By Emmett Smith

In 1 Chronicles 12:32, the statement is made that 200 men from the tribe of Issachar, “which were men that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do,” joined David in Hebron for his coronation as King of Israel. Any nation needs leaders who understand the times, thus knowing what to do. Throughout history, leaders who have understood their times and have been willing to heed wise advice from others with understanding have blessed those under their authority. And vice versa.

In the church as well, there is a need for those who understand the times. And gaining this understanding is not something that happens accidentally, nor is it possible without Biblical knowledge. As Job said in Job 28:28, “Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.” And as the Psalmist said in Psalms 111:10, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever.” Without God, understanding is impossible. He is the source, the wellspring, of true knowledge. But there’s also a source of knowledge “falsely so called”.

In Acts 17, Paul spoke to the Athenians on Mars’ Hill. They are described in verse 21 as having insatiable appetites for news -– they spent their time in nothing else but telling or hearing of some new thing. The Athenians were also very religious (verse 22), but were ignorant of the one true God. Things haven’t changed all that much since then, have they? We have our CNN, CNBC, Fox, ABC, CBS, radio, newspapers, online news, etc. But what of lasting value do we learn from such sources?

In today’s world, there is a tremendous effort being made to instill certain ideas in people’s minds. In the educational establishment from Kindergarten through Ph.D. In the news media. On prime time television. And in the church. Unfortunately, the ideas being pushed in the world are in direct conflict with those in the church. It’s always been that way. Just as the Athenians were ignorant of God, so is much of our world today. And many are willingly ignorant (2 Peter 3:5).

Even some who consider themselves Christians are obviously ignorant of the Bible’s teachings on these issues. Could that be because they spend less time reading the Bible than reading the newspaper or watching TV? Or perhaps they’ve just decided the world is right and the Bible is wrong. Paul exhorted the Ephesians to “redeem the time, because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:16.) Then, in verse 17, he said, “be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.”

If we’ll concentrate on understanding the Lord’s will, we’ll be less likely to try to compromise with the world’s ideas. Remember, those ideas ARE in conflict with God’s will. Don’t let the evil one fool you.

" Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?" (1 Corinthians 1:20).

"If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him" (James 1:5).