Biblical Ignorance

0:02 Looking at our world from a theological perspective. This is the Theology Central podcast making Theology Central. Good morning everyone. It is Thursday, October tenth, twenty twenty four. It is currently eleven fifty eight am Central Time, and I am coming to you live from the Theology Central studio located right here in Abilene, Texas. Can you believe it's October? Before we know it, we're going to be saying goodbye to twenty twenty four, hello to twenty twenty five. And to be honest with you, before twenty twenty four started, I wasn't even really sure I would still be broadcasting by this point. There was a lot of things that were kind of up that was that was very much up in the air. I don't think anything really has been resolved, so I'm still just kind of waiting to see how things are going to play out. But I know this, I'm still here broadcasting. I still have a microphone, I still have an Internet connection, I still have the ability to broadcast on the Sermon Audio platform, to be able to upload broadcast podcast episodes to all the podcasting apps.

1:17 So we're still here, and all we can do is make the most of well the opportunity that is still currently available to us. And how things are going to move in the future, we don't know. We'll just all you really do, how you really can do is just wait and see. I guess. I mean there is really a biblical you know principle here, right, I can't worry about tomorrow. I'll just make the most of today. Right, Yesterday's gone, Tomorrow's not here. You got today, make the most of it. So that's what I'm going to attempt to do. And if you have been with us throughout twenty twenty four, you know that twenty twenty four has been the year of the Sermons two point zero apps sermon challenge. I don't know how many the sermons you have in your notebook. You were supposed to download the sermons two point oh app each day, listen to a random, as random as possible sermon on the sermons two point oh app and then just write out kind of a brief summary of what the sermon was about. And by the end of the year, you were supposed to have one sermon for every day of the year. And hopefully by the time you get to the end of twenty twenty four, you'll be like Wow, I listened to that many sermons. I learned this. I learned this, I was challenged about this, I was frustrated by this. It led to this study. It led to this study, and you can and hopefully by the end of the year, you can say I have grown in my knowledge of the Bible, of theology of church history, that I know more than

2:48 when I started twenty twenty four. I mean, hopefully you know more. If you've listened to a sermon for every day of the year, I mean, that's pretty that's pretty amazing. Hopefully you have grown your knowledge. Hopefully well, you are less ignorant than you were before the year started. I mean that is a hopefully an important goal. And hopefully that happened. Now, what happened with all of that knowledge, I don't know. We know that there's also a danger with all of that knowledge. Right, Knowledge can puff up, Knowledge can make us arrogant, Knowledge can make us proud. Knowledge can make us very condemning and judging and judgmental.

3:28 So knowledge, there's definitely a danger with knowledge. But we also would acknowledge there is danger with ignorance. Right. Sometimes I will say something along this, a biblical ignorance is the soil and which deception is planted. Right, Biblical ignorance is the soil. It is the ground, It is the dirt and which deception is planted. You are. The more ignorant you are of scripture, the more you can be deceived by people misusing it. You can be deceived what people say in regards to it. So I've talked about biblical ignorance for a very long time, and well, here's what we're going to do. I oh, yesterday I did this. I'm gonna do the same thing today in the spirit of our sermons two point oh sermon app, you know, sermon challenge. What I have done is today I just grabbed the sermon's two point oh app. The very first sermon I saw was the dangers of Biblical ignorance.

4:29 And I'm like, okay, let me listen to just a minute of this. All right. I know the text is from the Book of Hosea. All right, We're gonna do what we did yesterday. We're going to start it. The goal is to just get the basic thesis of the sermon. If I completely disagree with the thesis, then we may not review anymore. Yesterday we only reviewed about I don't know, five maybe ten minutes of that, and then I felt like I felt like what they were doing with the text made no sense. So then we just went and studied the text. So I did the same thing I did yesterday, right, because I've learned my lesson right. One of the things I've learned with these sermon reviews is so many times you start reviewing these sermons and just about midway through, You're like, I don't even know what to do here. They have so abandoned the text that it's not even funny. So now what I'm doing is listening to just get the basic text, do my own work on the text so I at least have it available.

5:23 That's where if the sermon we are reviewing basically abandons the text or creates a narrative or a hypothesis about the text that I don't think even works, then we can, in a sense, step back and then I can work through my note. So it's something this is. I find this somewhat. Maybe you don't find it interesting. I find it interesting for a couple of reasons. I have no idea where this is going to go, right, I don't know, I don't know what they're going to do with this passage in Jose. I don't know what they're going to do with this subject dangers of Biblical ignorance. I have no way of knowing what they're going to do with it. So it's fun to hear how they're going to go.

6:06 And then a second thing that's fun about it is now I, at least, since I know the verse, I have all of my work on the verse ready to go. So now I have at least a safety net to fall back on, because there's been a lot of times we've just reviewed and it's just been like, what is happening? What is happening? So I think this is at least knowing the text, doing my work on the text gives me a little bit more something to fall back on, and then we can just drop out of the sermon if it just goes completely off the rails. So but I just like this. You know, it's basically my time, my study time, right, so we're gonna just jump in.

6:47 I don't know where this is going to go, but again, I found this on I think this was an under the feed tab on the sermon's two point oh app I did a refresh and the very first sermon that popped up was the Dangers of Biblical Ignorance. So now you can find it. You can find it on the sermon's two point Oh app as always go find it, download it, listen to it, you know, without my analysis, my review, my critique, my agreement or disagreement, and just download it anyway, so they get the download numbers, they get the streaming numbers, because you know, we always want to help in this case. But the Dangers of Biblical ignorance again, I just saw it just a little while ago, and I don't know where this is going to go.

7:31 I don't know. I know this. We've been trying to fight biblical ignorance all year, if you think about it, that's what we've been doing all year. Listen to sermons, listen to sermons, study study, study, study, study study. So I guess the one thing we failed to do, and I do kind of kick myself for this, is we didn't do I didn't do enough work with the Bible quiz. I think that that was another way to fight biblical ignorance. So I'm kind of mad at myself. So maybe we'll see maybe twenty twenty five, we really really I really double down on that and really get disciplined on that. I think that could be a good thing. I mean, we've got the end, we got the structure there, we've got the artwork, we've got the series ready to go.

