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Prepare Your Heart

To the best of your ability, get rid of all distractions. Take a few minutes to breathe deeply and quiet yourself in the Lord’s presence. Then, ask the Lord to speak to you in this time. Let Him know that you will listen and make whatever adjustments He will reveal to you.

Read God’s Word

1 Kings 20-21
John 7:45-8:11

A Verse for Today

Slowly and reflectively read the following verse(s) and listen to what God will say to you through His written Word. Consider writing down any insights He reveals to you.

John 7:52 (CSB): “‘You aren’t from Galilee too, are you?’ they replied. ‘Investigate and you will see that no prophet arises from Galilee.'”

Reflecting on God’s Word

When I was a young, inexperienced pastor, I had some men who spoke into my life to help me get started well. On one occasion, one of those men went on a hospital visit with me. At one point, he went through a door that said something like: “Staff Only.” I questioned whether or not it was right for us to take the shortcut, and he told me, “Just act confident, like you know where you’re going, and no one will question you.”

I’ve seen this principle applied in the Christian community so many times regarding what the Bible says. And I’ve learned a very important lesson: Just because someone confidently claims that God’s Word says something doesn’t mean it actually says it. They could be wrong.

When we look at the end of John 7, we hear the Pharisees arguing among themselves and arrogantly calling the non-clergy “cursed” (John 7:49). Nicodemus speaks up and tries to pour water on a growing fire. He is soundly rebuked and a claim is made … confidently.

John 7:52 (CSB): “‘You aren’t from Galilee too, are you?’ they replied. ‘Investigate and you will see that no prophet arises from Galilee.'”

They confidently claimed that if Nicodemus would just look at the Scriptures, which recount the history of each Old Testament prophet, he would see that not a single prophet came from the northern region of Galilee.

What would you say if someone confidently made a claim about the Bible? Would you back down and immediately embrace what was said as truth? Or would you want to check out the claim for yourself in Scripture before you believed it? I hope the latter would be true.

Simply put, the claim the Pharisees made so confidently … was untrue. Their confidence was unmerited and totally out of place because they were flat wrong.

  • Jonah was from Gath-hepher (2 Kings 14:25), a town in Galilee.
  • Other prophets like Elijah, Nahum, Hosea, and Micah were also thought to be from Galilee.

So, there was at least one prophet from Galilee (Jonah) and possibly more. And that makes the confident claim of the Pharisees W-R-O-N-G!

What’s the lesson here? Realize that your pastor, Bible study teacher, or fellow Christian can confidently say, “This is what the Bible says.” And they can be flat wrong.

What’s the answer? Be like the Christians in the first-century city of Berea. They were listening to the Apostle Paul preach, but they didn’t naively embrace everything he said, at least not immediately. They went home to read their Bibles to ensure he was telling the truth.

Acts 17:11 (CSB): “The people here were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, since they received the word with eagerness and examined the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.”

Be like the noble Bereans. Don’t recklessly embrace even what a respected Christian leader says about the Bible. Listen, and then dig into your Bible for yourself to make sure they are speaking the truth.

Spend Time in Prayer

  • Ask God to help you to become an even more serious student of God’s Word, the Bible.
  • Ask God to help you cultivate such a familiarity with Scripture that you can sniff out error when you see it.

Going Deeper

If you want to dig a little deeper into the authority of Scripture, consider reading the following GotQuestions article:

“What does it mean that the Bible should be our sole authority for faith and practice?”

Sharing

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Matt Ellis is the pastor of First Baptist Church in Polk City, Florida (fbcpolkcity.com)