do them in the land whither ye go to possess it: That thou mightest fear the Lord thy God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I commanded thee, thou, and thy son, and thy son's son, all the days of thy life; and that thy days may be prolonged. Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it; that it may be well with thee, and that ye may increase mightily, as the Lord God of thy fathers hath promised thee, in the land that floweth with milk and honey. Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thine soul, and with all thine might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thy heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thy house, and when thy walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.". The intent here was to impress the nation of Israel with the importance of placing God and thoughts of God first in everything. Unfortunately, the last two sentences were taken to mean, by some, that God had authorized an amulet, called a phylactery, to be worn, both for personal magic as a charm against evils and demons, and a symbol of how spiritual the wearer was ( this is outward and Pharasean ). If we want God's approval of our study habits it seems that, again the way is getting narrower, and the need to rely on guidance from the Holy Spirit is getting stronger. Psalm 78:1-8 shows more of the same in a different time. Could it be that the requirements for God's approval of our study habits don't change through the ages? "Give ear, O my people, to my law: incline your ears to the words of my mouth. I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings of old: Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, shewing to the generation to come the praises of the Lord, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done. For he established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a 159 ______________________________________________________________________________ law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children. That the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born; who should arise and declare them to their children: That they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments: And might not be as their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation; a generation that set not their heart aright, and whose spirit was not steadfast with God.". Am I hearing correctly, the ultimate reason we study, is so that we can go tell others? Enter the great commission into the approval critirea. It isn't just for us that we study. To finish, let's look at the Old Testament in Ecclesiastes 12:9-14. However, all of Ecclesiastes 12 reads well in this context. "And moreover, because the preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge; yea, he gave good heed, and sought out, and set in order many proverbs. The preacher sought to find out acceptable words: and that which was written was upright even words of truth. The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd. And further, by these, my son be admonished: of making many books there is no end: and much study is a weariness of the flesh. Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of the man. For God shall bring every work into judgement, with every secret thing, whether it is good, or whether it be evil.". Amen and amen, we have just been warned about going off into flights of intellectual beach combing. God wants us to feast on the meat and potatoes of scripture and not the twinkies of trivia about the scripture. It appears that we should be studying the scripture with an eye towards finding out how the Lord wants us to conduct our every day life. Looking at I Thessalonians 4:7-12 we are told, again, in a different time period, the reason for our studies. "For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness. He therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God, who hath given unto us his Holy Spirit. But as touching 160 ______________________________________________________________________________ |
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