And Teach ye Them.....the Wayfarer 2/1/16

And Teach ye Them that Know Them Not
  2/1/16

“And thou Ezra, after the wisdom of thy God, that is in thine hand, set magistrates and judges, which may judge all the people that are beyond the river, and such as know the laws of thy God: and teach ye them that know them not.

(Ezra 7:25)

As a nation was being rebuilt, a people being restored, while still under the yoke of rule by a king that was foreign, and, alien to that people, and to God whom they worshipped, that king found that the power and magnitude of God demanded that he give all possible assistance to those people chosen by God living among his subjects.

Artaxerxes sent out decrees to give that assistance to Israel along with the assurance that came with them that their laws were to be enforced in compliance with the commandments of God.

Ezra was assured that there would be no toll, tribute or custom taken from his people, that they would be secured, the safety of that people maintained because he had a fear of what God would do if those very things were not done.

He went on to tell Ezra that he should use the wisdom of God that had been given him to perform two important tasks:

 (1.) Select judges and magistrates that KNEW the laws of God, and enforce them among those who already themselves KNEW those laws; and;

 (2.) TEACH the ones who did not know them!

Since that people had been in captivity, subjected to the teachings of their captors, much of that law had been neglected and forgotten by them. It was necessary to restore that knowledge of that law, enforce that law, and TEACH that law.

Without that second part of the decree, given by a king, who was not even one of those people himself, the decline and decay of that people’s morals and faith would have destroyed them, annihilated them, removing them from the face of the earth forever, assuring that there could have been no continuance of the worship of God, no comprehension of anything; other than what they were exposed to while living among those holding no concept of God, no honor of God, no obedience to God, having only the customs and beliefs that belonged to a people without God.

The magistrates and judges appointed, throughout the world, are rapidly becoming void of the qualities demanded that assure the TRUTH, and JUSTICE of God, instead making certain that very Truth and Justice will be ignored, supplanted by the teachings of men with only the “wisdom” of men,thereby disqualifying them from the office for which they have been selected.

Despite the fact that there are still those who KNOW the commandments and laws, these, too are not taught, as those KNOWING them refuse to obey them themselves, refuse to teach them, deny them in an attempt to prove that the wisdom of those men selected to rule them surpasses that of God, thus alienating themselves from God, His Blessings, His promises, His protection, assuring only that Justice will be given in the wrath that is assured by the refusal of the Love that could be given in its stead.

Those who DO KNOW and TEACH, are persecuted, belittled, and silenced wherever and whenever possible by those who have been taught, yet refuse to accept what has been given.

This is not a new phenomenon, but one that is age old, one that goes back to Adam, who refused the perfection and blessing of God, searching for wisdom through disobedience, even while experiencing, and, having that very perfection and blessing, not held since.

It has continued throughout the entire history of mankind as generation after generation chooses, willingly, and willfully that same disobedience.

The greatest teacher ever given was subjected to that willful disobedience, that same persecution, that same denial and belittlement by those He was sent to teach, and provide a Way back to that perfection and blessing.

All taught by Him is ignored, supplanted by maxims and misleading altruisms, given by those, who themselves, were given both the teachings and the command to teach what was taught, themselves.

The laws supposed to be relayed to each new generation are ignored, because of the failure to comprehend that there is yet to come, a final judgment destined for man, where the judge selected will not be selected by them, and that what has been taught will also come into judgment.

The captivity of God’s people extends farther today than it did at the time it was experienced by Ezra.

That captivity, evident in nations that openly deny the very existence of God, has been joined by nations that deny that existence, in all ways, covertly, by the denial of what was given to TEACH!

That captivity extends through what is being taught in the schools, in the streets, in the homes, and even in the “bastions of faith” that choose to ignore what was given, in favor of what is politically correct, what is acceptable to a majority, instead of what is acceptable to God, what will allow them the “freedom” to choose whatever will allow them to continue in their disobedience, whatever will allow them to seek the physical “blessings” while ignoring the true blessings intended by God for them.

As noted earlier there are a few, a remnant, that have chosen to KNOW and obey, still choosing to TEACH what has been taught.

These recognize that need to TEACH, and do so, both with words, and, actions, by being an example of the things taught by the TEACHER, that was given us, a SAVIOR, sent by GOD, to provide us the TRUTH, WAY, and Life intended for us.

It is the words of that TEACHER, not those of men that will count as the Judge Judges that people beyond the river, all people of all times, both those who KNOW and TEACH, and those who KNOW and refuse to either, obey, or, teach.

Every human being is a teacher to others, simply by choosing whatever is chosen, greed, avarice, a failure to honor God, failure to honor parents, failure to obey either, failure to adhere to the basics that have been given, failure to bother to even take the time to KNOW, and particularly failure to BE what they profess to KNOW.  Most of all what is taught is either failure, or, the teaching by example of the commandment left us by Christ to love one another as He loved us.

What has been given to teach is easily found.

 It is found throughout the gospels, which record the life, and, teachings of Christ, recording along with those teachings, the condemnation to be had by failure to follow those teachings.

What is to be taught is found in the simplicity of the message preached by that TEACHER sent to us:

“Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”

What is to be taught is readily and easily found within the single commandment given us by that TEACHER and SAVIOR.

Once more I close with His words, not my own; words that may only be obeyed if the redemption offered is met with the repentance required to comprehend what has been taught and what is to be taught.

“And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant:

Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.

(Matthew 21:27)

“Go ye therefore, and TEACH all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

TEACHING them to observe ALL things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.  Amen”

Amen and Amen
the Wayfarer