Sun 9:30a Class; 10:30a Worship; 11:35a Communion
Bible Bites
Is Bible Study Really Important?
Why is it that preachers continually empha- size the importance of Bible study? Have they just run out of other things to say, or is it really that important?
Perhaps one thing to remember is that apos- tasy lurks just one generation away. It has been true in the past and it is true today. You well remember that the days of Joshua were glorious. This man served as the faithful minister of Moses, the servant of God, the bold and believing spy, the successor of Moses, the cap- tain of the hosts of Israel and the conqueror of Canaan. His influence was so great that “the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua” (Judges 2.7). But then, at the age of one hundred and ten, Joshua dies. “And there arose another generation, which knew not the Lord” (Judges 2.10).
One generation serves the Lord — the next does not. How swiftly things can change. What brought it all about? The answer is quite simple. Someone allowed a crop of children to grow up without proper instruction. And eventually they had to reap destruction. One step followed another until the punishment of God was meted out. Note the order of progression as it related to ancient Israel.
- Spiritual illiteracy. They “knew not the Lord” (Judges 2.10).
- Forsaking of God. “And they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, which brought than out of the land of Egypt” (Judges 2.12).
- Serving false gods. They followed “the gods of the pagan people that were round about them” (Judges 2.12). They gave in to pagan ideas, pagan practices, and customs. Immorality abounded and “every man did that which was right in his own eyes” (Judges 17.6).
- Punishment from God. “And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he delivered than into the bands of spoilers that spoiled than and he sold than into the hands of their enemies round about” (Judges 2.14).
There is no hope if spiritual illiteracy prevails. Heathen altars will abound. Tidal waves of iniquity will arise and destruction will follow. We must not fail the youth of today. We must diligently teach than the truth lest it be said once again, “there arose another generation after than, which knew not the Lord.”
