Perish
I was interested in looking at this word because of the verse that "my people perish for lack of knowledge"
Matthew 5:29 And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. 30 And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.
If a member of the body is cut off from the body then it will perish. Can you imagine if lack of knowledge would cause you to be "cut off from the body"? This is the important point here, because one main reason that so many go along with things that would offend the Lord is because they don't want to be cut off from the body. Suppose your pastor and church is saying things that are contrary to the Bible, perhaps arguing that the Bible is out of date and everyone goes along with that. Why? Are they afraid that they will be cut off from this group if they don't conform? Probably, and if they lack knowledge to stand up for what is right, then that is why they are perishing. Perhaps they feel uncomfortable, perhaps their conscience is bothering them, but they lack the knowledge.
Matthew 8:25 And his disciples came to him, and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us: we perish.
32 And he said unto them, Go. And when they were come out, they went into the herd of swine: and, behold, the whole herd of swine ran violently down a steep place into the sea, and perished in the waters.
Jesus has set out across the lake, on the other side there is a demon possessed man. Jesus is going to cast out the demon into a herd of swine, dirty business, and essentially "kill two birds with one stone". He will rid the community of both the demons and the dirty business and on top of that the man will be saved and become a powerful witness for the Lord. So prior to this taking place a big storm is stirred up with the disciples being threatened that they will perish. They didn't perish, but they also would not have been bent out of shape if they had had more knowledge of who Jesus is. Jesus is not scared of the demons, the demons are scared of Jesus.
Matthew 9:17Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved.
The Holy Spirit is the wine that was poured out on Pentecost. Jesus didn't pour it into the old bottle of the Jewish religion but He poured it into the new bottle of the church. If the church cannot take new revelation from the Holy Spirit concerning the times we are in, then they have become an old bottle like the church in Sardis. We need to realize our "basic message" as Christians. The world is satanic and has been judged, it is a condemned building. The Lord is coming back to take us to Himself. We are here as His ambassadors for the Kingdom of the heavens. If you lack that knowledge and say in yourself that the Lord delays His coming and you begin to eat and drink with the drunken, then you will perish.
Matthew 18:14 Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.
The context here is of sheep who have gone astray. Yes, they lack knowledge, yes they have left the shepherd and the flock, even so it is not the will of our Father that they should perish. It is His will that you seek them out and bring them back to the flock and the shepherd.
Matthew 26:52. Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.
The world is satanic, they will come out and arrest Jesus to crucify Him. But we do not fight with swords or spears or guns. The weapons of our warfare are mighty to the tearing down of strongholds. Put your faith in your Heavenly Father, and in Jesus Christ His son, and in the Holy Spirit. If you put your trust in weapons then you will perish trusting in weapons. There is a powerful movie that hits this point very hard called "The Mission". The mission was not to kill Spanish and Portugese conquistadors, the mission was to bring the gospel of Jesus Christ to the natives.