Unleavened Knowledge

Unleavened Knowledge

The whispers of the others were growing slowly louder as the message creeped closer to his ear. He had heard stories like this one before, but couldn’t believe that any of them were true. Too outlandish. Too made up. Nothing seemed further from the truth. And yet, no matter how far out the stories seemed, could they be possible? Had he been fed lies for so long that the real truth sounded more like a lie?

The whispers of the others continued to grow, passing from one ear to the next. Like playing a sophisticated game of telephone, the message changed ever so slightly as the whispers entered the ears of each successive participant. He had to know what they were talking about.He had to be included and be able to pass on the real truth that he was going to be fed. He had to make sure that others were no longer deceived like he had been for so long.

We live in a time when knowledge is seemingly passed from person to person in this way. We hear a story that sounds like it could be true, and it seems important enough to share with everyone else, so we pass it along the chain not really thinking about where that message came from. It’s hard to comprehend a time in the future when “knowledge shall increase” at a faster rate than it does today.

There are theories about every topic that you can think of. There are theories about each theory as well. At times, with all the various theories and perspectives being thrown into the mix of our daily intake of information, it becomes difficult to figure out what is real and what is not. What is fact and what is fiction. What is truth and what is a lie. And of course there is information that is somewhere in-between fact and fiction. A little bit of truth mixed in with a little bit of lies to form something that seems possible enough to believe in.

The prophet Isaiah was commissioned by God to bring warnings to the people of God. The Lord also had certain warnings for Isaiah to keep him on the right path, to help him stay focused on what matters most.

Isaiah 8:11-12

11 For the Lord spoke thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying: 12 “Do not say, ‘A conspiracy,’ Concerning all that this people call a conspiracy, Nor be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled.

When there are unknowns around us, when there are things that seem unclear and uncertain, that’s when the stories begin to be told. That’s when alternative theories about a situation begin to develop. Many times rumors filled with hints of truth develop into full blown elaborate explanations for events of the past and present that seem to connect all the dots. The explanations, even though highly outlandish at times, seem probable enough to make us believe they might be true.

God’s people can be susceptible to believing in these alternative theories,these secretive conspiracies about the world around us, because we are already used to believing in and following truths that the majority of the world doesn’t understand. We keep Saturday as a weekly day of worship when the majority of Christians in this world believe that Sunday is to be kept as holy. We are already used to pushing against the current. What else might be have been lied to about? What other secret knowledge might there be out there for us to discover? You can see this line of thinking easily taking hold.

The word ‘conspiracy’ used here in Isaiah (sometimes translated as confederacy) relates the idea of a group of people coming together to do something unlawful, conspiring against others to harm them or to take power from them.

Conspiracies are real. The Bible is filled with stories of people conspiring against kings to take their power. There have been plenty of real life conspiracies even in our modern times. But just because one thing is a conspiracy doesn’t mean that everything is a conspiracy. To take it further: just because something is a conspiracy doesn’t mean we have to know about it and have to worry about it and have to spread it around and dig deeper and deeper into it.

We must not let the pursuit of special or secretive knowledge about what goes on in the world knock us off our pursuit of what is true, what is noble, what is just, what is pure, what is lovely, what is of good report, what is of virtue and what is worthy of praise. (Philippians 4:8)

1 Timothy 6:20-21

20 O Timothy! Guard what was committed to your trust, avoiding the profane and idle babbling and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge—21 by professing it some have strayed concerning the faith. Grace be with you. Amen.

Paul is warning Timothy of the dangers of the pursuit of supposedly ‘special’ or ‘secret’ knowledge. The entire New Testament is filled with warnings against Gnosticism which is an entire religious system based on special, secretive, mythical knowledge and conspiracy theories.

This way of thinking that is exposed in the Bible as an ungodly and arrogant mindset has caused many to look outside the Word of God for supposed secret truth that they think others have hidden from their eyes. There is nothing new under the sun, and this way of thinking, this pursuit of hidden knowledge, has consumed people for centuries, and drawn people to believe things that are contrary to the Bible.

An immediate danger for us might be some special understanding of the dangers and origins our current crisis. There’s an unseen virus that is harming people around us. There’s this inherent inquisitiveness that we have in finding a cure or prevention, in finding an explanation as to why people are dying. There is this desire we feel to even explain how this current crisis will develop into the downfall of nations and the beginning of a one-world government. There are hundreds and even thousands of different theories, and supposed special knowledge about how things will develop as the end times draw nearer. Some even claim that God has given them this secret understanding of exactly how everything is going to happen.

Guess what? There are conspiracies out there. Guess what? If they are true, God knows about them. Guess what?

If they are true, it doesn’t matter if we know it or not because we do not fear those things. We do not fear those who conspire. They are merely a distraction for us. Where should our focus be during this time? Who do we fear?

