Long ago the prophet Hosea cried out, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children” (Hosea 4:6). The overall level of knowledge among members of the Lord’s church today could only be described as abysmal. It is becoming harder and harder to teach (in some ways), because it is necessary to provide so much background information on Old Testament history, the life of Christ or the Acts of the Apostles just so that the lesson will make sense. Our attention to basic facts, such as knowing the books of the Bible, being able to quote scripture and having a basic grasp of the scheme of redemption and the message of each book of the Bible, has given way to a general feeling of disinterest in what the Bible says because people are often content with what they feel about the Bible.
We console ourselves in our ignorance by claiming that we cannot remember “all of that.” What amazes me is how much we can remember about other aspects of life while claiming a poor memory as an excuse for not knowing the Bible. While our children are learning computer skills and keyboarding at an increasingly early age, our expectations about their ability to learn Bible facts is dropping. While our teenagers are taking chemistry, physics and calculus, we sit by idly while they act like they are incapable of studying and comprehending God’s Word. The truth is that most people know a lot of things; they simply do not know a lot of things that are truly worth knowing! When we claim our children are not capable of learning the books of the Bible, yet they can quote a Disney movie verbatim, there is a problem, and it is not with their minds. When teens can memorize a playbook but not the names of the apostles and judges, the problem is not their lack of intellect. We adults know many facts necessary for doing our daily work but claim that we cannot remember five verses about the plan of salvation.
Think about it. We spend years trying to acquire knowledge of various sorts, but how much of that time is spent in learning how to make a living and how to recreate properly versus learning how to live properly before God? How can we say that we know how to implement God’s Word into our lives, when we do not even know how to give an overview about what God’s Word says? Learning to know God begins by learning about God. Learning how to trust more in God cannot be taught until we first teach the fact that we need to trust in him. Appreciating Jesus Christ begins by knowing what happened in the life of Jesus Christ. After all, what Jesus taught was generally centered around what Jesus did. While basic factual knowledge is not the end all/be all of Bible study, facts are the building blocks. We must take the time to get to know God by studying his Word. If we do not, we will miss out on the most precious knowledge we can gain in this life, not just something true, but “the truth” (John 8:32).