8:14 So maybe I can really do more with that. Maybe I can't. Who knows. Twenty twenty five is just going to be just as up in the air as twenty twenty four. So in the meantime, we're here today, So let's see what we can do, and let's see what they have to say about the dangers of biblical ignorance. I typically say the danger of biblical ignorance is that biblical ignorance is the soil and which deception can be planted. That's typically the direction I go. Let's see which direction they go, and let's do so right. Now, Lord Hoseiah, chapter number four. We're gonna read one verse and then we'll spend some time in this verse.

8:59 We'll consider some other versus as well, but our text will be chapter four of Hoseiah, verse number six, verse number six, where the Bible says, my people are destroyed for a 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. The prophecy of Hoseah is primarily concerning what we once knew as the Northern Kingdom, the Northern Kingdom of Israel.

9:45 Okay, so Hoseah four to six is the passage. I love that. Immediately he says, the prophecy is primarily directed towards the Northern Kingdom of Israel. That's great. So he's giving us textual and historical context. All right, so I'm excited here. It's already starting off really good. That's awesome. I would ask this question. It says my people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge. I'm going to ask some questions. My people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge. If you were to walk around your church and ask people about their knowledge of the Word of God, about their knowledge of scripture? Would they rate themselves as knowledgeable or not knowledgeable? Would they would they rate themselves as very knowledgeable, somewhat knowledgeable, or completely ignorant? What would how would they view themselves? That would be first, and then if they viewed themselves as knowledgeable. Do you think at that point they really could demonstrate their knowledge. I in my estimation, and this is just my own opinion from what I have seen in all the years of being in churches, is that most Christians perceive themselves to be far more knowledgeable than I think they actually are. They think they know the scriptures, they think they can understand it.

11:18 You just watch Christians act on social media. They throw out a scripture, throw out a scripture as if they just know it. In many cases, they're misinterpreting, misapplying, ripping out of context. They don't know, they don't have a clue what they are talking about. And what's so frustrating is to try to have a conversation with them and say wha wait, wait, wait wait, they will just like argue with you. I think Christians tend to have a very high view of how much knowledge they have, and I don't think Christians are very quick to say, you know what, I don't think I know this as well as I think I do. That's my own perception. I have no statistical, you know, proof of that, but I just all of my years in churches, everyone seems to think they know they think they know, and they argue all the time about everything. They will they tell everyone they're wrong and immediately if they hear someone else's philological position. Well, if they would just read their bibles. I see non reform people do this about reform. If those Calvinists would just read their Bibles. I mean, what is wrong with them?

12:25 Have they never read their Bibles? And then Calvinists will say this about non reform people, Well, if they would just read their Bibles. So everyone thinks that they know, and that everyone else who disagrees with their theological position they do so just because they've never read their Bible or they're ignorant. And I think it can't work that your theological system just happens to be filled with all the people who read, and the other theological system is all filled with the people who don't read and who are ignorant. I think that demonstrates a bigger issue is that people with biblical knowledge still disagree on literally everything. Okay, I think that's the issue, but I wonder I think there's just something about maybe it's Americans, right. I have read some studies that they've taken children from other countries and so they'll they'll they'll have them taking a test and American kids taking a test. Inevitably, you'll they'll ask the kids from the other countries, how did you do on the test? Oh, I don't think I did very good.

13:26 I think I failed. Where Americans will be like, I passed it, I did great, I aced it, And inevitably the American students would get far lower grades than the students from other countries and other cultures. The other cultures almost see it as you don't brag, you remain humble, where American kids is like I did it, and it's like, but the other kids would outperform the American students. Now again that's just you know, one study. I don't know all the details of the study, but I think in some ways, at least American Christians they always see they seem to always operate from the perspective that they know they know more and everyone else is wrong. So well does Hoseiah four to six, How do we understand a passage about my people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge?

14:14 Because I think, then are you ready for this? This may sound like I'm being trying to just be clever. I'm not. I think this is really, I think this is the real problem. My people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge, and the knowledge they lack is the knowledge that they lack knowledge. I think the issue is that many people are destroyed by a lack of knowledge, and the knowledge they lack is they lack the knowledge that they lack knowledge. They don't really know what they don't know. They all perceive themselves to be more knowledgeable than they are. I've said in Sunday school classrooms where everyone's going around like, no, it's this, it's this. I'm just looking at all these but like, what are you guys even talking about. I remember a church in Ablien when I first moved back to Texas and someone mentioned the baptism John the Baptist baptizing Jesus and and they were making all of these assertions about wine. I'm like, well, wait, there's a there's a Jewish precedent, like okay, And so I was starting trying to go through the history of it, and everybody was looking at me like what are you talking about? Like this is like I don't know basic, Like you know, John the Baptist didn't just show up baptizing people with their no historical precedent of within Judaism, of some kind of washing, some kind of like so then you you kind of go into some of the history and then they and but they were all so dogmatic as if they were right, and like, there's just basic information here, guys, you're missing and and but I've

15:44 been in all kinds of settings, and Christians will argue and argue, and so many times, after a while you'll be like, oh, well, wait, okay, so you're making this argument, all right, so let's just back up. So tell me, okay, what is the book That verse you're arguing is found in this book? What was the historical setting for that book? What is the book? Actually you start asking some basic questions, you realize they don't even have the basic context to be able to make an argument. So I think in many cases are people destroyed for a lack of knowledge, and the knowledge they lack is that they lack knowledge. Therefore they're operating from the perspective of knowledge, even though really in reality they're ignorant, but they think they're knowledgeable.

16:26 Now I'm not saying that's what Joseah four six is talking about. So I don't know if it's applicable Now we could talk about biblical ignorance as well, but let's just see where he goes with this. The Southern kingdom was Judah, the Northern kingdom maintained the name Israel, and Hoseiah is a prophecy about the northern Kingdom Israel and her captivity to the Assyrians. The Assyrians invaded and dispersed the Northern Kingdom. And then the prophecy of Hosea. Joseah marries a woman named Golmer. She's not a good woman. And this woman Golmer marrying Joseiah pictured God's relationship with that northern kingdom Israel. And if you know anything about the story of Joseah and Golmer, Gamer, as the Bible says, went a wharring against Hoseah.

