You must be in fellowship prior to your Bible study, so that the spiritual information you receive can become a source, of blessing to your soul and produce spiritual growth.
20 To the
law [towrah] and to the testimony: [ta`uwdah] if they speak ['amar] not
according to this word, [dabar] it is because
there is no light [shachar] in them. KJV-Interlinear
20 To the
law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is
because they have no dawn. NASB
In this universe there are two opinions. I believe that we have stated that before. There is Gods opinion which is truth, and then there is everything else, which is not truth.
The law, 'towtah,' is a reference to the precepts and mandates and strict standards that are revealed within the scriptures.
The testimony, 'ta uwdah,' means the evidence, the proof, the witness, the demonstration, the verification.
And so it is the word of God what sets the standard by which all things are compared, in order to see if they are the truth or the lie.
Without truth, there can be no standard. Without a standard, there can be no means of determining where one is, relative to everything else. Without a standard, then everything becomes relative and whatever is popular, then becomes the standard until something else comes along. And when truth is absent from the social structure, then bias, then prejudice, then atrocities and so forth enter into the scope of human existence, and the rule of the jungle takes over.
There are many standards in life. We have the compass, the map, many functions in science such as math or weights and scales, time and distance and so forth. No building could be constructed without some form of standards in construction. No economy can survive without some standard of exchange, or money in other words. No work could be accomplished without a pay scale for wages.
And you could create a list of standards in life that would run on for many pages, I'm sure.
But when it all comes down to it, Bible doctrine becomes the ultimate and permanent foundation standard for everything.
And whether it is the standards for social interaction, or the methods by which particles in string theory interact, there is always a purpose, a design, a basis and reason by which all things function in this life and in this creation.
The wizards and soothsayers and idolaters mentioned in the previous verse, are likewise compared with the standards of doctrine. And if what they say is contrary to doctrine, then their words are lies.
And one does not have to be a wizard or seer to have flawed opinions. Nearly everyone in life follows a set of beliefs of some sort, and those beliefs all have to be compared with the standard of truth in order to determine their validity.
The light that is not in them, 'shachar,' means the light of the morning, or the dawn, when everything dark begins to fade in the light, as light begins to advance across the day.
This is a picture of advancing knowledge or the learning process. And when the morning dawn in not in them, then that means that they have no truth in them, no doctrine in them, no learning process, nothing. They are unteachable or stuck in their ways. They are so full of the dark or the lies of the world, that they will never see the light of truth, will never be able to figure out the truth, will never be objective, will always wallow in their invented views of life.
And of course, people like that will always fail. But the unfortunate thing about that is, if they are leaders, politicians, teachers, parents, or anyone who has influence over others, then the harm of those lies is unleashed onto others, and others suffer. Unless of course, they have some light of truth in their soul, and are able to avoid the repercussions of the lies of life.
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