Greetings. This is Pastor David Bass at New Geneva Orthodox Presbyterian Church with a moment of truth where we challenge you to think through an important issue of life and faith. Today, what did the prophet Hosea mean for Israel that my people perish for a lack of knowledge? And what does it mean for us here in the 21st century of American life? Perhaps you've heard this verse before.

It is cited from time to time by preachers and statesmen and commentators to lend weight to a more general point, perhaps, that Americans are ill-informed and that if they only had the right information, oftentimes that means listening to this particular commentator or preacher in question like me, well, if they had the right information, then they would have the right knowledge and they'd be able to think right, vote right, and live right. But does this exhaust the meaning of Hosea chapter 4, verse 6, my people perish for a lack of knowledge? I would suggest to you that it has never been more pertinent to America than it is today.

First of all, we must ask what kind of knowledge is God speaking of when he says my people perish for a lack of knowledge? Sailors perished at sea from scurvy for generations for the lack of knowledge that they had a vitamin C deficiency. General Custer and his men perished at Little Bighorn for a lack of knowledge that the Plains tribes had gathered en masse for war. Whole societies have perished from famine for a lack of knowledge that the exhausted soils by failing to rotate their crops, among other factors. So it is possible to perish from a lack of knowledge.

But is this what God means when he proclaims through Hosea, my people perish for a lack of knowledge? Is the lack of knowledge he's speaking of a bare ignorance of certain pertinent facts? And I say to you, no, it is not that here. If you read this statement in its context, always important to do when you're dealing with scripture. If you do read this statement, my people perish for a lack of knowledge, in its context, you know that the people are dying for not knowing the Lord.

Not knowing the Lord. This is the kind of knowledge that they lack. Back in verse one of this very chapter, the text says, the Lord has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land. There is no faithfulness or steadfast love and no knowledge of God in the land. Bingo.

This is the knowledge of which Hosea speaks, the knowledge of God in the land. Dear listener, this is the first and prior of all knowledge that is to know the Lord. This is that knowledge that America lacks too, for that matter, the knowledge by which in the lack of America perishes. America is perishing for a lack of knowledge of God. And God can be known as a person.

This text also implicates that God can be known as a person, the person. And this kind of knowledge is ensconced in what we call the Immanuel principle. Immanuel means God with us. And there is a God with us principle all through the scriptures, dear listener. I hope your eyes are attuned to this now.

There is, for example, one of my favorite texts. There's many, many texts that outline the Immanuel principle. But one of my favorites is from Jeremiah chapter 31. And it includes the promise of the new covenant. And in it, Jeremiah says, I will put my law within them and I will write it on their hearts and I will be their God and they shall be my people.

Oh, the precious Immanuel principle. I will be their God and they shall be my people. He goes on to say, and no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother saying, know the Lord. Here's the knowledge of the Lord right there, isn't it? Know the Lord, for they shall all know me from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord, for I will forgive their iniquity and I will remember their sin no more.

Unquote. This sense of knowledge, the knowledge of God is critical to understanding the Bible, dear listener. It is not a bare comprehension of facts. It is not a shallow acquaintance one may have with a neighbor. It's not a simple recognition of something you've seen before.

No, the knowledge of God in the Bible is deep and personal and intimate. Indeed, involving covenant faithfulness, the bond of covenantal love. We know this from how knowledge is used in personal relationships throughout the Bible. For example, Genesis 4, as early as Genesis 4, now Adam knew his wife and she conceived and bore Cain. As well in Hosea, later on in the book of Hosea, chapter 13, where God says, I am the Lord, your God from the land of Egypt.

You know no other God but me, and besides me, there is no Savior. It was I who knew you in the wilderness, in the land of drought. Yeah, I hear that knowledge, isn't it? That intimate, personal, deep relationship is reciprocal too. Israel knew no God, but Yahweh, and Yahweh in turn knew them in the wilderness.