17:29 She left. Joseah went into a life of immorality, and so did the nation of Israel, the Northern Kingdom of Israel. The Northern Kingdom of Israel walked away from God, said no to God, and went a whoring after other gods. The Bible says, Now, praise the Lord. Gomer comes back. Joseah buys her off of the auction block, brings her back home, and they're right with one another again. And that's where what's going to happen to Israel. One of these days Israel will come back to God. Right now, that's not where she's at, but she will praise the Lord one of these days.

18:12 All right, offering context, love it, offering history, love it. And of course, if you know anything about eschatology, he's coming at this from a very dispensational perspective that God is not done with the nation of Israel. God has not replaced Israel with the Church. He's going that God has not done with Israel, and that he too will bring her back into the land. And we could go through a lot of that. We've been talking about that in our series on Eschatology, which we desperately need to finish. But all right, so we kind of get an idea of his theological perspective where he's coming from, his system of eschatology. All right, this is everything's going really really well. All right, So maybe maybe this is one of those we can this is just gonna be great. Maybe I don't, maybe I'm not even gonna have to say anything. Maybe this is just gonna be great. Let's see where this is going to go.

19:03 The question however, is what what was the motivating factor? What was the main reason why that Northern kingdom walked away from God, said no to God, went into warring after other gods? What was the main reason behind that? Well, this verse gives us that reason, in fact, the reason why anyone will walk away from God or the things of God. It's going to have an association to some degree with this very thought right here. Oh now this is interesting. All right, this is interesting.

19:43 Do people walk away quote unquote from God? Do people fall? Well, he just said walk away with God. Let's see, let's see where he takes this, because I think he obviously we see where this is going. The reason Israel walked away from God is because of ignorance? Did they walk away from God because of ignorance? Do people walk away from God as a result of ignorance? This would seem the way that infix all spiritual problems. It's just knowledge, and if you haven't but knowledge itself can be a problem, right, And I think we've seen very knowledgeable people. I don't know. Okay, let's see where this goes. Let's see where this goes.

20:28 He says, My people verse number six, Chapter four are destroyed for a lack of knowledge. I want to preach this evening on this thought, the dangers of biblical ignorance, the dangers. It's very dangerous, the dangers of biblical ignorance. And I think it's it's it's fascinating, it's ironic, paradoxical, even I'm just don't have some big words. I want you all be impressed. That gon to think of another one, But it is fascinating that we live in a day where we have such.

21:10 Easy access to knowledge, such access to biblical knowledge. Okay, I'm going to circle back around now that it is true. It is crazy today how much access we have to knowledge. It is insane. But we can get into a whole discussion there, so I'm going to get back to that. But he made a very dogmatic assertion. In fact, the thesis of his sermons seems to be Israel walked away from God, dealing in some part with Hoseah four to six, which says, my people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge. So I just immediately went to Ai. I just immediately went to Ai and said, did Israel walk away from God due to ignorance? Ai responded with an emphatic No, Israel did not walk away from God due to a lack of due to ignorance and the sense of lacking knowledge nor or not being informed. Instead, their departure from God was a wilful rejection of his law and covenant. The key point in Hoseah four to six is that they had access to the knowledge of God, his law, commandments, and ways, yet they chose to ignore or reject it wilful rejection. The verse says, my people destroyed for the lack of knowledge, because thou hast rejected knowledge.

22:32 This indicates that the knowledge was available, but it was consciously rejected. It wasn't a case of Israel not knowing God's will, but rather ignoring it or choosing not to follow it neglected by the priests and leaders. Israel's religious leaders, specifically, the priests, played a major role in this rejection. Their failure to teach the people and uphold God's law contributed to the nation's spiritual decline. The leaders were responsible for instructing the people, but they neglected their duties and in some cases actively encouraged idolatry and blending of pagan practices with the worship of the True God. Throughout Hoseiah. The relationship between God and Israel is often depicted as a marriage covenant, with Israel betrayed as an unfaithful spouse. Israel's turning away from God is framed as spiritual adultery, where they wilfully choose to pursue other gods and idols despite knowing God's commandments. Israel's history shows that they were repeatedly warned by prophets like Hoseiah about their behavior. They were reminded of God's covenant, his law, and the consequences of disobedience.

23:34 Despite these warnings, Israel persisted in their idolatry and immoral practices. Their decision to walk away from God was not due to a lack of knowledge, but was a deliberate turning away. So why, I will say, the reason people walk away is not due to a lack of knowledge. They walk away because of a sinful nature. Because we all have a sinful nature. Why do we walk away? Because the call coming from us inside the house is walk away, don't follow do what you want, get what you want, put you before God, get you what you need. Like that's that's the problems coming inside the house. So immediately we may have a disagreement. Now maybe he's going to go.

24:20 Maybe that's where he's getting ready to go, because now, okay, we're gonna circle back. He's just stopped with saying, Hey, we live in a world where we have access to all of this knowledge. Now, all right, did Israel have access to all of this knowledge? Well, it seems that they did. They had the law, they had the profits, they had priests. Now, the priests may not have been doing their jobs, but they still had profits coming to them preaching right and over and over. What did they do to those profits? They rejected the profits. So it wasn't a lack of knowledge. It was a reject rejection of knowledge. So maybe in Hoseah four to six when it says my people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge, because thou hast rejected knowledge, maybe the issue is not ignorance, as if just they don't know. Oh, it's just it's about rejection. Maybe I don't know. Look, let's see where he takes this.

25:12 I was teaching Brother Eric's class this morning, and and I wanted to right in the middle of it, I had a thought. I never thought about it before. I had a thought. I said y'all give you a minute. I pulled out my phone. I'm talking less than twenty seconds. I found the verse I was wanting to find on my phone. Right in the middle of class. I didn't even have to know where the verse was, what chapter, what I just I just typed in a couple of words, and right there it was on my phone. I mean, there was a time in this world where if there was a Bible in a community, there was probably just one, and it was probably at the church house, and the people would gather to come hear a man preach out of that book in that church house because none of them could afford it, and many of them couldn't even read.

