Go To The Word!

“Therefore, if it pleases the king, we request that a search be made in the royal archives of Babylon to discover whether King Cyrus ever issued a decree to rebuild God’s Temple in Jerusalem. And then let the king send us his decision in this matter.” [Ezra 5.17]

Regardless of their intentions, Tattenai the governor, Shethar-bozenai, and the other officials of the province west of the Euphrates River serve as an example of how we should treat the Bible. It is really not far-fetched to see that these leaders' search for the truth of the matter at hand (rebuilding the Temple) would serve as a good example to generations following.

Many in the Church today have only heard of God's promises. Likewise, they have only seen others' pursuit of them. Unlike the leaders mentioned above however, too many in the Church today have done nothing to verify God's promises for themselves - they have neglected to research the alleged promises themselves. Consequently, the promises remain only "allegations" to them and have not been confirmed by their own examination.

For this reason, too many in the Church today remain in a state of "not knowing for themselves" just like Jesus encountered:

When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. [Matthew 9.36]

"Not knowing" for ourselves, makes us vulnerable to every lie Satan could possibly concoct. A little here and a little there of Satan's half-truths and outright lies renders a would-be believer confused and helpless. In fact, "not knowing" is what led the leaders of Jesus' day to crucify Him.

But the rulers of this world have not understood it; if they had, they would not have crucified our glorious Lord. [1 Corinthians 2.8]

If we intend to intimately know God of the Bible, then necessarily we must intimately know the Bible of God! Let us not however confuse this with knowing about the Bible from the plethora of available support materials. We must know the Bible from the Bible. We must "go to the archives" - the records - of the Kingdom of God, the Bible, to see what that Kingdom is all about. There is no other authoritative source, only allegations at best and half-truths and outright lies at worst.

What has God decreed and seen fit to record in the annals of His Word? We simply cannot afford to depend on opinions about the Bible (like from this author) but need to go to the Source itself! If this writing encourages one to go to the Bible, then, so be it, but what is said here should never be trusted in place of the Bible! Go to the Word!

Father, help us to hunger and thirst for Your Word and to find no satisfaction in any other source for our knowledge of You. So be it.