Back in Isaiah 8, we stopped short of verse 13. Let’s go back to Isaiah 8 and read this important verse that accompanies the warning about seeking after conspiracies:

Isaiah 8:13

13 The Lord of hosts, Him you shall hallow; Let Him be your fear, And let Him be your dread.

The wrong pursuit of knowledge can cause us to be unnecessarily fearful of the unknown, and of unseen or even unreal dangers. Even the fear of missing some hidden truth that some believe has been hidden through secret conspiracy.

The potential problem here is, when we start looking for this secretive knowledge, we can get so caught up in the pursuit of knowledge that we forget to trust and rely on the God who can actually protect us from any and all real and true harm.

Sure we do our best to watch what is happening as we see the events from the pages of our Bibles unfolding around us, But we must remember that our God is in complete control. Nothing happens unless He says it can happen. We only need to fear our God. He coordinates the events of prophecy. Not anyone else.

This is a fear of His power over life and death that belongs to no one else, a healthy fear of His power to bring rain and flood the whole earth, and His power to give rain to feed the crops and grow the flowers in the desert. And of course, the proper fear that includes the honor and respect that we are to give to our Creator.

We give Him our attention and our time. We worship Him at the proper time and in the proper way, not adding to, or taking away from His Word which has been properly preserved for us. We pursue the knowledge of His righteous ways, knowing that only His ways lead us in the paths of righteousness.

Knowledge is a funny thing. While it is important and essential to learn and to grow in grace and knowledge, Just as sin can puff a person up, the pursuit of knowledge can have the same effect on a person’s ego.

Paul, in his letter to the congregation in Corinth, wrote concerning the dangers of the misuse of knowledge.

1 Corinthians 8:1-3

1 Now concerning things offered to idols: We know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies. 2 And if anyone thinks that he knows anything, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know. 3 But if anyone loves God, this one is known by Him.

We might know something, but that knowledge isn’t necessarily helpful, particularly when we might use our knowledge in a way that puts others down or if our knowledge becomes a stumbling block to our own personal humility, thinking we have a special understanding that no one else has begun to understand.

2 Peter 1:19-21

19 And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; 20 knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, 21 for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.

2 Peter 2:1

1 But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction.

Being puffed up by knowledge and attitudes of importance are counter to the focus of this very Feast that we are keeping this week.

1 Corinthians 5:8

8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, ...

Let us keep the feast, not with the leavening of the pursuit of knowledge that leads us away from God. Nor in the pursuit of self importance and of things that distract us from righteousness.

... but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

Here’s another very familiar passage that helps us to better understand this real truth:

1 Corinthians 13:1-10

1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. 2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.

Here’s some knowledge that we should be focusing on with the remainder of this Feast of Unleavened Bread.

This is a beautiful description of godly love, agape love. The love that is not puffed up. Unleavened Love that is so sincere and so true that when we see it, we know exactly what it is made of. Just like unleavened bread. Unleavened bread doesn’t hide anything. It is exactly what it looks like. Just like Jesus Christ our Lord who fits this description of unleavened love perfectly.

4 Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; 5 does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; 6 does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

We know this love, this unleavened love of sincerity and truth, does not fail.

8…But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part. 10 But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away.

Whatever unimportant things we pursue with our time, they will very soon not matter. In fact they already do not matter. Whatever theories, whatever conspiracies, whatever secretive knowledge people might tell us about and we might feel the need to pursue, they are mere distractions from things that really matter. In Scripture, the things we need to know are explained in as much detail as we need to have in order to receive the salvation offered to us by God.

Let’s take some time to refocus our attention on what is true and what is of note, and what is necessary. Let’s remind ourselves that the rest is just useless noise. Distractions from what is truth.

1 Corinthians 2:1-5

1 And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. 2 For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

Obviously Paul taught them more than just this one basic truth, but this is the big picture here. We must focus on the big picture, on what is really important, and bring everything else into perspective.

3 I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. 4 And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

2 Timothy 4:3-5

3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; 4 and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. 5 But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

Our faith should not be found in the wisdom of men, nor should our faith be shaken or driven off course in pursuit of secret things. Even I, in my short life, have seen too many of my own brethren leave the knowledge of the truth for the pursuit of something that eased their itching ears, that fulfilled their emotional needs, that made them feel more special than anyone else. The truth we have is special enough. What more do we need? Nothing more. Except for the next steps of the plan of salvation to take place.

Colossians 3:1-4

1 If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. 3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.

This is knowledge that is worth pursuing. This is knowledge that is worth sharing. Not knowledge that puffs up, that drives us off course. But Unleavened Knowledge of Sincerity and Truth that is found in the Word of God. The knowledge that God has opened our eyes to understand, that is not secret, but available for all the world to read and to pursue freely.