You don’t have to be a genius or an intellectual giant to understand the bible. Nor is it required for us to be an expert on Middle East issues or even be proficient in ancient languages like Hebrew, Greek, or Aramaic. (That’s not to say one might glean some interesting insights having knowledge in these areas)
Yesterday, I stated in my post that the bible was ‘just a book’.
I guess I could have added the fact it is also a ‘closed’ book. And there are some very enriching and significant truths woven through it that God truly wants to make known. But He has ‘conditions’. Now I can’t tell you why...He has set it up this way, but He has. The fact of the matter is...He’s ‘hidden’ these truths and we don’t find them or discover them because of our intellectual prowess.
He “reveals” them to us. And He desires to do just that. But as I just said: He has conditions.
I love that story in Acts 4 that tells us of how Peter and John were arrested and then found themselves addressing the Sanhedrin, a group of ‘religious intellectuals’. Everyone was trying to make sense of how that lame man had been healed miraculously in front of the temple by these two disciples of Jesus. And there was quite the sermon that followed that incident where some very serious things were shared by them to all who gathered to listen. Peter, a fisherman, was ‘schooling’ them on what all the prophets of old had foretold of these days.
There was a strong warning as well there in Acts 3:22-23 suggesting that anyone and everyone who did not ‘hear Jesus in all the things that He had to say would be utterly destroyed from among the people’. This was not some angry threat where some irate deity was chomping at the bits to hurl lightning bolts at anyone who dared to question Him. This was a warning to whoever had ears to hear...as in God was wanting to sound the alarm much like we do when severe and dangerous weather is approaching.
Can I just remind us now that Jesus had a lot more to say than for us to ‘just believe He is the Son of God and was raised from the dead’; as if giving mental assent or verbal agreement to the fact would secure a place for us in His kingdom and give us abundant life. And then to ‘seal the deal’ - go sign up with a church of your liking and do your best to be a good, faithful member and don’t forget to tithe.
Where on earth did this former fisherman get the audacity to proclaim such things to the very ones who had devoted their lives to studying the scriptures?
Look at Acts 4:13- “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus.”
I don’t know about you, but that verse encourages me. I am no intellectual or biblical genius. But I can tell you this unashamedly and without pretense or boasting...these past two years...I have been with Jesus. And He has been ‘schooling’ me in His word like nobody’s business. And here’s the deal...He wants to do the same with You!
Jesus told a parable in Matt. 22 and Luke 14 about where a king had prepared quite the banquet for all he had invited. He then sent his servants out to bid them all to come and dine. Are you familiar with all the responses that he got? You can read them there but they included statements like “I just bought some oxen I need to tend to”, and “I have a piece of land recently acquired that needs attention” and “my recently married bride awaits me and I need to spend time with her”. You will also read there that “they were not willing to come” and that “they made light of it and went their own ways...one to his farm, another to his business.”
And the king was not happy. You might read there in Matt. 22:7-14 and then jump back to Zephaniah 1 and read that first chapter. It speaks of the ‘Day of the Lord’ where he will deal severely with those who are ‘settled in complacency...who say in their heart, ‘The lord will not do good nor will He do evil”. Seriously, go read that first chapter now and see if that doesn’t grab your attention.
I know this kind of talk makes lots of folks uneasy. But I cannot remain silent. There are some things in His Word that we have just somehow not been taught and made aware of. And when the ‘scales come off’, it will get your attention and cause you to make some ‘adjustments’. I’m not talking about upping your daily reading of the bible from three to five chapters a day either.
We were told in Luke 10 that these things are ‘hidden from the wise and the prudent, and revealed to the babes’. (21). Jesus implied strongly that you can study the scriptures all day long but if we refuse to ‘come to Him’, we will miss out on the true ‘life’ He came to offer. (John 5:40). You can read there in that verse along with Matt. 23:37 that much of it has to do with us not being ‘willing’ to come. Let that sink in a moment.
God has never changed. (Mal. 3:6). His eyes still continue to roam throughout the earth looking for hearts that are turned to Him that He might reveal or show Himself strong. (2 Chron. 16:9). Maybe we need to be praying that God would actually step in and ‘turn our hearts’ towards Him. It is...by His grace, after all...is it not? This I know...we live in a world of spiritual darkness and the ‘god of this age/world blinds the minds of those perishing from seeing the light of His truth’. (2 Cor. 4:3-4). That passage uses the word ‘veiled’. But something amazing happens when we truly and fully turn to Him with all our hearts....the ‘veil is removed’. ( 2 Cor. 3:16).
Until then...this book remains a closed book...full of good moral stories and parables. Jesus said God designed it that way for ‘those on the outside’. (Mark 4:10-11). But to those who turn to Him fully...He has some ‘mysteries’ He wants to make known to you.
What...on earth...are you waiting for?
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