One line at a time ∙

One line at a time ∙

He tells us everything over and over – one line at a time – Isaiah 28:10

Isaiah 28:9-10

 9 To whom will he teach knowledge, and to whom will he explain the message?

 10 For it is precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little.

How do we discover new things?

“For the scientist who has lived by his faith in the power of reason, the story ends like a bad dream. He has scaled the mountains of ignorance, he is about to conquer the highest peak; as he pulls himself over the final rock, he is greeted by a band of theologians who have been sitting there for centuries” (Robert Jastrow, God and the Astronomers).

How do we acquire information and learn?

Learning and acquiring new information can occur through three primary methods. The first is through human reason or rationalism, whereby people use intellectual effort and trial and error to figure things out. The second is through human experience, where learning happens by doing, trial, and error – known as empiricism.

Another way to gain knowledge is through revelation, which has been a privilege of the children of the King throughout the millennia. The Father reveals information that cannot be learned through rationalism or empiricism, such as the nature of human sin, the need for salvation, and the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ.

To avail ourselves of the revelation from the Father, we must be in the Word of God, studying, meditating, and listening.

Sadly, many people in the 21st century have denied the existence of God and disregarded the Bible as a source of valuable information. They see it as nothing more than a collection of stories, myths, histories, poetry, and wisdom literature.

Into this nontheistic age, we have been born. And until we are born again, we are the doomed, gloomy byproducts of our times. When the rulers of our age turned away from the Father and the Word of God, they lost the wisdom which comes only from the Father. They are left only with earthbound, natural, impious resources.

James 3:15 This wisdom is not that which comes down from above but is earthly, natural, demonic.

The term translated as earthly in Greek is epigeous from epi + ge, literallyon earth. It has the sense of being earthbound, constrained by earthly limitations. Such wisdom has its source in things that are confined to the earth. We are familiar with the concept of thinking outside the box. Earthly thinking is inside the box. It is extremely limited. Often, standards, aims, and measures of success are entirely earthly and worldly.

The Greek term which is translated as natural is psychike. It means belonging to the psyche. It can be appropriately translated as soulish, psychic, unspiritual, and often natural. James says this kind of wisdom is no more than animal instinct. It is the kind of wisdom that makes an animal snap and snarl with no other thought than that of prey or personal survival (Barclay).

The Greek term translated as demonic is daimoniodes from daimonion – demon. It is devilish. The source of this knowledge is not God but the devil.

As a result of rejecting the Father and His truth, the world has descended into a bleak, dark, dismal, and godless place.

Isaiah 59:9-11

 9 So there is no justice among us, and we know nothing about right living. We look for light but find only darkness. We look for bright skies but walk in gloom.

 10 We grope like the blind along a wall, feeling our way like people without eyes. Even at brightest noontime, we stumble as though it were dark. Among the living, we are like the dead.

 11 We growl like hungry bears; we moan like mournful doves. We look for justice, but it never comes. We look for rescue, but it is far away from us.

But the Father made a wonderful promise of hope for the future.

Isaiah 9:2 The people who walk in darkness will see a great light. For those who live in a land of deep darkness, a light will shine.

REFLECT & PRAY

Life can be like a massive and delightful treasure hunt. We always have the opportunity to seek and learn new truth.

Father thank You that You desire to lead me in truth and teach me one-on-one, face-to-face.

INSIGHT

Without the Father’s input, our limitations skew our perception and understanding of reality. What we think and have come to “know” as real dictates what we believe can be real.

The Greek philosopher Plato wrote the Allegory of the Cave to explain the nature of reality. It tells of a cave in which prisoners are kept. These prisoners have been in the cave since their childhood. The prisoners could only see flickering images on the wall. They presumed the images to be real rather than just shadowy representations of what is real.

The cave symbolizes the typical world in which the majority of people live. They often mistake shadows for reality and accept incomplete or partial truths as true truth.

One of the prisoners is freed. He is able to take a good look around. He looked at the shadows and observed they were not real at all but only two-dimensional images of real things.

After being freed, one of the prisoners is able to survey his surroundings carefully. He examined the shadows and realized they were two-dimensional images of real objects. They lacked corporeal existence.

The prisoner then left the cave and saw the real world outside. The prisoner now sees how pitiful he and his former colleagues in the cave are. If he returned to the cave, the prisoners would see him as deranged, not knowing what reality is, and would say that he left the cave and returned with corrupted eyes.

1 Corinthians 13:12 Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.

Where do you live? Is your reality limited to darkness, shadows, and partial truths? Or do you live in the reality of the light of life? To borrow a line from X-files, “The truth is out there.”

John 8:32 You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.

We must first recognize and become discontented with our limitations to find freedom.

To find freedom, we must recognize and become dissatisfied with our limitations.

Romans 8:5-8

 5 Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit.

 6 So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace.

 7 For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God’s laws, and it never will.

 8 That’s why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 1-16-1

© Dr. H 2023