. God’s people had lost interest in things of God; they had turned His
festivals into drunken celebrations and mixed in with it worship of foreign
gods. The foreign gods from the countries around them fascinated God’s people
because of the carnal natures they
represented and promoted. Some of God's people even offered their children to the god Molech as burnt offerings, in order to appease the deity. God had warned His people from
“Day
1” (
Deuteronomy 27-29) of the consequences of worshiping other gods. Yet, they
did not heed God’s warnings, no doubt some of them counting on the game of "sketchy repentance for a while to get blessings from Yahweh," a game that they played way too often and actually thought God was stupid enough to believe! As a result, the majority of the people perished or were
destroyed because they rejected both God and the knowledge and counsel of God: Who He is, what He says,
and what He requires. In 721 B.C., the northern nation of Israel was destroyed
and those who survived the siege were hauled away like cattle. Outlying parts
of Judah were also terrorized; a number of Judah’s kings chose to ally
themselves with foreign countries and pay tribute to their gods for help, and
eventually setting up idols in God’s temple for the people to worship. Thus, a
little over one hundred years later, the Babylonian empire destroyed Judah,
demolishing the temple and carrying off what was left of its treasures that the
Judean kings had not offered to foreign gods and governments.
[It is interesting and compelling to me personally, even knowing why, that God would create a people, a nation upon whom He desired to pour out unheard of blessings and favors, yet knowing that a large number of those in the nation would reject God and His Word. And, that He would permanently record those experiences so that generations to come would have all the warning and information needed for a reasonable person to consider. ]
Here we are in the 21st century, surrounded by
idols and culture very much like God’s people in Hosea’s day. Inside of God’s
Church today, as it was with the called out people of God in Hosea's day, idolatry still takes place. Idols do not
have to be statues or pictures of ‘gods’. An idol is anything
that takes the place of God in our life. What might some idols be? Some have
made their careers an idol – they have placed their careers in a
position where their lives are consumed by it – they eat, drink and sleep – as the
saying goes – their jobs. Everything else becomes second. Perhaps sports and similar activities have
become an idol – how many hours a day are spent doing or watching sports,
working out, etc.? A number have made devices their idols – so that they have become
addicted to their phones and other communication or gaming devices; there
are some youths that have had murder in their hearts when parents or persons in
authority have taken away their devices. Pride and self-interest, and social
media have become idols – several hours are spent on self-absorbed activity
and/or on social media sites; many surf and scroll through their media sites/text
messages, or gaming during times of worship. Pride exalts oneself as the
supreme authority – ignoring, rejecting, and sometimes berating God and His Word
as outdated or not modern enough, and persons who are prideful are easily
offended. Family, certain cultural traditions that do not align with the Word of God; entertainments; money,
cigarettes – tobacco and marijuana, vaping; cocaine and other drugs that
produce psychotropic effects; sex and all versions of carnality including promoting
sexuality through appearance, through speech, etc.; gossip. These and other
behaviors and actions are the toxic things that persons professing Christ have
allowed into their own lives that have supplanted or caused over a course of
time and repetition, a rejection of God and His Word. The Jewish nations were
engaging in the 8th, 7th, and 6th century B.C. versions of the 21st century noted above. To use an old saying – same dance, different instrument. God has told the Church and members of it that there is no excuse for not knowing Him, and that those who falsely claim to know Him will be unknown by Him.
In the catechism contained in the Westminster Confession of
Faith, we are told that “The purpose of man is to glorify God and to enjoy
him forever.” We who have been saved and who are being sanctified by the Holy Spirit continually are a new creation of God - a people created by God and for God. Thus, we are obliged, very privileged to commune with God daily – through His Word, through
prayer and praise, and service. What if all of God’s people did this? What
would the Church look like? What would be the same? What would be different? God has called each member of His Church to be a priest
– that is, one who offers worship to God, glorifies Him, serves Him, serves
others. In 1 Peter, chapter 2, verses 1-12 we read about our identity in
Christ. Did anyone who is reading this and who is a part of God’s Church know
that the calling of God on all of His people was to be a priest? This is not to
be confused with the terms used by denominations to describe clergy or ministerial leaders. The priesthood that God has called all
His people to is one based on the knowledge and authority of God and His Word,
and the purposes and commandments of
how to live out our faith in that role as described in Peter's letter.
Just as in the days of Hosea, the devil, satan, knows
scripture better than many churchgoers or persons professing Christianity. Some
people shirk off reading and studying scripture because what God says in it is the
opposite of what they want to do, and/or they think that God’s Word is so
old-fashioned, that it has little to do with our lives today. And that is just
the position that the devil wants us in. That is why so many churchgoers are
filled with false knowledge, why so many barely resemble Christ
in their thoughts, actions, and character. They do not know or they choose to reject knowledge
of God and His Word, and instead seek to glorify self, satisfy self by whatever
means at hand, and even do so in a way that they think they are giving God
praise and worship!
Sadly, Hosea’s warnings are going unread and unheard - even in His Church. God's Word is being 'reinterpreted', being changed, out of the mouths of those who have chosen to rebel against God. Those who solely self-identify as people of God in their own eyes are perishing, because they are ignorantly rejecting God and snubbing
His Word for reasons such as told to me: "I already went to Sunday School when I was a kid", "I don't want to be embarrassed because I don't know as much as other people", "I don't have time; I'm a mother and stay busy", among other seemingly 'good reasons'. The rejection continues despite how many times they have heard it and have even been in the company of those who are anointed by God's Holy Spirit; the sad consequences of which are always eternal if repentance does not
occur. Those victims in Camp Lejeune did not know and were not told that the
water was contaminated with cancer-causing chemicals. They did not know why they kept getting sick. It would be decades
before the truth came to light, and persons were made knowledgeable about their
situation. Unlike humans, God has not withheld the truth from anyone. It has been spoken and recorded in His Word for
thousands of years. Anything we face and encounter today has been
illustrated, spoken to, and has had principles established for it within the
pages of scripture; the Bible doesn't have to be made relevant - it has always been relevant to any and every generation. We who disbelieve or who want something more palatable are the ones that are irrelevant before God! That should make us shake in our boots.
Today, as you read God’s Word, heed the warning God has
given through Hosea. Repent of the choice to reject God and His Word, and seek
forgiveness and mercy from God. Ask Him to show you His cleansing truth and
allow you to experience it, to address your needs and situation, to answer your
questions, to draw closer to Him.
"O that today you would hear His voice and not harden your hearts!" (paraphrased from Hebrews 4:7)