That is just not a bare recognition as a, hi, how are you? Oh, you're Israel kind of knowledge. No, it was a knowledge that knew them to love them so as to provide for them water and food and guidance and protection throughout the wilderness. And then our own Lord in the New Testament, he says this, not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven. And then I will say to them, I never knew you.

Depart from me, you workers of lawlessness. And this is not just a bare recognition either, a facial recognition. No, this is a knowledge that is deep and true and loving. And these, Christ never knew in that sense. Well, the knowledge of God in the Bible is deep and personal and intimate.

To know in the Bible is to love so as to act in deep, personal, intimate ways. It does so out of covenantal faithfulness and obedience too. These are not mutually exclusive things. That is covenantal faithfulness and obedience along with deep, personal, intimate love, but they are rather requisite. If you're going to love truly, you will be faithful.

You will be obedient. This is the kind of knowledge that America lacks, dear listener, the knowledge of the Lord. So when I use this verse, my people perish for a lack of knowledge. This is what I mean. This is the prior to all knowledge, the knowledge of God, the knowledge of the Lord.

It is the kind of knowledge that politicians and statesmen and preachers and commentators should have in mind when they use these words, my people perish for a lack of knowledge. We perish for a lack of knowledge of the Lord. It is the kind of knowledge that used to suffuse the hearts and minds of Americans, listener. So much so was it that even our founders could characterize us as a Christian nation. We knew the Lord so well.

George Washington says this, Providence, that is the hand of God, Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers and it is the duty as well as the privilege and interest of our Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers. Oh, uh-oh. Can I say that anymore? Facebook and Google would probably ban me for doing so, but it's true. We have in our past been characterized as a Christian nation.

And if we preferred Christians for rulers, we'd have more character in Congress instead of more characters in Congress. Isn't that true? And this, that is, we should prefer Christians for our rulers. This we should assert despite our holy trinity of progressivism, which is tolerance, diversity, and radical egalitarianism. This bans this kind of thinking, doesn't it?

But once more, as I have articulated clearly in other sermons, we owe the very values and virtues of tolerance, diversity, and egalitarianism in their proper form and perspective, that is, to Christianity. Our founders assumed as a working principle that America was a Christian nation. And so did entire branches of early governments. Huh.

In reflecting upon the early colonial charters and their purposes, that is, that these colonial charters, the colonies were founded for the glory of God and the advancement of the Christian faith, as the Mayflower Compact states, while the Supreme Court of 1892, in the case Church of Holy Trinity versus the United States, in reflecting on these colonial charters, they tediously go through charter after charter, and then the Supreme Court, I'm sorry, excuse me, the Supreme Court of 1892 concludes, and I quote, there is a universal language prevailing them all, having one meaning. They affirm and reaffirm that this is a religious nation.

These are not individual sayings, declarations of private persons. They are organic utterances. They speak the voice of the entire people, unquote. The entire people spoke in colonial America that they were a Christian people. And then, as early, as one early American historian, Benjamin Franklin Morris, by name, who published his book in 1864, he had this to say in summary about America.

He says, this is a Christian nation, first in name, and second because of the many and mighty elements of a pure Christianity, which have given it character and shaped its destiny from the beginning. The chief security and glory of the United States of America has been, has been, now is, and will be forever, the prevalence and domination of the Christian faith, unquote. That's pretty bold. You can't say that on Google or Facebook either, can you, today? Well, I have only begun to document for you that indeed America used to thrive in an abundance of knowledge.

Now we perish for a lack of knowledge. Make no mistake about it, dear listener, that knowledge is the knowledge of God as well. That knowledge of God as well is deep, personal, and intimate, bound closely with covenant faithfulness and obedience. It is to this knowledge that we must return, dear listener, as a nation. It is to this knowledge that we must cling as a nation.

But to date, as the prophet Hosea says, my people perish for a lack of knowledge, and there is a cause for this lack of knowledge too. There is indeed a discernible cause for this lack of knowledge. And Hosea as well puts his finger on it. He says as well in this chapter, the Lord has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, yet let no one contend, let no one accuse, for with you is my contention, O priest. Oh, brother pastor, if you're listening, it is with us that God has his contention.