26:01 Yet today we. By and large most of us can read, and we have access to the truth of God. And if you can read a couple of buttons and it can read it to you. We have such access to truth and the word of God. Yet we're living in today where there's such a lack of knowledge. Okay, now I completely agree with this assessment that we have more knowledge. We have more knowledge available to us and the palm of our hands, or if you're using an iPad, you know, maybe it requires and both hands to hold it however big your iPad is or tablet is.

26:41 The point is, we have access to more knowledge than any Christians in the entire history of Christianity. We have more knowledge available to us than the history of humankind. We have access to everything. What did I just do? What did I just do? Well, in the middle of this, I just grabbed AI and said, hey, what about Hoseah four to six? And it challenged this interpretation. I mean I use AI constantly. You guys know that I use it frequently all the time. I'm constantly quoting or referencing from what AI said. Now, I was pulling from all kinds of different sources and resources, So a lot of times I don't know which source they may be quoting. Sometimes I can find out depending on which thing I'm using. Well, I could go through different apps that I have which will give me sometimes links to the actual source. Okay, but the point is we have access to all of this now. We have access to more knowledge than anyone in the entire history of humankind. Yet I think, just in general, are we not more ignorant than we've ever been? I mean, think of all the crazy conspiratorial thinking and lies and misinformation that gets thrown around and you can't even argue with people.

27:52 Everyone seems to think that they are right. So is it ignorance or is it rejection? Is the issue because sometimes you think of ignorance as well, you're you know, you're what was my my science teacher in high school used to say, I think I think she said, I think this is she had this hanging up on the wall. Ignorance can be fixed, Stupidity is forever, or something along those lines, right, something along those lines, now, don't I think ignorance is typically like, well, they just don't know because they don't know, right, they haven't been taught so, or they haven't studied, or they haven't read correct. But is it so do we understand ignorance from that perspective?

28:35 Or is the case is they're ignorant because they've rejected. Here's all the knowledge here on your phone is all of this knowledge. You're going around saying all these ridiculous things, and you won't utilize the very tool you have in your hands to fix your ignorance. And I think the issue is is because you won't acknowledge that you're ignorance. Your ignorance is of your own ignorance, your ignorance, and you're ignorant and lack of knowledge, and the knowledge you lack is how ignorant you are. So if you don't acknowledge how ignorant you are, then you can't you can't fix it. Right, Maybe that's the direction I'm going now, Maybe going in this direction because I was influenced by a recent study that was released about why people who think they're wrong won't admit that they're wrong, and it kind of goes with this idea of ignorance. So let's see.

29:28 But I agree with him. We are in a world we have all of this information, but people seem to be more ignorant. Why what is causing that? What I think Hoseiah may be going more with the idea of rejection. So it is ignorance, but it's rejection of knowledge. It's not the availability of knowledge. Let's see. To the word of God, and that's what was happening, not because of technology, but other reasons of So that's what was happening in Hoseah's day. God's people were destroyed because they didn't know God's word. So to not let's examine this verse a little closer.

30:13 See Were the people destroyed because they didn't know it? Or were they destroyed because they rejected it? See, there's a difference. If you don't know it, you can't reject what you don't know, you're just ignorant. But if you are told it and then you rejected it, your ignorance is because of rejection. I'm trying to draw this distinction. Maybe I'm trying to draw a distinction where there should be no distinction, but I think it's an important distinction. If you don't know, then then you view them more as a victim, right, especially in Hoseah's day, Well they didn't know, well, how were they going to know? So did they not know because there was no way for them to know? Or was the lack of knowing was because of rejection? Now you could argue in our world any ignorance today upon anyone. I mean I used to be much more. I used to be harder on the church and say, well, the church is felling people and that's why people are ignorant. I no longer go with that idea. People are sitting in the pure ignorant. It's their own stinking fault. Stop blaming the church. You don't know because you don't want to know, because you've got access to everything that's ever been said in the history of Christianity. Stop telling me, well, no one taught me, it's your fault, all right, you can learn it, all right, there's no reason you got access to everything. You can read textbooks, hermoneutic workbooks. I mean, you can learn Hebrew, Greek.

31:36 I mean, give me a break. You can know more than anybody. So I'm not as harsh on the church anymore. I'm more frustrated with the individuals who demonstrate ignorance. But again, I think while they demonstrate ignorance, they act like they know. So I think the issue is the ignorance is more rejection of knowledge. And I think the problem is people are ignorant of the fact that they're ignorant. I think that is the issue. Right Maybe, all right, let's see where he's going to go with all of this. Let's consider this thought the dangers. I wonder, have you ever considered this? It could be people in here tonight who you are not concerned with your knowledge of the Word of God growing in the in that area of learning the Word of God. Now you enjoy church, you like church, You'll come in church, but when it comes to preaching or in the teaching of the suny school class, that there's somewhat of a disconnect.

32:42 You're hearing what's saying. You know that that that the Bible is being taught, but you're not allowing it to really enter into the recesses of your heart. You're not taking it away with you. And then when you do get home, you don't spend time in God's word. Could it be that this morning when you picked up your Bible, you picked it up the same place that you laid it down Wednesday night. That's the case. Now, now you may have another Bible that you use. I had many about y'all. Wo knows, this is a different Bible than I used this morning. Y'all may not have noted the bad noticed. Now I do understand this, right because I've I've preached the same type of thing. You know, people go to church, they talk a big game about the Bible is the word of God. You don't muket, you don't, you don't disagree with it. It's the word of God. And yet they never read it and they never study it. Right, I mean, I've talked about and this is one of the reasons. I spent a good portion of my adult life teaching Bible study methods. Here's here's the devotional method.

