Study vs
Revelation
Knowledge vs Wisdom
The fruit of study is knowledge and the fruit of revelation is wisdom.
The challenge before us as believers is to know Him and to be known of Him, Yeshua. This knowledge is not earthly or natural, it is intimately spiritual in nature. Its the same knowledge that a bride has with her bridegroom, intimate, personal, and unashamed nakedness before her husband. This is not the knowledge that comes from study which is intellectual in nature.
This is where the Pharisees found themselves. They were students of the Law and Prophets. Experts in every sense of the word of the scriptures, the professors of theology. Their minds were filled with the doctrines of God and if you were to ask them they would say that they understood the truth in their hearts and minds.
That is until The Truth came along and upset their apple
cart. Have you ever wondered why this was a battle unto death between Yeshua
and the Pharisees. This battle ended in Yeshua's death and the Pharisees'
defeat. Yeshua died in the material world but the Pharisees died in the spiritual,
eternal realm. It's ironic that each side claimed victory. This is the battle
between the mind and the Spirit, the worldly kingdom and the
This is where we find ourselves caught between the material and the spiritual (unseen). We are commanded to be lead by the Spirit and to put to death the deeds of the flesh (the mind and the emotions). We have been told to test every spirit to determine whether it comes from Yahweh. We as believers have to come down on the side of The Truth, if we are to be saved and participate in His victory, forever. Yet I'm not sure that the average believer can tell the difference in themselves, between truth and The Truth. It seems that in the absence of some dramatic revelation they are quite content to accept their mental and emotional conclusions as truth, just like the Pharisees. Thus we have all the endless arguments and debates about truth in Christian forums.
A common error that is believed as Truth is, that we can study to find Truth. Yeshua dispelled this lie of Lucifer in John 5:15-47. This passage is very illustrative, however long, so summaries are quicker. Verses 16 through 18 give the Jews beef with Yeshua. He claimed to be the son of God. Their truth would not allow a mere man to be a child of God. Yeshua spent from verse 19 through 23 explaining that he did not operate like the Pharisees did, out of themselves with their own strength and knowledge. He operated solely out of His relationship with His Father using His Father's will, wisdom and strength. Then in verses 24 through 36 He explains His desire for their salvation and that salvation is evident by the supernatural actions that Father was performing though Yeshua as a witness to the Truth. Then Yeshua got to the heart of the issue in verses 37 through 44.
Yeshua makes three statements that are pivotal for understanding the difference between the truth and The Truth. They are; that the Pharisees had not heard Father's voice, nor seen His form and did not have His Word abiding in them. They certainly had the Scriptures 'abiding' in them (at least in their memories but not their spirits), but not His Word. These three ongoing experiences are necessary for us to find and walk in The Truth. Yeshua then makes a very interesting statement, that is that they [search the scriptures (the word if you will), because ye think that in them ye have eternal life; and these are they which bear witness of me; and ye will not come to me, that ye may have life] Lying underneath these three experiences is the foundation of a believers soul, the Love of Yahweh in our hearts which the Pharisees lacked. This Love of Yahweh comes from Yahweh and is only granted by Yahweh to those who have responded to His love for them that He has given to all men. He judges our hearts to determine if He can put the love of God in us. Our love for Yahweh spring forth from the Love of God that He has placed in us. This Love is the only basis for a relationship with Yahweh and is the doorway to Truth. There is no other way to Truth. This is also the only way to salvation. If the love of Yahweh is not there in our spirit then the only thing that can be is the love of self.
The Pharisees loved the Law and the Prophets. If you were to ask them who they loved it would have been Moses since he had given them the Law. They could not see past the man to the Author. They were nearsighted. They were unable to see into the Spiritual for they did not have eyes to see nor ears to hear. All they could see was the physical, material realm who's highest creature was man, in their eyes, Moses. In fact the Pharisees didn't love Moses as much as they loved their own understanding of Moses' Law. This expertise gave them power over other men in the name of Moses who had served Yahweh. So you see the Pharisees really loved themselves, they were like gods on earth. They had fallen to pride; [I will be like the most High]. The Love of Yahweh requires that He be all powerful, all knowing and sovereign in both the Spiritual and the physical realms, and that man be foolish, weak and sinful. A man with the love of Yahweh is fearful of the Lord which is the beginning of wisdom. The degree of the Love of Yahweh in our spirit is then the degree that we will deny ourselves to follow Him.
Now you've probably noticed by now that there is more than one definition to the words being used here. Therein lies our greatest problem in Christendom. We have definitions according to our understanding, teachers and traditions and Yahweh has the true definition. Of course we prefer ours and rare is the believer who seeks Yahweh for His definition. Of course if he does receive God's definition and begins to use it the rest of Christendom jumps all over him, usually for being narrow minded, legalistic or deceived.