Not kings, not prophets, not the pagan soothsayers, no, but it was with the priests of the land that God had his contention. It is to their charge that he lays the blame for the people's lack of knowledge. It is to them, the priests, the pastors of the land at that time, that he says, my people perish for a lack of knowledge. And because you, that is the priests, have rejected knowledge, that is the knowledge of God. He says, I reject you from bringing a priest to me, unquote.

Oh, is your knowledge increasing, dear listener? Do you begin to see the fuller context? The priests, the pastors were the teachers of Israel. They were the ones who were to teach the knowledge of the Lord. For example, to Aaron and his sons, God says, you are to teach the people of Israel all the statutes that the Lord has spoken to them by Moses.

The final words of Moses to the Levites were, they shall teach Jacob your rules and Israel your law. By this knowledge of the word, people would come to know God. And that's how God works, isn't it? It's still true today. Pastors serve this priestly function today.

That's our role, if you're listening, dear pastor, to teach the people. The priests of the land were those who not only interceded for the people at the altar of God, because indeed, Moses did charge the Levites, they shall put incense before you and hold burnt offerings on your altar. But also, the priests made the people to understand God's word so that they might obey and come to know this God, the knowledge of God, for the lack of which the people perish. When Nehemiah, for example, called all of the returnees from Babylon to Israel to hear the reading of the book of the law, the Torah, who was it who exegeted the text?

Nehemiah says in chapter eight, the Levites helped the people to understand the law, that is the priests. The Levites helped the people to understand the law while the people remained in their places. They read from the book, from the law of God clearly, and they gave the sense so that the people understood the reading. They gave the sense. The Greek word there is the Greek word from which we derive our word to exegete, that is to draw out the meaning.

Oh, the priests, the Levites gave the sense. They drew out the meaning of the text for the people. Behold the mandate of the priest under the old covenant, and as well, behold the mandate of the pastor under the new covenant. As well, behold the condemnation of Hosea to false priests. He says, my people perish for a lack of knowledge, and because you, that is the priest, have rejected knowledge, that is the knowledge of God, I reject you from being a priest to me.

And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I will forget your children. Oh, the priests and pastors of Hosea's day, they neglected their teaching, their knowing of God function, because they were too busy satisfying their appetites at the expense of the people. Hosea goes on to say, they feed, that is the pastors feed on the sin of my people. They are greedy for their iniquity, unquote. Because indeed in this day, by this time, the people of Israel had lapsed into idolatry and all of the corruption and debauchery that that entailed.

Hosea says that the priests saw it and they were hungry. They were greedy for that very same corruption and debauchery, the wine, women, and song of the pagan festivities and the worship of them as well. The priests pursued as eagerly as the people. Oh, what then? What then?

Oh, what was God's judgment against these pastors, dear listener? Hosea says, it shall be like people, like priests. I shall punish them for their ways and I will repay them for their deeds, unquote. Oh, what a judgment, like people, like priests. God's judgment against these false pastors was that they would become like the people they so envied for their wickedness.

It would be a punishment and judgment too, not a relief and a reward. This fate of the priests is exactly 180 degrees opposite of their role. Priests were to be leaders, not followers. The true model should be like priests, like people. The model at the time of Hosea, like people, like priests.

And Jesus too was fond of telling his disciples the same truth. That is, like teacher, like student, right? The student is not above his teacher, Jesus says. And like master, like servant. The servant will be like his master, Jesus says.

This he would do, Jesus, especially when he wished to underline the certainty of suffering for the disciples' future. Well, the true pastoral model is that of Jesus and Hosea. That is, like priests, like people. Pastors as well, under the new covenant, are to be leaders out in front, sometimes halting the advance of the people when its direction is wrong, telling them things they may not want to hear, not following them in their error. Pastors are to declare clearly, this is the way, walk ye in it, not, which way are you guys going?