33:48 Here's the chapter summary method. Here's the chapter analysis method. Here's a biographical method, a topical method, of thematic method. Teaching the methods, and you can't get anyone to use the methods. Nobody will use the methods. They will not do it. They go home and they do what they want to do. They will not study it. How difficult has it been to get people to actually participate in the Sermon's two point oh sermon sermon challenge? One sermon for every day of the year. A lot of people just now. Some people may have actual reasons why they could not participate. I understand, but a lot of people could pull off one sermon per day. But they do they want to participate? No, do they want to write anything down?

34:28 No? I mean, I've seen. One of my biggest frustrations being a pastor was like, okay, all right, all right, this year, we're going to do this. All right, we're. Gonna here's the devotional guide. I'm going to get everyone this devotional guide and we're gonna work on it. Well, then after a couple of months, you realize nobody's using the devotional guide, no one's using the curriculum. No one. So then you're just like, forget it, you know what. And so I finally got to the point even as that's it, I'm not buying it. No, no more devotionals at the front of the church, no more, no more anything. I'm not giving you guys in it. Nobody wants to use it. Now. There was always some that will, and those who will will be like, hey, tell me where we got that, because I want to get it for myself, But most of the time, the majority of people like, I don't care.

35:10 I don't care, I don't want the devotional I don't want this, I don't want that, and you're just kind of like why, why, what is the deal? So I have definitely experienced my own frustration with Christians not really wanting to do much of anything. Now I can understand, now, let's make let's be now, we've got to be honest and transparent. I can understand going through seasons, right because we're human beings and we are impacted by emotions and all kinds of stuff going on inside of our bodies. So sometimes we can be like, oh man, I'm really I want to read, I want to study, I want to listen to sermons, and then let's just be honest. There's times where like, well, you know, I want to watch this, and oh I want to watch this, or I want to read this, or I want to do this, or I want to do this. We can fluctuate dramatically, all right.

35:58 So we all know that. We all know that. I think the key is we have to just be honest with ourselves that a lot of people in the church don't really want to put forth. I mean, look, let's just be honest. A lot of people in the church, they didn't really in their minds to be a Christian is not about spending multiple hours of weeks with a notebook, a pencil, a Bible and some reference tools. They don't perceive it that way. I mean they became a Christian because they didn't want to go to Hell, which you can understand, right when you threaten people with the burning forever for eternity, you're like, well, then I believe in Jesus because I don't want to go to Hell. That doesn't mean I signed up now to basically be in university for the rest of my life with taking notes and studying Hebrew and Greek and trying to understand hermonutical principles and trying to they may not look at it from that perspective. Now, of course, when I was more lordship than to be like, well, these people aren't saying because if they say they would love the Word of God and they would desire it more than gold and silver, more than the honey and the honeycomb, they would love it, they would desire it, they would memorize it. Well, at some point you just realized, well, then, obviously no one to say because the majority, I mean, look, every study on the face of the earth says the majority of Christians do not engage the Bible in any meaningful way on a regular and consistent basis. The majority does, They just don't. And typically the people who really study and study are a lot of times men who are considering the ministry are going into the ministry. Well, that makes sense, right.

37:31 I typically have seen women. Be more. Studious and more dedicated to study than I've seen men. I've seen most men who are not going into ministry no desire for ministry. I don't usually see them that hungry for the Word of God. I just don't. And whenever you get if you put Christians in like some kind of a quote unquote fellowship, you typically see the men and they're talking about their new truck, football, hunting, whatever. In many cases it's the women who would be more willing to engage in an actual theological discussion. Now there's always the exception, but it's almost always the men who are considering or thinking about possible ministry. Then of course they then they want to study and talk. Okay, well that's what about the men who don't want to be ministers?

38:21 Now I'm not saying that there's never I'm not saying that there's never an exception. I'm just saying in general, So I this ignorance thing, I just don't know. I think there's a lot of it in the church, and I don't know if we have a good explanation to why where does it arise from? What? What? What should be the minimal? Maybe this what should be the minimal expectation of Christians and knowledge? Like what what should we expect? Is there a minimal expectation of how much time someone reads, how much time someone studies, how much Look if they go to church Sunday. Just think if a person goes to church Sunday school, Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night. Right, So Sunday school, Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night, they go, and they're there, and their church gives them basically four good hours of teaching a week, right, three on Sunday and one on Wednesday, four solid hours. Then what's the expectation of how much they study outside of the outside of church? And if the church, if the church, if they're actually learning and studying more outside the church, then what's the purpose of the church. You see where then this all kind of goes to, well, let's see where he goes and we'll just we'll just kind of follow and see where this leads us.

39:47 Aren't you glad I noticed it. You may have other Bibles you use, but are you someone who has a disconnect a disinterest what the Word of God says? How about you, Mama, Daddy, grandpa, grandma. I'm not talking to preachers and theologians and teachers, and now we're talking about everybody. Now by no means would we expect Grandpa, grandma, Mam and daddy. You come home from a hard day's work. You're trying to keep the house. We're not expecting by no means, no one would expect her suggest that you should spend as much time in God's word as the preacher or the deacons or the Sunday school teachers.

40:37 Okay, Now this is interesting because a lot of times in churches they don't make this distinction. So if you're not a pastor, you're not a deacon, you're not a Sunday school teacher, then no one expects you to study as much. All right, So there's a there's different levels. So when the Bible says, desire the word of God, right, desire the word of God more than gold and silver, more than honey and the honeycomb, as new born babes, desire the sincere milk of the Word, that you may grow thereby. That man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeded that out of the mouth of God, all of these scriptures that speak of the importance of the scriptures, that it is our milk, it is our meat, it is it is our sword, like all of the things the Bible supposedly is. Are we saying, then hey, if you're not, if you're not a pastor, if you're not in anyone in these particular offices or ministries, then that no one expects you to study.

41:41 So then what's the minimal thinking? How much like? Because now this is where it gets weird, right, this is where it gets weird because within the non Catholic world, the concept is the person in the pew is supposed to be listening to what the preacher is preaching and be able to determine if what is being preached is true or false so that they will not be deceived, and that they're supposed to in some way be offering judgment to the sermon. Well, if they're not studying the Bible as much as the preacher, how can then they judge the preacher? Like? This is bizarre. Hey, nobody expects you to study as much as the preacher.

