Come to Understanding
They also that erred in spirit shall come to understanding,
and they that murmured shall learn doctrine. — Isaiah 29:24
So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense,
and caused them to understand the reading. — Nehemiah 8:8
September 14, 2008 |
Volume 7 Number 18 |
Profane and Vain Babblings
Yahweh told Moses that He would make Israel a "kingdom of priests" if they would obey His voice and keep His covenant:
5 Now therefore, if you will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then you shall be a peculiar treasure to me above all people: for all the earth is mine:
6 And you shall be to me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation. These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel. -Exodus 19
As "priests," the people of Israel would have direct access to God. However, there was a condition that they had to accept. They had to listen to Yahweh and obey Him.
After hearing the commandments that Yahweh had given to them through Moses, the people of Israel apparently decided that they did not want to be a "kingdom of priests." They did not want to hear the Word of God. Instead of believing the promise of Yahweh, they were afraid. Therefore, Israel decided that they would rather hear from Moses than directly from Yahweh. They said "let not God speak with us:"
19 And they said to Moses, Speak you with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die. -Exodus 20
Soon, however, they did not even want to hear from Moses nor from the prophets of Yahweh that followed. Instead, they rejected the Word of God and only wanted to hear lies that made them feel good:
10 Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits: -Isaiah 30
Those who do so try to change the truth of God into a lie:
25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. -Romans 1
When people do not want to listen to God, many try to question the validity of His Word. They may ask, "Did God really say that?" If so, then is His Word really true?
This is what happened during the deceptive encounter between the Serpent and Eve in the Garden of Eden:
1 Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which Yahweh God had made. And he said to the woman, Indeed, has God said, You shall not eat of every tree of the garden? -Genesis 3
As she engaged the Serpent in dialogue, she even embellished the Word of God (He never said anything about touching the tree (see Genesis 3:3)) and allowed the Serpent to question the truth of God’s Word:
4 And the serpent said unto the woman, You shall not surely die:
5 For God does know that in the day you eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and you shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. -Genesis 3
We need to be diligent in keeping the Word of God, without allowing Satan, in whatever form, to cause us to doubt.
Paul told Timothy to keep that which was committed to his trust and avoid "profane and vain babblings" and false oppositions of so called "science:"
20 O Timothy, keep that which is committed to your trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called: -1 Timothy 6
He told Timothy to "withdraw" himself from those who, although lifted up in pride, know nothing. Yet they spend their energy "doting about questions and strifes of words:"
4 He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof comes envy, strife, railings, evil suspicions,
5 Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw yourself. -1Timothy 6
The agenda of the disputers of the Word is to diminish, rather than build up, our faith. Paul says we should not pay attention to them. Instead, Paul advised Timothy to refuse to listen to such "fables and endless genealogies:"
4 Neither give heed to fables and
endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith: so do. -1 Timothy 1He advised Titus to "avoid foolish questions" and other such things that are "unprofitable and vain:"
9 But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain. -Titus 3
Challenges to the truth of the Word of God often come from people with brilliant minds, who rely on the "wisdom of men." Paul wrote about them concerning our faith:
5 That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. -1 Corinthians 2
However, the natural mind, no matter how brilliant, cannot understand the things of God:
14 But the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. -1 Corinthians 2
Perhaps having a "form of godliness," such people deny the power of God and rely on their own intellect and vast stores of knowledge in their futile attempts at understanding the truth. Paul says they are:
7 Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. -2 Timothy 3
Some may be ministers of Satan, masquerading as ministers of righteousness:
14 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.
15 Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also are transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works. -2 Corinthians 11
Those who do not love the truth claim they need proof that the Word of God is true. However, when offered proof, they claim they need more.
What better way to confirm the Word of God than to see the countless prophecies that were actually fulfilled? For example, the prophecy that Yahshua (Jesus) will be born where David was born, which was Bethlehem, was fulfilled:
Prophecy:
15 But David went and returned from Saul to feed his father’s sheep at
Bethlehem. -1 Samuel 172 But you,
Bethlehem Ephratah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. -Micah 5Fulfilled:
1 Now when Yahshua was born in
Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, -Matthew 2The prophecy that the Messiah, Yahshua (Yah the Savior), would come in the name of Yahweh was fulfilled:
Prophecy:
24 This is the day which Yahweh has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.
25 Save now, I beseech you, O Yahweh: O Yahweh, I beseech you, send now prosperity.
26 Blessed is he that comes in the name of Yahweh: we have blessed you out of the house of Yahweh. -Psalms 118
Fulfilled:
9 And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord
Yahweh; Hosanna in the highest. -Matthew 21Historical events independently confirm the truth of the Bible. For example, Yahweh said that someone named Cyrus would cause the temple in Jerusalem to be rebuilt. The prophecy was later fulfilled when a man named Cyrus rose up as the king of Persia (present day Iran). He also became the "king of Babylon," calling himself "the king of the world," and ordered the temple to be rebuilt:
Prophecy:
28 That says of
Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, You shall be built; and to the temple, Your foundation shall be laid. -Isaiah 44Fulfilled:
13 But in the first year of Cyrus the king of Babylon the same king Cyrus made a decree to build this house of God. -Ezra 5
Historical:
The "Cylinder of Cyrus," which is dated to 538-529 BC and is now located in the British Museum, recorded the words of Cyrus. His words begin as follows:
"I (am) Cyrus, the king of the world, the great king, the mighty king, the king of Babylon...."
Cylinder of Cyrus
(Photograph by Kelley Shirkey from the British Museum,
used by permission)
Even though the truth of the Bible as the Word of God is confirmed by faith, by Scripture, and by history, many still prefer fables. Paul cautioned of such a time:
4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. -2 Timothy 4
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