Okay, I'm right behind you. That's the Obama model of leadership, leading from behind. We see where that has gotten us to in the world, right? And you also see where it gets to the United States of America when her pastors lead from behind, like the priests of Israel. For many of us, dear pastors, I'm speaking to myself, too.

I look in the mirror when I say this. For many of us, it is like people like pastor. We are so afraid of offending too many people, they'll just go down the street to another church. Or we're afraid of preaching the whole counsel of God. We like to stroke people's ears.

So many of us just like to pet and stroke our congregation rather than prodding and poking them from time to time. We are not only to comfort the afflicted, but sometimes we are to afflict the comfortable as well. Pastor, this is on us. If you're listening, dear pastor, I'm speaking to you as a brother, this is on us. Rather than crying crocodile tears and wringing our hands and pointing the finger at the people for the sad spiritual state of the nation, perhaps we ought to look first to our own house.

This is on us. God holds us, pastors, responsible for this mess. The Lord has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, all right. For with you is my contention, oh pastor. If we are not preaching Christ crucified first, foremost, and boldly, then with us is God's contention.

If we are not preaching Christ alone, by grace alone, through faith alone, based on scripture alone, then with us is God's contention, dear pastor. If we are letting the worldling dictate our worship styles, that is the seeker who is an unbeliever basically, and worship is for the believer, not the unbeliever, if we are letting this worldling, the seeker dictate our worship styles with the mick music and mick praying and mick sermons, well then with us is God's contention.

If we're still preaching blood, moon, buffoon, balderdash, dear pastor, if we're still preaching revelation, red heifer, rapture, rigmarole, if we're still preaching, oh pastor, end time prophecy with no end in sight, then with us is God's contention, this hobby horse of eschatology. If we are not preaching God's true economy with man, if we're preaching, for example, dispensationalism, instead of preaching God's true economy with man, that is covenant, then with us is God's contention.

If we are not preaching Christians' obligations under the civil covenant, for example, that is to do all within our power to ensure godly culture, society, and government, then with us is God's contention. Because dear pastor, if you do not know this already, if you do not know this by now, God has dealt with us under four great covenants. Four great covenants, many, many other covenants under them, but there are four great ones. There is, first of all, the covenant of creation. Indeed, the covenant in the covenant of creation, God made with the creature who bore his image, man, a true bond.

This bond of the covenant of creation, God made with the creature who bore his image, that is, Adam. God made all of creation out of nothing and put it all under someone, that is, our first father, Adam. And under the covenant of creation, he gave him the dominion mandate, which is from Genesis 128, that is, be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth. The creation covenant, the second covenant, great covenant that he has made that still endures today is the covenant of marriage.

This bond God makes between the man and the woman, between the husband and the wife. And he says in Genesis, this at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. Therefore, a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife and they shall become one flesh, unquote. The covenant of marriage, by it we find fruitfulness and companionship and God gets for himself godly seed, as he says in Malachi. That's the second great covenant.

The third great covenant, of course, is the covenant of redemption. Oh, dear brother and sister in Christ, this is that great solemn covenant by which we are saved. God the father has covenanted with his son to purchase and redeem a people for himself from among the lost of mankind. For example, we see this covenant reflected in John 17 in his high priestly prayer when Jesus says, Father, the hour has come. Glorify your son that the son may glorify you since you have given him authority over all flesh to give eternal life to all whom you have given him.

And this is eternal life. That they know, there's that idea of knowledge of God again, that they know you, the only two God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent, unquote. The third great covenant, the covenant of redemption without which there is no salvation for you and me. That fourth great covenant then that still endures today is the civil covenant neglected by preachers right and left. Do you preach this, dear preacher, the covenant of the civil law, the civil covenant?

Here in the civil covenant, God rules the temporal affairs of men immediately through his image bearer, that is man. God doesn't sit on a cloud every day with his gavel yelling, hey, you off to jail, you a big fat fine, you off with your head. No, God doesn't rule that way, does he? He rules immediately through men and he expects godly men to rule as well. God first ordained this civil covenant after the flood.