42:21 But you then have the right to disagree with the pastor or say the pastor is wrong, I'm going to go to another church. Now, wait a minute, if you're going to stand in any judgment to the one preaching, wouldn't you therefore then have to have equal or greater knowledge in order to make the judgment about what is being preached. As whether true or false, and that the whole concept within the non Catholic world is that it's the people sitting in the pew that has to determine if what is preached is true or false. Well, then that would require you to have equal or greater knowledge than the one preaching. How can you judge someone with greater knowledge than you? Like, that makes no sense. So what how much my people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge? Well, you're saying that these people don't require as much knowledge as the people teaching. How does that work?

43:23 They're in different categories. But do you have a desire, a hunger, a thirst for the word of God? And what it says if you don't spend time in God's word. It's not because you don't have time, it's because you did not make time. You know, every Sunday, well most many people on Sundays at least this with with our phone company or our phone or whatever. It'll tell you how much you use that phone this past week. There's a few weeks. I'm like, that's not so bad. By the ways. I'm like, man, that wasn't a good week. That was not a good week. Use it too much?

44:10 How much of that time on your phone was entertainment, gossip, whatever it might be. And if you laid that phone down a little bit more, you could pick up God's word a little more. Now I'm saying that not to fuss at you. I'm saying that the introduce to the thought there's a danger in not knowing your Bible. There's a danger in not knowing what the Bible says, number one danger number one. When people are ignorant of scripture, the people will be destroyed. That's what the verse says. God says, my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. And it's not knowledge that they did not have access to. The rejected the knowledge that they had before them. Look at verse of afore same chapter. Yet let no man strive nor reprove another for thy people, or as they that strive with the priest.

45:20 What he's said here is this priest, this particular priest in the verse, is a priest that is teaching and giving the word of God. But the people, the people of Israel, the Northern Kingdom, they're like a bunch of people who want to argue with the priest while he teaches the word of God. They're hearing it. They're receiving it, but they don't want it, and they'll strive. I don't think that's what it means. I don't think that's what it says when the priest is actually preaching it right and the people want to fight about it. Now, I completely agree here. I think this is about rejection of knowledge. Again, ignorance tends to be like, well, they just don't know. They don't know because they don't want to know. This is about they reject it outright.

46:09 I think that's that's more. I think that's more of the direction. This is, this is this is going right. So yeah, let's let's listen to a little bit more here. I've got all my notes ready to go on this. But I think I think we're having some interesting discussions here. Hopefully you find it somewhat beneficial. Let's just see where he goes. You'd be surprised how much that happens. Baddnist church is all over this land. I remember first church I passed. And I was preaching. I think it might have been a prophetic message of some sort, not a prophecy I received, but prophecies from the Word of God. And I've got to talking about the nation of Israel and how they're going to get saved one of these days. And I remember for the service was a couple visiting, and man, they were just as sweet and kind and nice.

47:07 And when I got done. Preaching that message, I'm standing at the back door. It was, you know, it was just two rows, one ale. I'm standing at the back door, you know, as everybody exits, and I'm shaking everybody's hand and they are walking out the door. And on the way out of the door, that man wasn't so nice anymore. He was one of the most anti Semitic people I've ever met in my life. He hated the fact that I. Said anything positive about the Jews and let me hold it. On the way out of the door, and as quick as I could, I just said, well, you're wrong, brother. I couldn't get anything out. He was such a hurry again, why you're wrong, brother, And he kept on going. He did not like what I showed him from the Word of God. He heard it, didn't like it, didn't accept it.

47:57 Now, I see this creates this this here. I know we're kind of leaving the overall topic, but I mean he's introducing this. This does create a major issue within the non Catholic world that nobody ever wants to discuss, right because on one hand, we so emphasize the individual and their Bible. The individual and their Bible. You sometimes it will refer to this as the priesthood of the believer. Right, the individual believer in a sense serves as a priest. Right, they are a priest. So you and the word of God, and now what are you supposed to do. You're supposed to study the Word of God, know the word of God. You're supposed to be looking out for false prophets. You're supposed to check to see if what is preached is true or false. So it really throughout the Protestant Reformation, even though it was supposed to go that the Bible is the authority, the authority really gets passed to the individual. Now, the individual is supposed to read the Word of God, study the Word of God, determine what is true, and then judge what is preached is being true, true or false. Well, when you create a system like that, well, the individual, now what are they going to do? Their job is supposed to be able to say what's right and wrong.

49:11 It's going to lead to arguments it's going to lead to disagreements. But see, this is the problem. You can't then say, well, you have the right to judge what is preached as being true or false, but somehow we don't expect you to read and study as much as the pastor. Wait, if you're judging the pastor, you've got to know as much as the pastor. You can't be judging from the position of ignorance. You're literally saying, hey, you don't need to know as much as he does. But then you have the right to judge whether and now you have the right, you have the responsibility to determine if what he's preaching is true or false. Well, then you can't then say that they can be ignor they can have a certain level of ignorance. They would have to have a certain level of expertise whether to know what's being preached it's true or false. So how do you work that in a meani? How does that work? Hey, you're supposed to be judging what I'm preaching is true or false. However, you don't need to read and study as much as I do. But yet you can judge with what I'm saying is whether true or false? How does that work? That makes no sense to me, and that you and trust me. I know I have preached long enough to get Look, I can do a podcast episode.

50:23 Immediately you are wrong, you were wrong. Immediately someone's emailing me. You don't know what you're talking about. You're ignorant, you're a fool. And you're like, okay, well thank you. And so sometimes you want to say, so what Bible calls you go to? What seminary do you? Did you? And that comes across as being arrogant. That comes across and you in being dismissive, and you should not be dismissive of people. So I don't think I've ever said anything like that. Sometimes you want to, but the issue is they just immediately assume they know more, they're the expert. And you're like, okay, well then go do your own podcast, go open your own church. Well no, no, Well if you know more than every pastor and every church, and look at some comments under Christian websites, those the many cases the people are not pastors, never been to Bible college, are telling all the pastors and all the Bible teachers that they're all wrong, you're all wrong.

