How to Acquire Knowledge: Obey the Lord

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;

fools despise wisdom and instruction."

-Proverbs 1:7 

Since the creation of the United States Department of Education in 1979, more and more money has been invested in both public and private education with little to no results. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, the average cost of college tuition has increased $10,000 from 1980 through 2011 (http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=76). From 1992-2003, the adult literacy rate showed less than a one-percent improvement, and even declined in one of three categories (http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=69). Another study showed that reading scores in 4th and 8th graders have shown only minimal increases in the last ten years, while the reading scores of 12th graders has actually decreased (http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=147). Is there a correlation between more government spending on education and the little to no results to show for it? If money is not the answer to education, what is?

True knowledge is not acquired from college degrees, teachers, or textbooks. True knowledge cannot be found in a high school classroom or a college lecture hall. True knowledge is given by the Lord through an understanding of His word. Proverbs 1:7 says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction”.

What good will it do if a person has a PhD, but refuses to fear the Lord? Earthly knowledge is fleeting, but spiritual understanding is eternal. Those who are truly wise will honor and obey the Lord as revealed through His word. 

We tend to think of fools as those who are ignorant, but the Lord says that a fool is one who despises the wisdom and instruction that only His word can bring. Furthermore, a fool is one who denies the existence of the God of Scripture (Psalm 14:1). The foolish despise spiritual knowledge because they do not like what God has to say. They do not like the fact that Christ is the only way to salvation (John 14:6). Fools do not like to be confronted with or convicted of their sin. They would rather live in the passing pleasures of this world, than learn true and eternal knowledge. 

Strive to honor and obey the Lord, and understand that striving for knowledge and education is pointless if not grounded in faith through Christ alone. Only He, not government funds, can bring the knowledge and understanding that mankind so desperately desires.

God's Instructions for the Table of Bread

“You shall make a table of acacia wood. Two cubits shall be its length, a cubit its breadth, and a cubit and a half its height. You shall overlay it with pure gold and make a molding of gold around it. And you shall make a rim around it a handbreadth wide, and a molding of gold around the rim. And you shall make for it four rings of gold, and fasten the rings to the four corners at its four legs. Close to the frame the rings shall lie, as holders for the poles to carry the table. You shall make the poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold, and the table shall be carried with these. And you shall make its plates and dishes for incense, and its flagons and bowls with which to pour drink offerings; you shall make them of pure gold. And you shall set the bread of the Presence on the table before me regularly."

Exodus 25:23-30

This passage describes the specifications for the table for the bread of the Presence in the tabernacle. While this passage may seem pretty insignificant to New Covenant believers, the meaning goes beyond tabernacle specifications. 

The Lord commanded the people of Israel to create the table from the wood of the Acacia Tree. The table’s dimensions were to be very specific. By converting the height, length, and width from cubits to inches, the table was 27 inches tall, 26 inches long, and 18 inches wide. The table was to be coated in pure gold on top and around it. The people also were to fashion a 3 inch wide rim of pure molded gold to place on top of the table. This precision was necessary because an object that would be kept so close to God had to be made of the exact specifications and of only the finest materials. Four gold rings were to be fashioned to the sides of the table so that poles could be inserted as a way to transport the table without having to touch it. The poles were also to be made of Acacia wood and molded with gold. These poles were built so that the priests would not have to directly touch the table. Sinners must be very careful about touching what the Lord calls holy. The dishes used for serving the bread to the Lord had to be made of pure gold. The priests had to replace the bread each week, ensuring that the offering was always new and fresh for the Lord.

 

Just as the dimensions of the table had to be made to God’s exact specifications, so also must the people of God live according to His commands as prescribed by His word. If the people of Israel did not create the furniture of the tabernacle in the manner God had commanded, they would surely risk death. So also, the Lord’s people must strive to live according to the commands of His word. If we refuse to heed the instructions of the Lord, we are risking the wrath of the Lord (Romans 1:18).