He says in Genesis 9, for your lifeblood, I will require a reckoning. From every beast, I will require it and from man. From his fellow man, I will require a reckoning for the life of man. Whoever sheds the blood of man by man shall his blood be shed for God made man in his own image, unquote. The beginning of the civil covenant, God first ordained this covenant after the flood.

And this was the first obligation of government then, outlined here, that is justice. To those who would be magistrates he commands, justice and only justice you shall follow, that you may live and inherit the land that the Lord your God is giving you, unquote. And this idea of justice is reinforced for us in the New Testament. Paul says in Romans 13, rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. He, that is the magistrate, is God's servant for your good.

And this good is good defined by the Bible. That is biblical standards of justice and mercy. By what other standard will you measure the good, dear listener? By what other standard than the Bible will you measure the good, the bad, and the ugly? Dear fellow pastor, I'm speaking to my brothers now, fellow priest and servant of the most high God.

We are under covenant obligation to strive after godly government. And if we are not doing so and preaching this to our people, then with us is God's contention. It is an abrogation of duty as a pastor to say, get him saved and let the devil take the hindmost. It is a partial gospel that we preach. If we do not preach sanctification of the whole man, including his obligation under the civil covenant to sanctify his culture, society, and government insofar as he is able.

It won't be perfection. There never will be perfection in this covenant until Christ comes again, even as there will be no perfection under the civil, or under the marriage covenant. Is your marriage perfect? No, of course it's not. Neither is our dominion and perfect.

It won't be completely perfect, but we are nevertheless obligated to strive to perfect it. Because we do not. Because we do not do this, we neglect it. My people perish for a lack of knowledge, and it's our fault, pastors. Knowing and fulfilling God's covenants is part and parcel of knowing God.

If the knowledge of God is deep, personal, and intimate, as we say, a bond of covenant and obedience, then knowing and obeying his covenants is crucial that my people may thrive for an abundance of knowledge and not my people perish for a lack of knowledge. That requires, dear listener, dear pastor, it requires your pastor, dear listener, give your pastor this message. It requires that we engage with our culture, society, and government and not withdraw from it and keep silent about it, pretending that all we have to do is cloister ourselves in the four walls of the church and preach the gospel in season and out of season.

We're not preaching the full gospel, the whole gospel, unless we are preaching the covenants of God. As it is now, we pick at faults and foibles, pimples and piccadillos, but we ignore the big cancerous tumor that's mushrooming in our gut as a nation. Pastors, we must call evil for what it is and the evil for who they are. It is part of the prophetic stance of the prophet pastor, part of the teaching function of the priest pastor. Right now, our people, including us, our fellow pastor, we are perishing for a lack of knowledge, wandering around in the wilderness of our civil society like sheep without a shepherd.

This has not always been so. This is a recent phenomenon in the history of the United States of America, brainwashed by the separation of church and state, brainwashed about not soiling the garments of the gospel with politics, society, and culture. Oh, it hasn't always been so, though. The history of this nation, yea, of the church through the centuries, is indeed that the church has always been a prophetic voice, a prophetic voice to its ruling magistrates. That is, it has been faithful to the civil covenant in seeking justice and only justice.

Dear listener, we will continue this in point two, in part two of our series here on the people perish for a lack of knowledge, for indeed the people of America are perishing for a lack of knowledge, the knowledge of the living God. And it's been in part mostly our fault, dear pastor, because we have preached not the full counsel of God, but only a partial message. Take up this message, dear listener, take up this message to your pastor. Dear pastor, take this message to your people, that indeed the people, rather than thriving with an abundance of the knowledge of God, perish for a lack of knowledge.

This has been Pastor David Bass at New Geneva Orthodox Presbyterian Church. New Geneva Meets for Holy Worship on Sundays at 10 a.m. at 101 4th Street on the corner of 4th and Boulevard. And you can call us for further information, for further feedback too, at our church phone, 523-0196. Call me for further information for worship or for feedback at 523-0196.