51:14 I'm the right one. So like you create a system that encourages that almost demands that. Well, then do you come back and say, well, you know, you know you don't need to read and study as much as these people. If you're the one judging of which you are supposed to right, you're supposed to well, then I don't know how you manage that system. The Bible sist people are destroyed because of that very reason. They had the truth in front of them and did not want it. Look at Verse over ten, for they shall eat and not have enough. They shall commit whoredom and shout out increase because they have left off to take heed to the Lord. They don't want to hear what he has to say and obey what he has to say. How many people in here have a Bible?

52:09 I guarantee everybody in here you either have a Bible or access to a Bible. Now, do you take heed to what God says to you from the Word of God? If you do not, that is dangerous. God says, my people are destroyed because of that very reason. Is that we're living today where it seems like Christians more and more don't know how to be Christian, how to live as a Christian ought to live from the instructions in God's Word. What we need in these days we need more Brians. He said, what are you talking about? In Acts seventeen, verse eleven, Paul was comparing the Berean Christians to the Thessalonian Christians, and Paul said these the Bible says these the Brians were more noble than those in Thessalonaika, and that they receive the word of God, the Word with all readiness of mind, and search the scriptures daily.

53:08 Whether those things were so? They wanted to know, is that preacher saying what. The Bible is say. Well, if you're going to connect it to the Bahreans, then you can't tell the people who are busy at home that it's okay that they don't read and study as much. They're supposed to be searching the scriptures daily to such a level that they can determine if what is preached is true or false. Meaning if they're judging the preaching, then they would be required to have equal or greater knowledge of the than the preacher, because they're literally judging the preaching. I don't know how you get, on one hand, say well hey hey hey, no, no, I mean you're busy, you've got a family. Well, then you can't tell them that Hey be like the Bahreans and study and search the scriptures daily to determine if what's being preached is true or false. If you're going to be judging what's preached is true or false, that I don't know how we negate or say that you don't have to read or study as much as the preacher.

54:12 That literally makes no sense to me. They want to know what the Bible said. We need Bereans in these days. Now, though Paul said the Bahrean believers were more noble than the Thessaloni believers. Listen what the Bible says from Paul to the Thesalonaikans. In verse that's the looniest. Chapter two, verse thirteen, Paul tells that church in Thesalonaik. He says, for this cause, also thank we God without ceasing, because when ye receive the word of God which you heard of us, you received it not as the words of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that belief.

54:57 He said, when you heard. The word of God, you didn't receive it as the words of men. You received it as the words of God. So whether you're reading the Bible or listening to preaching, if it's coming from the book, you ought. To receive it as the word of God. And if I get up here and I give you my opinions and my thoughts about things, that's one thing. But if me or any other preacher or teacher is telling you this, look, this is what the Bible is saying. You are obligated to receive what the book says, make application live it out. If not, it's dangerous. It's dangerous. You know. The last month and a half or so, we've had a number of car accidents at the full way stop, and right here at this stop. Just a few weeks ago, we had one up here, all because someone ignored the instructions.

55:53 There's this big red sign that says stop. Now. That person driving, I don't know who it was. That person driving might not have been aware of that stop sign being there. They may have had no idea that that stop sign was there, and they just assumed they're supposed to just keep on driving, and they did it, and it caused a terrible accident. And that's how some people are with the word of God. God's given you your instructions. Here's what you do, but you turn a blind eye and it causes some terrible situations. The people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge. So that's number one. That's danger Number one, the people will be destroyed. Number two, the preachers will be disqualified. Look in the middle of verse because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee that thou shalt be no priest to me. He's rejected the priesthood in that area. I'm not going to set the priesthood in that area because they rejected knowledge. I'm not trying to be mean or ugly, but I'm afraid there's a lot of people standing behind pulpits today that God has not putting his stamp of approval because they're not concerned with what the Bible says. In fact, Saw Timothy,

57:24 chapter two, verse fifteen says, study to show thy self approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word truth. If a preacher will not study and dig into the Word of God and its truths, and prepare messages for his people, prepare messages for his own heart, If a man of God does not studied the word of God to find out what the Bible says, and the Bible says, he's not showing himself a proved under God. In a few weeks, we're gonna have the young preachers in the church preach. I'm excited about it.

58:09 They might be a little nervous and afraid, but I'm excited for their nerves. It's gonna be good for them. But if you want God's step of approval, you gotta study this. If you want to be one of these that you don't put any time in, you don't put any effort in, you don't put any study in, and at the last second you throw a little something together. I'm just gonna let y'all know. They're gonna know it, and God's gonna know it. They're gonna know. Everybody's gonna know. God's gonna know it. Everybody's gonna know. If you just tossed it together, you've probably sat and listened to a person preached to realize he just did that a few minutes ago.

58:51 He just threw that together. This is he did not spend time in this. It's one thing for the people to know it it's nothing for God to know it. Study to show thyself approved under God. You want God's stamp of approval. Get in the word of God. If a man will not study, he's a workman. That needs to be a shade. You know, if you go to the doctor, or if you needed a lawyer, or an electrician or even a truck driver, you needed somebody in those fields, You're gonna want somebody that has some training. You're gonna want somebody who's done some studying.

59:45 Would you not. You wouldn't want to go visit a doctor and he hadn't been trained to do what you want him to do. That's risky, isn't it. It'd be real risky to me put me behind attractor trailer. You wouldn't want that. It'd be risky to put me behind a go cart. That's last time attractor trailer. This right I don't know what's wrong with this right foot. It is so heavy. I mean, it's all I can do to pick it up. It's just so heavy. Okay, I let it play. I was letting it play out a little bit more to see if he was going to get back into this.

1:00:26 He's not. I So I guess what we'll do. Is this when it comes to the ignorance here, I think the ignorance here is due to a rejection. It's an ignorance based off of rejection. Here is the truth. Right. So I'm holding a book here right here, This is reading the Bible better. Right, Here's a book on how to read the Bible better. Right. So if I say for I'll just give you an example, all right, so reading the Bible better, I'll just use this. I have taught now I don't know, forever, the twelve methods of Bible study on through them, over and over and over and over and over and over, right right. I have taught people how to study the Bible with specific methods. Right here are the steps.

