Ignorance

Mike Johnson

The moon was a thin crescent in the Canadian skies on the night the astronauts neared it for the first landing on the surface.  A farmer in Nova Scotia could not get over the unnecessary risks that the astronauts were running and said, “You’d think they’d at least wait until it was bigger than that.”

A man bought his wife a cell phone.  He showed her how it worked, explaining such things as how to make and end a call, how to use the directory, and how to charge the phone.  She seemed to understand his instructions.  A few days later, he placed a call to her on the cell phone, and in the course of the conversation, asked her how she liked her new phone.  She told him that she liked it just fine, but then she asked, to his amazement, “How did you know I was in Wal-Mart?”

The above two stories illustrate ignorance, but, in reality, we are all ignorant in certain ways.  A person might be very knowledgeable about computers but have no idea about how to repair a car.  Another person might be an expert carpenter, but when it comes to doing his taxes, he wouldn’t know where to begin.  We may be ignorant about many things, but we must not be ignorant about the Word of God.  Ignorance about God’s Word will cause us to be lost eternally.

Consider the Jews of the Old Testament.  They had prophets, priests, and teachers of the law, and even their feasts were designed to teach valuable lessons. Concerning the Passover, they were told, “It will come to pass when you come to the land which the Lord will give you, just as He promised, that you shall keep this service. And it shall be, when your children say to you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’ that you shall say, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice of the Lord, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt when He struck the Egyptians and delivered our households.'” So the people bowed their heads and worshiped.” (Ex. 12:25-27).  God’s Law was to be taught “diligently” to their children (Deut. 6:6-9), yet as time went on, the people quit teaching and learning God’s Law.  They had become so indifferent that eventually, the “book of the law” was lost, and it was not discovered until the reign of King Josiah (II Kg. 22:8-13).  Because of their ignorance of God’s Law, the Jews frequently received reprimanded.  Hosea 4:6 speaks of consequences of this ignorance as it  says, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. . . .”

Paul himself expressed his “heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel . . . that they might be saved” and then said, “For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge” (Rom. 10:1-2).   His people, the Jews, during the time of the early church, had the admirable quality of zeal, but, sadly, were lacking in knowledge.  There are many people today in denominations who have a lot of religious zeal or enthusiasm.  These people, lacking in knowledge, are unable to properly obey God as they do not know and understand the truth. Passion is excellent, but it needs to be accompanied by knowledge.  Although zealous, the Jews, whom Paul prayed for, were lost!

It is also common today for members of the Lord’s church to be lacking in the knowledge of God’s Word.  These have not done what is necessary to obtain knowledge by studying God’s Word as they should, by attending every service of the local church where they are members, by attending area Gospel Meetings, and they have little interest in discussing the Bible with knowledgeable Christians.  Hebrews 5:12-14, speaks of certain ones who should have advanced to spiritual maturity and even should have become teachers.  Instead, the writer pointed out to them, “ . . . You have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.” (V. 12).   These people, like many today, had not only failed to progress — they had digressed!   They needed to be retaught the elementary principles of God’s Word again.

What happens when there is ignorance of God’s Word?  First, a lack of spiritual growth will occur.  Spiritual growth is not optional but is a command in God’s Word.  II Peter 3:18 says, “but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever.”  We must learn God’s Will, and we cannot please Him unless we grow spiritually.  Next, a lack of Bible knowledge will result in sin.  What we don’t know will hurt us when it comes to Bible knowledge; ignorance is not bliss.   We must study God’s Word so that we can understand what sin is and also be encouraged to do right.        

Finally, ignorance can result in the spread of false teaching.  In Matthew 7:15-16a, Jesus taught, “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits.”  False teachers do not wear signs.  It takes a certain amount of knowledge from God’s Word to “try the Spirits” (I Jn. 4:1), and a failure to study God’s Word by individual members,  and a steady diet of listening to soft “feel-good” sermons will leave a congregation “ripe” for the infiltration of false doctrine. Indeed, God’s people today will also be “destroyed” due to a lack of knowledge.

There is a popular game show which has contestants asking questions from various categories. I am amazed to see the knowledge that people have with such classifications as “World Geography,” “Science,” and “Poetry.”  However, in most cases, when they come to the category called “The Bible,” their knowledge drops to about the level of a five-year-old who would regularly attend our Bible classes.  These otherwise intelligent people don’t know the difference between the Old and New Testament.  They might not know who built the ark, where Adam and Eve lived, or who Moses was.    Knowledge about such subjects as math and science is undoubtedly useful, but this kind of expertise only pertains to this life. On the other hand, knowledge of God’s Word pertains to eternity.  This knowledge will affect our eternal destination.  We must make sure we have a proper understanding of God’s Word remembering that salvation is ONLY promised to those who OBEY THE LORD (Heb. 5:8-9, Mt. 7:21-22).