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The Knowledge of the Lord, April 15
The earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the
sea.
Isaiah 11:9
.
A failure to study and obey God’s Word has brought confusion into the world.
Men have left the guardianship of Christ for the guardianship of the great rebel, the
prince of darkness. Strange fire has been mingled with the sacred. The accumulation
of things that minister to lust and ambition has brought upon the world the judgment
of heaven.
When in difficulty, philosophers and men of science try to satisfy their minds
without appealing to God. They ventilate their philosophy in regard to the heavens
and the earth, accounting for plagues, pestilences, epidemics, earthquakes, and
famines, by their supposed science. Questions relating to creation and providence
they attempt to solve by saying, This is a law of nature.
Disobedience has closed the door to a vast amount of knowledge that might
have been gained from the Word of God. Had men been obedient, they would have
understood the plan of God’s government. The heavenly world would have opened
its chambers of grace and glory for exploration. In form, in speech, in song, human
beings would have been altogether superior to what they are now. The mystery of
redemption, the incarnation of Christ, His atoning sacrifice, would not be vague in
our minds. They would be not only better understood, but altogether more highly
appreciated.
A failure to study God’s Word is the great cause of mental weakness and inef-
ficiency. In turning from this Word to feed on the writings of uninspired men, the
mind becomes dwarfed and cheapened. It is not brought in contact with deep, broad
principles of eternal truth. The understanding adapts itself to the comprehension
of the things with which it is familiar, and in this devotion to finite things it is
weakened, its power is contracted, and after a time it becomes unable to expand.
All this is false education. The work of every teacher should be to fasten the
minds of the youth upon the grand truths of the Word of Inspiration. This is the
education essential for this life and the life to come.
And let it not be thought that this will prevent the study of the sciences or cause
a lower standard in education. The knowledge of God is as high as heaven and as
broad as the universe. There is nothing so ennobling and invigorating as a study of
the great themes which concern our eternal life. Let the youth seek to grasp these
God-given truths, and their minds will expand and grow strong in the effort. It will
bring every student who is a doer of the Word into a broader field of thought, and
secure for him a wealth of knowledge that is imperishable (
Counsels to Parents,
Teachers, and Students, 440-442
).
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