I’m back from a week’s vacation on the Royal Caribbean ship Symphony of the Seas: Donna and I are refreshed and looking forward to going out again in May on a Norwegian Cruise Line ship.
If you prefer to watch a video, click on this link: Watch the video.
As some of you already know, I was a First Lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps, and one of the duties I had while on a 6-month Mediterranean exercise was as the Classified Materials Custodian. That meant all of the classified materials, codes, papers, etc. were my responsibility (if any of you have ever read the book or seen the movie called “The Falcon and the Snowman,”, the classified materials that were stolen and sold to the Russians were the things for which I was in charge of protecting.)
So, why so much about me? It’s just to let you know that one of the things I learned when being trained for that job was the three parts of what having a Top Secret Clearance authorization is all about.
First, you need to have a clearance level, then you need to have access to the information, and finally (here is the thing we will talk about today), you must have a need to know.
By now you should be either falling asleep or asking yourself, “What does any of this have to do with God or the Messiah, or anything biblical?”
That’s a fair question, and here’s my answer: too many people are trying to learn things that God doesn’t want you to know, and even if you have the clearance (meaning biblical knowledge) and the access (meaning given understanding by the Ruach HaKodesh, the Holy Spirit), you do NOT always have the need to know.
“Need to know what, Steve? What are you talking about?”
What I am talking about is how to pronounce the name of God
What I am talking about is when the Apocalypse will actually begin.
What I am talking about is whether or not Yeshua (Jesus) is also God or a separate entity, altogether.
What I am talking about is any topic or event in the Bible whose details are not given to us.
Will knowing the details of any of the things mentioned above make you any more “saved”?
Will you have a seat of honor at God’s table if you can pronounce the Tetragrammaton the way God pronounced it to Moses?
Whether you know if Yeshua is God or not, will you get extra credit points on your salvation report card?
Can you see why I am so adamant about not needing to know? No? Have you ever heard of Gnosticism? I found many different definitions of it, but my understanding of it (if I am really off-target, someone please correct me) is that Gnostic belief states there is special knowledge that we must have in order to be saved. This is a simplistic understanding, and there is a lot more to it, but generally, they believe that we are ignorant of information, hidden in the Bible, that we must know in order to be saved.
Gnosticism is considered heretical by mainstream Christianity, and as far as Jews are concerned, I’m not sure we care about it at all because, well, it’s a Christian thing. We Jews have enough confusion with HaLacha to also worry about secret knowledge, but I am sure there is some sect or offshoot within Judaism that also believes it is necessary to know about things that aren’t mentioned in the Tanakh. In fact, now that I think about it, the Talmud adds a lot of drek to some biblical events to explain them.
In any case, my suggestion is that when you feel you HAVE to know every little detail regarding a certain event, or when things will happen or how to pronounce a name or the relationship between God and Yeshua or between people… just let it go.
Concentrate on the things that are important, such as what God wants you to do, how God wants you to worship him and treat each other, and what Yeshua said regarding God’s word. Forget about what people say is important or (even worse) no longer important; just concentrate on what God tells you, which you will find ONLY in the Torah!
God had told us all that we need to know, and Moses confirmed this in Deuteronomy 29:29 when he said (CJB):
Things which are hidden belong to Adonai our God. But the things that have
been revealed belong to us and our children forever, so that we can observe
all the words of this Torah.
One last thing: I am not saying do not study the Bible or try to understand God better. That is not what I mean, at all. What I am asking you to do is concentrate on that which affects your salvation and not be turned aside by the pseudo-intellectual pursuit of becoming a biblical scholar. It doesn’t really matter if you can quote a verse exactly from the Bible or where that verse is located; what is important is that you know what that verse is about.
When writing these messages I spend half my time searching for the verse I need to show what I already know the Bible says. It isn’t important to me to know where any verse is located because I can always find it.
Where God says something is not as important as knowing what he says.
All I need to know is what God tells me he wants me to do. I don’t need to know why he says it, I don’t need to know where he says it, and I certainly don’t need to know what some human being says he means by it.
All I need to know is that I should come to God as an innocent, trusting child who doesn’t question but simply believes what God tells me he wants me to do in the Torah, and try my best to do that.
I hope you feel the same way.
Thank you for being here and please share these messages with everyone you know. Subscribe to my website and YouTube channel, buy my books and join my Facebook discussion group called “Just God’s Word” (please make sure to read and accept the rules).
That’s it for today, so l’hitraot and Baruch HaShem!
