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.
13 But the
word [dabar] of the LORD [Y@hovah] was
unto them precept [tsav] upon precept [tsav], precept [tsav] upon
precept [tsav]; line [qav] upon line [qav], line [qav] upon line [qav]; here a
little [ze`eyr], and there a little [ze`eyr]; that they might go [yalak],
and fall [kashal] backward ['achowr], and be broken [shabar],
and snared [yaqosh], and taken [lakad]. KJV-Interlinear
13 And the
word of the LORD will be to them precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line
upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little, that they may go, and
fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken. ESV
All talk and no study, all pretense and no learning, all outwardness and no substance, all opinion and no listening, and these are the marks of the spiritual failure and phony believer.
So what happens when a people continue to disregard their responsibilities and obligations for learning doctrine? That indifference becomes a snare for failure, for discipline, for misery and suffering. And they bring it all on themselves.
And through the prophet Isaiah, God tells the Jewish people, and anyone else who falls into the same category of disregard and spiritual failure, that the doctrine that they should have been learning in this own language, but was not, and thus nothing was learned, will now be taught in a foreign language.
And that foreign language will have the same affect as their original indifference had, namely they heard nothing, and so the gibberish of the foreign language will sound the same, which means they will continue to learn nothing.
Hearing nothing means learning nothing, means no spiritual benefit, means no spiritual growth, means inevitable disaster and misery.
For, God teaches us through repetition. Word by word, verse by verse, line by line, precept by precept, category by category, principle by principle, and it is repeated. Word by word, verse by verse, line by line, precept by precept, category by category, principle by principle, and it is repeated. Word by word, verse by verse, line by line, precept by precept, category by category, principle by principle, and it is repeated. And repeated again and again, because we as people have difficulty in learning the basic concepts of truth, unless they are repeated to us, over and over, again and again.
And even then, people still do not listen and do not learn.
Too often, people have doctrine right in front of them, and yet they do not see it, do not reach for it, do not pursue it. They do virtually nothing, except repeat the same common comments over and over again, but have no clue as to the real significance behind them.
After the Cross, the Jewish people kept on holding on, to their former beliefs. Namely the Levitical Priesthood and all of the rules and regulations that they had been building up for many centuries.
After the Cross, Jesus had fulfilled the Law, and now its purpose was no longer necessary. The Law pointed to the Messiah, who had now arrived and purchased salvation in accordance with all of the rituals, and sacrifices and feast days and so forth.
So, even after another forty years, they continued to reject Jesus and hold on to their temple. So, God had to tear it all down, by way of the Romans, with whom the Jewish people had become a rebellious people in the eyes of Rome, just as they had become rebellious against God.
Truth would have avoided all of that suffering and the Temple would have remained just another historical sight. But that was not to be.
Defiance toward truth and learning, always results, in disaster. Always!
And just as indifference toward listening and learning results in no spiritual benefit, so then, even hearing truth will have the same effect as hearing gibberish, namely no benefit, when indifference remains.
Who among us can go to school, hear gibberish and come out knowing what was said? No one.
Who among us can go to school, not listen and come out knowing what was said? No one.
So, when doctrine is actually taught, then even those indifferent types who attend and hear, do not really hear. They pass through, never seeing, never hearing, never knowing. And in ignorance they drift away into oblivion.
Make sure that you are not one of these. Hold your tongue, park your opinion, and listen and learn.
And more importantly, dedicate yourself to a lifetime of daily study.
