Rev. Benjamin Glaser, 12/23
Good Morning,
In the prophecy of Hosea of the many reasons why God gives for the judgment then coming upon Israel he notes that central to it is a lack of knowledge. It’s not that the people are dumb, or ignorant, or even that they lack understanding. I’m sure folks were smart and intelligent. It was not as if a rash of dimwittery had befallen the tribes of Israel. The claim then made by the Lord’s prophet was that, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me; because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.” It was a particular type of ignorance which was present among the nation.
They knew a lot about the world and her ways, but were oblivious to what they were supposed to have at the foundation of their identity. Moses at the beginning had told the Israelites that if they were to have success in the land to which they were headed their only hope was if they grounded their hearts and minds in the statutes of God.
They did not do that and in the days of Hosea they were now reaping the whirlwind.
When it comes to the question as to why we are seeing the rise of paganism within and without the Church today the answer is no different than it was in the Eighth century B.C. We also have a love to know things, just not stuff that matters. Our ignorance then leaches into the culture around us. We have failed as the Church in the same way the Israelites did then. There was great concern in the early days of the apostles that the new covenant community would fall into the same trap. Peter warns us likewise when he says, “Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” I am sure you have probably at this point seen the illustration of what it means that a man would gird his loins in the day when everyone wore dresses. The action was done in order that as running or battle was at hand that the man would be able to do so without the constant fear of tripping over the excess fabric. Peter is of the opinion that the Christian must be persistently living in this kind of world. The act of making ready in regards to our purposes today means first of all that we have to understand what is happening. Neville Chamberlain was fooled so badly at Munich because he did not comprehend the evil that was before him. FDR’s being shanghaied at Yalta by the Soviets was similarly born out of a refusal to believe what he was being told about the true heart of Stalin. Both men failed not just because they did not understand their enemy, but they forgot the culture and life they were tasked with defending. The Church similarly cannot win the war if it does not know the score.
For our purposes this morning that first requires that the people of God imbibe in their hearts the truths which the Lord has provided not only in His word, but in His creation. Psalm 19 is a common place to go at this point for good reason. David there is giving thanks to Jehovah for the way that both the earth and the Scriptures, “Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me. Then I shall be blameless, and I shall be innocent of great transgression.” The majestic nature of the heavens declare the glory of God, and in that declaration they remind David of his insignificance in their comparison, however, they also in their own way give pause for the Lord’s king to remember that the same has also provided in general revelation a comforting aid of His loving care for David as an individual. This prompts him to turn unto the Bible which explains at length not only how the handiwork of the celestial sky teach us these things, but how they humble us to rest and trust in His power. That is what David intends with the closing words of the nineteenth psalm, “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.” You read there the heart of the matter. Know God, know truth.
An application of this call in our seeking of intellectual help as we deal with the wickedness of transgenderism, materialism, and all the other examples of pagan spirituality is that we must comprehend that our only hope for the future is not to spend all of our time receiving logical assistance from those whose foundations are built on the same false conceptions as the people who propagate a foreign sexuality and identity. While there may be common grace insights we can see in some of the men and women whom we find at times as brothers in the trench we are never to see them as friends, for we serve different gods. Good examples of this in internet culture are men like Dave Rubin, James Lindsay, and Jordan Peterson. While they may get some things correct about the Left their arguments fail to provide help for the Christian, because they are not Christians, and they each in their own way witness to this when they themselves give in to the worst examples of anti-biblical behavior. Rubin’s abhorrent stealing of children through gay surrogacy, Lindsay’s visceral hatred of evangelical Christianity, and Peterson’s Jungian psychology all in their own way sow the seeds of their own downfall. The Bible witnesses over and over about the danger of our seeking help from the Egyptians when the nations rage against us. Before we seek common cause with these haters of God, we need first to know the God we testify about and what He desires for His people to know of Him, in order that we may be ready for the day of trial. Our strength is in true truth in all its glory.
In closing, nearly all ministers in our confessional Presbyterian churches will tell you that the thing that discourages them more than any other thing is the lack of hunger for the word they witness in the congregations God has given them to serve. So little interest in conversation about the teachings of the Scriptures, much willingness to talk about sports, culture, and politics. Each of these are okay in their place. However, knowing the league leader in rushing, or who won the latest race, or the latest controversy about Disney, and the fight over leadership in the House of Representatives while being proudly ignorant about the results of the life of Asa and Ahab will lead only to the type of destruction warned about by the prophet Hosea above. If we are concerned, as we rightly should be, about the degradation of the culture around us than we must first seek help in the wisdom given from above.
God calls us to know Him and His ways, for as Solomon reminds us in the passage from last Lord’s Day, with which we close today, there is no time for the knowledge of the world to get in the way if we are ate up with the seeking of God, by which we will know how to deal with this present evil world and all that those who seek our death.
Meditate today on these words:
“Here is what I have seen: It is good and fitting for one to eat and drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labor in which he toils under the sun all the days of his life which God gives him; for it is his heritage. As for every man to whom God has given riches and wealth, and given him power to eat of it, to receive his heritage and rejoice in his labor—this is the gift of God. For he will not dwell unduly on the days of his life, because God keeps him busy with the joy of his heart.” – Ecclesiastes 5:18-20
Here is one more word:
https://www.placefortruth.org/blog/grace-in-glory
Blessings in Christ,
Rev. Benjamin Glaser
Pastor, Bethany ARP Church