A REQUIREMENT FOR UNDERSTANDING THE BIBLE- BY PASTOR GREG ELKAN

_“Beware the Jabberwock, my son!_

_Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun!_ 

– “Jabberwocky” (Poem by Lewis Carroll)

_“They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not understand what they are saying or the things they insist on so confidently.”_ – 1Tim 1:7 (NET)

The “Jabberwocky” poem is _literally_ a ‘nonsense poem’ – deliberately filled with nonsensical and absurd lines for the sake of humour. Alice didn’t know this, however, when she stumbled upon the poem in “Looking-Glass Land”. While her ignorance is not a crime, her attitude to it was what set her up for full-scale deception later when she met Humpty Dumpty.

Rather than admit she'd no idea what the poem was about, Alice remarked that it was _“very pretty.”_ As the book points out, she said so because _she didn’t like to confess, *even to herself,* that she couldn’t make it out at all._

It was this same attitude that made her – rather than confront the absurdness of Humpty’s ‘insights’ on the poem – help him complete his thoughts. 

When Humpty incredulously said, _“'To ‘GIMBLE’ is to make holes like a gimlet.”_ Alice added, _“And ‘THE WABE’ is the grass-plot round a sun-dial;”_ (naturally, Humpty agreed). 

So, one moment she was absolutely clueless about the poem, the next she’d become an expert in it because she didn’t want to be left out of the talk. 

There’re many Christians today like Alice, who – rather than admit they’ve absolutely no idea what a biblical text is saying – decide to call it “pretty” (or “deep”, or “mysterious”, etc.), and then proceed to teach their ‘insights’ to others.

Paul has the harshest of words for these people; calling them _“proud, knowing nothing, but doting over questions and disputes of words, out of which comes envy, strife, railings, evil suspicions…”_ (1Ti 6:4).

Beloved, there’s nothing wrong with _“I don’t know”._ Actually, admittance of ignorance is an expression of humility; which is a key requirement for receiving revelational insight from God. As Ps 25:9 says: _“(God) leads the humble in what is right, and the humble He teaches His way.”_ (AMP) 

PASTOR GREG ELKAN

More Blessings await you today; you’ll not miss them in Jesus’ Name.