Information is an important part of life. With information comes knowledge, and with knowledge one should develop wisdom.
This fact is seen every day. When one is driving down the road there are signs posted to restrict the speed driven in certain areas. Seeing the sign gives the driver the information needed to reduce speed or accelerate to meet the posted speed. This knowledge should give way to wisdom that would help one avoid a speeding ticket.
It is the same when it comes to religion. Without all the information, coming to the right conclusion about what God wants man to do is impossible. It would seem that anyone who has the desire to come to the right conclusion about religion should want to have all the information they could possibly get.
The information needed to have the proper knowledge about religion is found only in the Bible. A person can listen to preachers, but if they do not have all the information, who is to say the preacher is correct in what is being said?
In the days of God’s prophet Jeremiah, an occasion arose where the people were listening to a prophet, but he was not giving them all the information. Babylon was attacking Judah and would win the war according to God’s word.
Jeremiah, a true prophet, had told the people this would happen because they had refused to repent. He told them they would be overcome and held in captivity for 70 years. Yet a false prophet told a different story to the people.
In Jeremiah 28, Hananiah stood before the people and proclaimed, “Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon. Within two full years will I bring again into this place all the vessels of the Lord’s house, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took away from this place, and carried them to Babylon: “And I will bring again to this place Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, with all the captives of Judah, that went into Babylon, saith the Lord: for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon” (Jer. 28:2-4).
This information was well-received by the people, but they did not have all the information. They needed to know if this prophet was a true prophet, and if this was really the truth. But instead of checking him out, they chose to believe him.
Jeremiah went to Hananiah and told him what God had determined for him because of his false teachings.
“Then said the prophet Jeremiah unto Hananiah the prophet, ‘Hear now, Hananiah; The Lord hath not sent thee; but thou makest this people to trust in a lie. Therefore thus saith the Lord; Behold, I will cast thee from off the face of the earth: this year thou shalt die, because thou hast taught rebellion against the Lord” (Jer. 28:15, 16).
Jeremiah’s prophecy came true and the people of Judah spent 70 years in captivity. They should have believed Jeremiah but instead they were deceived.
Paul wrote: “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works” (2 Tim. 3:16, 17).
“Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Tim. 2:15).
One must realize the need to rightly divide the word of God to determine what is expected of them. The Bible contains the information needed and man must read it in order to gain knowledge, which will produce the wisdom to obey God as he desires.