"My People are Destroyed for Lack of Knowledge"
"My People are Destroyed for Lack of Knowledge"
Confusion does not come from God, but peace.
This makes a certain question unavoidable: why is there such disagreement and contention between those who actively promote faith in "the One True God"?
The answer is that most people do not truly know God, but they have been led to believe that they do!
.. how can this be?
You are filled with radiance according to the way you see. Therefore, if you are seeing clearly then your entire being will be full of light; however, if you are seeing in an evil way then you will be filled with darkness. So, if you think you have light but it is actually darkness, how deep that darkness!
Jesus is saying that the way we see things (perspective) is crucial, because it feeds our inner being with the energy that then shines toward the world. He makes the observation that a healthy ("clear") view produces light within us (good, pure, wholesome, truthful), whereas an evil ("twisted") perspective produces darkness (untruthful, devious, evasive, careless).
The expressions "light" and "darkness", in this sense, are describing the energy within us that radiates into the world whenever we are interacting with it.
This highlights a constant struggle between light and darkness, to fill humankind, to overflow them, to replicate among them and to consume the world through them (Romans 5:17).
.. so how does a person's view get twisted, that they would become filled with darkness? (Consider Ecclesiastes 7:13, Ecclesiastes 7:29).
No person who is tempted should say "I am being tempted by God" - for God is impervious to evil temptations. Moreover, He personally does not do tempting upon anyone. People are tempted though, by their own passionate desire - being drawn away and enticed. When desire is conceived, it becomes sin. When sin is fully grown, it brings forth death.
Saint James notes that our passionate desires tempt us - they "draw us away" and "entice" us to do sin. This shows that a person's natural state is innocence, having not deviated from the light, having no condemnation for their sin in the light of truth.
Saint James writes "anyone who does not do the good that he knows he should do, for him it is sin" (James 4:17). So, sin (as compared to an innocent mistake) is when knowledge and opportunity are combined to condemn our motives as being bad when we have done wrong.
Therefore, sin lies in wait for an opportunity to manifest against that which restrains it - whether it be our own conscience or a fear of consequences.
Thinking of sin in this way helps us to understand how it takes hold of a person, and with that knowledge we are better equipped to forgive those who have wronged us in the past; to forgive ourselves for our failures; to be more wise in our own decisions; and to support others if we see that a temptation is threatening to draw them away and entice them to sin.
Everyone who does evil hates the light and does not come to the light, so that their deeds will not be exposed. But whoever practices the truth comes to the light, so that it may be made known that his deeds have been accomplished in God.
A person who is doing evil has become trapped by their fear - whether fear of having to forego a sinful pleasure, or fear of having their sin exposed. The Holy Bible begins by telling the story of the first time this ever happened in the world. At that time, the human had a good relationship with God - they were close friends. As soon as Adam and Eve chose to not do the good they knew they should do, they became fearful of God, trying to hide their source of shame and hiding from God because they knew that they could not lie to Him about what they had done:
Their eyes were opened and they knew that they were naked, so they made loin cloths for themselves. They heard the voice of Adonai walking in the garden in the cool of the day and they hid themselves from the presence of Adonai among the trees of the garden.
Adam and Eve instantly lost the freedom to live according to the truth - they were hiding from the light (1 John 1:5) for fear that their deeds would be exposed (John 3:20).
Saint John writes that the one who walks in light has life (John 1:4, John 8:12, 1 John 1:7) and that the one who walks in the darkness has been made blind (1 John 2:11).
There is a distinction between one who is blinded and is walking in the darkness (2 Corinthians 4:4), and one who is spiritually dead (1 John 3:14).
A careful reading of the words in 1 John 1-5 shows that the one who hates his brother is always walking in the darkness, but it doesn't say that the one who walks in the darkness is always hating his brother (1 John 2:11, 1 John 3:15).
My brothers and sisters, if any among you strays from the truth and someone turns him back, let him know that the one who turns a sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.
So even though a person might be on the way of truth, they could still be lured away by their desires and enticed into sin. If they knew the consequence of following their desires into sin and death, they would have rather refused to be tempted and clung to their righteousness in the light of truth.
The great human tragedy is that it is not until one's discourse produces calamity that they become so desperate for salvation that they are ready to receive the knowledge that can save them. There is even a great risk that they will then not find or turn to the authentic knowledge of God that can restore their relationship to Him, but instead they might rather be lured to follow destructive alternatives that seem to subdue their distress - at an ultimately greater personal cost (Matthew 16:25-26).
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Since you rejected knowledge, I will also reject you from being my priests. Since you forgot the Torah of your God, just so I will forget your children.
The more they multiplied, the more they sinned against me. I will change their glory into disgrace. They feed on the sin of my people and relish their iniquity.
Let it be: like people, like priests. So I will punish them for their ways, and repay them for their deeds. They have eaten but will not be satisfied. They have played the harlot but will not increase. For they stopped giving heed to Adonai.
But how has this happened? This is not what Jesus came to do (1 John 3:8), and it isn't what His disciples were doing (Ephesians 4:8, John 14:26).
The answer is in the fact that not everyone who calls themselves Christian is walking in the light. The one who walks in the darkness doesn't know where he is going, and if the blind leads the blind, they will both fall into a pit (John 12:35, Matthew 15:14, Isaiah 29:13).
That trend began to creep among Christians 2,000 years ago, even while Jesus' disciples were spreading the real gospel message in the days after His crucifixion and resurrection! (Acts 20:29, 2 Peter 2:1-3, Jude 1:4).
Jesus Himself spoke of this happening too (Luke 19:14, Luke 17:1-2, Matthew 7:14).
Therefore, my loved ones, now even more in my absence — work out your salvation with fear and trembling. I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, so that I too might be encouraged when I know the news about you. I have no one else like him who will genuinely care about you — for all seek after their own interests, not those of Christ Jesus.
- Serving Zion, Mar 02, 2018