We use the word truth with at least two definitions, one meaning a body of material information and the other the person of Yeshua who is Spirit. The same with the word ‘word’. One definition is the material writings called the Law and Prophets (scriptures) by the Pharisees, and the Old and New Testament by modern day Christians. The other word ‘word’ is Yeshua, the Son of Yahweh who is Spirit. Which one is God's definition?
In verses 37 through 44 Yeshua mentions that the Pharisees search the scriptures but do not have the ‘word’ in them. What does this mean? We have many ‘Christians’ today that are in the same boat. What did Yeshua mean when He said that they did not have the ‘word’ in them? He obviously did not mean the scriptures since the Pharisees had the best command of the Law and Prophets in the world at the time. They undoubtly had memorized many of them in the original language no less, yet they did not have the ‘word’ abiding in them. The Greek word here is logos. This has a living connotation to it. The word was to be abiding in them (as in us). This logos is a part of the Living God, not just the words of God written on paper, or memorized but a part of our living spirit. So this brings us back to the spiritual relationship, our oneness with Yahweh, spirit to spirit. I believe a good working definition of the Logos of Yahweh is His heart's desire. If you read in place of the Word of God, Yahweh's hearts desire i think that you will get the essence of the passage. Of course Yeshua is named the Logos of God in Rev 19.
The Pharisees had studied the scriptures for decades trying to identify the Messiah but did not recognize Him when He showed up, because they did not have living in their spirit Yahweh's heart's desire. The ones that did recognize Him did not know Him because of their study of the scriptures but because of their following the star, the Wisemen or by revelation such as the shepherds. Anyone who did recognize Him was because Father had opened their eyes because of the condition of their heart not because of the knowledge in their minds. The Pharisees believed that if they could just study the scriptures better that they could find Him. Yeshua speaks of the heart issue in verse 42, the Pharisees did not have the Love of Yahweh in their hearts. This is the pivotal issue in finding The Truth, the love of the heart. We can love lots of things but it really boils down to two, the love of ourselves (who are material, physical beings) or the Love of Yahweh (Who is Spiritual, unseen). The fallen human mind is focused on the physical world and ourselves. The Pharisees were focused on men, see verses 41 through 47, not on Father.
This entire discourse between Yeshua and the Pharisees was a commentary on the war between the mind and the spirit, between study verse discernment which comes from revelation. The Pharisees did not have a clue about the Spirit and its realm and thus were the sons of Lucifer, not the sons of Yahweh. (Everything in the material realm is under Lucifer's authority.) They DID NOT KNOW Yahweh! They had no relationship with Him, they did not see Him nor hear Him, and His love was not in their hearts. They were truly poor, naked and blind spiritually. They were, at best, carnally minded. This is a direct result of the fall of Adam. The tree of knowledge of good and evil provided an alternative to revelation from Yahweh. Man was now able to draw his own conclusions. This knowledge of good and evil came from the evil one. Adam before the fall had no knowledge of evil because all he had was righteous revelation from his Father which required no study just intimacy with his Creator. After the fall he could choose which source of knowledge he wanted; mans, attained from Lucifer or revelation from Father. Unfortunately fallen man has always chosen man's source of knowledge which puffs up over Yahweh's Revelations which brings humility. Hence man has established the entire educational system of the world. We put a greater number of letters after a man's name to indicate the greater knowledge and truth a man has attained through study. Unfortunately these men have no wisdom and are but fools before their Creator. This knowledge is but vanity, and a stumbling block to the true knowledge of Yahweh. This is why Paul set aside his degrees and knowledge of the Law and Prophets and purposed to know NOTHING except Yeshua and Yeshua crucified. Paul had seen Yeshua and man's knowledge and wisdom was rubbish in His Light.
Our carnally minded Church spends hours and hours debating
assorted doctrines and traditions which they have studied for countless more
hours without spending a few minutes a day cultivating the one relationship
that has True Eternal Value with their Father who gives revelation freely to
all those He communes with. If the Church had spent half the time with Father
as they have studying the scripture they would know Him, bathe in His presence,
hear His voice, see Him and smell His fragrance, and easily see the spirit
behind the traditions of men. They would know His dream language and recognize
the various types of angels, both righteous and fallen. They could easily test
the spirits. They would be a genuine threat to Lucifer and his kingdom, not just
think they are. They would know how to worship in Spirit and Truth, not just
sing songs. Ahh but the Love of most has grown cold
and true Faith is a dying ember. Will His Church be deceived in the end and
will He find Faith when He returns? The choice is ours, revelation or
knowledge! Choose the path of humility, cast off the chains of man and your
wisdom and be full of the Spirit of God and allow, no, plead to be taught by
the Spirit, for He is our teacher. He will open up the