1:01:09 Here's what you do. I've even helped maybe modify the steps, and I've always changing them and trying to make them better and make them clear. That's that's teaching people how to do it. Many people have either heard those messages, but guess what, they've never done anything with it. They've rejected it. Many people who've heard those messages couldn't even give you the basic steps to some of those methods because they've already forgotten them. Because they never did anything with them, all right, So their ignorance of the Bible study method is not because they haven't been taught. It's because they rejected the knowledge once given to them. Or like I could hand someone a book on how to read the Bible better, they could have the book. If they don't do anything with it, then it's not they're ignorant because they don't know.

1:01:52 They're ignorance because they have rejected. I think the focus in Hoseiah is my people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge, because thou hast rejected knowledge. It is an outright rejection of it. It's not that they don't know even about it. They've rejected it. It's almost like they've been taught it. They know about it, but they are rejecting it. So I'm trying to draw that distinction. This is more about our rejection. So then the issue is what is the rejection? And remember has started with the people walk away from God because of the lack of knowledge. No, they walked away with God and they have rejected it. They didn't walk away because they didn't know it. They walked away because something else. They knew of it. They knew about it. They were taught it, but they rejected it.

1:02:39 So where did does rejection come from? The real issue is what causes the rejection. Well, the rejection as a result of this sinful nature. And so we reject God's word because we are sinners and by our nature, by nature, our nature, by nature, rejects the word of God and rebels against it. So then that I think that's more of the thing. But I think a lot of our lack of knowledge is that we lack knowledge about our lack of knowledge. So let me just end with this. This is an article that was published on October ninth at oneh one pm Central Time. Here's the headline, The science behind why people think they're right when they are so wrong. The science behind why people think they are right when they are so wrong. A Nooster study illustrates the saying you don't know what you don't know. There may be a psychological reason why some people aren't just wrong in an argument, they're confidently wrong. According to a study published Wednesday and a medical journal, it comes down to believe. It comes down to this. It comes down to believing you have all the information you need to form an opinion, even when you don't. Our brains are over confident that they can arrive at a reasonable conclusion with very little information set a professor of English at

1:04:12 Ohio State University who co wrote the study, Fletcher, along with two psychology researchers, set out to measure how people make judgments about situations or people based on their confidence and the information they have, Even if it's not the whole story, people leap to judgments very quickly. The researchers recruited nearly oney three hundred people with an average age of about forty. Everyone read a fictitious story about a school that was running out of water because its local aquifier was drying up. About five hundred people read a version of the story that it was in favor of the school merging with another school, presenting three arguments supporting the move and one neutral point. Another five hundred people read a story with three arguments in favor of staying separate, plus the same neutral point. The final three hundred people the control group, read about story that included all seven arguments three pro merge, three pro separate, and one neutral after reading. After reading, the researchers asked participants about their opinions on what the school should do, and how confident they were that they had all the information they needed to make that judgment. The survey revealed a majority of people were much more likely to agree with okay. The surveys revealed a majority of people were much more likely to agree with the argument either in favor of merging or staying separate, that had read they had read, and that they were often confident they had enough information to have that opinion. People in the groups who had read only one portion of point of view were also more

1:05:42 likely to say they were more confident in their opinion than in those control groups who had read both arguments, so they only had one side of the argument, but they were still very confident that this is the right way to go, and didn't go, well, wait a minute, wait a minute, what's the other perspective? I need the other perspective right, And the people who had both were less confident. So the more knowledge you have, the less confident you are. The more confident you are. In many cases it's because of a lack of knowledge, but you will think you're right and you can't be proven wrong. And the thing is with so many people is they don't really want to know, so they're ignorant about what they know, and they don't want to know what they don't know. So it's a psychological issue. Now Here in Hoseiah four, I think they know, but they don't, but they reject the knowledge. So they're ignorant in the sense of here's the knowledge. I don't want it, I reject it, I don't care. So in a sense, their ignorance is simply from a rejection. It's not the ignorance the way we would think of it. Let me go back to my notes. Israel did not walk away from God due to ignorance and the sense of lacking knowledge or not being informed. Instead, their departure from God was a wilful rejection of his law and covenant. The key point in Hoseiah four to six is that they had access to the knowledge of God, his law, commandments, and ways, yet they chose to ignore or reject it. The people did, the priest did. Everyone did. So. Then the issue is

1:07:14 where does rejection of God's word come from. His argument, or at least his basic opening thesis, was they walked away because they didn't know. No, they walked away because they rejected and the knowledge available. They didn't want that knowledge. So their ignorance is more of a rejection. So then the issue is what made them do that? What made Israel constantly reject God's word? They rejected the words of the priest, they rejected the words of the prophets, they rejected the words of the law, They rejected God for an earthly king. It was rejection, rejection, rejection, rejection, rejection, rejection, rejection, And no matter how much knowledge they were given, they still continue to reject it. Even if there was a temporary like, oh, we're gonna do right, it only lasted temporarily. Why, Because the issue is our issue is not how much knowledge we can get. It's that we have a sinful nature. Now, all the knowledge should reveal the fact that we have a sinful nature. Therefore we need Christ. So I'm going to look at it from a slightly different perspective. Now you can go listen to the rest of that sermon.

1:08:30 There's not a lot of it left, And I don't know how much more he's going to say. Really, I mean, he kind of gave us that. I'm assuming he'll circle back around to, Hey, the reason you walk away from God is because of ignorance. And I'm going to say, no, I don't think we walk away because of ignorance. I think we walk away, But I do think we stumbled into a problem that has to be addressed. How do we in a non Catholic system have people who supposedly can judge the preaching of God's word in fact told that this's their response to do so. At the same time, say that I don't have the responsibility to know as much as the preacher. I don't know how you can judge the preacher if you don't know as much as the preacher. All Right, we'll stop there. Everyone have a great day. God bless